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“Okay,” I whispered, nodding my head. I tightened my hand around Caiden’s. He lifted my hand to his lips to press a kiss on my knuckles.
“I need you to understand that his attorney is going to rip you apart.” I flinched at the mere thought of it. Caiden tensed. “He’s going to throw brutal questions at you, and he’s going to try to make it seem like you’re second-guessing yourself. That’s where he trips people up at. Stick with what happened. Don’t add unnecessary details. Leave the unnecessary details to me when I’m the one questioning you.”
I nodded. My appointment with Mr. Taylor felt like it went on for hours, and more than a few times, we had to stop because the questions he was throwing at me were beginning to make me panic.
But Caiden was there the entire time, grounding me with him to keep me calm.
The day of the trial was going to be absolute hell and torture. And I wasn’t ready to deal with it.
Christian
I’d been in a right fucking mood all damn day. I had wanted to be there for Ally at the attorney’s office, but I couldn’t get away from work—not unless it was an emergency, and since Caiden could go to her, I couldn’t cancel my appointments.
I kicked my shoes off by the front door and slid my belt off as I walked into the bedroom, tossing it on the floor by the wall. Caiden was spooning Ally from behind, his face buried in her hair, his arms wound tightly around her, holding her to him.
I walked around the bed to my side, quickly pulling off my shirt and tossing it to the floor. Ally blankly stared at me, almost as if she had shut everything off—choosing to feel nothing instead of dealing with what was going on.
I grabbed her hands in mine and gently brushed my thumbs over her knuckles. She slowly raised her eyes to meet mine, and like a dam suddenly gave in and collapsed, she burst into tears, her entire body shaking.
“You’re going to see,” she cried.
I quickly sat her up and drew her onto my lap, wrapping my body around hers. Caiden quietly left the room, knowing this was something I needed to do with her. “My moon, I don’t give a fuck what those pictures show,” I fiercely told her. “All that matters to me is you. I will love every scar that was left behind from that evening, and because you endured it and lived, I’ll love you even more because you’re so fucking strong.” I leaned down and covered her lips with mine. “No amount of pictures is ever going to make me love you or crave you any less,” I promised.
With that, I slowly began to strip her out of her clothes, pressing kisses to every single scar on her body, including her self-inflicted ones. And when I slid deep inside of her, I slowly and steadily rocked our bodies together, taking my time to remind her of how much she meant to me.
33
TRIAL
Ally
I nervously twisted my hands together as I stared out of the passenger side window at the looming courthouse in front of me. Christian put the car into park and gently hooked his index finger around my chin, pulling my head around to face him. “Remember that you’re not alone in that room. He can’t hurt you, beautiful. You’re going to go in there, and you’re going to put him behind bars. You’ve got this.”
“I don’t feel like I’ve got this,” I openly admitted to him. His eyes softened. Tears blurred my vision. “I’m terrified.”
My passenger door suddenly opened, and Caiden appeared there. I hadn’t even realized that he had gotten out of the car. “Baby, I know that today is scary as fuck, but you’ve got this,” he assured me. “After today—after you put that son of a bitch behind bars for a long time—Christian and I are going to take you home, and we’re going to make sweet fucking love to you. Your brothers and Meghan are here to support you, as well as your dad. Today, you have a whole fucking army of people standing behind you.” He tilted my chin up. “I want you to hold this head high and show that mother fucker that he couldn’t break you. He fucking tried, but he failed because you, my woman, are a goddamn queen, you got me?”
My heart squeezed in my chest. “Okay,” I whispered. I nodded. Christian leaned over and brushed his lips to my neck. “I can do this.”
“Good girl,” Caiden praised. “Now come on. Get your cute ass out of the car.”
I slid out of the car, and he closed the door. He cradled my belly and leaned forward, pressing a soft kiss to my lips. “Chin up.”
