Colby looks fucking smug, and I can’t help but notice the same fucked-up smirk across Channing’s face, the same one he had before as he entered the courthouse. The private discussion with the judge becomes heated with Eddison clearly being railroaded, and before I know it, the judge is standing. “We will take a brief recess and reconvene in fifteen minutes,” she says, addressing the court before looking back at the two lawyers. “You two. My chambers. Now.”
We’re all asked to stand as the judge files out with the two lawyers on her heels, and the moment they’re gone, the courtroom bursts into chaos. Colby leans back in his chair, his cuffed hands propped behind his head as Addison falls into Mom’s arms, sobbing uncontrollably.
I clench my jaw, my whole body shaking with a violent rage. Bri grips my hand, squeezing it with everything she’s got. “Calm down,” she urges, panic in her tone. She’s seen me like this once before and it nearly destroyed us, but I can’t let that happen again. I won’t lose her again. “The judge will see that whatever evidence Orlando has supplied is nothing but bullshit. It’s going to be okay. Colby’s not going to walk away from this.”
I shake my head, my whole body vibrating with anger. “You don’t know that,” I tell her through a clenched jaw, seeing all my fears and doubts playing out right before me. “You don’t know this asshole like I do. I’ve sat at barbecues and listened to him bragging about the way he’s fooled juries and supplied false information to get his clients off horrendous charges. This is nothing to him, just a fucking ordinary Monday. Addison doesn’t mean shit to him, not as a person and not as the little girl next door that he’s watched grow up. All he gives a shit about is his precious reputation.”
“Hey,” she says, reaching up and taking my face between her small hands, forcing my narrowed stare to hers as Hudson gets up and makes his way down the row to Addison. “Just breathe. We’re going to get through this, and if he does get let off, then we’ll deal with that too. No matter what, he will pay for what he’s done, I promise you that, Tanner.”
Letting out a shaky breath, I try to find the calm in the storm and only find it while looking into Bri’s eyes. “Promise me, Killer. If I end his life, you won’t walk away from me.”
She nods, squeezing my hands. “I swear to you, I’m not walking away.”
Swallowing hard, the world starts to come back into perspective, and I can’t help but notice the way Rachael watches me from across the courtroom again, but I don’t have time for her shit right now. It’s all in my head. That kid isn’t mine, it’s just a really fucked-up coincidence. Besides, she was pretty much engaged when we spent the night together, and I’m not even close to being the only guy she was hooking up with.
Hudson crouches down in front of Addison and she falls into his arms, sobbing into the base of his neck as he murmurs something in her ear. She nods and lets him pull her to her feet, hastily wiping her eyes and taking a few calming breaths as he leads her down the aisle and out the main doors.
Mom leans around Dad, her hand dropping to my bouncing knee. “It’s going to be okay,” she promises, though the confidence in her tone simply isn’t there. She sounds as though she’s still trying to convince herself.
The next fifteen minutes are the longest of my life, and when we get a warning that court is about to recommence, I fire off a text to Hudson, telling him to come back in. They return only a minute later, and I just about launch myself over the fucking rails when Colby catches her eye and openly taunts her about what’s about to go down.
Hudson leads her back to her seat and stays with her, sitting right beside her and holding her hand just as she needs. When Channing and Eddison stride back through the side entrance, Eddison looks as though he’s about to tear someone to shreds while Channing looks as though he just got a quickie in the bathroom.
Before we can even ask what’s going on, the bailiff’s tone cuts through the room once again. “Please rise for the honorable Judge Willis Sanderson.”
The judge walks back in looking pissed off and motions to the court to take their seats, and I listen to every word with bated breath. She takes her seat before looking out at the court and glancing toward Addison with pity.
She takes a breath, and a mask of indifference slips over her face before she circles her fingers around her gavel. “The evidence provided in the case of Jacobs versus Morgan is overwhelming. There has been a dreadful occurrence of human error and it’s clear that Colby Jacobs is, in fact, not guilty of the rape and attempted murder of Miss Addison Morgan.” Her gavel comes down with a sickening blow. “Mr. Jacobs, you are free to go.”