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“I just need to stay here for a while longer and figure out what to do,” I say and wipe my eyes. “Fortunately, work is being flexible for once.”
“Well, speaking of work—” Brice shifts uncomfortably. “Carmine wanted me to ask you about the case.”
“I think I need to step aside,” I say and look down at my hands. “Tell Carmine I’m sorry.”
“Are you sure?”
“I did a lot of the legwork already. Angelo knows the details. Bring what I found to some other lawyer, someone expensive. They’ll get Nicolas out of trouble.”
“We could do that,” Brice says and sighs as she leans back. “But don’t you want to get credit?”
“I just want to get through today,” I say with a laugh.
“I’m not going to tell you what to do when it comes to Angelo, but I do think you’re making a mistake with the case.”
“Why? It feels like I’ve gotten as far as I can go. Maybe if I weren’t pregnant, and maybe if things weren’t so weird with Angelo—but that’s not where we’re at.”
“From what I understand, this whole thing is massive. Police corruption, murder, coverups… this is the sort of case that can make an entire career. You say you want to do what’s best for the baby, and I believe you. Wouldn’t it be good if you took this thing all the way?”
“That’s why I took it in the first place,” I admit. “I hoped that doing something big would get me noticed in the office. But now I’m thinking it’s just not worth it anymore.”
“Don’t walk away. Do what you need to do with Angelo, but finish the case. Bring Nicolas home.”
I rub my face with both hands. I don’t want to give up. At this point, the case is the only thing keeping me going, giving me purpose. I helped crack it alongside Angelo, and I want to be the one that negotiates with those rotten cops to bring Nicolas back home. He deserves freedom, and the longer we wait to confront the prosecutor with this new evidence, the longer he stays behind bars. Vance’s partner is wrong—the kid doesn’t belong in jail for something he didn’t do even if he might commit a crime equally heinous in the future. That’s not how our criminal justice system works. Innocent until proven guilty and not the other way around. We don’t punish people for something they haven’t done yet.
I glance at her. “You’re killing me here, you know that?”
“Good. I think it’d be a huge mistake you’d regret forever if you let someone else finish what you started.”
“You say that with such confidence.”
“Well, I am very smart.”
“Fine.” I wave a hand at her like I’m trying to swat a fly. “I’ll stay on, okay? But tell Carmine that Angelo has to go. I’ll finish things on my end, but I’m not working with him anymore.”
“Understood. I’ll pass that along. And, Sara, if you need anything, anything at all, you can come to me. Carmine would be happy to give you whatever.”
I smile at her and squeeze her hand. I can’t say anything because I’m afraid I’ll start crying again.
That offer means more than she knows. I feel so alone right now, so disconnected from my old life, like I’ve given up the girl I used to be and the girl I wanted to be to embrace this new person totally devoid of a safety net and friends and anything resembling security and stability and joy.
I’m a shell, but knowing Brice is here for me helps.
We chat for a little bit longer but she leaves after that. I hug her and she promises things will be okay. I smile and nod and try to keep my chin up because that’s what Sara always does, but inside I feel like I’m breaking apart.
For one brief moment, I had more.
There was Angelo, and there was whatever we had developing—desire, lust, something bigger, broader, deeper. Something that encompassed all of me and more. Something that felt good, something I’ve never had before.
Now it’s gone and it’s like I sacrificed a piece of myself and ended up back where I started.
Back under my parents. Afraid, worried, lost, and embarrassed.
The ice queen is dead. The frigid princess is no more.
I’m one massive mistake, and I don’t know if I’ll ever come back from this.
But there’s still the case. There’s still Nicolas. And there’s still the corrupt cops that deserve to pay for what they did.
I can hold myself together at least long enough to see this through.
Chapter 24
Angelo
“Drink this. You’re not going to like what I have to say.”
Carmine shoves a whiskey into my hand. I take it, throw it back, and savor the sharp bite as it slides down my throat. He grabs the glass and puts it down on a table before steering me into a chair in front of the fire. We’re in his gorgeous apartment in the office with its windows overlooking downtown Dallas and the gently crackling flames despite the Texas heat.
