There’s an undercurrent of distress, thinking of what could happen to her if someone found out she’s stayingthere. The worry that whoever came after her husband might try to find her leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. I don’t know how to tell her I worry she isn’t safe without causing her unnecessary anxiety if I’m wrong. Which is why I insisted the hotel keep her room in my name with my card on file.
“Alright, fellas,” Connor calls out. “Everyone’s here, and everyone’s paid up. Dealers, you can begin.”
Connor deals us in, and a low murmur fills the room as the games begin. There are three full tables tonight. I pick up my cards, not really paying much attention to the other players around me. As I organize my cards and contemplate my next move, someone calls my name, and my eyes lift from my cards to the eyes of the man sitting across from me. Vernon’s an attorney who joined the group maybe ten or so years ago. I have no idea what kind of law he practices, but I’ve never crossed paths with him professionally.
Vernon’s studying me intently, and I raise my eyebrows in silent question.
“I heard you got a new client the other day,” he says, feigning nonchalance.
My hand holding my cards drops to the table in front of me. “Yeah, well, I get a lot of clients, Vernon. What’s it to you?”
Knowing exactly what he’s going to say, I clear my face of any reaction when he replies, “I have no doubt that you do. But this one’s different. Since it’s for a criminal defense case.”
I sniff hard and tap the edges of my cards on the table. Not really wanting to get into my sudden one-eighty back to the life I left behind, I deflect. “I wouldn’t believe everything you hear, Vern.”
He stares at me over the frames of his glasses, that haveslid down the bridge of his nose. “So you aren’t representing Lily Bennett?”
I narrow my eyes at Vernon. “How the fuck do you know her?”
His thin shoulders lift. “I was her husband’s attorney for many years. I also helped Lily at times when she needed help.”
A billowing mixture of anger and something that might be jealousy twists in my chest.
“Are you really back?” Connor mutters beside me.
I cut my stare in his direction. “It’s complicated.”
Connor was one of the people who pushed me the hardest to reconsider leaving defense work after Tom’s trial. While I appreciated his support and his belief in me, it pissed me off that he didn’t even try to understand where I was coming from. It put a strain on our friendship that I never bothered to tell him about.
Addressing Vernon again, I ask, “Did you know he beat her?”
He has the decency to look ashamed. “I knew he had an anger problem. But both of them kept what really happened at home from everyone. Including me.”
“Everyone, make your bets,” Connor demands of the table to keep us moving.
We all toss our chips in the middle of the table, followed by each of us discarding cards and getting new ones dealt.
When we’re all studying the new hands, I ask, “So you had no idea what was going on?”
Not looking at me, Vernon rearranges his cards in his hands. “Didn’t say that. Just said they kept it hidden.”
Anger starts to win the battle against jealousy as I study the older man. I don’t think Vernon is necessarily a bad guy. But I’m struggling to understand how he couldn’t do moreto help Lily, even if it was just a suspicion of what was going on.
I grit my teeth and keep my eyes locked on my cards, even as it gets harder to focus on them. All I can see is the bruise on Lily’s perfect cheek. The careful way she moves so as not to hurt her ribs. The split down her lip that I worry will open any time she talks because I don’t want her to feel even a second of pain.
We’re all tossing another round of bets into the pot, when Vernon’s voice pulls me back to the moment. “But I guess we don’t have to worry about that anymore.”
I huff out a humorless laugh. He’s not wrong, but it also pisses me off that he says that so casually when Lily’s freedom could be on the line if the detectives don’t get their heads out of their asses.
But I concede. “No, Lily never has to worry about getting abused by someone who’s supposed to love her.”
His smile is small as we all set our cards down.
My hand is the winner.
I collect my chips and take a few moments to organize them in front of me while Connor shuffles the deck.
Vernon clears his throat. “For what it’s worth, I’m glad it’s you defending her.”
