“Get a fucking grip on yourself, Walker. You’ve got this. It’s just another case, that’s all.”
Placing my hands on the table, I took in another deep breath. “That’s it. Just another client with a dickhead husband. That’s all this is.”
“Mr. Walker, I’ve brought the water into Mrs. Jackson. She asked where you were, sir.”
Glancing over my shoulder at Karen, I nodded. “Thank you. I’ll be right there.”
I needed a few moments to get my head in the right place. I wanted to take Sierra in my arms and kiss her senseless, then go pound her ex-husband’s face into the ground. Sighing, I headed back into the conference room.
Sierra was standing at the end of the conference table looking out the window.
Shutting the door, I walked back to the table and sat down. “I need to ask you a few questions, Sierra,” I said as I took a long drink of water.
Sierra wrapped her arms around her body. “Can you win this case, Dodge?”
Swallowing hard, I looked at her file and said, “Yes. I’m going to do everything in my power, Sierra, to bring this motherfucker down.”
“That’s all I needed to know. What did you want to ask me?”
Closing my eyes, I pushed my personal feelings for Sierra down. I needed to focus on the case and that meant I needed to not look at how incredibly beautiful she looked today. Or the fact her perfume was driving me insane.
Opening my eyes, I looked at Sierra. “Why didn’t you press charges against him?”
Her posture sunk and she shook her head. “He was drunk. I was the one who let him into the house and—”
“Don’t you dare say it was your fault. Do not utter those words from your lips, Sierra. No one deserves to be hit.”
Sierra turned around and my world came to a stop when I saw the tears rolling down her face. I’d never in a million years thought I’d see Sierra with her guard down. “I knew he was drunk when I let him in, Dodge. He was upset and kept going on and on about how he had messed things up so bad.” Looking down, Sierra took in a deep breath. “I told him I didn’t care and he had to leave. He made the choices he did and I didn’t care anymore.”
“Then what happened?”
Sierra’s blue eyes met mine. “He told me he wanted me and I laughed at him. It made him mad and he hit me. He’s never once touched me before, Dodge. Something in his eyes changed and I knew he regretted it the moment it happened.” Closing her eyes she whispered, “Dodge, I don’t want to talk about this. I get what he did was wrong; believe me I get it. I thought long and hard about this. I’m not pressing charges.”
Turning away from me she stared out the window. Standing, I walked over to her. I wanted nothing more than to pull her into my arms and hold her. “Did he threaten you and tell you not to press charges?”
“No. He cried and begged me to forgive him. Said it would never happen again.”
Placing my hands on her shoulders, I turned her to me. Placing my finger on her chin, I forced her eyes to mine. “Sierra, I know you well enough to know you wouldn’t let him get away with this if you didn’t have a reason.”
“Please, Dodge, please just let it go.”
“Sierra, I swear to you, I will protect you with everything I have in me if you want to go after this fucker for doing that to you.”
A single tear rolled down her cheek as I wiped it away with my thumb. Sierra’s body instantly came alive, but she quickly put up a mask. “If you’re trying to be my hero, Dodge, you can stop. It may work on the girls you served at the bar . . . but it won’t work on me.”
Dropping my hands to my side, I walked back to the table as I cursed under my breath. Fighting down the incredible urge I had to tell her off and kiss her, I said, “Fine. I’m dropping this . . . for now.”
Going through the notes, I continued on. “This affair he is accusing you of. Is it true?”
Dropping down in her seat, Sierra glared at me. “Excuse me?”
Gesturing to the file, I asked, “Is it true? The affair?”
Sierra’s mouth dropped open as she shook her head. “Really? You’re asking me if I cheated on my husband?”
“Yes, Sierra. I am.”
“No, Aaron. I did not cheat on my husband. I’ve never cheated on anyone, ever.”
Pulling out my notepad, I made some notes. “Why hasn’t this Jeremy been called in to give a deposition?”
Shrugging her shoulders, Sierra said, “You’d have to ask my old lawyer. Robert just threw this latest twist at us two days ago. Maybe he didn’t have time to follow up.”