Tempted (A Player Brother Romance Book) (A Standalone Novel) (Player Brothers Book 1) (27 page)

Everything was already in place at this point, I
decided. All I had to do was finish out the trial, and then one of us would be
offered the full time job. After that I wouldn't have to see him anymore. I
could move on and mend my heart and return to the days where Aiden remained a
memory of someone I had once known a long time ago.

I felt as if the case had gone on for months, but it had
only been a few weeks in actual court. Much had happened within that time. The
one thing that I could count on with Aiden was that he remained just as
professional as I. It seemed that we both had that in common throughout.

He nailed the closing arguments, bringing the
attention of the jury back to the facts as we had presented them. That
regardless of what the police had discovered upon arriving, the evidence filled
in the gaps of assumption to show what really happened.

Under any other circumstances I would have been proud
and congratulatory. But all I could see as he delivered his words, was a
conniving manipulator. I wanted nothing more than the case to end. Much of the
anger had dissipated, and all that remained was the deep cutting hurt and
sadness.

The arguments came to a close, and the jury was
ushered out for deliberation. Neither of us said anything to one another. I
positioning my face to show professional distance. I had trained myself to
avoid looking in his eyes as I believed this might have been too much for me.

Instead, I looked directly into the center of his
forehead only when absolutely necessary. We had the option to stay during
deliberation and none of us thought it would take very long. I wandered around
the courtroom trying to find a way to pass the time.

The sadness threatened to overtake me at times, but I
managed to keep myself distant enough as to keep that from happening.

Ms. Klein passed me in the hallway. I felt that I no
longer had anything to hide. My anger kept me focused on the one thing I had
left, the full time position. At this point I figured they had enough to have
made a decision.

Another wave of hollow sadness came over me when I
realized that I didn’t have Aiden to turn to, whether I won the job or not, he
was gone. Still I veered back and forth between seething anger and mournful
loss. He was the one who had hurt me and yet I wanted to find comfort. With him
gone I had nowhere to find that comfort.

"Blair," Aiden's voice called me from down
the hall four hours later. I stiffened at the sound of his voice. "The
jury is back,” he said in a clipped voice.

No doubt one of the partners had sent him after me. He
avoided my eyes just as much as I did his but held the door for me as I entered
the courtroom. He followed a few feet behind me until we reached the defendants
table.

Mahoney sat next to Ms. Klein with Darius Shaw between
them and us. I tried to read the faces of the senior partners, but I suspected
they had done this a time or two. They had small relaxed smiles, showing neither
confidence nor retreat. I needed to learn how to implement that face.

Mr. Shaw kept his eyes down, but I could see his jaw
muscles working as the jury slowly shuffled in each taking their seats. I
watched their faces but they all proved just as unreadable as the lawyers. I
wanted to stand up and scream just to relieve some of the tension in the room.

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled as the bailiff
walked over to the foreman, a timid looking man with thinning hair and wire
rimmed glasses. The juror stood and handed the slip of paper to the bailiff,
who then walked across the courtroom once more to hand the paper to the judge.
The judge put on his reading glasses.

The silence felt deafening.

It seemed as if every person in the audience had held
their breath to hear the verdict. As the seconds ticked by I felt as if I was
going to explode. The judge unfolded the paper and read over it before
speaking. I dropped my eyes and closed my eyes unable to bear it any longer as
he read the words.

"The members of the jury had come to a unanimous
agreement, and based upon the evidence presented in this courtroom on the crime
of first degree murder, they find the defendant Darius Shaw, not guilty."

Palpable relief swept over the room. I exhaled, nearly
light headed, unaware that I had been holding my breath so long. The Shaw
family behind us began to cry and exclaim with joy to have their brother, son,
and father back. We stood and exchanged hugs and congratulatory handshakes. Mr.
Shaw wiped tears out of his eyes as he reached to put his arms around Aiden and
then me.

'Thank you!" he said. "Thank you, thank
you!" He continued to repeat the words as he embraced each of us, also
taking a moment to point towards the ceiling while whispering the same words.

I watched him step through the barrier into the
awaiting arms of his family, and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his
little girl rushing to him as he crouched down to catch her up in his arms.
That little girl had already lost her mother, and her tiny hands clasped
together around his neck secure in the knowledge that she would not also lose
her father.

I relished in the victory of the moment, keenly aware
of the frayed edges, the reality of facing the next steps in the process. The
partners had already told us that we would have a meeting either today or
tomorrow depending on how long the jury took to deliberate. It was late
afternoon now which led me to surmise the meeting would be the next day.

The other partners would be there also, some of whom
we had only met in passing. I knew that one of them would be retiring soon
which is what would open the spot for either myself or Aiden, depending on what
they decided. Now that the case was over, I had no choice but to face the
music.

After the emotions of the trial began to dissipate I couldn’t
help but feel the ever present sadness creeping back into my psyche. Aiden had
always been a friend, even when we had lost touch, he was kind of always there,
through conversations with my mother and updates in passing. I had always felt
that if we had ever reconnected that we had the type of friendship that would
simply pick up where we had left off, and for a while that is what I thought
had happened.

I stood in the court room and watched Aiden interact
with the Shaw family as they each took turns to thank him. The crush of reality
began to settle upon me, and I knew I had to get out of there before I
embarrassed myself or anyone around me.

