Page 171 of The Fractured

“They believed you were remorseful, and that you’re a decent young man.” She shrugged her shoulders and made to leave again. “Take the win, Dean.”

I rubbed at my forehead, unsure of how to feel until she opened the door to three very eager people on the other side. It was hard to stay perplexed when a smile pulled at my lips at the sight of them. Ofher.

Lily grinned and hurried past Ms. Davis with a skip in her step. She collided with my body, and I wrapped her in my arms, lifting her high off the ground.

She cupped my face and kissed me from above.

It was Seb thumping my shoulder with the energy of an excited kid that pulled us apart again. I set her on the ground before he tackled me with a hug of his own, knocking the wind from my lungs as he held on tight.

“Holy fuck, man. What the fuck?” He made the gesture of his mind being blown as he stepped back. “I am thoroughly flabbergasted.”

“Congratulations!” Kira beamed, offering me a slightly less suffocating hug.

“I’m not sure if I should be congratulated.” I glanced at Ms. Davis as she closed the door on her way out.

Lily slid her arm around my waist. “Why?”

“Antonio pulled some strings beyond the grave.”

“Spooky,” Seb said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“Do I want to know how that happened?” Mark muttered after casually approaching me in the large courthouse hallway.

The others were nearby, talking excitedly amongst themselves over plans for the rest of the day. From the sounds of things, drinks at a bar to celebrate my trial outcome was becoming a definite in their plans.

I slid my hands into my pockets. “Probably not.”

Despite it bothering him, Mark accepted the outcome with a curt nod before he clapped my shoulder. “Use this second chance wisely.”

“I will.”

I watched him leave until Lily filled the spot where he had been and took my hand.

“What do you do now?” she asked.

“I need to get a bracelet fitted and a fixed address.”

Lily’s expression turned deadpan with a small smile as she tilted her head. “You know you can use mine…” She trailed off as her gaze drifted to something she spotted behind me. Her face softened. “I think she wants to talk.”

I frowned and followed her line of sight to the corner of a corridor off the main hallway, where Julia Ricci, Antonio’s widowed wife, stood. Dressed in a designer black dress with her hair slicked back into a bun and sunglasses on. When she caught my attention, she calmly turned and disappeared around the corner. Whether or not it was an invitation to approach her, we did anyway.

Falling right back into old habits, I scanned the many faces of people walking by as we reached the secluded corridor, looking for familiar faces. There were none, but my guard stayed up anyway.

Julia waited a few feet from the corner with her hands folded over her clutch. She offered us a small smile as we stopped beside her.

“Julia,” I said, glancing beyond her to the end of the corridor.

“Relax. I’m not going to ambush you.” Julia was one of the good ones, but.

Lily was more forgiving with a response. “You can understand why we might be a little on edge…”

“Of course. And I don’t blame you for it. I’m only here as a messenger.”

My guard was still firmly in place. “From who?”

“Antonio.”

“Antonio is dead.”