Page 53 of Free to Judge

I step in before he says something I’ll have to defend when I know I’ll be putting in an eighty-hour week over the stupidity he already dropped in my lap earlier. My eyes convey that to him, and he merely shrugs without a hint of regret. “They pay with interest by Friday. The full amount, no games. Or the club starts docking their tips.”

Chrissi sneers. “You think you scare us, Declan?”

I smile coldly. “I don’t need to scare you. I just need to make one phone call to my boss. We all know that isn’t Sal, don’t we?”

Her face pales the moment I remind her of that.

Nerissa, obviously smarter than the others, acquiesces. “We’ll have it by Friday.”

Sal’s smile widens, satisfied. “Good girls,” he says. “Now get outta my sight before I change my mind.”

The three stagger off toward the dressing rooms, still muttering under their breath.

Sal claps me on the shoulder as I turn back toward him. “See? You do have a use outside of a courtroom, counselor.”

I don’t bother answering.

Instead, I wish I could trust even a glass of goddamn water in this place to try to rinse the sour taste out of my mouth. Because no matter how many contracts I alter to permit surveillance crews in places they never should be, no matter how many pipelines I get shut down, no matter how many criminals I’ve helped put away, or how much I’ve dismantled from the inside, this reminds me that I’m not a good guy.

I’m a part of this world.

Until something happens where I’m not.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I’d givenup on the idea of Declan coming over until close to eleven when I received a text from him.

Declan:

If you’re still awake, I could use somebody.

Kalie:

Meet you in the same place.

Twenty minutes later, I was in my family room waiting for him as I sipped from a steaming cup of tea. I’m not certain what I’m expecting, but it isn’t the worn-out man who magically appears in front of me. “Well, you look like your day went to shit after I saw you.”

“I’m supposed to be a lawyer.”

“I take it that’s not what today was about?”

“If you equate lawyering to threatening multiple people, then yes.” He drops down onto the couch in the same space he was in last night. His eyes search mine before he admits, “I almost didn’t come over.”

“I figured that out myself.” I take another sip before lifting it to him as an offer.

He wrinkles his nose. “If you have something much stronger, I’ll gladly take that.”

“There’s a bottle of Lagavulin in my office.” I don’t tell him it’s a bottle I share when my godfather comes over to argue contractual law with me. Tonight, there’s a weariness on Declan’s face that wasn’t there when we spoke earlier. Something happened and he reached out. He needed me and I’m here for him. It’s as simple as that.

“Yet you’re drinking scented flowers?”

I roll my eyes at him, place the mug down, and order, “Follow me.”

I’m on the fourth stair before I hear him falter. Without turning around, I address the sudden elephant between us. “My office is at the top of the stairs, Declan. I’m not luring you up here for some nefarious reason.”Not yet anyway.

“I didn’t want to make any presumptions.”

I turn to face him and find him right at eye level. His dark eyes bore into mine when I graze my fingers against the scruff of his beard. “Declan, when it’s time for us, you won’t have to guess.”