Page 92 of Broken Boss

Autumn

Home on a Thursday night at 5 p.m. It feels wrong, but Frank is obviously thrilled. He’s begging for the pretzels I’ve been living off for the last few days. They’re the only thing I can seem to keep down along with, oddly enough, sushi.

With Orla busy working her current job at a theater dressing the entire troupe, it’s been lonely the last few days. She gets home past midnight some nights, so I try to distract myself with mindlessly watching the TV.

Nothing really interests me, so I land on the news.

Instinctively, my hand sweeps down to my belly as they wrap up the five-day forecast. I have an appointment in one week for my first ultrasound to see how far along I am, discuss the next steps, and figure out what the hell I’m doing with my life.

Not that the doctor will be able to help me with that, but it’s definitely on my to-do list.

I look down at Frank.

“We can’t just keep moping around, boy. Gotta get back on our feet.”

It’s easier said than done. The thought of being a single parent in New York City is daunting. I think back to my own childhood, without a mother, and how much of a struggle it was for my dad to pull himself out of his own depression.

He loved her so much. What’s it like to live without love after knowing it so intimately?

Probably a lot like this, the voice in my head taunts sarcastically.

Love.

Do I really love Chris Sharpe?

The man I swore to hate from the day my brother was sentenced?

I crunch on pretzels mindlessly, not wanting to think too hard about it. All my life, I’ve been treated poorly by men. Of course, the first one I fell for, who insisted I deserved love, would be the one I lost just as quickly.

As if I’ve summoned him, Chris appears on the TV screen.

I sit up, dropping the bag of pretzels on the floor. Frank practically goes into shock.

“I’m just happy the mistake was corrected. Mr. Cooper will be compensated accordingly and he is being released later this evening.”

“Do you really think anything can make up for the twelve years and four months that Stephen Cooper has spent at Fishkill, Mr. Sharpe?”

Other reporters murmur in interest. Chris’s face is impassive.

“No, I don’t think anything can make up for the wrong that was committed against Stephen Cooper by myself and the firm I was working for at the time, as well as by the city of New York. In fact, I’d like to take this moment to apologize.”

Chris looks directly into the camera. It’s as if his gaze is cutting into me from in front of the courthouse.

“To Stephen’s family, I’m sorry for the lost time. I’m sorry he wasn’t there to support you and be supported. I’m sorry you had someone who mattered to you taken away, and that you had to watch him be punished for a crime he didn’t commit. I hope you’ll find the grace to forgive me.”

The last sentence, almost whispered, is like an arrow to the heart. I feel like I’m being pulled to the TV screen. My eyes water as I reach blindly for my cell, wondering if it’s true—if Stephen will be released tonight. If I can hug him in public instead of in the prison.

Frank whines and nudges up against me. Petting him distractedly, I try to focus again on the press conference as reporters shout questions.

“Mr. Sharpe! Mr. Sharpe! It’s admirable that you’re admitting to your mistake. But do you really think it’s appropriate to have a lawyer from your own firm going up against the man you say committed this crime twelve years ago, when Mr. Cooper was wrongly accused?”

A small smile plays at the corners of Chris’s mouth.

“Actually, I do. I have no doubt that the man accused—Kieran Tate—is guilty. As you’ll see, the evidence presented in court will support that he has a history of violence and a penchant for hurting women. In fact—well, I don’t want to give too much away, but his crimes didn’t stop twelve years ago. And Marty Fields is the perfect lawyer for the job.”

He takes a moment to clear his throat, adjust the microphone.

“But just in case there are any more questions concerning whether or not I should be involved, I’ll take this moment to announce that I am taking a hiatus from legal work.”

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