Nothing Left to Lose (Guarded Hearts 1)

On the third morning, we didn’t even bother setting an alarm. It surprised me when I woke to the sound of Ashton’s cell phone ringing loudly from the bedside unit. I nudged him with my elbow as I eyed the alarm clock, seeing that it was half past ten in the morning.

He let out a loud, sleep-filled groan as he pushed himself up off me and fumbled for his phone. I rolled over to face him, feeling the smile creep onto my face because he just looked so mouth-wateringly gorgeous in the morning. Knowing that the boy was mine literally made my heart pick up in double-time.

“Hello?” he muttered into the phone, running a hand through his messed up, I-had-a-lot-of-mind-blowing-sex-last-night hair. His eyes immediately widened as the muscles in his shoulders tightened. He practically jumped out of the bed, pulling on yesterday’s jeans. “Yes, sir,” he said, zipping them up with one hand. His eyes flicked to me. “No, she’s right here. Yeah okay, one moment, sir,” He pulled the phone away from his ear, frowning. “It’s your father, Anna. He wants me to put the call on speaker so he can talk to both of us,” Ashton explained, fiddling with his phone.

My mouth popped open, immediately knowing what this would be about. Somehow, he had found out that Ashton and I were together. He was probably calling to express his displeasure and to tell us to cease the relationship and for Ashton to pack his bags. My back stiffened at the thought. There was no way I was allowing my father to send him away from me.

Ashton set the phone on the bed. “Okay, sir, go ahead.”

I glared down at the phone challengingly, waiting for him to say the words and for us to start the almighty argument that I knew would come once he tried to split us up. My dad cleared his throat. “Okay well, I have some news, I’ve just heard, it’s literally just happened,” he said, uncharacteristically stumbling over his words.

“What, Dad? Spit it out,” I instructed, already exasperated with all of this pu**yfooting around. Yes, it was probably wrong for Ashton and I to be involved because he was my guard, yes, we had probably gone about this the wrong way, but hadn’t my parents been telling me to let go of Jack and be happy for the last three and a half years?

He sucked in a ragged breath before he spoke the words that I had never expected to hear in my life. “I’ve just been informed by the court that they’ve had to release Carter Thomas.”

My breath caught in my throat as I registered his words. He was out? He couldn’t be. He’d killed Jack. I’d watched him do it. How could he have been released? The trial had only been going for two days.

Ashton gasped. “What the? They released him? How? Why? When?”

My dad sighed. “This morning, less than five minutes ago. They overturned his conviction. He’s been cleared of all charges. Apparently yesterday was a disaster. His lawyers ripped all the previous evidence to shreds, had crime scene experts come in and testify against their own colleagues. Apparently it was ruled that the DNA samples, fibres and fingerprints that they found on Jack’s body were collected incorrectly. There was a risk that they were contaminated, something to do with not using a sterile bag. Because there was a slight chance that they were contaminated, the Judge had no choice but to deem them all inadmissible,” my dad explained.

I closed my eyes. It was just too much to take in. The man who had killed Jack and tortured me for months on end, who had raped me repeatedly and beat me, was free. My husband. He was out. There was no justice. Jack was dead, and Carter, his murderer, was walking off scot-free. That wasn’t right; this wasn’t how it was supposed to be. Tears stung my eyes.

“Anna, are you okay?” Ashton’s hands cupped my face gently, forcing my head up so I had to look at him. His eyes were flashing with anger, but still managed to look at me tenderly, like I was the only girl in the world.

I nodded awkwardly. “I didn’t even get called. Why didn’t they call me in to testify again?” I croaked.

My dad answered that question. “Late yesterday afternoon, Carter’s lawyers also presented some new evidence. I’ve been told this morning that it was some kind of CCTV footage that was date stamped from that night. It showed him half way across town the night it happened. They even had an expert come in and verify it. Without the fibres and fingerprints, it would have been your word against his plus the CCTV footage. That wasn’t enough to continue with the trial. The Judge had no choice but to rule in his favour.” My dad sounded like he’d aged ten years in the last couple of minutes.

Ashton made an angry growling sound in his throat. “What? How the hell can they do that? How the hell can there be CCTV footage?”

I smiled at him sadly; he really had no idea who Carter was. “Carter can do whatever he wants. He has people everywhere; if there’s something he wants, he won’t stop until it’s his. These experts, they can be bought. Hell, he probably had someone in the police tamper with the evidence so it couldn’t be used,” I explained, shrugging.

Ashton looked at me like I had lost my mind. “You’re saying that he paid someone to fabricate some CCTV of him across town to give him an alibi?” he asked, shocked.

“Sure, why not. Hell, I’m surprised it’s taken him this long to get his conviction overthrown,” I replied matter-of-factly.

He shook his head fiercely. “But what about the fact that Anna was there at his house? Doesn’t that prove what she’s saying is the truth? That he killed Jack and kidnapped her? How can they just dismiss that?” Ashton asked, glaring at the phone on the bed.