Free Listed: Volume III by Noelle Adams

Since his right
arm was around her shoulders, he reached over with his left hand to cover both
of hers.
    She
gripped his hand immediately. The fingers of one of her hands twined through
his, and the other curved around his from the outside.
    She
wasn’t looking at him. She was looking forward to where the judge would be
sitting in a moment. Paul still felt awkward holding hands with her, with
anyone. He would do it if she needed him to, but it still left him feeling
decidedly out of his element. So he was relieved that she wasn’t looking at him
or trying to talk to him now. It made it easier somehow.
    He
glanced at his watch. It shouldn’t be very long now.
    Emily
had started fidgeting with his wedding band as if she just couldn’t keep her
hands still.
    He
wished he could make her feel better, but it was all he could do to remain
composed himself.
    Paul
closed his eyes and practiced breathing.
    He
was about to hear whether or not his father was found guilty of crimes that
would put him in prison for life.
    And
his wife was dying.
    Just
then, Vincent Marino walked into the courtroom with his defense team, and
Hathaway and his assistant came in to sit at the opposite table.
    His
father didn’t meet Paul’s eyes. He hadn’t really looked at him once, hadn’t
acknowledged his son even existed. Not even when Paul was sitting in the
witness stand for hours. Not even when he'd had to admit the naked, devastating
truth that he still wanted his father’s love.
    The
judge and the jury came into the courtroom, and everyone fell silent.
    The
world seemed to slow down into a surreal blur as the opening rituals were
performed, the verdict was handed to the judge to read silently, and then the
paper was handed back to be read out loud.
    Still
in the slow blur, Paul saw his father and the defense team stand up to hear the
verdict.
    His
pulse raced, but he was barely aware of it. His heart seemed to have slowed
down like the rest of the world. Emily was squeezing his hand so tightly he
thought he might lose circulation in his fingers, but he couldn’t process that
very much either. The thirty seconds might have lasted thirty minutes, and Paul
could do nothing but sit in his seat like a statue and wait.
    Then
he heard, “Guilty,” and the world started moving again.
    He
released the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. He heard Emily exhale
thickly too. Her body drooped as if she’d suddenly let go of all her tension.
Paul just blinked slowly.
    He
sat in place, his arm still around Emily, his fingers still twined with hers.
He heard himself breathing—and it was too loud, too deep. For a moment, his
vision blurred over.
    Emily
adjusted in her seat, gently slipping her hand out of his grip. “This is what
we wanted,” she murmured, very softly, so only he could hear, “Isn’t it?”
    He
gave a slight nod. It was what he’d wanted. It was a good outcome. The
best outcome he could hope for out of none that were perfect.
    It
meant his father—a man who had never admitted defeat, who had never been
cowed—would go to prison.
    And
Paul might never see him again.
    She
slid a hand up to his shoulder. Then to the back of his neck. “Are you okay?”
she asked, almost just breathing the words. The judge was trying to silence the
outburst of noise in the room by banging her gavel.
    Paul
nodded again, holding Emily’s anxious gaze. He tried to smile at her, if only
to ease her concern.
    She
didn’t press the question, which was good since he wasn’t sure he was capable
of talking coherently. They listened as the judge had his father remanded until
the sentencing hearing and the trial was dismissed.
    They
stayed in place as Vincent Marino stood up to be escorted out of the room.
    He
turned around, and his eyes landed unerringly on where Emily and Paul were
seated. His gaze was cool and almost amused as he made an elegant gesture with
one hand—a strange, two-fingered salute.
    That
was aimed at Emily, who stiffened but