‘Okay.’
‘There’s one other thing I’m legally required to ask you.’
Nina closed her eyes. ‘Shoot.’
‘His team reached out yesterday. Obviously, they can see where this is going because they wanted to know if you’d go for an alternate dispute resolution.’
‘You mean settle out of court?’
‘That’s what they’re calling it, but I have to warn you, because this is a criminal case now, it would require you to recant your statement. We’d essentially be pulling the rug out from under the criminal case, and, although Aiden would try to protect you, there might still be legal repercussions for you.’
Nina hated that she was even remotely tempted by the offer. Not by the money – millions – she would receive, but by the possibility of ending this. Now. If she settled, she could be back with Maverick on Hunt Ranch in a few days. She could start piecing together what was left of her career. She could move on. ‘I hate that I’m even considering it,’ she whispered over the line.
‘You’d be a fool not to.’
Because she needed the strength just then, she pictured Poppy. All that innocence and joy andbrightness, and it was enough to remind her why she was doing this. ‘But I can’t let him get away with it anymore. We know there was at least one other woman before me. And if I don’t do something there’ll be more after me too. And the damage is done now. My career is either over or it’s not, but changing my story now would only do more harm than good.’
‘I’m hearing “No”?’
‘No,’ Nina said firmly. ‘We finish this.’ And because it felt really good to say it, she added, ‘Let’s bring the fucker down.’
‘Atta girl.’ She exhaled a huge breath. ‘Now, I’m going to ask you to do something and it’s going to be really unfair …’
‘I’m ready,’ Nina said, and her voice was firm with conviction.
‘In California, victims of a serious felony are given reasonable opportunity to be heard prior to pretrial release.’
Nina felt sick to her stomach. ‘You want me to speak?’
‘It’ll be a quick statement. We’ll draft it beforehand, and you can read it off the paper tomorrow at the bail hearing. But given how important optics are going to be in this case, I’m going to advise you to do it. But it has to be your choice. Because it’ll be hard, Nina.’
‘Everything about this is hard.’
‘I know.’ But Linda didn’t say more, only waited.
‘I’ll do it,’ Nina said even though just the thought of speaking about the attack in front of all those people made her feel sick to her stomach. It wouldn’t be acting, where she pretended to play out a horror that ended the moment the cameras stopped rolling, a horror that wasn’t hers. This nightmare would continue indefinitely.
‘I’ll draft it and send it to you in a few hours. You can edit it how you want and send it back to me for final review by the end of the day. His bail hearing is tomorrow at nine. I can pick you up – if that’s easier?’
‘Ah, no. Don’t worry about me. Markus will want to drive me.’
‘If you need anything, let me know. I understand how hard this must be for you, but I promise you that we are making excellent progress.’
‘Thanks, Linda.’
‘I’ll see you tomorrow.’
‘Yeah. Bye.’
‘Bye.’
Nina hung up the phone.
Because she was still in bed, she flopped onto her back and sighed. Her stomach roiled, forcing bile up her throat. Her skin crawled with anxiety.
She had to physically resist the urge to call Mav. Because he would have come, instantly and without question. And because she had a few hours before Linda sent her the draft statement, she shut her eyes, curled into the foetal position, and tried to find momentary peace the only way she knew how: sleep.
It was Markus who called Maverick once the bail hearing time was set.
