Page 105 of The Games We Play
“This is relaxed.” His shoulders loosen only a touch as he looks at his watch, then huffs an annoyed breath.
“I hate not being part of the mission, and I hate not having my earpiece.” He gives the area we are standing in a once over before staring back at the door.
“You are part of protecting me, and Seamus said that was the most important part of the mission,” I remind himof the words that Seamus said before we all split. “He said you were the only person he would trust with that.”
“You’re right,” he hides a proud smirk that appears as quickly as it disappears, “I just hate not knowing what the hell is happening on that side.”
Yeah, me too.
I know Seamus is good at what he does—what he’s trained to do—but even with that knowledge I’m on edge, as well. Unsure if he’ll get hurt, or caught, or the other twenty worst case scenarios that have run like a stampede through my head. But I also know I can’t dwell on that right now.
I steel my spine, lifting my chin, pulling in all the brave bits that have helped me grow into who I am at this moment. The girl whose voice was stolen by fear and shame. The woman who now stands tall and ready.
Stepping forward, I grip the spiraled, metal handle and push the door open.
The scent of wood and leather surround me as I glance around the room.
There aren’t many people here, the only ones I recognize are on the defendant’s side sitting in the first row behind the attorney.
His parents. The ones who fed the courtroom lies about their son, about what a stand up human he has always been. The ones who practically own the small town they live in. The ones who called me a liar and a whore to protect their rapist son.
They are talking amongst each other, like this is the prelude at the cinema. Dressed like it’s their first stop before Sunday brunch.
Rocco clears his throat, and not lightly. No, he made an intentional statement.
I hold back my smirk that feeds my confidence, and show it through my body language instead. Keeping my chin held high, the attorney peers up, looking over the heads of Nathan's parents.The confident smile he was displaying falls the moment he sees me, and his parents shift in their seats, turning around to see what made him stiffen.
The disgust on his mother’s face is as apparent as a blinding fluorescent light. His father’s neck slowly swivels back up to their attorney who is looking back at his assistant, fumbling through papers.
In all my life, I have never felt so gratified.
I hold more power than I ever gave myself credit for. I always have. They just made me think I didn’t. And now the roles are reversed.
The transfer of power is clear as I make my way through the middle aisle way, placing myself in the front row opposite them. His mother’s loathing eyes follow me the entire way.
Sitting down, I scooch over, making enough room for Rocco. As he sits down, I lean forward, glancing her way. I’m unable to hide my smile as they move around frantically and whisper amongst each other.
His mother stays put, keeping her eyes on me. It’s the exact same thing she did when I was eighteen and fragile, threatening me without words.
But it won’t work. Not this time.
And, because I can’t help myself, I wink as I give her my most proud smile.
45
SEAMUS
Courthouse security is a joke. Whitlock and I give each other the same knowing look as we enter the building, both dressed as guards with courthouse ID badges. We enter through the exit lane, bypassing the metal detectors like it’s something we’ve done a million times before.
One guard glances up, tips his chin in a silent acknowledgement, then turns back to flirt with a tall blonde holding a jury tag in her hand.
In most cases, I’d be furious to see this. If he were one of my men, I’d punch him square in the nose then rip his arm off and beat him with it. But right now, being that I’m the one breaking in, I can’t say I’m upset about their lack ofsecurity.
Our original plan was to have Rocco impersonate an inmate in the holding cell and Miller be one of the guards. Miller would move Rocco to share a cell with Nathan and take care of him with nothing but his bare hands.
An easy task for Rocco, probably would have taken him less than a minute. We’d erase any video footage of the event and he would sneak out with Miller as a guard.
Our plan was foolproof.
