Page 13 of A Trial of the Heart

Chapter

Thirteen

Shiloh:

Gathering my things, I hurried from the courtroom the second the judge dismissed us.

I didn’t even bother waiting for Arthur or William to follow.

The walls felt like they were caving in, and I needed to get the hell out of there and get some air.

My heels double tapped the marble floor as I rushed to the elevator.

“Come on. Come on,” I said frantically, pushing the elevator button. One would have thought someone was after me the way I was moving.

The doors had barely opened before I slipped inside, pressing the button to close the door faster than they would on their own. Just as the steel doors were closing, a large hand peeked between them, stopping it and causing the door to open again.

“Mind if I ride down with you?” Rashad’s deep voice sent jolts throughout my body as his inviting eyes scanned me while he stepped inside before I could answer.

Fuck. I wished I’d just taken the stairs or moved much faster than I had.

“I guess.” The mumble was almost inaudible.

Finally, the doors closed, and neither of us pushed a button to get the elevator moving. Instead, we stood there staring at each other.

“How you been, Shiloh?” he asked, taking a step toward me, it caused me to instinctively back into the wall with nowhere to go. I’d been in this position more times than not with Rashad, and it for sure had become a weakness.

“Kyan, is it?” I spoke in a not so flattering tone while pressing my floor number.

“It is.”

I scoffed. “So, where the hell does Rashad come from?”

“Middle name.”

“Middle name?” I mocked his tone before continuing. “How often do you go on cruises spewing the bullshit you did to me, pretending to be someone you’re not, making vulnerable women fall hard for you?”

“First time being on a cruise, never been one to spew bullshit, never been into pretend, and I like shit real and raw. You may have been vulnerable, but I did nothing to or with you that you didn’t want.” He hadn’t a missed a beat.

My mouth fell open slightly, but I kept my composure.

“What’s wrong, beautiful? Cat got ya tongue?”

Quickly closing my mouth, I shifted my weight from one heel to the other.

“Whether real or not, what we had or didn’t, or even what your real name is or isn’t no longer matters.

You neglected to tell me you had an open case against you…

one I’m working on.” I spoke the last part loudly before clearing my throat.

“None of that matters. You’re a defendant in my case, so you and I cannot and will not speak from here on out. ”

Before learning it was Rashad’s case, I wanted to keep in contact, but now knowing the connection, I knew we could never speak again.

“I’m not guilty.”

I chortled. “That’s what every guilty criminal says. Charges like you have don’t come just because…” My words trailed off while my eyes dropped. “Whatever was between us is done. From here on out, you’re the defender, and I am the prosecutor,” I declared.

The elevator dinged before the doors opened. I hadn’t even looked at what floor it had stopped on, but I clutched my bag, hurrying out. Rashad grasped my arm, stopping me.

“I’on care what them documents show. You saw who I was on the cruise. I am innocent, and no matter how you and ya folks try to spin it, that won’t change.”

I heard the charges, saw all the evidence, even knew the case was a solid win for us, but as Rashad spoke and from the look in his eyes, I believed his words.

“We’re done here.”

Rashad stepped toward me, prompting me to take a step back into the elevator wall while I gripped my bag tighter.

With his eyes focused on mine, Rashad lifted his finger, trailing the frame of my face lightly.

His touch felt like the softest feather ever.

Instinctively, I leaned my face toward him with my eyes closed.

Rashad was like a bad drug with a good high.

I knew he wasn’t good for me, guilty or not, but I wanted that high.

Hearing the elevator ding, my eyes instantly opened, and my body tensed.

I wasn’t even sure if this was my floor, but I didn’t care.

I needed to get out of Rashad’s presence before the strength I had diminished.

I stepped around Rashad. “We’re done here,” I repeated before walking off the elevator, my heels tapping lightly.

“Shiloh?”

I heard Rashad’s voice, causing me to stop in my tracks and turn slowly to face him. Rashad didn’t speak. He smirked a bit. As the doors to the elevator closed slowly, he winked and licked his lips sexily.

“Oh my gosh,” I muttered, pressing my thighs together, thinking of the many times that very tongue of his brought me to toe curling, mind-blowing orgasms.

Rashad was smooth as warm butter without even trying.

I would have to find some strength from deep within each time I was near him. Because folding like a load of laundry like on the cruise ship wouldn’t work.

After hurrying into the house, I quickly closed my door and rested my back against it with my eyes closed then exhaled a deep breath of relief.

I had rushed off earlier like Rashad had followed me.

Turns out when I stepped off the elevator earlier it wasn’t my floor, so I took the stairs and stood in the stairwell a good minute before I exited.

I had to ensure Rashad was gone. I knew I would have to see him every day in court, but I would be prepared then.

My phone rang and vibrated in my designer bag, so I retrieved it.

It was LeeAnn calling, which she did daily around the same time.

“Hey, girl!” LeeAnn spoke in an upbeat tone the second our call connected, not allowing me to speak first.

“Hey.” My tone was nowhere near hers as I finally pushed from the wall, stepping from my heels and setting my things down.

“Ew! Why you sound all depressed and shit?”

Since I could remember, LeeAnn always said what was on her mind and didn’t sugarcoat it no matter who she was talking to.

She was the same way in the office as she was in the beauty shop.

What you saw was what you got. It wasn’t a need to code switch with her because she played no games, and no one dared to play with her. I loved that about her.

I sighed, heading for my room as I undid my blouse. “I had court today, and let’s just say I’m not happy about who I’m going against.”

LeeAnn sucked her teeth. “Girl, happy or not, you know you’re going to win that shit, so I don’t even know why you’re allowing it to get to you.”

