Lace and Bullets(45)
Her eyes widened as she followed him out of the room and down the hall. His muscles bunched on his back with every step and his free hand clenched and unclenched as they headed toward the elevator.
Oh my God. What if he does know? What if he’s going in knowing he won’t come out?
Her throwaway cell phone buzzed in her back pocket and she pulled it out.
Convince your boyfriend to answer our questions and we’ll give him a deal. Probation, no jail time. Call me.
Mia read the message three times before slipping the phone back in her pocket.
Damien glanced at her. “Everything all right?”
“Mm-hmm. Just checking the time.” She smiled as he turned back around. The ADA offered a deal. No jail time. She chewed on her lip. If he could be trusted, then maybe…just maybe…they would make it out of this alive.
She thought back to the last time she had seen the man in person. Twenty-one years old and fresh out of college, she had dutifully shown up at the after-party for her father’s election campaign.
Steven had just been appointed the head Assistant District Attorney. He was twenty-nine and looking for someone to celebrate with.
“Mia, I’d like you to meet our newest ADA, Steven Willows.” Her father’s hand pushed against the small of her back.
She stepped forward. “Mia Davenport.”
The ADA slid his fingers over hers and held her hand a moment too long. “Call me Steven.”
Mia smiled and pulled her hand away. “Nice to meet you, Steven.”
Her father had leaned over her shoulder to whisper in the new ADA’s ear and the man laughed as he looked her over. She couldn’t help but think she had just been handed off like a piece of chattel. It made her skin crawl.
“Enjoy the party, Mia. I’ve got to make the rounds.” Her father didn’t even look at her as he walked away.
“Your father tells me you’re interested in criminal law.”
Mia turned to the ADA. “I’m interested in ensuring only guilty people are put behind bars.”
“Everyone is guilty in some way or another, Mia. Don’t you know that?”
She stood taller. “I know my father has a reputation for prosecuting first and asking questions later.”
“Aren’t you a principled little thing.” Steven sipped his drink. “After you go to law school and practice for a few years, you come back and tell me if it’s still so black and white.”
“I’ll do that.”
The night had worn on and she’d grown to like the ADA. Maybe not his politics, or his outlook on life, but he seemed to listen to her when she spoke about innocent people and the unfairness of the justice system.
She should have known from the first moment he’d looked her up and down that it was all a show. But it wasn’t until he groped her at the bar that she had put it together.
He had thought she’d be a sure thing. The DA’s daughter would be an easy fuck he could woo with some fancy talk and war stories from the trenches.
The drink she’d thrown at him dissuaded him of that notion.
Since then, Steven Willows had been cold and distant. Professional. When he had agreed last year to work with her law school’s Innocence project, she had been pleasantly surprised.
When he had offered to look into cases her professor flagged, she’d been impressed.
It had been three years since that first night and never once had he tried to make another move. Did he finally see her as an equal? Was he a good guy or as dirty as her father?
Mia didn’t know.
They stopped at the elevators and waited for the doors to open. If she could get Steven to listen to Damien’s story, maybe it would all work out.
Maybe her baby would have a father who saw his kid at more than just prison visits.
She squeezed Damien’s hand as the elevator dinged. All she could do was hope.
20
DAMIEN
In a few hours, he would be a free man. The cops would have the information on Marcelo and Mia’s father and Damien would be inking a deal to save Mia and himself.
If it all didn’t go to shit.
He fingered the locket hanging from his neck. It was the only connection he still had to his sister. He’d stopped wearing it around Mia so he didn’t have to answer hard questions, but now he needed Melanie close.
Mia squeezed his hand and he glanced back at her. Ever since the mall, she’d been distant and withdrawn. The fire that burned inside her was so damn bright, but she’d put a lid on it. Damien wanted it back. He wanted to prove to her that he could be a trustworthy man.
Whatever happened at the meeting, he would protect her. They slid into the car and Damien started the engine. As they pulled out onto the road, his phone buzzed.