Love and Betrayal

Chapter 4

Barrett's POV

I growled at my phone ringing, waking me up. This was supposed to be the morning that I slept in. I tried to schedule at least one a week and every damn time it got ruined. I couldn't ignore it because it was work.

"What?" I growled into the phone.

"I'm sorry Mr. Jamison, but you have a new client who is sitting in county jail and needs some assistance. His retainer has already been paid, and his arrangement is in two hours."

"Thanks Rita, email me his information and I will head that way," I told my secretary.

"You already have it."

"Thank you." I said and hung up and pulled up my email. I clicked open the latest email from her. Rick Stanton. Arrested for assault and let go on his own recognizance but then got picked up for going back to his girlfriend's apartment and leaving a threatening note and now, suspicion of breaking and entering and doing a lot of damage to her apartment. Dumbass kid. I was going to have to get him a plea deal and in order to do that he was going to have to promise to stay away from her and probably pay damages to her apartment if they have any concrete evidence that he did it, which I'm sure he did.

I walked into county jail, and they were all too familiar with me. Most hate me because I undo all the work they did, but there is a level of respect there also because they know I am going to find every little hole and cranny that they leave untouched, and so they all want to be the one to prove me wrong. Not going to happen.

"He's in room three for you," Detective Reed said snidely to me. I nodded my thanks to him and kept walking.

I opened the door to the room and there was the douche bag sitting there cuffed to the table. He wore the smuggest look I've ever seen on his face. I can tell just by looking at him that he is completely guilty of what he is charged with, and he doesn't give a flying f**k about it either and odds are he will do it again, but that is not my problem.

"Rick?" I questioned him even though I knew it was, but I had to get him talking.

"If you aren't Barrett Jamison you can leave."

"I am and if you want my help, you better sit up and f*****g listen," I told him. Not the most professional, but I had to put myself on his level, which was scumbag, and talk to him how he would talk to others. It was the best way to get him to listen to me.

"I should be able to get you out today, but the judge is going to want some bail. Can you get bail money?"

"I paid you, so ya, I think I can handle bail money."

"Good, now you are going to wipe this smug ass look off your face. They will drop the breaking and entering charges unless they can find some way to show you did it. So, we are looking at the assault charges. You went to her apartment and left a threatening note and did damage to her door and left your blood on the door with a knife through it. Why did you do it?" I asked. I had to know why in order to figure out what they were going to be looking for. It also helped me understand him.

"Because she pissed me off. She dumped me and no one does that, and so she is going to pay for what she did to me. No one humiliates me like that," he said, and I had to keep myself from rolling my eyes at him. This will not be the last time we are here, and I had a feeling it would involve this girl. This was the hard part of my job, because if I got him off, and she got hurt, I would feel guilty about it.

"OK. First you need to get rid of that damn attitude. You need to go in there remorseful and that you loved her so much that you just lost your mind when she dumped you. You need to tell a sad sob story and how sorry you are."

"Easy."

"Good, let's go," I told him, but then remembered that he was cuffed to the desk. I got up and went and got someone to escort him to the courtroom.

This guy wasn't lying when he said it wasn't a problem to put on an act. He was a first-class narcissistic asshole, but the judge bought his story about how much he loved her and just lost his mind temporarily and let him go with a small bail amount and a court date for three weeks from now. She was moving quickly, which was nice for a change.

The rest of the day went by in a blur as I kept my head buried in work. I was still upset with Lilly and haven't really talked to her since she came home. We argued about it, and she failed to see how I worried about her because she was at her parents' house. I guess they were out of town for the night, and they had asked her to come sit with the dogs, and she said she forgot to tell me. She said that she and Caroline were having a girls' night. Her lack of consideration is what pissed me off the most. So, I had to keep busy, so I wouldn't stay angry with her. I just needed some time to cool down, and she knew that.

