My eyes went watery. I turned to Kay’Lo, and he looked at me like he’d been waitin’ for that reaction. I stood on my tiptoes and wrapped my arms around his neck, kissin’ him slow while he rubbed the lower part of my back like he ain’t want me feelin’ nothin’ but love.
He pulled out my chair, and the chef brought our plates. Kay’Lo sat across from me, and the whole time we ate, he flirted with me with his eyes, lickin’ his lips, smilin’ and rubbin’ histhumb along my hand when he reached across the table to steal a piece of my fruit.
When we finally finished, he wiped his mouth, stood up, and came around to me. He grabbed my hand and laced our fingers together, then led me toward the door with that quiet confidence that always made me feel like wherever he went, I was safe.
We stepped out the mansion together, ready to hear whatever his lawyer had to tell us, and even though fear tugged at the back of my mind, his hand in mine made me feel like we could face anything.
As long as we did it together.
KADE DEFENSE FIRM
When we finally made it to Kay’Lo’s lawyer’s office, I felt my stomach twist in a way I couldn’t hide, even though I tried to walk like my nerves wasn’t tearin’ through me. Kay’Lo held my hand while we walked through the lobby, and his grip was warm and firm, but his face was cold as hell, like somebody flipped a switch off inside him. He ain’t say much on the way here, and the whole ride he kept his eyes forward like he was tryna keep his mind from wanderin’ to the wrong places. I could tell he was doin’ everything he could to stay calm, and that alone made my heart ache ‘cause it wasn’t fair for no man to carry this type of weight on his shoulders.
Barron Kade’s office was nice, clean, and quiet. It was that type of quiet that made you feel like everything inside the walls mattered. He had dark wooden furniture, big leather chairs, anda long glass table that stretched across his meetin’ room like it was meant for powerful decisions. The windows showed half the city, and I swear the whole room felt expensive without even tryin’. The receptionist greeted us, then walked us down the hall to where Barron was waitin’, and soon as we stepped inside, Barron stood up like he been expectin’ us.
“Kay’Lo. Toni,” he said, noddin’ once with that serious look he always had. “Thank you for comin’ in.”
Kay’Lo pulled out my chair first, lettin’ me sit, then he took the seat beside me. He leaned back with his arms crossed, his tattoos lookin’ darker against the light comin’ from the window, and his face was calm in a way you only saw when he was holdin’ a storm inside. Barron sat across from us with a folder already open, and he breathed in slow before speakin’.
“I’m putting together a team for this case,” he said. “We are building a full defense unit, investigators, experts, jury consultants, the whole nine. This is a double homicide charge, with you facing death penalty, so I’m approaching this with everything I’ve got.”
My chest tightened when he said that, and I placed my hand on Kay’Lo’s thigh under the table. He rested his hand on top of mine and rubbed his thumb across my fingers like he was lettin’ me know he was good. But I knew he wasn’t. I knew none of this shit was good.
Barron flipped a page inside the file and leaned forward. “Before we get into strategy, there’s something new I have to tell you. It concerns the Lennox family.”
I felt Kay’Lo shift beside me, and my stomach dropped ‘cause I already knew anything tied to them couldn’t be good.
Barron looked from the paper to Kay’Lo, then back again. “Roderick’s daughter is making additional statements,” he said. “She is now claiming that before the shooting, you were stalking her.”
A wild heat crawled through my chest. Kay’Lo ain’t move, but he blinked slow, his face hardenin’ as he inhaled.
Barron continued, “She’s also claiming that you raped her.”
The entire room tilted.
I sat there frozen ‘cause fury was fillin’ my whole body in a way I couldn’t even control. My hand tightened on Kay’Lo’s thigh, but he didn’t push me off. He just let me hold him.
Barron hesitated, and I knew why. He glanced at me like he was worried this was somethin’ I didn’t need to hear.
Kay’Lo looked at him with a blank expression. “Man, keep talkin’,” he muttered.
Barron nodded slow. “She claims she didn’t come forward before because she was scared,” he said, his tone makin’ it real clear he ain’t believe that shit. “She’s painting a picture of being threatened and afraid, and she’s saying the shooting happened because your obsession turned violent.”
My lips parted as the anger shot through me hot as fire. Echo’s nasty ass knew exactly what the fuck she was doin’. That bitch knew damn well she had been the one stalkin’ me, watchin’ my stories, sendin’ messages and beggin’ for attention from my husband like she ain’t have no shame or boundaries. She was obsessed with Kay’Lo, not the fuckin’ other way around, and she damn sure wasn’t actin’ like no rape victim. The audacity of her even speakin’ the word made my skin crawl ‘cause I knew that pain. I lived that trauma, and she was usin’ it like it was a convenient lie to destroy somebody else’s life.
Kay’Lo exhaled hard and rubbed his hand down his face, then leaned back in the chair with his legs stretched out. He shook his head slow. “Man, I ain’t rape that fuckin’ girl,” he said, voice low but firm. “Do it look like I need to rape anybody?”
Barron lifted his hand in reassurance. “Kay’Lo, I know,” he said calmly. “I don’t believe that for one second, and neither does anyone on my team. But I need you to understand whatwe’re up against. Her father is furious, and he’s grasping at anything he can find to twist this case. They’re playing dirty, and they’re gonna keep playing dirty.”
Kay’Lo nodded, but his eyes stayed on the table like he was tryin’ not to flip it. He took a slow breath. “Her brothers came to my shop,” he said. “They came there with energy. I warned them niggas. They kept pushin’. Shit went left. That’s what happened. I ain’t hunt nobody down. I ain’t stalk nobody. I damn sure ain’t rape nobody.”
Barron leaned back, lookin’ at him with respect. “And that’s exactly what we’re going show during trial,” he said. “We’re collecting evidence, gathering witnesses, trying to find the lost footage that was removed from your shop, and preparin’ experts for trial. You will be represented by the best legal team in Trill-Land. I’m fighting for your life with everything I’ve got.”
I stared at Barron, barely hearin’ him ‘cause the anger inside me was suffocatin’. That bitch Echo was tryna take my husband away from me. She was tryna take him away from our baby, away from the life we built and it made me feel sick ‘cause once a lie like that goes public, it sticks even if you prove it wrong. Rape wasn’t somethin’ you played with. It wasn’t somethin’ you threw around to get revenge. It wasn’t somethin’ you faked just ‘cause a nigga ain’t want you.
I swallowed hard and focused on breathin’. Kay’Lo placed his hand on my thigh again, rubbin’ slow ‘cause he could feel my whole body tense.
Barron closed the file. “We’re going to be ready,” he said. “I’m not letting them destroy you.”
