Page 113 of Protecting Christina

“I just wanted to make sure the guard didn’t have any blowback from our little chat with Simon yesterday. If he did, I would have handled it.”

“And?”

“All good. No one gave a shit that he came back limping and bruised.”

Just then, a side door opened and a new guard walked in, steering Simon with a hand on his elbow. His hands were cuffed again, and he wore the orange jumpsuit, but he had a brand-new shiner on his eye. It was black and purple and it was glorious. He wasn’t squirming on the floor anymore, but I knew that his balls must still ache from yesterday.

Donna leaned against my shoulder. “Shit. Simon’s gonna have a rough time inside prison.”

I smiled. “His rough days have only just begun, Donna. Trust me.”

The court bailiff entered. “All rise.”

The half-empty courtroom stood as the judge entered and took his seat. As soon as we took our seats, he looked at Simon and addressed him.

“I considered many factors for this sentencing and know that Mr. Graff is still a young man and can perhaps be rehabilitated.”

My heart stopped beating, and I held my breath.

If he were to give Simon only six months, I don’t know what I would do.

He went on to cite his reasons and while they were lengthy, I couldn’t repeat any of them. My mind was stuck on the word rehabilitated. Finally, the judge said, “For the crime of human trafficking, Simon Graff, I hereby sentence you to ten years in prison, with the possibility of parole after five years.”

I sighed. It wasn’t twenty-five years, but it wasn’t six months either.

“For the crime of gross negligence, Simon Graff, I hereby sentence you to one year in a state penitentiary to be served concurrently with your other sentence.”

“Damn. He doesn’t get any extra time for that?” asked Donna.

“No. But it will make our civil negligence case stronger. Don’t worry, when he gets out, he won’t have a dollar in his account to buy himself a coffee.”

We waited for the judge to finish speaking and finally rose as he exited the courtroom.,

Simon sat with his head down, his usual cocky grin gone. He frowned when his lawyer spoke to him, but said nothing at all. For the first time in my life, Simon Graff looked defeated.

And we had done that to him.

“Let’s go celebrate,” I said.

“I thought we already did that after the verdict,” said Donna.

“Hey, if she’s buying, why are you questioning it?” asked Cheyanne, and we all laughed.

“There’s a great bar near Will’s house. I’ll text you the address.”

“Isn’t it a little early to start drinking?” asked Donna.

Lynette rolled her eyes. “Donna, babe, when did you become the responsible one?”

Donna smiled, as though the moniker pleased her. “I guess now. And you better get used to it because there will be a lot of changes from now on.”

Will drove us to the bar, as none of us wanted to be the designated driver. Since he had to work later, he agreed to stay sober.

When we arrived at the bar, I saw Tina and waved her over. “Tina, I’d like you to meet my sister, Donna, and her friends Lynette and Cheyanne.”

Tina smiled and wiped a loose strand of hair away from her face that had escaped her ponytail.

“Pleased to meet you all.”

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