I went home a little later than normal, but when I opened the door to our loft, the smell instantly hit me. She was cooking, which she didn't do frequently, but that was more to do with our work schedules. It was my favorite spaghetti. It was like the simplest meal, but it was my favorite. I walked into the kitchen, and she was standing there swaying her hips to the music she was playing as she stirred the sauce. God, she was so damn beautiful, she had this long blonde hair and these curves that were perfect. I could run my hands along her slim stomach to her hips and over to her round ass and her t**s were this perfect handful that when she wore something low cut, she had this perfect amount of cleavage that showed. She had this face that was like an angel. Soft lips and big blue eyes that were memorizing.

I tiptoed behind her and wrapped my arms around her waist, making her jump, but when my lips kissed her neck, she moaned out and turned in my arms, giving me that beautiful smile that lit up the entire room. "You're early."

"I was thinking that I was a little late."

"You're always late, so this is early and dinner isn't ready yet."

"It smells amazing."

"It should the sauce has been cooking for four hours."

"So, you've been slaving away in the kitchen for hours for me?"

"I couldn't think of a better way to tell you I'm sorry because I am. We just got so caught up visiting."

"I know, but please, next time you have to tell me. I was so worried about you."

"I know, and it won't happen again."

"Good, I'm going to go jump in the shower."

When I got up to our room, her clothes were thrown all over the floor. It was a good thing I loved her so much because she was so messy, and I was the opposite. I quickly picked up her clothes and threw them in the laundry basket and headed to the shower.

I slipped on a pair of sweats and headed back downstairs. My hair was still wet and dripping water down my bare back every once in a while. Lilly had plates set at the breakfast counter, and she was fixing plates for both of us. There was a beer sitting in front of my plate and a glass of wine in front of hers.

"So how was your day?" She asked as we both sat down.

"Better now that you are home with me."

"Well, I had this client that was a total pain. I don't know what made me want to be a divorce lawyer. This lady would not drop it about a collection of dolls that they collected together. The amount of time I've spent on the damn dolls has cost them more than what they are worth."

We made it through dinner, and she went to our office to do some work and I parked it on the couch and relaxed for a bit. There weren't many nights that I got this, and I was going to enjoy it.

"Baby, wake up," Lilly said as she ran her hands down my chest from behind me. I grabbed her hands in mine and kissed each one.

"Are you ready for bed?"

"No silly, you slept all night down here. It's time to get up for work."

"Why didn't you wake me?"

"Because you looked so comfy, and I know that you have a hard time going back to sleep if you're woken up."

She wasn't wrong. I have never been good at sleeping, but it was because my brain never shut off. I would wake in the middle of the night with a thought about one of my cases, and then I would be up looking into it. There were many times when I had three or four hours of sleep. It's like my body just didn't require a lot of rest.

Lilly kissed my cheek and headed into the kitchen and I went upstairs and got ready for work. I was still a little out of it from sleeping so hard. When I came back downstairs from getting ready, she was gone already and a note on the counter telling me to have a good day. I fixed my coffee and headed out.

When I walked into my office, Brad was sitting in the chair in front of my desk. I wanted to kick him out. I was still annoyed after having drinks with them about the partner thing. I had worked my ass off for it and, well, it still hadn't happened.

"Good morning, Brad."

"Barrett, wanted to talk to you about a case you got."

"Which one?" I asked him because I had several, and he had never been interested in anything I was working on.

"Rick Stanton," he said, and I just c****d my eyebrow up out of curiosity. "He's, my cousin." he said, and that surprised the s**t out of me.

"OK, well he's still in some trouble and if you've read the file, you know that I can't get him out of this completely."

"I realize that. I will pay his legal fees. You know it's against company policy for me to represent him. His mother paid the retainer fee before she called me, otherwise I would have done so. She doesn't have the money for this." he explained, and I just groaned internally because I knew what he wanted me to do and, of course, I would do it, but the problem was he wasn't going to learn if he wasn't held accountable if he wasn't required to pay something or do time, and he would be back, and he would call again, and I would have this blood sucking leech that I would have to represent for the rest of my life.

"No need. I will handle it and don't worry about the fees. Also, give your aunt back her retainer fee."

"Thanks, Barrett."

"No problem, but just so everyone is clear on this, I am going to try for a plea deal so he doesn't have to do any time, but some of these charges aren't going away. He left a note on her door with his blood."