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“Fuck,” I hissed, coming much sooner than I wanted to.
Kissing the space between her breasts, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her to me.
“Why do I have no self-control when it comes to you?” she whispered.
“Probably for the same reason that I’ve become so addicted to you.”
I’m in love with you.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
THEA
I was sore and nervous. On the drive into Connecticut, I almost had to pull over twice. I sat in the courtroom, trying my best to remain as still as possible as we waited for the judge to come back. It was enough to drive me crazy. We had been waiting for an hour already. Levi sat next to Tristan at the defense table, and both of them looked as relaxed as humanly possible. I just couldn’t understand how they could do it. If we failed here, there would be no appeal, and most likely my father would die in prison. But what could we appeal with? We had already presented all the evidence to the judge. This was it. All the reasons for a new trial had been stated, and they were good reasons… right? Would they be enough? Maybe I should talk to them?
“Everything’s going to be fine. They were amazing up there. And one day, we will be too,” Vivian whispered, taking a seat next to me in the back.
“Thanks,” I said slowly, surprised by the fact that she was talking to me now.
She clasped her hands together. “I quit my job… my other job.”
I was surprised that she still had time for her other job.
“That’s great.”
“I just wanted you to know… and I wanted to say… I wanted to say that I’m sorry. For everything that’s happened, and for what I said to you. I’m sorry. You’re good lawyer and your personal life shouldn’t have been judged; least of all by me. So, I’m sorry.”
“That’s a lot of sorries in one sentence,” I said as I took her hand in my own and squeezed it lightly. “Thank you though, because right now, I feel like I’m going to be sick.”
“Eventually justice will be served.”
“All rise,” the bailiff said, and we all stood.
As the judge entered, I tightened my grip on Vivian’s hand. I wasn’t sure if her other hand on my shoulder was there to comfort me or to free herself from my vice grip. Either way, she didn’t say anything. My stomach was like a vast pit of butterflies, and everything in me, my heart, and my mind, were getting sucked in.
“I have looked over this case carefully, and although I do agree with the defense on the troubling extent to which Ben Walton’s case was handled I cannot, in good conscience demean a new trial, further adding to the Van Allens’ suffering. Therefore, Mr. Black, your motion for a new trial is denied.”
He slammed his gavel against its wooden counterpart, and just like that, he was gone.
Denied.
That means no.
That means everything we had done was a waste. It’s over, we lose.
We’ve lost.
“Thea!”
Vivian caught hold of me as I collapsed backwards and into the chair.
I couldn’t feel any part of my body any more. Everything hurt on the inside, it was as though my lungs were filling up with water and I was slowly suffocating. My vision was tunneling. I heard people clapping, like this was something to be happy about. This wasn’t justice. Justice was an illusion. Hope only caused more pain, and right now, I could no longer move.
We were supposed to win.
Our evidence was good, everything was working in our favor. We had the newspapers, media outlets, activist groups, everyone was behind us, pushing us forward, rooting us on and yet still, we had lost. We lost in with three sentences.
“This isn’t over.”
