Page 130 of With Wine Comes War

The first person I saw when Jack opened the door was Tanner and Jack placed his hand on my lower back to guide me to the opposite side— furthest from Tanner.

The judge looked at us and said, “Mr. Fletcher, how are you today?”

Jack responded, “I’ve been better your Honor.” The judge laughed. I couldn’t even bring myself to react. I was concentrating too hard.

“I can imagine you have. These are some unorthodox matters before us.” He looked over at Tanner and his lawyer and continued, “Mr. Robino, did you really have your firm draw up this garbage?” I was kind of shocked the judge talked to them like that, but it was a bunch of garbage.

Then he continued before the other attorney could even respond. “I’m not even going to give this any consideration. I’m going to throw…”

I looked at Jack for help.

Jack interrupted the judge and said, “Excuse me your Honor. Before you do that, my client would like me to ask something on her behalf.” The judge looked at me curiously, but I could tell I had no expression on my face right now and would be hard as hell to read. All I was trying to do was hold in the anxiety I knew was trying to escape.

He cautiously asked, “What would that be Jack?”

First name basis, huh? Is that a good thing or a bad thing? It sounded like sympathy.

Jack continued but shook his head a little and proceeded to explain. “Your Honor, my client is concerned that Mr. Ellington is going to keep harassing her with lawsuits to try and bankrupt her. My office is not the cheapest in town. If she has to continually pay legal fees and court costs, just to get these thrown out, it could end up costing her a lot of time and money. She runs a very successful real estate business and is now starting a nonprofit to help people in underprivileged circumstances. She’s seeking a permanent solution to the problem.”

Jack is damn good at his job and a good friend to boot.

The judge asked intently, “What would a permanent solution to the problem be for her?”

Jack cracked his neck and let out a deep sigh before saying, “She would like to prove that the lawsuit is bogus and that there was no defamation.”

“And how the hell would she be able to prove that?” I liked the judge’s use of profanity like he was assuming what everyone was assuming, that I couldn’t do this and that it was nuts. I smiled and waited for Jack to continue. I love being underestimated.

He forced the words out, “Well, she would like to fight him.” His head dropped right after he said it.

The judge laughed and looked at me and said, “You’ve got to be kidding, right?”

I laughed a little and so did everyone else in the room.

I calmly stated, “No, your honor. It’s not a joke.” Jack reached over and put his hand on my arm as the room went silent.

Tanner blurted out, “Absolutely. The answer is yes.”

The judge glared at him and said, “You will speak when I speak to you. Do you understand me Mr. Ellington?”

He sneered, “Sure.”

The judge raised his voice without yelling, “The correct response is ‘Yes, your Honor.’ Not sure.”

I thought Tanner was going to growl at him when he huffed out an irritated, “Yes, your Honor.” I acted unfazed, even though I wanted to smile, but now I felt like the judge might be a little more sympathetic to me.

The judge looked at Jack and said, “Mr. Fletcher, this is highly unusual. Why would you even suggest such a thing to your client?”

Jack’s face pinched up in pain. He frustratedly explained, “Oh no your Honor, I didn’t, and I wouldn’t. You see Ms. Kennedy has been a family friend since she was eighteen years old. She’s like a sister to me and to my wife, and she’s the godmother to my child, soon to be children. We all did everything we could to talk her out of this. She threatened to go to another law firm, and I don’t trust my family with just anyone, so here we are.” My heart swelled but I held it together the best I could. I knew I was going to get my turn to talk, and I needed to be ready.

The judge looked at me and said, “Ms. Kennedy, do you know how lucky you are to have such good people in your life? Why would you want to do something like this?”

This is what I was hoping for. And of course, I know I have good people in my life or else I’d never be able to do this.

I looked over at Tanner, scrutinizing him from head to toe then turned back to face the judge. “Your Honor, I’m sorry for bringing this on everyone. Trust me, I know what I’ve done to people in this whole process. But men like Tanner can’t keep going around thinking there’s no consequences for their actions. I understand that the legal system only has so much authority and the law is what it is. I want Tanner and people like him to know that there’s people like me out there who aren’t going to allow this behavior. I want women to know they aren’t powerless to men like Tanner. If they want to fight back, they can.”

The judge looked at me and said, “You think getting into a ring with a man twice your size to prove you can hold your own is what women need to see?”

Hold my own? That is not my plan at all.I sat up straight and blew out a breath.

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