First viable weapon? A broom. It rested against the wall, not far from the mess of mirror fragments. I snatched it up, pointing it menacingly at these two intruders like I was the damn Wicked Witch of the West. If only I had a house and some flying monkeys.
Unfortunately, not only was I ill-equipped with fictional primates, but my upper hand in the situation was short-lived. Whoever this man was, his powers were honed to break down defenses. In the blink of an eye, illusions of him multiplied like being stuck in a room of funhouse mirrors.
I swung wildly at any of the clones of him, thewooden handle of the broom slicing through the air but never striking true.
Until one of his hands clamped down around it, and all the copies of him snapped back into his one true form.
We engaged in the shortest bout of tug of war before he wrenched the broomstick out of my hands. The force of it caused me to stumble several steps closer to him. Before I could correct my footing, stars exploded across my vision and heat blossomed across my cheek. It jarred me enough to drop me to the floor.
Lying there, trying to stop my world from spinning, I struggled to hear past the roar of blood in my ears. My eyes teared up involuntarily from the strike, leaving my vision compromised. I wouldn’t have noticed the woman step closer to me if it had not been for the neon green pumps she wore that even a blind man would see in the dark.
Scrambling to get up, her stiletto heel dug into my back between my shoulder blades. Applying more pressure than needed with her foot, she sneered at me, “Stay down.”
Movement registered from the corner of my eye. The man wielded the broom like a baseball bat. I opened my mouth to scream, but my world went blessedly black.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Your Honor,I assure you I knew nothing about this emergency filing. My client never raised his concerns to me,” I said while staring Judge Sullivan in the eyesas Istoodin the middle of his chambers.
The call had come that Robbie had filed a petition to vacate the final divorce decree. He alleged that he had gone through with the hearings under extreme duress from his counsel—namely me—claiming I had advised him to move forward under false pretenses. Specifically, I had grossly misrepresented aspects of the case so that I could ultimately fuck his wife.
Clarissa definitely wouldn’t have been worth all that effort.
It was fucking bullshit. Robbie had repeatedly made it clear that he wanted to take his wife for every penny that she had swindled from him. Yet here Iwas,defending my integrity and my license to practicelaw.
“Mr.Nightvale, I understand your position. However, you can understand why I am hesitant to dismiss this as frivolous when it says right here—” he flipped a page in the document and tapped a line about halfway down the page, “—that you ‘engaged in immoral and unethical sexual relations with the former Mrs.Hershforddirectly after the final divorce hearing.’”
He looked at me with his eyes peering over the top of his bifocals before adding, “and‘saidconduct transpired in courthouse men’s restroom.’”
Removing his glasses, he set them down on the filing and leaned back in the large leather chair. Despite the withering look he pinned me with, Iremainedstatue-still with my hands clasped in front of me.
“This goes one of two ways,” he said while steepling his fingers thoughtfully in front of him. “I can pull courthouse security footage and have these claims formally investigated. The official complaintwillremainon record.”
He paused.
“Or?” I prompted.
Drawing a deep breath, he slowly exhaled before responding.“Or you have a lengthy and serious talk with your client. I suggest one that involves groveling of the highest order, including an intensely personal vow not to approach hisex-wife under any circumstances ever again.”
Like I’d hitthatever again. Compared to Char?—
I shut down the thought immediately, refusing toexamine the uncomfortable truth in how being with myHeartspitestained my blood. Unforgivably so.
Curtly, I nodded. “Understood, Your Honor. I will reach out to Mr.Hershfordon this matter and clear up any… misunderstandings.”
The judge’s shoulders lost their tension, and relief melted away the stern façade. “See that you do, Mr.Nightvale.”
Twenty minutes and a stop at the liquor store later, I pulled up to my estate. Seeing Charlee’s pickup still parked out front, I growled beneath my breath. I hadspecificallytold Jamie I wanted it moved into the garage, out of sight, before I returned.
No matter. Once I reconsider his request for time off tomorrow, maybe then he’ll be more prompt with carrying out his tasks.
I parked behind her truck and stepped out of my latest automobile acquisition, a limited-edition sports car from a small town in Italy that was a half-day’s ferry ride away from the picturesque Ionian Islands of Greece.
Icast a sidelong glanceat thewaterfountain.Mother looked particularly displeased today, despite her face being cast in the same stony expression thathadn’tchangedfor years. Something about the way the sunlight avoided hitting her eyes and the aggressiveflow of water suggested a mood fouler than the River Styx.
Safe to assume she disapprovedof myguestof honor on the second floor. She never did take kindly to disturbances amongst the shadows of my pandemonium. Charlee wascertainly a disruptive spark of light, one that I had attempted to place inside a prism. If I could refract her energy, not destroy it, then maybeshe’dbe more like me—privy to the damagecollidinghearts could inflict.
“Don’t look atme like that.” My tone cameout clipped andmaybe atouch petulant before I addedina grumbled concession, “I’ll take care of it.”
