Page 59 of My Bossy Billionaire Attorney

“It is the evidence my team and I have been gathering. I’ll tell you what I know. Eric visited a pawn shop regularly. He sold a lot of high-end jewelry to the owner, most of which he got through stealing. I don’t know the scale of this operation or if he was doing it himself, but that’s that.

The owner confirmed that Eric and Brandon did have an argument over your wedding and some money and that Brandonshowed up at the pawn shop the day they argued. Also, the knife…”

My heart leaps. I place a hand on my chest. “What about the knife? Is it Eric’s?”

He snaps his fingers. “Bingo, I knew you were smart. The woman at the pawn shop said he came in one day, asking if she found his knife. She said he was paranoid about losing it. I asked for the security footage dating back a month before he came in asking for the knife and there, on camera—I saw it.”

Michael flips through the photographs until he gets to one picture. He points to Eric’s right hand and just there, almost concealed, I see the handle of a knife. The same knife that was somehow placed in my house before the cops searched it.

I gasp.

“That’s it,” she sighs.

“I know. I told you I would clear your name.”

“I’m not relieved yet,” I say, not wanting to get my hopes too high. The last time I did that, they threw me a curveball in court.

I’d rather expect the worst with a slice of hope for something better.

Michael senses it and pockets the photographs. “Why don’t we talk about something else?”

“Like what?” I ask, uninterested. My mood is cautiously optimistic.

“Your relationship with Peter,” he says and I immediately frown.

“Anything but that. You know where I stand regarding my stepbrother.”

“But you seem to be reading things wrong regarding where he stands concerning you. I promise not to try and change your mind,” he quickly says before I can respond, lifting a finger, “but, here is what I know from having spent some time with the two of you.”

“Peter has good intentions. Sure, he might go about them the wrong way but he means well. And he is fiercely protective when it comes to you, Savannah.”

I snicker in disbelief. “You’re saying that because he is your best friend. That is a bit biased. I’d expect that.”

Michael shrugs.

“Maybe I am biased. However, I have no reason to lie to you. Hell, I have no stake in your relationship. I probably shouldn’t even be getting involved. I don’t even know why I am,” he shrugs. “Yet…I guess some things just have to be said. So here it is—Peter told your father not to contact you. He said that if he did, he wouldn’t forgive him.”

More disbelief fills me, then confusion when his expression doesn’t change.

“That’s it. He’s made mistakes but haven’t you made some too? If I remember, you barged into my office and mistook me for someone else.”

“And then you snuck into my office, hiding under the desk and eavesdropping on my conversation. Dare I remind you of the times you accosted me in the hallway and the—”

I place my hand over Michael’s mouth before I even know it and my eyes widen with the realization. I slowly withdraw my hand, putting it behind my back.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

The look on his face is mostly unreadable but I can tell that he is regretting bringing up the topic. Michael gets up.

“I shouldn’t have,” he sighs. “I’ll be down in ten minutes to take you home.”

I watch him walk away, my shoulders slumping and a heavy sigh escaping my lips. Michael Stone might not be the man I thought he was.

Or maybe, I muse, he is—but he is other things too. Kind, in the oddest of ways. Compassionate, when you least expect it. He can be brute, rude, and mean, but he’s loyal and true to his word.

I, on the other hand, realize I need to do some self-reflection. And get some answers, even if it means having a civil conversation with Peter for the first time in the better part of a decade.

Chapter 18

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