Unprotected with the Mob Boss: A Dark Mafia Romance (Alekseiev Bratva) Fox, Nicole (best chinese ebook reader .TXT) š
Book online Ā«Unprotected with the Mob Boss: A Dark Mafia Romance (Alekseiev Bratva) Fox, Nicole (best chinese ebook reader .TXT) šĀ». Author Fox, Nicole
Jennyās father rushes past me, roaring, trying to get over the bar that separates the galley from the judgeās perch.
The bailiff grabs him before he can mount it, shoving him down.
āThis is a court of law!ā the judge bellows. āTreat it like one or be thrown out!ā He slams his gavel again and again.
Finally, the court slowly quiets, the silence only permeated by Mrs. Dresslerās muffled crying.
Mr. Dressler raises his hands in defeat. He looks so tired.
āIām sorry, Iām sorry,ā he mumbles. The bailiff releases him.
Dressler goes back to his seat next to his wife. He doesnāt look at her or the judge or at anyone, really. He just stares into the distance like thereās nothing worth seeing anymore.
The last of the proceedings resume. I keep my eyes on the jury as Deputy Richards finishes speaking. Theyāre avoiding looking in the direction of the victimās family and Elizabeth.
After the jury is thanked and excused, Mr. Dressler walks up to Elizabeth, followed closely by his wife, who is still shaking with tears.
āWhat the hell happened?ā Mr. Dressler hisses. āYou let that monster free.ā
Elizabeth takes a deep breath and stops packing her things for a moment to look Mr. Dressler in the eye. Her voice is firmāempathetic but professional. āHeās a good-looking man who is a good actor. He knew how to play the jury. Iām sorry, but thereāsāā
āThatās not good enough. I donāt want your excuses. You blew it. You could have gone after him much harder and all you did was act like a pretentious ass. You were too confident and you didnāt try hard enough.ā
Elizabeth sighs and runs a hand through her blonde hair. She opens her mouth to speak again, but I cut in. āIām sorry,ā I say, butting forward. āIām deeply sorry for the loss of your daughter, but DA Hardick did what she could. The defense has an easy jobāall they need to do is plant doubt in the juryās minds. They only need to convince a couple jury members that he could be innocent and they could persuade the other members if they were charismatic enough. Itās not fair. I completely agree. I wish it turned out differently.ā
He slides his gaze to me like Iām a piece of dog shit stuck to his shoe. āYou āwishā it turned out differently,ā he repeats slowly. āYour āwishesā arenāt going to put my daughterās killer behind bars, which is the very least of what should happen to him. Save your wishes for a new DA that will actually do her job.ā
Mr. Dressler looks Elizabeth up and down, disgust written all over his face. Then he storms away, half dragging his wife with him.
I let out a deep breath that I hadnāt even realized I was holding in.
āYou shouldnāt have gotten involved,ā Elizabeth says to me, gathering her files. She shoves them into her briefcase. āIām sorry. This isnāt the case I should have brought you in on. Take a breath. You need to relax.ā
I look down at my hands. My fists are clenched so tightly that my nails are digging into my palms.
āI donāt understand,ā I mutter. āHe was guilty.ā
āAll we had was circumstantial evidence. We didnāt have surveillance footage, we didnāt have his car, we didnāt have any proof that there wasnāt another car on the road that night. I believe heās guilty too, but the jury did their duty. They couldnāt say for absolute certainty that he did it, so they had to let him go.ā
āHeās just going to go out and do it again,ā I protest. āMy father said heās suspected in another hit and run, but he was never charged because of a lack of evidence.ā
āYour father is right. Just keep breathing, Allison. Sometimes the bad guy wins and we canāt let that get us down or weāll be too defeated to fight the next one. Come on. Iāll take you out for lunch.ā
I scrape at the nail polish on my thumb. Coral pink. I thought itād look professional, but now it just feels pointless.
āYou donāt have to do that,ā I tell her, looking up. In her heels, sheās nearly three inches taller than me and with her dark blonde hair, she could star in a law show.
I feel dull and insignificant next to her. In comparison, a casting director would make me a dead hooker with a crack addiction because the mixture of fluorescent lights and my dark hair always makes my skin look pallid.
āI know my father pulled some strings to let me shadow you, but we donāt need to hang out. Iāll end up spending the whole time complaining about the case and youāll want to kill me.ā
āAllison, Iād never kill you. Mostly because your father would have the whole NYPD trying to convict me and I donāt have time for that in my life.ā She zips up her briefcase. āIām not asking because I want to please your father. Iām asking you because youāve sat with me through this whole case and Iām hungry. So, instead of a third night of Chinese food, letās go find a place that serves something decent, and Iāll give you some more advice on this prosecuting stuff.ā
I let my hands drop to my side. āIām guessing the first piece of advice is to learn to let things go.ā
āThatās the second piece of advice,ā she says as I follow her out of the courtroom. āThe first one is donāt piss off the chief of police. And thatās why I wonāt kill his daughter.ā
* * *
Welkinās has a grayish-blue themeāthe walls, the tables, the lawyers in their gray and blue suits.
As the hostess leads us to the back patio, I can see my future. I see myself sitting with a stack of documents, fully immersed in the injustice of a high-profile murder.
Or, at least, I dream of that until I see the menu.
āThey seem to
Comments (0)