Page 93 of The One for Forever

Nostrils flaring, I lean in enough that he’ll feel my breath in his face.

“I’ll talk to him.”

Derek and I both look to the side. Quinn is standing in the open doorway to the kitchen. She’s wearing jeans and a Team Triumph hoodie that’s big enough to swallow her.

She turns around and goes back inside.

Derek sneers at me. “Mind removing your paws from my suit?”

I step back, making a show of brushing off his lapels. “If you say anything that so much as gives her indigestion, I’m throwing you out on your ass.”

“Isn’t she a bit young for you, gramps?”

“Aren’t you a bit young to be sassing your elders?” As if I care for one second what this asshole thinks of my relationship with Quinn. I gesture for him to follow her inside. “Remember my warning. This old dog knows plenty of tricks.”

“Ha. Ha.” Derek heads inside.

I lift my chin at my teammate. “Thanks. We’re good for now.” Then I follow Derek and Quinn into the kitchen. She’s standing by the island with an icy glare on her face. I’m glad to see Derek is squirming in his rumpled suit.

I lean against the closed door and cross my arms.

“What’s this about, Keller?” she asks. “If you’re here to gloat?—”

“I’m not. I swear. Trust me, I don’t want to be here any more than you want to see me.” His eyes narrow in my direction. “But I didn’t feel I had a choice. Is there, uh, someplace we could sit down?”

I open my mouth to refuse, but Quinn beats me to it. “I’m not going to make you more comfortable. Just say what you need to say. I’m tired.”

Derek rubs a hand over his jaw. “Yeah, I know it’s been a rough couple of days for you.”

“Spit it out,” Quinn snaps.

“First, you’ve got to believe me when I say I didn’t know!” These words come out in a rush. “I swear I didn’t know about what Pete Diamond had planned.”

“Changing his testimony to make us look like fools? Claiming that Lana and I coerced him?”

“Yes. But also…”

I take a menacing step toward him, and he blanches.

“I’m getting to it, okay? But this isn’t easy. I’m violating client confidentiality here.”

“Then why are you doing it?” Quinn asks.

His eyes squeeze shut, then open again. “Because it’s the right thing to do.”

I’m amazed the guy knows the difference. Not because he’s a defense lawyer. I know many admirable attorneys on the other side, like Jane Holt. My opinion of Keller is based solely on his past behavior toward Quinn.

“Go on,” Quinn prompts. “I’m officially intrigued.”

He starts to pace across the tile floor. “Okay. When I agreed to represent Amber, I interviewed all the potential witnesses in preparation for her defense. Including Pete. He said basically what he testified to in court. That Amber was in the spa the whole time on the day of the murder. Then he changed his story, and I assumed it was sour grapes because she’d rejected him. I really didn’t know what he planned to do.”

“Get to your point.”

“Iam. So today, after the verdict, Amber and I had our press conference with the media. Then we headed to my firm’s office,which isn’t far from the courthouse. Amber insisted on bringing Pete with us. He was ecstatic. Shaking hands like it was the best day of his life. But he was claiming the credit. Because, according to him, he’d tricked the prosecution and it had all worked perfectly. Pete thought the best part was that hereally saw her sneak out of the spa that day.”

Quinn’s eyes bug. “You’re telling me Amber is guilty? Your client?”

He looks like he wants to crawl out of his skin. “I can’t believe I’m doing this either. But she’s already been acquitted. It’s double jeopardy. The point isn’t really her guilt, okay?”

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