Page 14 of Cast Stones
“He is. They’re codefendants.”
Hot, unwanted breath hits the nape of my neck. My fingertips lock around the lip of my desk to stop myself from ramming my chair backward into his dick.
“And a row of dead bodies who your new client is staking ownership over.” He moves his lips to my hair. “Good luck with that.”
“I’m sure I’ll figure it out,” I mutter defiantly. His skepticism is almost worse than his intrusion into my personal space. I’m damn good at what I do, and he knows it. The odds are stacked against me this time, but I’m an ace at knocking them down.
“What about Trent?”
“WhataboutTrent?”
“He’s the lawyer for the other defendant, this…this Cain Moseley. The son of the deceased. Surely, you guys should be working together on this case?”
I’d rather stick used needles in my eyeballs.
“As far as Trent Anderson is concerned,” I say, keeping my voice even, “these menare guilty as sin and not worth wasting the taxpayer’s money on.”
“Is that a direct quote?” Jackson lets go of my chair and spins me around to face him. My nails are shredded as they’re ripped away from my desk, and tears of pain cloud my vision.
“Did that hurt, Bailey?” He smiles coldly. I don’t return it. His expression is too reminiscent of the grin I just saw in the crime scene photograph. “Are yousureabout that decision to turn me down? Sounds to me like you need all the help you can get.”
He delivers his latest round of patronization with a glance at my breasts and my stomach lurches.
Turn you down?
“Does your wife know you’re working late?” I say, determined not to show how scared I am.
His grin vanishes. His veneer crumbles.Underneath it, he’s just like all the others.
“Does your pussy know you’re a cock tease, or is it just your mouth?”
“Are you serious?” I’m shocked at how quickly this has turned.
“Maybe you should listen to her once in a while.”
“Fuck you, Jackson!” I aim my heel at his crotch, but he jerks back just in time.
“Frigid bitch,” he snarls, kicking my shin and his pretenses away, and then he’s lunging for me, teeth bared. “Let’s see if we can melt your ice.”
“Get the hell off me!”
“Why don’t you just lie back and enjoy it?”
Luca’s voice filters into my head again as Jackson shoves his knee between my thighs and rough hands tear at the slit in my pencil skirt. Once demure, and now profane. My shirt follows. The cups of my white lace bra are yanked downward and the cold air stings my nipples.
“Normality is just another deception, cara mia… It serves as the perfect disguise for all seven deadly sins.”
“Get off me,” I rasp again as my once-respected colleague smothers me with man sweat and determination. That innocent lock of hair I admired earlier is looking more like a devil’s horn as he forces my panties down my legs.
“Trent’s right, Madigan. All you need is a good fuck to loosen you up.”
“You bastard!” I’m fighting for my life now; fighting as I did all those years ago, all the while itching to carve a number into his chest to match the other bodies.
Twelve for justice.
I see Cyrus Moseley’s dead grin again, right before Jackson slaps me hard across the face.
Everything goes black for a beat, and then pain comes rushing in. Two fingers are forced inside my body as he grunts obscenities into my ear. His cock is rock hard against my thigh as even more bile pools at the back of my throat.
