Page 70 of Claimed by Him

“She has a point, Mr. McCloud. Are you willing to allow verification by submitting the entire diary as evidence?”

I pressed my hand against my stomach and prayed that McCloud wouldn’t want to risk it. The entry in the picture had been written in anger. Taken as only a few lines highlighted on one particular page, it could be pretty damning. But if they allowed in the diary, there would be plenty of other entries where I talked about how much I loved my family. Still, no one would want their childhood tantrums and crushes made a part of the public record.

“I’ll withdraw the photo,” McCloud said.

“Let’s get back to it then,” the judge said. “Do you have additional questions for this witness?”

“I do, Your Honor.” He was smiling again. “Miss Quick, let’s talk about your feelings toward Darcy Fitzsimmons.”

* * *

When I livedin Hell’s Kitchen with Anton, one of our neighbors was this wizened old woman who talked in all sorts of odd phrases. One that she’d often said after a long day was that she felt like a washrag that had been used, rung out, and hung to dry. I’d never really understood what she meant, but as I stepped off the witness stand hours later, I finally got it.

“We’ll reconvene tomorrow with the defense’s first witness.” The judge banged his gavel.

“You were great,” Vijay said. “Go back to the hotel and get some sleep. The defense only has a couple witnesses, and after the way he came at you, I’m thinking his entire plan is to present as many other possible suspects as he can and get the jury to believe that makes reasonable doubt.”

“Do you think it’ll work?” I asked, my voice raspy. I needed something to drink.

“Not a chance,” Vijay said. “I think Mr. McCloud thinks more highly of his skills as a lawyer than he should. This is his first big case. He’s only done parking tickets and misdemeanors before. He probably oversold himself to your dad without even looking at the case.”

I hoped she was right. People could believe some pretty crazy shit.

Clay waited just outside the courtroom, immediately engulfing me in a huge hug. “You did an amazing job.”

“Thanks,” I said as I took a step back. I appreciated the hug, but there was another set of arms I wanted around me.

“How are you doing?” Jalen came from my right, hesitating only a moment before hugging me. He’d been careful with how often he’d touched me today.

“Okay,” I said. “Glad it’s over.”

“If you don’t want to come for the rest, it’s fine.” Vijay looked from Clay to Jalen and then back to me. “It’s okay for it to be too much. Lean on your friends, but don’t feel like you need to come in. I’ll keep you in the loop.”

“I can’t even think about tomorrow,” I said honestly. “I just want to get back to the hotel and go to sleep.”

“I’ve got a car out front,” Clay said.

Jalen reached for my hand. “I can take her.”

Clay’s eyes dropped to where my fingers were laced between Jalen’s. “I’m not sure I trust you to do it.”

“Whether you trust me or not doesn’t matter,” Jalen said. “It’s Rona’s decision.”

“After what you did?” Clay’s voice held an edge as he took a step toward Jalen.

“Stop.” I didn’t say the word loudly, but both men stopped where they were and looked at me. “Clay, thank you for everything. You have been the best friend I could’ve asked for, and I don’t want anything about our friendship to change.”

“But?”

“But Jalen and I aren’t…friends. We’re…something else, and we need to spend time together if I’m ever going to figure out if I can trust him again.”

Clay studied us both for a moment before nodding. “All right. I’ll head back to the hotel. I’ll be right down the hall if you need me.”

“Thank you.” I kissed his cheek.

“I’m going to hold you to what we talked about before,” he said before he walked away.

“What did you talk about before?” Jalen was trying to sound nonchalant, but it wasn’t working.

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