CHAPTEREIGHT
State
The cops had known their evidence was circumstantial at best. It hadn’t been enough to get a murder charge to stick, so Ray Bond had booked me for a couple of bogus traffic offenses and told me I’d have to stay overnight since my lawyer couldn’t make it until today.
I’d hated staying in a goddamn holding cell, mainly because Courtney would be going out of her mind. Christ, I’d never prayed before, but I did yesterday, wanting my little mouse to believe me. Country had better set her straight when it came to Lisa.
While I hadn’t known the lawyer the club had brought in, but fuck me, he was a genius. As soon as he’d entered the station this morning, he had the cops stumbling over their asses, and even reamed them out about the traffic charges.
I was hella relieved, especially as it meant I was getting out of here.
“Dominic,” Lewis, my kickass lawyer, said, dragging me from my thoughts when we reached the foyer of the station.
“State, man,” I corrected.
He nodded. “State. Here.” He held out a phone to me. “Your president asked me to get you to call him before we went outside.”
Confusion had me tensing. “Right.” I typed in Country’s number and put it to my ear.
“State?”
“Brother.”
“Fuck, brother, it’s good to hear your voice.” I could hear the smile in his tone.
“That smug bastard—”
His tone quickly switched when he read how pissed off I was. “I know. I fuckin’ know. He’ll be dealt with. Look, there’s shit you gotta know.”
“What?” I clipped.
“Court—”
“Is she all right? Did she ring you? Does she know it’s all a goddamn lie? That I’d been set up?”
“If you shut up a sec, I’ll tell you.” Country chuckled. “You gotta put a ring on her finger, brother.”
I stared down at the floor. “Huh?”
“Brother, Court rang me andtoldme she was gonna deal with the situation when I’d tried to say we had a lawyer. The guy standin’ with you is her dad’s friend. She went to her parents straightaway and got the help you needed. Just sucked he couldn’t get there until this mornin’. Our lawyer is outta town for the week, so it’s lucky you met your woman and that she was beyond pissed, so she sorted this shit out.”
Not only did my little mouse believe me, but she had my back.
Christ, that meant the world. Even though I was tired as fuck, energy zapped through me.
“I’m gonna put a ring on her finger,” I told my brother as I nodded to myself.
Country chuckled. “That ain’t all.”
“Tell me.”
“Brother, I was on speaker with her ’rents because Patty—her dad—wanted all the info he could get for the lawyer and…. Now, don’t be pissed, but I was straight with them. They know how our club runs. They know we’d do anythin’ to protect our people, and they understood the meanin’ toanythin’.”
I sucked in a sharp breath and bit out, “Country—”
“No, listen. I gave them time to let it sink in, told Court to text meifshe was still gonna help after havin’ that news.”
“And? Don’t leave me hangin’, brother.”