Another thing about LeeAnn was, next to my father when he was alive, she was always my biggest cheerleader. So many times, I wanted to throw in the towel, and she was right by my side, not allowing me to give up. She was one of the reasons I’d come as far as I had.

“Don’t stress yourself. You’re a bea—”

“It’s Rashad—Well, hell, Kyan or whatever his name is.” I cut her off. I didn’t know what to call him because I knew him as Rashad.

LeeAnn was either drinking or eating something, or it could have just been her spit. Either way, she choked and slightly gasped for air after I mentioned Rashad.

“Wait, wait.” She coughed, attempting to gather herself. “As in that man that turned you every way but loose every waking hour on the cruise?”

Involuntarily, I bit my bottom lip at the thought of how Rashad had handled me. He was always so gentle but rough at the same time. He was a dangerous man in the bedroom.

“LeeAnn, really?”

She laughed. “Just saying… You’d leave with ya hair straight, come back, and that shit looking like you’d been fighting an army of bears.”

“Shut up.”

LeeAnn laughed a little longer before it slowly stopped. “What’s his charges?”

I sighed, stepping from my heels. “Hell, what isn’t he charged with?”

“That bad?”

“He’s got a shit ton of charges on him—embezzlement, money laundering, tax evasion, bank and credit card fraud. That’s just to name a few.

“Shit… He seemed like such a good, hardworking dude.”

“Yeah, he played it so well,” I said with sadness.

“Guess it’s a good thing you decided not to continue things beyond the ship.” LeeAnn snickered.

I scoffed. “Yeah, I guess.”

I was disappointed, even though he and I weren’t continuing. A con artist had again bamboozled me. It seemed that was what I attracted.

“How is it going to work, though? Isn’t it like a rule against that? Like conflict or something?”

LeeAnn was a doctor in her second year of residency to become an OBGYN, so she knew very little about my line of work.

“A major rule.” I dropped back on my bed, staring up at the ceiling fan as it spun slowly.

“I tried to back away from the case when I realized who it was, but you know Mr. Racist and Mr. Even More Racist weren’t having that.

You know any time the office goes after someone of color or it’s not a high-profile case, they send the crap my way. ”

“Ugh. I truly cannot wait for you to be like screw those assholes and get your own firm. You deserve so much more than they’re offering you.”

“You and me both.” I had a goal in mind that by the end of the year, I’d be out because things were no longer working out. Well, they never really did. I just tolerated it.

“So, how will you handle it?”

I sighed heavily. “I’m going to do what I do best. Put my best foot forward and win the damn case.”

“That’s my girl.”

LeeAnn and I hyped each other up no matter what. Our friendship was a sisterhood. We cried together, laughed, argued, but never left each other’s side. She was truly my soulmate in friend form.

My phone beeped, indicating someone was calling, and when I looked, I noticed it was my mother. I wasn’t even sure why I checked, because like clockwork, she called at the same time every day.

“Girl, let me call you back. Meme calling.”

“A’ight, girl. Tell her I said hey. Love ya.”

“Love ya more,” I responded before switching over to my mother.

While we chatted, I prepared a bubble bath and soaked in the tub. I was able to finally wrap the conversation with my mom up so I could relax. I sat in that tub for a while before deciding to get out.

Wrapping my silk robe around my body after I’d applied my oils, I tightened the belt before heading into my kitchen.

It was time for a glass of wine. After I spoke to my mother earlier, I ended up dozing off right where I was without undressing.

I guess the first day back to work had exhausted me more than I knew.

Out of habit, I walked on my tiptoes to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of white wine and a flute.

“I’m coming. I’m coming,” I said out loud, hearing my phone ringing.

It was after 11:00 p.m., so I knew the only person who would call was LeeAnn.

She was normally the first person I talked to in the morning and the last before I went to sleep.

The ringing stopped just when I entered the room, but it started again seconds later.

“Hey, Siri, answer on speaker,” I instructed once I walked into the room. “Hey.”

“Hey? You were expecting my call?” The deep voice startled me, prompting me to halt my steps. I knew it was Rashad.

“Why are you calling me?”

“We had an agreement that we could keep in contact from time to time.

“You really shouldn’t be calling me.” I was trying my best to maintain control.

“Why? Catch you at a bad time?”

Finally, putting the wine and glass down, I picked up my phone, looking at it with my nose scrunched as if Rashad could see me.

“Because I’m the prosecutor, and you’re the defendant, and your trial starts in less than a month. Or did you forget that you’re a criminal?”

“Still not understanding what that has to do with anything. Right now, you aren’t a lawyer, and I’m not or ever have been a criminal.”

I’m always a damn lawyer.

“What is the nature of this call and why so late at night, Rashad, or should I say Kyan?” I wanted to seem professional, though the sound of his voice had my kitty purring and begging to be touched as I had wanted many times.

“Like that, huh?” He chuckled, but I didn’t speak. Rashad cleared his throat. “You think it’s a good idea for you to be the one handling this case, considering our history?”

“I rarely mix business with pleasure. However, the pleasure between us left when that ship docked that day. Not to mention, I attempted to remove myself from the case and was unsuccessful, so it is what it is. You don’t speak about what happened, and neither will I.”

“Cool.” His tone was so blasé. “You ready to lose?” he asked with confidence. “That 100 percent conviction rate is about to drop.”

He no longer sounded like the man I’d met and never wanted to leave two weeks ago. Guess it was all a facade, and he had fooled me with good dick, a nice smile, and pantie-dropping conversations.

Losing and my name didn’t go in the same sentence. Just because I’d unknowingly fucked the defendant that slang dick like it belonged on a platter and should be sold for thousands of dollars didn’t mean I’d start now.

“I hope the prison life is what you enjoy,” I uttered before disconnecting the call. I had nothing further to say to Rashad. We would just battle it out in the courtroom.