Ultimately, it was Jenna who decided not to take the money and let the jury decide her fate. I have no clue if it’s right or wrong, but the decision is made and I need to put on my best performance right now.

After conveying to Gill that we’re declining to settle, I run to the ladies’ room to collect myself. Within five minutes I’ll be back up before the jury giving the most important closing argument of my life. I won’t see a dime of any money, don’t give a shit about getting any accolades. My only thought as I stare in the mirror is trying to persuade twelve strangers to make this right for Jenna.

I wash my hands, dab on some lip gloss, and walk out.

Ford is waiting for me in the hallway, casually standing a few paces away from the bathrooms, checking his phone for messages. He hears me and his head pops up.

“You ready?” he asks with an encouraging smile.

Smoothing down my skirt, I walk toward him. “Yeah. Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Ford reaches a hand out and squeezes my shoulder. “Midge sent me over to watch and be your moral support. She wanted to be here, but you know . . . defeats her whole recluse thing.”

I give a snort of laughter, grateful for Ford’s humor. “I wouldn’t expect otherwise.”

Turning, Ford and I walk toward the courtroom doors. “Rhonda’s testimony was fantastic,” he says. “It’s got the case back on track. You were right in turning down the million.”

“You think her testimony was enough?” I ask curiously as he holds open one of the swinging doors for me. I can only hope it was enough to overcome the damage done by Reeve’s rebuttal witnesses—thinking of them still burns me up.

“More than enough,” he says emphatically. “It sealed the deal.”

I give him a small smile and turn to walk up the aisle toward the front of the courtroom. Reaching out, he grabs my hand and I turn back. “You owe Reeve for that.”

I blink at him in surprise and pull my hand away. “Don’t,” I warn him. “It’s not the time or place.”

“I know,” he says quietly. “But when you’re up there in front of the jury, channeling all of your emotion and rage against Dr. Summerland, let your feelings about Reeve flow into that. Remember what he did, the reasons he did it, and how it all makes you feel. Then when you’re pleading with that jury to give Jenna justice, you remember that the reason they’re going to give you justice is because Reeve handed you Rhonda Valasquez. Let it fuel you.”

His words pack a punch. I get what he’s saying—he’s not asking me to forgive Reeve, and he’s not asking me to go back to the way things were. He knows damn good and well that ninety percent of any jury argument is passion and only maybe ten percent is law and reason. He’s telling me to tap into every bit of emotion I have, knowing that much of it has to do with Reeve and his involvement in this case, from betraying me to saving me, and most important, everything that I had with him that is now no more. I’ve suffered a loss, and he wants me to use it to prime my emotions.

I’m not sure if Reeve handing me Rhonda Valasquez makes up for what he did to our case in the first place. It’s hard getting past hurt and betrayal. And yes, I was incredibly hurt that Reeve obviously didn’t care enough about me to give me a heads-up over his rebuttal witnesses. Ethically he shouldn’t do it, and yet I didn’t think that was good enough reason to withhold from me.

I felt that way because I was pretty darn sure I was falling in love with him, and I thought he felt the same for me. I thought I meant enough to him that he would risk it. I was let down that he did not.

But when it ultimately boiled down to it, Reeve did in fact risk his license for me. Even though he quit Battle Carnes and the case, he still had as much ethical duty to Dr. Summerland as he ever did. By providing me with Rhonda Valasquez, he committed a serious breach of ethics, and that tells me that maybe I am more important to Reeve than I thought. Or maybe even more than he thought.

I nod at Ford and turn away, swallowing hard against the rawness of sentiment starting to build up inside me. Conflicting emotions surging and raging.

If it was his intention to get me riled up with fervor and passion, Ford just did his job very well.

CHAPTER 24

REEVE

I slip into the back of the courtroom quietly, hoping not to draw attention to myself.

Well, I hope not to draw the attention of one person—Leary.

I don’t care if anyone else sees me, and to prove it, when Gill Kratzenburg and Garry Summerland hear the doors open, they both look over their shoulders and pin their stares on me. Summerland glares and Gill’s eyebrows raise in surprise. I don’t spare them but a second and slip into the back row of the gallery seating, behind the plaintiff’s side to show them that I don’t give a shit what they think. That I’m here, merely as a spectator, and I am clearly choosing the opposite side of the war I was seated on a few days prior.

I’m thankful no one else looked my way. The judge is watching Leary, as is the entire jury, their faces all riveted on what she’s saying. I’m a few minutes late getting here, knowing I’d miss part of Leary’s closing statements.

Ford texted me midmorning to let me know that Rhonda Valasquez testified on behalf of Jenna and it went fantastically well. It was the first I’d heard from him since we had words in Leary’s driveway last Friday. I was surprised that he even bothered but grateful for the update. I had no clue whether my impassioned plea to Rhonda would induce her to seek Leary out, but clearly it worked.

I didn’t respond to Ford, but within a few minutes, he sent me another text.

Closing statements starting in twenty minutes if you want to watch.

I stared at my phone for a few minutes, trying to read something into his message. Did that mean Leary wanted me there? Probably not, because no matter what transpired between the two of us, I know Leary well enough to know that her mind was not on me. I know that her sole focus would be on that jury and what she was going to say to them.

It only took me about five minutes to decide to head over to the courthouse and sneak inside so I could see Leary in action. Although I was officially off the case, there was still something that was bugging me about the rebuttal witnesses, and it had everything to do with the conversation I overheard between Gill Kratzenburg and Tom Collier when I handed in my key. Tom had indicated that they sent the investigator back out to push at the witnesses, which means that their testimony must not have been helpful to begin with. Something happened to get those witnesses to change their minds, and because I had their numbers programmed in my phone, I had intended to call all three of them to poke and prod a bit more into their testimony. It just wasn’t sitting right with me for some reason, and my insatiable curiosity needed to be appeased. I figured I could do that later this afternoon and would rather watch Leary’s argument to the jury.

My chest aches when I first look at her, casually strolling back and forth in front of the jury box as she argues. She chose a conservative dark-gray suit with a pearl-colored blouse. Her hair is pulled back into a low ponytail that hangs sleekly down her back. Of course, she’s wearing her sexy-as-shit mile-high black heels that made her legs look even more amazing than I know them to be, but otherwise, she’s conveying to the jury by her look and demeanor that this is some serious shit she’s discussing with them.