“Come now, Xander. Aren’t we on a first-name basis by now? I mean you did railroad me into taking the case against Mr. Prince based on the Pakhan’s strong suggestion. Or should I say bribe?”
“My fucking God. You think I would do something like that?”
“Yes, I do. You might as well admit it. My guess is that you did so to pad your bank account. But you also felt pressured since they were one of your largest contributors for your win as DA just a year ago. It was called payback.”
“Fuck,” he muttered, jerking to his feet.
“I can only imagine the threats they used.” I allowed the comment to hang in the air, watching as he struggled with the realization he’d been caught red-handed.
“Including hurting you.”
“How so?”
He slowly slid back into his seat, his expression one of defeat. After quickly looking toward the door, he shook his head. “You don’t know how powerful they are.”
“So you’re admitting you railroaded the case. You thought you could pressure me to have him convicted.”
“Why wouldn’t I do so myself?”
“Because you are well aware the Prince organization would realize you were in bed with the Russians. I’m not. Unless you consider the fact they had me pegged to marry the Pakhan’s son in some deranged arrangement. You knew that all along. Didn’t you? You also knew the Russians were responsible for Lorenzo Russo’s murder. Didn’t you?” I had to be careful not to become too aggressive. But at this point, I was furious. I’d trusted the man completely. “Didn’t you?”
“Yes,” he hissed. “I had no other choice.”
“You always have a choice, Xander. A man was murdered, another framed, and you were hoping I’d be the reason he’d spend the rest of his life behind bars for a murder he didn’t commit. I can’t believe you’d stoop so low. What happened to you? You once told me there was no gray in the law, only black and white.”
“I learned I was wrong.”
“How interesting. So did I.” I tossed the paperwork on his desk, immediately pulling out my phone.
“What are you doing?”
“Just checking something on my calendar.” Which was a lie. “There we go. I wanted to let you know that today is my last day.”
“Because of a monster like Alexander Prince?”
“No, well, yes, because of Alexander Prince. However, not because he’s a monster, but because I’m getting married a week from Saturday. I would invite you, but I can assure you that you won’t like the… reception. That means you’ll need to handle Mr. Prince’s case yourself.” I headed to the door, my nerves very much on edge.
“Is there anything I can say to stop you? You’re tossing your career away, Catherine. You’re so damn talented.”
“Don’t worry, Xander. My talents won’t go to waste.” Before I opened the door, I played the recording I’d just taken, smiling as I did.
His face paled.
“As you know in New Orleans, only one party is required to agree to a recording for it to be permissible in a court of law. I’m that one party. If you’re curious what I was just doing, I have no problem telling you. I emailed it to several parties, including my attorney who will deliver this to the authorities if something should happen to me. But that will be the least of your problems. My fiancé isn’t a very nice man.”
“You can’t do that.”
“Oh, I can, and I will. However, I’ll give you an out. You’re going to ensure that Mr. Prince is found innocent. After that, well, my suggestion is that you turn in your notice and leave the state. For your protection, of course. If you don’t do that, the file will be released and the case will be tossed out anyway. You have one chance at doing the right thing. I suggest you take it.”
“Catherine, you don’t know who you’re messing with. They will hurt you.”
“I’m sure they’d like to try, but they’ll have to go through my new husband. The Don of the Prince Empire. Have a fabulous day.”
Ten days later
“Stop fidgeting,” Emmeline snarked as she tugged on the dress, yanking me back by a few inches.
“I can’t breathe.”
