Page 29 of Tank

She nods slowly. “If I promise to do this, will you give me your attention for the next five minutes?”

“Yep.”

“Okay.” She slides me a piece of paper, and I scribble the note while she waits patiently, accepting the paper and folding it before slipping it into her bra. “Okay, now listen. I have evidence to get you out of here. No trial and no verdict.”

“You do?” The skepticism in my voice is heavy because that’s the exact news I want to hear.

“Yeah, Thomas. I do.” She arches her brows as if daring me to contradict her. “I told you before, I don’t lose. I don’t like to lose, which is why I’m your lawyer.”

I respect her confidence, so I don’t tell her that Ace hired her, not me.

“We both know you didn’t kill anyone. It’s the prosecutor’s job to prove you did it. They can’t. We have video of the whole fight, not just the snippet on YouTube. It’ll get you out of here as soon as we see the judge. Trust me.”

I do trust her, but while she’s going on and on about the evidence, all I can think about is the threat to my MC. Who is this threat coming from, a new enemy or an old one?

That motherfucker I busted up? Can’t be.

Noelle keeps talking, and it brings me back to the present. “I have my own investigators and forensics going over the evidence, so I’ll be in touch. Reach out if you need me, yeah?”

I nod, not hearing half of what she said. I step back against the wall so Noelle can alert the guard that she’s ready to go. I know the drill and stay where I am as Noelle steps out of the room and one guard takes her back toward the exit for visitors. Another guard motions for me to step forward and I do, turning so he can cuff me again and what I see when I turn stops me in my tracks.

Sophie.

She has tears in her eyes as she pleads with the woman behind the thick glass who has not one fucking iota of sympathy for any of the people on either side of these walls. The woman shakes her head. She’s telling her no.

Sophie looks surprised, and now she’s nodding and scribbling a note and hands it to the woman.

Sophie’s shoulders sink as she walks away from the window, offering up an apologetic smile to those in line behind her. Despite her smile, I catch the shine on a tear that slips down her cheek before she pushes out into the sunshine.

Good. It’s for the best. It doesn’t matter if Noelle thinks I’ll be out soon. She can’t guarantee that, and I refuse to believe it until my feet hit the asphalt outside these walls.

I refuse to put Sophie in danger for my own selfish needs, and the best fucking thing I can do for myself is stop wishing for a woman like her and keep my dick to the club whores. They’re guaranteed and easy.

And most of all, they don’t make a man wish for things he can’t have.

CHAPTERTHIRTEEN

Sophie

I’m in jail. The lawyer says it could be a while. I know things were getting good between us, and I can’t stop thinking about you. But you need to move on. You deserve better than what I can give you right now—maybe ever. You matter to me. A lot.

That’s why I’m writing this.

Take care of yourself, Sophie.

Yours truly,

Tank

How often can a woman read and re-read a letter before it becomes torture? I don’t have an answer—yet—but it’s not twenty. Or thirty. That’s how many times my eyes glide over Tank’s words, replaying them and trying to make sense of them. I mean, the words themselves were clear as day. Forget about me. Whatever we could have been, might have been, is in the past.

It’s good advice.

The smart thing to do.

It’s exactly what Ishouldbe doing.

Yet here I am, re-reading this note like some lovesick teenager, which I guess I am in a way. Or maybe I’m just a fool.

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