Full Contact (Worth the Fight #2) - Sidney Halston Page 0,93

feelings that it didn’t occur to him that she might not love him back? How was he supposed to get on with his life when he was so completely in love with someone who didn’t feel the same way? How did one fall out of love? Because that was exactly what he needed to do in order to move on with his life.

All this was going through Slade’s head when his opponent finally swung. The right hook grazed his temple as Slade simultaneously threw a punch square to his opponent’s jaw, knocking him out. A great knockout and not a scratch on him—Slade felt invincible.

—

One hundred fifty-two, one hundred fifty-three, one hundred fifty-four…The icemaker in the hallway outside Jessica’s room shot some ice out. She’d been playing the counting game for the last week. Every one hundred and fifty-four seconds the icemaker dropped more ice into the bin. Every seventy-eight seconds the light bulb in the lamp flickered. There were sixty-five petals on the large watercolor floral painting above her bed. She’d lost count of how many books she’d read. She couldn’t look at the bright screen of her e-reader or iPad one more second. Thankfully, today she was finally going to leave the small motel room.

It was just before seven o’clock in the morning, when Jack was supposed to pick her up to take her to the courthouse. She had been dressed and ready to go by five. She was pacing the old green carpet when a knock on the door startled her. She looked through the peephole to confirm it was Jack before opening the door. She flung open the door and launched herself at him in a hug. After a few seconds, Jack hesitantly hugged her back.

“Sorry. Sorry,” she said, pulling back.

“You’re going stir-crazy. I get it.”

“Yes. I’m just so glad to see you. I want all this to be over already.”

Jack nodded. “We’ll come back later for your things. You ready?”

“Yes.” And she was.

Jack parked in the back of the courthouse and led her in through some sort of back entrance. “I just informed the state’s attorney you were here. They weren’t expecting you, but they’re very happy you decided to testify. I explained what happened.”

Jessica nodded, fidgeting with a loose thread on her blouse. She couldn’t contain her nerves.

“Hey, hey, it’s going to be okay,” he reassured her. She nodded again and tried to swallow, but the lump in the back of her throat didn’t allow for it.

Slade would be there as well. He would also be testifying, but without her testimony, Dennis would have walked. She was the victim and the only eyewitness to what had occurred at her house on the day of the beating.

Once Slade sees why I did it, everything will be okay. Everything will be okay, because I did it for him. I did it for him and everything will be okay.

The trial had already started when Jack escorted Jessica into the courtroom. One of the lawyers was talking, but stopped when the spectators saw Jessica and a murmur filled the courtroom. She kept her head down. She hadn’t expected to see so many cameras but since it was a high-profile case, being that this was the mayor’s nephew, crews from the local stations were set up all around the room. She sat down in the place Jack indicated for her, next to a police officer who was a friend of Slade’s, and then Jack sat down on her other side. She bent her head slightly forward so that her hair partially covered her face.

When she looked up, the first thing she noticed was Dennis staring at her. His eyes were crazy-looking, almost unseeing. His nostrils flared. His jaw twitched. How had she been with this man for so many years? What did that say about her? she wondered. He was getting worse and worse as time went on. This was the face of a deranged man, and when their eyes locked she couldn’t help but flinch and lean back a little.

She felt a hand squeeze her shoulder. Jessica turned and was surprised to see that the comforting gesture and kind smile were coming from Chrissy. She wasn’t sure if Chrissy would ever forgive her for hurting her brother. She wondered if Jack had told her the plan and if she knew all along that it had been for show.

The prosecutor spoke first, then the defense. Witnesses were called, and finally it was her turn. Her palms were clammy and