Page 7 of Impending Consent

Jairo and I spoke often which meant he was aware of most of my jobs, especially when they paid as much as Sailor was paying me to create custom accent walls—a handcrafted design behind her bed and one in the living room with shelving.

“Those are million plus properties, family.”

“You do realize my house is valued at over a million dollars, right?”

“I do and your shit is historical. Old bones and in need of a lot of love and care. Her place is a turnkey million-dollar property.”

“Are you talking shit about my house?”

He laughed “Nah because you’re sensitive as fuck about that place. What I’m saying is your house, regardless of the value, is not in that expensive ass building where she lives. Two very different lanes. I’m surprised she agreed to live with you and not the other way around.”

She would have agreed to just about anything I asked last night. She was drunk, wanted to fuck, and not the type of woman who accepted no as an answer. I also truly believed she felt there was a way to work her way out of this marriage after she got what she wanted. My dick.

Sailor came from a family of very powerful lawyers and was a legal shark herself. The law was the law and marriage was pretty cut and dry. If we had to face a jury of our peers with her father or siblings defending her, I might be concerned, but that wasn’t the case. Not with our situation.

“You’re talking like you don’t know me.”

He laughed again. “I know you better than anyone, Rival. Which is why none of this makes sense but I’m gonna mind my business. If shit goes left and you need a character witness, you know I’m there. I won’t hold you. Just wanted to check in to see if this was truly legit and if you’d come to your senses. Apparently not.”

“Don’t you think you should have done that last night?” I smirked.

“Nah, my brother asked me to stand in as a witness. That’s what I was gonna do. I could get clarity later, but you were firm in your decision. So that was good enough for me. I’ve got a client pulling up. I’ll get with you later. Maybe you and wifey can come to dinner or something. I probably need to get to know her since she’s sis now.”

“No the fuck you don’t.” I frowned at the amusement in his tone.

He laughed again. “Later, Rival, and good luck with this shit.”

I locked my phone, placed it back on the table near the stairwell and got back to sanding so I could have the boards stained before the weekend. I should have been focusing, but unfortunately my mind was on my wife. A wife I had a feeling I would have to fight hard as hell to keep.

Chapter 3

Sailor.

“Are you here to waste my time and your money?”

“What?”

“I asked if you’re here to waste my time and your money.”

“No, I’m not.”

Fredrick Williams scowled in my direction and I angled my head to the side. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep last night and my brain was a bit sluggish from the overindulgence of alcohol which meant my already short fuse was basically nonexistent. Unfortunately though, Fredrick paid ten grand as a retainer for me to assist with clearing his name after being charged with burning down the restaurant where he previously worked.

Arson was a serious charge, but I had no doubt I could clear his name. He wasn’t responsible. Fredrick was arrogant and a hot head but I was good at reading people. So when he insisted he hadn’t been the one who’d manipulated the wiring that initially started the fire which burned down Burger Buzz, I believed him, but he was at risk of losing this case by lying to the one person he should never lie to, his attorney.

“Initially, when I asked if you ever threatened to burn down the Burger Buzz, you said no. While ranting about how Steward mistreated the employees seconds ago, you said you threatened to burn down the place multiple times because it would serve him right to lose everything.”

“I was just talking shit. Everyone does from time to time. Just because I threatened to do so in the heat of an argument doesn’t mean I acted on it. I didn’t. It wasn’t me. I wasn’t the reason the place blazed.”

“I know, otherwise I wouldn’t be defending you. However, if asked on the stand and you lie, or they trip you up with that exact statement and prove you did in fact threaten to burn down his property, it weakens your character. That’s a huge misstep. If it comes up or we present the information first, we can explain it away. But denying or lying about the statement works against you. Do you understand?”

This grown man shrank and his shoulders deflated. “Yeah, I understand.”

“You can lie to your priest, your girlfriend, hell, your mother, but you do not lie to me, Fredrick.”

“I won’t.”

My brow slowly crawled up and he asserted, “I won’tagain. Sorry, I fucked up but I didn’t think it was a big deal.”

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