I wanted to burst into tears if anything just to get
the release of emotion out of the way.

The cloak of loneliness wrapped around me despite the
press of people and voices. I turned and focused on gathering my belongings to
leave the court room. I had begun to feel that my entire life were falling
apart. The case was over so I had nothing to distract me. If the choice of the
partners settled on Aiden then I knew I would have nothing left. I felt as if
my entire life were falling apart.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Mr. Mahoney approach
with Aiden in tow.

"I wanted to congratulate you both on a job well
done," he said once he had both us in proximity. "The other partners
and I couldn’t have expected a better team than the two of you proved to be. It
has been a real pleasure to watch the two of you work."

"Thank you, sir,” I said.

I glanced towards Aiden but he avoided my eyes,
keeping his face turned firmly towards Mr. Mahoney.

The eternal suck up, I thought to myself.

There were still elements of the past few days that didn’t
make sense to me, and I wondered if the partners had any idea the dynamic that
existed between the two of us all while working on the case. Ms. Klein had
hinted that they had, but I remained uncertain.

Perhaps she had kept it to herself.

I hoped.

I turned back to focus on Mr. Mahoney's words.

"No doubt you both need a break. We would like
for the two of you to come to the office after a thirty minute recess,” he said.
"The other members of the board will also be present."

This late in the day?

My heart began to thump harder.

This was it.

"We'll be there," Aiden said with a
confident smile.

I also tried to smile, but it felt false stretched
across my face.

This was it!

My mind could think of nothing else but the moment
that loomed before me. I didn’t know how I could survive another half an hour
of not knowing.

As soon as Mr. Mahoney left, Aiden turned away from me
without a word.

I couldn’t stand it.

I would have felt better if he had even said something
snarky or hateful, but the infernal silence felt like a dagger in my heart. I
left the courtroom, debating on whether or not to grab some lunch before
heading over.

In the end I drove around the block, killing time and
feeling as if my mind would burst. With ten minutes to spare I stepped onto the
elevator that led up to the pale waiting room into which I had stepped so many
weeks ago.

Aiden had already arrived and had his back to the
elevator doors when I stepped out. He stood with his hands in his pockets,
looking out the window to the far right of the room, his reflection in the full
length window glanced towards me but then quickly went back to examining the
sky line.

Across from me sat Willa, silent and watchful behind
the huge desk. I smiled and nodded to her and made my way to the furthest couch
as far away from Aiden as I could be without leaving the room altogether.

I picked up a magazine and stared at the pages,
flipping through without seeing any of it. The seconds ticked by, with Aiden
and
I
continuing to ignore one another. I didn’t know
if the partners were in the office or if they would arrive via the elevator.

Aiden walked over and sat across from me picking up a
magazine. He mirrored my movements across the great glass table between us and
looked at me until I looked up at him.

My wordless glare told him everything he needed to
know before I shifted and became engrossed in my magazine once more, plainly
ignoring him.

The recipe for easy breakfast muffins had never seemed
so interesting. The only sound in the room was that of Willa's fingers tapping
away at her keyboard. Emails, perhaps. Data entry. No doubt something vitally
important to the running of the firm.

At exactly three minutes to the hour Mr. Mahoney
entered the waiting room from the back office. Aiden turned towards him and
stood to greet him, smoothing out the fabric of his jacket. I stood and put the
magazine down on the table.

Both Aiden and I took an expectant step towards him,
expecting him to lead us back to the office. To our surprise he raised his
hands and offered an obsequious smile.

I was unsure what to do next.

"We appreciate your patience. If the two of you
will bear with us just a few moments longer," he said. "The board
would like to meet with each of you one at a time. Aiden, we will be seeing you
in just a few moments. Ms. Michaels, if you care to follow me."

He gestured for me to join him down the hallway.

I did my best to keep my posture and face in a
professional manner as I followed him. The plush softness of the carpet
threatened to swallow me whole with each step I took. I had never notice the
length of the building of before.

My stomach had turned into knots and I felt as if I
might throw up at any moment.

I was glad that I hadn’t eaten after all.

The look on his face had revealed nothing when he had
come to gather me from the waiting room. We arrived at the office door and he
opened it, inviting me to step in. The other members of the board sat around
the conference table on the other side of the office. I stepped inside and they
all stood for introductions. Ms. Klein introduced me as Mr. Mahoney took his
place at the head of the table.

"Everyone this is Blair Michaels," Ms. Klein
said. She gestured to each member in turn, two that I had only seen in passing.
"This is Jack Warren, our newest partner."

"How do you do," I said, shaking the hand of
the silver haired gentlemen with his hand extended.

Ms. Klein continued, "And this is Frederick
Klein, one of the founding members of the firm and my brother. He will be
retiring at the end of this month."

"And not a moment too soon!" he bellowed as
he shook my hand.

"It's an honor to meet you sir," I said,
hoping that my voice sounded more confident than I felt.

"If you would have a seat Ms. Michaels."

Mr. Mahoney gestured to the empty chair across from
the partners. I did so, but couldn’t help but to feel like someone on the
receiving end of an interrogation.

They all faced me with calm resting faces that I couldn’t
read in the slightest bit. I stilled my hands from shaking by folding my
fingers together and placing them on my lap under the table. I concentrated on
keeping my features subdued but attentive.