No. I just woke up.
Viv: Turn on Channel 7, Evie. NOW!
Jesus Christ, what’s with everyone this morning?
Getting up, I walk over to the coffee table and grab the remote, clicking the television on and changing it to the local news channel.
Coffee splatters all over my legs as I drop my favorite cup, the word printed on the side of it shining in the light like some cruel cosmic joke.
I scramble over to my chair, grabbing my phone from the cushion and dialing Vivianne’s number as I watch the news crew zoom in on the front door of the club we were just at last night.
Viv picks up on the first ring, her voice low and shaky. “Evie?”
I’m running up my stairs before she can even finish saying my name. “Don’t worry, Viv. I’m going to handle this.”
Chapter6
Roman
Please leave a message after the tone.
I slam the phone back onto the receiver. I want to find the person who voices the answering machine message and crack their head wide open. Fucking annoying.
Where the hell is Atlas and Kortez?
I was arrested last night and have heard that damned voice about fifty times already, but I had to try once more before going into the courtroom.
I tried to push back the date, or just pay off the judge completely, but this judge knows who we are. This judge is in Wade’s pocket. Which means I have to go through a real trial, with a lawyer my family didn’t pay for, and hope for the best – at least until one of my brothers calls me back.
Unfortunately, they haven’t been answering their phones - meaning they either died or were captured while on their assignment. That’s the only reason their phones would be playing that damned message.
I shake my head, running my fingers through my hair as I clear my thoughts. I can’t worry about my brothers right now because I have my own problem to deal with.
No contact with my family means no money for the judge and no contracted lawyers while stuck in a cityrun by a rival gang and in a jail run by a judge paid by my family’s number one enemy.
I’m so fucking screwed.
A knock sounds on the door, and I slide the phone into a hidden pocket in my pants right before an officer walks in to escort me to the courtroom. He doesn’t say anything as he grabs my elbow, jerking me toward the door with a bruising grip.
I remain silent but allow my eyes to linger on the officer’s face, committing him to memory so I can bruise him in return when the time comes.
The courtroom is fairly empty as he walks me down the aisle, only stopping momentarily to open the small gate that separates the bare gallery from the well where a stern-faced bailiff is waiting for me.
I look over at the table where my court appointed attorney should be only to find it empty. “Where’s my -“
The doors behind me slam open, the sound echoing as everyone in the courtroom turns to look at the newcomer.
You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.
It’s the woman from the club.
The woman who took my gum directly from my mouth.
The woman who had me searching all over the club social media pages for hours in my cell this morning to see if I could catch even a glimpse of her face.
Now she’s walking toward me, her hair disheveled and her suit jacket missing a button as she makes her way through the gallery gate. I don’t even think she’s noticed me yet.
“I am so sorry, Your Honor. There was a cat stuck in the hood of my car, and I couldn’t just leave it there so -“
