A round of applause greets me as soon as I’m inside the office. Even Lauren and Chris step aside and join the others in the celebratory greeting.
Every senior and junior partner is present, in addition to all the assistant lawyers and even the interns.
Nate and Aspen are at the front of them all, wearing what seems to be proud expressions. The managing partner of W&S strides toward me and grabs me by the shoulder with a little squeeze. “Great job.”
“You’re saying that as if I had a chance to lose.”
“You did.” It’s Aspen who speaks with a slight lift in her brows. “In fact, you might have gotten lucky at the end.”
“Turning the defense’s witness against him isn’t lucky, Aspen. It’s hard work.” Though luck might have played a little part in it.
Our evidence wasn’t rejected as we thought it would be. Not only that, but Karen, Sandra’s stepmother, visited me late at night to tell me she wanted to make up for her mistake.
The look on Matt’s face was priceless when she took the stand as a witness in Sandra’s favor for all the shit she’d witnessed over the years.
Pearce wasn’t even trying to save face at the end and kind of let Matt fall on his own. I demanded his entire fortune for compensation but only got sixty percent, and Sandra just announced to the press that she’d donate most of it to the women’s and children’s organizations in hopes of helping people like her.
Now, the prosecutor is pushing harder for the criminal case. He gave Matt a plea deal to take twenty-five years in prison or he won’t only charge him with a Class B felony, but will also file each case of physical assault separately.
I demanded that of the prosecutor after I met with him or I would’ve dragged him in front of the media. They’re fans of me, Sandra, and Lauren, and started a movement called #SaveSandra, so if I called for a press conference and accused him of slacking, he would’ve received huge backlash.
So he decided to do the right thing. For once in his bloody rotten existence.
I still think twenty-five years in prison is too little for all that Sandra suffered, but it’s better than the alternative.
Even though she still has a long road ahead of her, this is a good start.
Despite my relief about the outcome, the sense of joy I thought I would feel is nonexistent. It’s muddied by a gloomy shadow that keeps hovering over my head.
A shadow so large and thick that I can’t see through it.
I don’t let anything show on my face, though. I smile and take the others’ congratulations with my usual arrogance while all I want is to vanish into thin air.
When I finally get to my office, I throw my weight on the sofa and close my eyes. My hand fists then flexes on my thigh in sync with my loud heartbeats.
I might have won today, but something is off. Or more like, a few things.
First, Pearce’s apathy. Second, the general atmosphere in the courtroom. And last but not least, the way everything fell into place without any interference.
It’s almost as if Matt was dropped by the mob, which explains his pale face even before he lost. It’s like he had a premonition about what would happen and only waited for the other shoe to drop.
There’s a knock on my office door and I open my eyes as Daniel walks in.
It’s been a week since the day I nearly beat him to death, but instead of giving us the space we both need, he’s been there like a thorn in my side, one I’m tempted to punch every time I see him.
“I see congratulations are in order.” He smiles, flopping on the chair across from me.
“You fuck off.”
“You sure? I thought you’d want to hear what Anastasia told me that day.”
I sit up straighter, every bone in my body coming to attention at the mention of her name. It’s only her name, but it’s gained a presence, a sharp one at that, and it’s slashing through my chest and fucking up my organs.
For a whole week, I haven’t been able to live properly. Each inhale is filled with the suffocating lack of her presence. And each exhale is choked with the emptiness she left behind.
Whenever I look, there’s no sign of her soft smile and peaceful presence. It’s as if she was never there in the first place.
But she was.
Every inch of me remembers her sweet scent, her delicate skin, and how right she felt in my arms. Every inch of me remembers her, whether as Anastasia or Jane doesn’t matter. She was only ever one person to me.
And I got used to her more than I’d like to admit. I got so used to her that my life has felt dysfunctional since she’s been gone.
It’s become so bad that I smelled the orange-scented shampoo she left behind in a fruitless attempt to recreate her presence.
Needless to say, it was useless, and after that, I damn near lost my mind trying to find her.
I searched for her everywhere. I stalked her flat and even hired a PI to look for her.
Not only that, but I was on Chris’s and Gwen’s case since they were close to her, but even they had no idea where she went. However, she left them notes, ones where she apologized and wished them well.
I got no such note.
And I might have been extra hard on Chris for no apparent reason that day.
So after her complete desertion, this is the first time I might have a lead, even if it’s coming from the little bastard, Daniel.
“Spill it,” I say.
“Repeat that again and add a please.”
“Fuck you, Dan. Now, talk.”
“You’re a bloody idiot and a sorry cunt. I just want to put that out there.”
“Any day now.”
He raises a brow. “You also realize that there was something wrong with your win, don’t you?”
“How do you know that?”
“Anyone who watched the case closely would know that Matt is no longer the Bratva’s favorite boy and if you think that happened by coincidence, you’re way off the mark. In fact, the last person you’d expect helped you.”
“Who do you mean?”
“Anastasia.”
“What does she have to do with it?”
“She asked me not to tell you since you were in danger, but I don’t see why I should keep it from you now.”
“Keep what? And stop the suspense bollocks.”
“She’s a mafia princess. The daughter of the Russian mafia’s leader in New York, to be more specific.”
The information should reel me off my axis, but it doesn’t. If anything, the pieces of the puzzle slowly come together.
Whether it’s the way she ran away from her past and avoided it or how she didn’t want to talk about her family. There’s also the makeover and the way she seemed innocent yet dangerous that first day.
All of it.
She was a woman with baggage from the beginning and I knew it. I think I actually fell for it at some point.
So finding out that she has ties to the mafia makes complete sense. The guard who followed her makes sense, too. The fact that Daniel couldn’t find anything on her when he did a background check is plausible, too. He must’ve done a paperwork, superficial one, but even if he dug deeper, she had the skills to hide her skeletons.
That woman had a double life, after all.
“What do you mean, I was in danger?” I ask Daniel.
“You were snooping around in Bratva business and hurting their associate, so the higher-ups threatened her with your life. They even told her to betray you, but she chose the third option.”
“To go back to them.” I don’t phrase it as a question, because I know that’s what she did.
She hurt me on purpose with the whole Daniel thing so I would forget her and not search for her.
Well, the fucking joke’s on her because I’m never letting her go. Not even if I have to barge headfirst into her world.
Daniel lifts his shoulder. “She didn’t tell me that, but I assume so.”
“What else did she tell you? Don’t leave anything out.”
“That I should keep an eye on you, that I shouldn’t get mad when you become an arsehole, and that you mean well.” He snorts. “She believed in you more than you believe in yourself, and didn’t seem to care about her own wellbeing as long as you were alright. I have to say, you’re a lucky son of a bitch to have found someone like her.”
I am.
I fucking am.
And now, I have to get her back to where she belongs.
By my fucking side.
