“I knew you would.” He pulled his keys out of his jeans pocket. “I’ve been in touch with his lawyer.”
I tilted my head to the side and felt my lips lifting. “You knew I’d do this?”
“Didn’t doubt it for a second.” Brody sauntered around the table and halted in front of me. “I see the way you look at my son, Elodie.” He smiled down at me. “It’s the same way he looks at you: like the world starts and ends with this one person.” His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. “It’s exactly how I look at Lola, and I’d move heaven and earth if it meant protecting her.”
Lola rolled her eyes. “Even in your old age you know exactly what to say to make me swoon.”
“What can I say?” Brody shrugged and took hold of Lola’s hand. “Even after all these years, you’re the only one who impacts what happens here.” He patted his chest over his heart. “Always and forever.”
They stared at each other as if they’d only just fallen in love, and my stomach dipped. I wanted that with Asher in ten years. I wanted it with him in fifteen years. But I wouldn’t get it if he’d already signed the deal. Twenty years of our lives would be taken away in the blink of an eye, and all because of Knox?
?s decision. He’d already tried to ruin everything in his path, and I’d be damned if he did it all over again.
“I erm…” I shuffled from foot to foot. “I don’t mean to rush you, but…can we go?” I bit down on my bottom lip, feeling uneasy. “Asher doesn’t know I know, which means—”
“He could sign the deal at any minute,” Lola finished for me. “Go. Go.” She shooed us. “Go do what you need to do.” She pulled her cell out, her brows furrowing. “I’m going to call Asher and give him a piece of my mind.”
“No!” I threw my hand in the air. “Don’t. Please. I don’t want him to know what I’m doing.” I hated the way my skin crawled when I said that, but it was the only option I felt like I had. “He kept this a secret from me for a reason, and if he knows what I’m about to do, he’ll try to change my mind.” I took a step toward the living room. “And I’m not letting him change my mind. I’m doing this, whether he likes it or not.”
Lola’s lips curved up into the biggest smile as she dropped her cell onto the table. “You, Elodie, are perfect for my son.” She placed her hands on her chest. “Now go. Go and save my idiot son from himself.”
Chapter Fifteen
ASHER
I adjusted my tie for what felt like the thousandth time, but no matter what I did, it still felt like it was strangling me. I was trapped in an invisible noose with no escape in sight. The courtroom was bigger—grander—than last time. The polished wooden bench the judge sat behind glistened where the sun hit it, as did the two tables ten feet away where the lawyers and I were. The room felt both cool and warm at the same time, or maybe that was just my body and my nerves.
I was hyperaware of the people sitting in the first row behind me. I could almost feel the burn of their gazes in my back, but I didn’t turn, too afraid of what my reaction would be if I looked at them. Dad had suggested we all ride to the courthouse together and I’d snapped his offer up, knowing what the outcome was going to be today.
Elodie had been relaxed the entire ride here, but I’d been on edge. Part of me wished I’d told her what was about to go down, but I knew I was doing the right thing. If she knew, then she’d have to face her nightmares all over again, and it’d all be because of me.
The last few weeks I’d spent less time at home and more time at the shop. I was putting things in place for when I was gone, making sure Elodie would be taken care of while I was locked in a six-by-nine cell for god knew how many hours a day. My life was about to change dramatically, but she didn’t know that.
I’d craved for each day to go by at a snail’s pace, but life never worked the way you wanted it to. Instead, time had whizzed by, and now I was here, about to agree to a plea deal and leave everything I’d built behind. I couldn’t describe how I felt, a weird combination of agitated and calm. My lawyer, on the other hand, looked like he didn’t have a care in the world. His files were stacked neatly in front of him, his posture straight and prepared. Today was just a formality, something he’d told me over and over again.
“We’re here regarding case number 7937694,” the judge said, her voice carrying across the entire room. “I understand the commonwealth has prepared a plea deal.”
The prosecuting lawyer stood from behind the other table. “We have, Your Honor.”
“Terms?” the judge asked, staring down at something in front of her. My stomach rolled. It was all happening too fast. I’d thought I’d have been in here longer than this, but it was speeding ahead at a lightning pace.
“The charge is assault with a suspended two-year sentence,” the lawyer replied. My head whipped around to face my lawyer, but his attention was focused ahead with a small smile on his face. What the fuck? “We have evidence surrounding the circumstances of the assault and believe this to be prevalent to the case.”
The judge nodded as if she already knew this, and maybe she did, but I didn’t have a goddamn clue as to what was occurring around me. “Does the defense agree to these terms?”
“We do, Your Honor,” Mr. Bennet stated as he stood.
“Mr. Easton?” I blinked at the judge, not knowing what to do or say. How the hell had Mr. Bennet gotten the charges dropped down to assault? And a two-year suspended sentence? I was dreaming. I had to be dreaming.
“Stand up,” Mr. Bennet whispered out of the side of his mouth.
I did as I was told, trying my best to keep it together. Had they read the wrong case? Had they gotten their files mixed up? A thousand possibilities entered my mind, but not one of them made any sense. How had my charges been dropped from attempted murder down to assault without me even knowing?
The judge cleared her throat. “Do you understand that by accepting this plea deal you’re waiving your right to an appeal?”
“I…do,” I croaked out, feeling like I wasn’t in my own body.
“Do you understand that if you get arrested at any time in the duration of your suspended sentence, you will have to serve out the entirety of your sentence in prison?”