He was going to use it to bury Benjamin Bennet.
He recounted every blow.Every injury.And he looked right at his father while he did it.
Ben was growing more agitated, though clearly trying to keep it hidden.But Nate saw it.Just like he’d seen it that day.
Hate.Pure, unadulterated hate.
Nate would never know what had warped his father to hate and hurt the people he should have loved.Maybe there was a story there—his own traumas.
Or maybe he’d been born that way.Warped and just rotten.Nate didn’t know which he preferred.He supposed it didn’t matter.He had no interest in a villain’s origin story.
When it was time to be cross-examined, Nate refused to let nerves find purchase.He’d fought inwars.He could handle an asshole lawyer asking him annoying questions.
“So, to be clear, your father never beat you, never laid a hand on you in violence, except the afternoon of his wife’s funeral?”
The question grated, as it was meant to, because it was setup to undermine everything.Still, Nate wouldn’t lie.“That’s correct.Just the afternoon of mymother’sfuneral.”A reminder that Benjamin didn’t exist in a vacuum.Being upset didn’t give him a right to ruin his children.
“A simple yes or no will suffice, Mr.Bennet.Now, after you ran away, you never once tried to contact your father or your brothers until May of this year.Fifteen years after your mother’s death.Is that correct?”
Nate did his level best not to let any of the belligerence he felt show on his face.“Yes.”
The lawyer smiled.“No further questions.”
God, Nate wanted to clock the guy, but instead he stepped down from the stand.Without meaning to, he looked at Dad.
Benjamin wasn’tsmiling, but his mouth was arranged in a little bit of a smirk.But that smirk died as Sam was called to the stand.
Goodwas all Nate could think.
Sam was sworn in.She answered Vanderbilt’s questions with a grace and poise that impressed Nate.
And evaporated once the defense attorney started.
“You were a young woman.Are you sure you aren’t exaggerating your memory of Mr.Bennet’s injuries?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.Weird how some kid getting the shit kicked out of him by his dad sticks with you, no matter how young you are.”
“I’d like the court to remind Ms.Price that she only needs to answer yes or no.Everything else should be stricken from the record.”
But she didn’t listen.Often offering a scathing comment to go along with her answer to a question.She was warned by the judge, twice.It wasn’t funny, but there was something about the fire, the passion… maybe the jury wouldn’t see it the way he did, but he had to hope they could.
Sam had lived in this case for fifteen years.She knew every inch of it.The defense attorney tried to nudge her into a corner, but she was too solid.Yes, belligerent, but smart with it.
When she returned to the seat next to him, she was scowling.He took her hand, curled his around it, and she let out a slow breath, some of that fury fading.
When Landon took the stand, it became clear what the defense would try to do.Undercut Nate’s and Sam’s testimonies from yesterday with the people who’d supported Ben.
Not a surprise in and of itself, but what was a surprise was how much it hurt.How every pointed question didn’t have him questioning whether he’d been harmed but had him questioning if it would ever matter.
Every cross-examination question was designed to discount Nate’s story of abuse by repetitively bringing home the fact it had only been him, and only once.In a moment of great emotional turmoil—like that excused it.
When Landon shared his memory of Mom having a black eye, the defense attorney undercut it, since Mom hadn’t admitted to being beaten.There were no police records of domestic abuse—for NateorMom.
Nate knew that it waspossiblethe jury saw things for what they were, not what the defense was trying to twist.But he also knew there were holes in his and Landon’s stories, and then even Aly’s story.
Because neither Landon nor Aly had been able to testify they had ever seen Benjamin Bennet hurt any family member.Physically.
They’d known that going in, so Nate tried not to feel… beat down.
