Laid Bare - Lauren Dane [102]
If anyone deserved praise for support it was her brothers. They cleaned up her sick, ferried her to court every day, held her hand, kicked her ass and generally were her anchors in a storm that rocked the foundations of her life.
She’d been smiling at the memory until Bill walked in with his attorney. Shortly after that, Ella’s mother came in and sat on Todd’s other side.
That first morning was mainly procedural stuff, but the opening arguments pissed her off. She didn’t blame the defense attorney; that was his job. And despite the fact that Erin wanted to run Bill over with her car, she believed everyone deserved an able defense. Still, listening to this bullshit about mistakes and differences in perception really made her angry. At least Bill wasn’t claiming he was crazy like Charles Cabot had.
When they dismissed for lunch, they dismissed for the day due to scheduling conflicts, but Ella was expected to testify the following day, so at least she could be there after that.
Erin hugged Ella’s mother good-bye, shot a glare at Bill, who gave her one back until Todd stepped beside her and sent Bill the scariest look she’d ever seen on his face. He put his arm around her and she relaxed into his body.
“Let’s go. I’m taking you home.”
“No, I need to go to the café. You get to work. Really, I’m all right.”
He hustled her out and they walked back to the condo, where she could grab her car. He was stoic the whole time and she knew he was thinking on a way to get her to stay home.
Managing two bossy men like Ben and Todd was a full-time job. They always wanted to take over, to do things for her, to spare her, but she liked to do things herself. She appreciated the support, but man, did they work her nerves some days.
She headed to the elevator, and Todd got that smirky smile until she hit the P button for the garage. Then he sighed and crossed his arms over his chest.
“You know, you can give yourself a fucking break every once in a while. Is it too much to ask that you go home and rest? Why do you owe the world anything right now? You’re being stubborn for the sake of being stubborn.”
“You know, you can give me a fucking break every once in a while. I went to court today because Ella asked me to. She’s working for me right now in my café. I’m going over there to talk to her and while I appreciate your protective nature, I’m getting miffed at this point and you need to back off.”
“You’re not the only one who’s miffed, Erin.”
Oh no he didn’t.
She flapped a hand at him and went to her car, slamming inside. He moved to the passenger side and she flipped the locks. If he rode with her, they’d continue this stupid fucking fight and she’d want to shove him out an airlock.
“Erin,” he said warningly.
“Go to work, Todd. Thank you for coming with me today,” she said as she started her car and drove away.
She waved through the front window of Brody’s shop as she walked past and he blew her a kiss. She laughed and went through the door of the café. Things were jumping, and she immediately moved to the coffee bar and began pulling espressos until the crowd thinned.
“My mom came by.”
Erin looked at Ella and nodded. “She give you the recap?”
“Yeah. Perceptions? Like I mistook him kicking my door in and hitting me with the iron I’d been using as an attack? How could he sit there with a straight face?”
Erin hugged her friend. “You’ll testify tomorrow and tell the truth. They’ve got your medical records, pictures of what you looked like, all the times he violated the protection order. It’s going to be all right.”
“The prosecutor is really nice. She walked me through what it’s going to be like. It’s bad, isn’t it?” Ella asked.
Erin exhaled hard. “It’s not the most pleasant thing. But you’ll survive it. You’ve survived worse and you’re here now. He will be there, watching