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“Can’t blame the man,” I mutter to myself, stifling a yawn.
Memories from our tryst in the back seat of his car rush back to me. I can’t keep the smile off myself as I strip out of my dress and change into my pajamas. I turn on the warm water to wash my face, pulling my shirt away from my body to once again see the mark on my breast that Alex left. I trace it, closing my eyes when I think about his words from earlier.
“My little slut, Juliette. Mine.”
* * *
I don’t seeAlex before I leave for the morning. He must have woken up earlier and is out walking the neighborhood. I get Chloe off to school then rush over to my office, noticing his black Charger in my rear-view mirror as I navigate through traffic.
Was he already sitting in his car this morning to avoid me?I try to think through things last night; maybe I missed something obvious that upset him. Nothing comes to mind by the time I get to the office. I want to get out and go talk to him for a moment, but instead of parking, he waits until I get into the elevator, and just as the doors are closing, he speeds away.
“Morning.” I smile at my assistant, Nina.
“Good morning, Miss Pierce. I have an urgent request for you. Came in about 15 minutes ago.”
“Urgent?” I stop in my tracks. “From whom?”
“Talia Fernandez’s lawyer.” I can see the look on her face, and it already tells me what I need to know.
“Okay,” I say, stepping into my office and closing the door. I shake out my hands, trying not to jump to conclusions before dialing Clyde Warren’s number.
“Clyde,” I say cheerfully when he picks up, “Juliette Pierce just returning your call.”
“Morning, Juliette.” His tone is serious. “Sorry to call so early, but I’ll get straight to the point. Talia isn’t going to testify after all.”
“What? No.” I don’t attempt to hide the desperation in my voice. At this point, I’ll grovel to keep her testimony. “Why?”
“Something happened last night, Juliette—something that scared Talia shitless. I don’t blame her for not wanting to testify.”
“What happened, Clyde?” A chill runs straight down my spine, which is now stiff as a board. “Is she okay?”
“She’s okay physically but not mentally. Two guys showed up to her house . . . at least she thinks it was two. They were terrorizing her, banging on her door and windows. They slashed her tires, shattered the windows on her car, and then threw a Molotov cocktail through her front window.”
“Oh my God!” I gasp, my hand shooting over my mouth. “How? How did they know she was testifying? There was no witness list leaked, so nobody knew but me, you, her, my assistant, and Brett.”
“I don’t know, Juliette, but this is serious shit. This isn’t just a message; it’s a threat.”
I sit in silence for several seconds, my heart feeling like it’s about to beat out of my chest. “Her kids? Are her kids okay?”
“Yes, her husband was able to throw a blanket on the fire and she grabbed the fire extinguisher. Thank God for quick thinking on their parts. Her sons are okay; they slept through most of it, shockingly.”
A cold sweat breaks out over my body thinking about somebody doing that to my home, to Chloe. I fight back tears, my voice obviously shaky. “I—I understand completely, Clyde, but without her, I—I don’t know if they’re going to settle. This will end up in the courts.” I feel like a slimy piece-of-shit lawyer right now, but all I can do is beg. “Is there any way—any chance—you can talk her into just holding off for a bit but still testifying? We can get her into protective custody.”
“As a mother, uprooting your kids like that, you know what kind of trauma that will bring to her family. I respect the hell out of you, Juliette, but no, I won’t even pressure her on this one. I’m sorry.”
The line goes dead and I sit back in my chair, tears streaming down my face. I feel like I’ve failed Talia. When she came to me after months of trying to convince herself this was the right decision, she was terrified something exactly like this would happen, and I talked her into trusting that everything would be fine.
“Hey, you okay?” Brett pokes his head into my office.
“Yeah,” I say through a stuffy nose as I dab at my eyes.
“Oh my God, what happened? Who do I need to kill?” He slips through the doorway, closing the door behind him as he rushes over to my desk.
“They attacked Talia’s family last night.” I can barely get the words out. Brett has the same reaction as me: an audible gasp, his hand covering his mouth.
“Who?”
I explain what Clyde just told me. “I know it’s the same assholes who were terrorizing me, only they never took it to these extremes. It’s all my fault.” I hiccup, my vision blurring through the tears that are falling faster than I can wipe. “I feel so bad for her.”
