Total pages in book: 104
Estimated words: 95676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95676 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 478(@200wpm)___ 383(@250wpm)___ 319(@300wpm)
"Once you're changed, Ventura will try to question you. Tell him you want a lawyer. From there, you'll be transported to the jail, where you'll be processed. You'll be placed in a holding cell, where you'll stay until you go before the judge."
"When?"
"We're trying to make sure that happens today, but it may be tomorrow."
She trembles in my arms, cowering into me.
"While you wait to be arraigned, you'll be interviewed again, which will help determine whether or not you're given bail. Jacoby has already talked to the D.A. on your behalf. She's agreed not to fight letting you out on bail with a few stipulations."
"What stipulations?"
I hesitate for a moment. "You'll have to stay with me while you're out, and you'll have to wear an ankle monitor. You won't be allowed to leave my place unless you're going to medical appointments or to see your lawyer." I pause again, reluctant to heap more indignities upon her. But they're inevitable at this point. It's either them or she stays in jail. "You're also going to be forbidden from using computers or smartphones."
"What?" She sits up, frowning at me. "Why?"
"Honestly? I think the D.A. wants to make this as uncomfortable as possible for you. But this will only help your case. As soon as Fake Ivy posts to one of her profiles, we'll have even more evidence to prove you didn't do this."
"She's winning," Ivy mumbles, hanging her head.
"Not for long," I vow, heat in my voice.
"Will I be able to see you?"
"Not until your arraignment."
She shrinks visibly again. She's at her breaking point, so much more fragile than the powerful woman I saw on stage at the Red Room. Already, Fake Ivy is draining the life from her, chipping away pieces of her soul little by little.
I run my hand over her head and then down her back, trying to comfort her.
And then I ask the question I've been wanting to ask all morning.
"Did you mean it?"
Ivy knows exactly what I mean. She turns, placing her palms on my cheeks. Her eyes meet mine, her blue eyes boring into mine. There isn't a hint of doubt or hesitation in her eyes. "Yes," she whispers. "I love you, Cam."
"Fuck." Her words wash through me, soothing all those raw places, filling them with hope, with pride. I pull her in for a kiss, pouring everything into her. I'm discomposed, kissing her gently one minute and then harder the next. I don't think she has any idea how fucking much I love her, or how powerful her confession makes me feel.
I breathe for this woman. They can take whatever they want to take from me. But they can't have her. I'm going to find a way to free her from this mess. Even if it's the last thing I do, I'm setting her free. I'm making her my wife.
That's how this story ends for us. Not with her in prison. But with my ring on her finger.
Someone raps on the door to my office and then it opens.
I reluctantly slow the kiss and then end it with little pecks to her lips. I don't want to let her go at all, but this isn't forever. By tomorrow, she'll be back in my arms where she belongs. We can make it through one day. We will make it through one day.
"I love you, Ivy," I whisper.
She closes her eyes, letting my words give her strength. And then she climbs to her feet and steps forward to meet Jacoby and Duke Ventura.
One day, I remind myself. It's only one day.
Chapter Eighteen
Ivy
Detective Ventura is handsome in a hard way. He's blond, with blue eyes and a square jaw. He's also relentless, and not in a sexy way like Cam. He's a bulldog, attacking from every angle. I don't even know how long he's been questioning me, but it feels like I've been locked in this interview room with him for days. Cam told me to ask for a lawyer and I think maybe I should have listened, but I don't have anything to hide.
Ventura slides a photograph of Rory's body across the table to me.
I gasp and squeeze my eyes closed, but not quickly enough to keep from seeing Rory's bloated, discolored body. I fight back a wave of nausea, trying to block the image from my mind.
"Do you know what happens to the human body after a jump from a bridge like the Bay Bridge?" Detective Ventura asks me, his tone almost conversational. He doesn't wait for me to respond before continuing. "Hitting the water is like crashing into cement. Your internal organs are ripped loose. Your ribcage shatters, piercing your heart and lungs. Your spine snaps in multiple places. If you're lucky, you die quickly. If you're not, you drown, not only in the water, but in your own blood. It's a gruesome way to go. One of the worst. That's what you let that kid experience."