Page 74 of Loved By The Bad Boy

I raise my head to say those words, but the door flies open. A firm pair of arms clamps around my waist when I attempt to climb off. Josef is at the door trying to catch his breath, and I’m on top of his stepson in only a tank top while Ben’s hands are hidden under the cover. This looks…

“We are not doing anything,” I blurt out.

Ben laughs, and Josef waves me off. “I was doing worse at your age.” He stands taller, waving the folded sheet in his hand. Ben sits up, pulling me closer to his chest. “We have a date, Ben.”

Thirty-One

Thursday arrives fasterthan we both wish. The walk inside the court is the slowest of my life. Maddie opens the door to the room the trial will hold. Josef walks in first, and Maddie goes behind him. I expect Ben to follow suit so we can get out of here sooner than later, but he stops moving.

From here, I catch a view of the people inside. I think Ben also did. I stroke his upper arm, trying to draw him back to the reality where I exist. He shakes his head and stares right through me. Balling his hands by his sides, his face turns white as a sheet, and I take an involuntary step back.

Every effort to draw him back to the present fails. His parents notice the delay, and Maddie is by my side in a second. Josef blocks his view of the people inside while I try to get Ben to breathe.

“Benny, look at me,” I whisper. It takes some seconds, but Ben’s eyes drop to mine. He blinks, and a fond familiarity seeps into his expression, chasing away the blankness. He hugs me tight. I stay still, stroking his hair and lending him some of my strength until he recovers. “It’s okay, babe.”

I slip my hand into his, waiting for a sign from him for us to proceed. He finally turns to me with a grin. It’s fake, but it’s his way of saying we can go inside.

“I will be here, okay? And I love you,” I tell him. After another nod from him, I palm his face and kiss his forehead. He smiles genuinely, and my heart flips. “We are going in now, Benny.”

“Okay,” he answers. “I love you too.”

We cover the distance inside in three quick strides. Three people occupy the round table. We step into the room and make it eight. A man in a black suit and a skinny woman are on one side of the table. One look at her, and I know she’s related to Josef. They have the same eyes and nose.

I hate her.

A burly man sits at the head of the table. He is supposed to preside over this trial. Ben sinks into one seat between me and his mother. Josef sits beside Maddie with the lawyer on his right. The man leading the trial introduces himself as Judge Martins. Ben’s lawyer follows with an introduction.

There is a murmur in the hall, then a deathly silence. An unholy feeling of anger consumes me when Tessa’s lawyer introduces himself, and my hand wraps around the water set in front of me.

How can anyone in the right frame of mind defend a pedophile? How is that okay?

Ben doesn’t look up when he introduces himself. His nails sink deep into the knees of his jeans. I link our hands, and he squeezes hard. My head raises when I feel a set of eyes on me. It’s her.

She is a mistake. A fake.

She doesn’t deserve my name.

She doesn’t deserve to be called Theresa.

I mouth the word, “Bitch,” to her, and the slight twitch of her lips calms the anger burning in me. The judge declares the trial open. I go stiff when he asks Ben to confirm everything his lawyer said. He doesn’t reply. I open his sweaty palm to trace the lines on them. I need my Benny back.

This trial won’t be effective if he keeps mute. I understand his need to be quiet, and if I could, I would speak on his behalf. Sadly, it doesn’t work that way. Aware we have an audience waiting and watching, I squeeze Ben’s knee to get a reply out of him. He finally looks up and clears his throat.

“Yes. She violated me,” he answers.

His head dips, and his shoulders sag in resignation. We wait and wait for him to say more, but he doesn’t. The judge darts a look at his lawyer, then his parents. I shrivel when his gaze rests on me.

Judge Martins asks, “Is that it?”

Theresa counters him with, “Your honor, that never happened. He made that up. Kids do that all the time. I used to work as an elementary school teacher. We have kids coming up with stories.”

Something in my chest shifts.

It happens so fast. So fast for me to think my actions through or for the guard at the door to stop me. I snatch the bottle of water and slap her with it. But it’s not enough. It will never compare to the pain and trauma she caused my boyfriend. The next second I’m on the table, my arms out to pluck out those evil, unrepentant eyes. Someone screams for the guard, but my arms are moving faster than they did when I hit Olivia. I pull Theresa’s hair, yanking strands out from the root.

I don’t want her to forget, so the next time she looks at a kid inappropriately, she will remember today.

An arm wraps around my belly, and someone pulls me off her. I struggle in their grip, punching and kicking the air, but she dodges my flying arms and legs. I fucked up. I should have punched her.

---