“I’m pissed, but fine. Are my parents here?”
“No. I told them I’d handle it.”
“You paid my bail?”
“Thanks to you, I got a little money in the bank.”
I shook my head as I smiled. Had this happened last night, she probably would’ve let me sit in here for a few days.
“Thank you, baby. I’ll be sure to replace it. Let’s go.”
We exited the building holding hands and were bombarded with cameras. It didn’t dawn on me that the media would be waiting for me to be released.
“Mr. Goode, did you know there’s a video of you stepping over a woman on the ground who is clearly injured?”
“Court records show that you’ve been married for almost two months. Is it true the woman you assaulted is your mistress?”
Reporters with microphones and camera people surrounded us, and questions came from every direction. It was quite overwhelming, but I felt I had to say something.
“I want to go on record saying that I didn’t assault anyone, the woman in the video is not my mistress, and everything is not always as it seems.”
I put my arm around Malyah’s waist to keep her close, and we pushed through the crowd. Of course, they followed us, pressing to get me to say more, but we made it to her SUV in one piece and sped away.
“This is crazy,” she said.
“Tell me about it. I swear, when I see Callie, I’m?—”
“Not doing anything. All that’ll do is make matters worse. Focus on proving your innocence, and let that be the end of it.”
“That bitch went to the police and told them I assaulted her because I don’t want to fuck her anymore. How crazy is that?”
“I mean, the dick is good, so I understand why she’s losing her mind without it.”
I gave her the side-eye before returning my attention to the road.
“Oh, you got jokes, I see.”
“It’s not a joke, but I can see why you might find it funny. You’ve never had your dick before. What did your lawyer say?”
“He reached out to see if the bar has any footage from the parking lot last night. Ronin saw the whole thing, so he can testify that I didn’t assault that girl.”
“Yeah, but his testimony may not help much, considering your relationship. The video online is pretty damaging, although it doesn’t show you assaulting her.”
“She set me up because why else would she have footage of our interaction?”
“Based on what I know of her, I wouldn’t be surprised.”
We made it home, and Ronin’s and Matthew’s cars were in our driveway. As soon as I stepped inside, my grandfather was on my ass.
“This is exactly why I wanted you to get married. I’m on the cusp of handing over my entire legacy to you, and this happens,” my grandfather shouted.
“Gramps, I swear I didn’t assault that girl.”
“I was there and would’ve never let it go that far,” Ronin assured him.
“I know you didn’t. We didn’t raise you to abuse women, but women like her are the exact reason I wanted you to settle down.Do you see how easily scandals are created? Now we have to waste time, money, and energy cleaning this shit up.”
I’d never seen my grandfather this upset, and I felt like shit because I was the cause.
