A week later, I still didn't feel entirely myself. Periodically vertigo would wash over me and I would have to brace against something solid until the world stopped swirling and the feeling returned to my hands and feet. Luckily Benedict was always near, and solid and warm to lean into. He didn't endear himself by insisting I face the city prosecutor at the courthouse to deal with some of those pesky criminal charges I thought I'd outrun.
But I went, wearing business clothes that Natalia pronounced made me look "almost respectable." Benedict went with me, and Carter lumbered along with us as extra help in case I had an "episode" and needed to be hidden or rushed away. He also gave me encouraging smiles as I limped into the courthouse and Benedict whistled and swung his arms like he was playing hooky.
The prosecutor was an older woman with half-moon glasses on the end of her nose and an expansive coif of gray hair reminiscent of an earlier decade. But her steel gray eyes, the same shade as her hair, cut right through me. "You've been quite busy, Ms. Deacon. Imagine my surprise to hear Mr. Chase is representing you."
"Serendipity?" I said. The chairs in front of her desk were uncomfortable but I didn't dare move to ease the pain in my back; I got the feeling she might chastise me for fidgeting and I'd end up back in jail.
Her lips pursed. She directed an arch look at Benedict. "And you, Mr. Chase. I've never known you to do pro bono work."
"Serendipity," he said with a grin, as innocent and sunshiny as a boy scout.
The woman, Geralyn Mastriano, did not look charmed by handsome Benedict. Her fingers drummed on the surface of her battered desk, and I started to panic. She could throw me right back into jail for whatever she wanted, and even Benedict's perfect white teeth and fat wallet full of cash wouldn't get me out. Geralyn moved the glasses higher up on her nose and studied my file. "I heard you had some health problems recently, Ms. Deacon. I'm sorry to hear that. I also heard these health problems changed your world outlook and you're no longer going to be engaging in illegal pursuits. Is this true?"
"Yes ma'am," I said.
She made an unimpressed noise in her throat and watched me over the tops of her glasses. "If I agree to plea this down and give you community service, Ms. Deacon, where would you do that service?"
"A soup kitchen, ma'am." I winced and moved in the chair, hoping the pins and needles in my butt were due to the hard plastic and not getting re-paralyzed. "The same one I used to have to go to. I know what it's like to be there. I want to show them what it's like to get past it, to move forward. Move up."
I hadn't told Benedict that part; I didn't dare look at him directly, but in my peripheral vision, his expression softened. Looked like he wanted to hug me right there. The prosecutor did not look similarly impressed. She paged through the file. "And how do you propose to support yourself?"
"A receptionist at a gym. It's a new gym." I cleared my throat, hand flapping nervously in Benedict's general direction. "Some of Mr. Chase's friends are opening a gym and asked me to be the receptionist and do odd jobs around the place."
"I'm sure Mr. Chase's friends are doing all kinds of things these days."
Benedict put his hand over his heart. "Geralyn, you wound me. I'm just a good samaritan, trying to help a misguided little lamb find her way through a treacherous —"
"Mr. Chase," the prosecutor said, but her lips twitched in something like a smile. The first hint of any emotion other than irritation. "While I'm sure you're perfectly altruistic in your support for this young lady, the court does not have quite your enthusiasm for Ms. Deacon's potential. She's been a petty criminal for some time without any hint of remorse. So. Rather than expunge your record entirely, Ms. Deacon, you and I will make a deal. You will complete three hundred hours of community service. You will hold down a full time job. You will report in to your parole officer every week in person. At the end of three months, we will meet to evaluate your progress. If you're on the straight and narrow, I'll close out your case and you'll be free to continue your life as you please. So long as it's legal."
She fixed me with a hard look and jabbed her finger in my direction. "But if you violate any of these conditions, Ms. Deacon, I will come after you with everything I have, do you understand? I know you worked for Val Szdoka, and though she disappeared under questionable circumstances, I've no doubt there are many more skeletons in your closet than we see here," and she dropped the file on her desk. "And believe me, child, Benedict Chase doesn't make me even slightly nervous. You would need Jesus himself defending you to have a chance of remaining a free woman."
I blinked, leaning back in my chair without thinking. Holy shit on toast. That woman was terrifying. "Y-yes ma'am. I don't think I can afford Jesus's retainer."
"You can't afford Benedict Chase's, either," she said under her breath. Geralyn scowled at Benedict, who grinned gleefully next to me, not at all perturbed by her speech. "And you, young man. Do not cross me. I will absolutely call your brother if I see you shirking or leading Ms. Deacon astray."
"Geralyn," he said, holding his hands up. "I promise, Logan is also —"
"I will call your mother if I have to," she said, glasses once more on the end of her nose as she frowned at him. Benedict went still next to me, the color draining from his face as she went on, each word slow and deliberate and meant to terrify. "I've no doubt she would have a strong opinion on this matter."
"Yes ma'am," he said.
I stared at him, mouth gaping. Benedict Chase, huge shifter lion and powerhouse corporate lawyer, lost his devil-may-care attitude the moment she brought up his mother? And how the hell did the prosecutor know his mother?
"Very well." Geralyn stacked the papers on her desk and directed her attention to me. "Do we have a deal, Ms. Deacon?"
"Yes ma'am." I nodded, half a second away from curtseying or rolling over to show her my belly.
"Good. I will see you in three months." She rose from behind her desk and I scrambled to my feet. Geralyn briefly shook my hand, then gave me a final stern look over her glasses. "You'd better be on your best behavior, young lady, or I will hear about it and you will both answer to me."
She frowned at Benedict as she shook his hand, then added, "Give my best to Esther."
"Yes ma'am," he said.
I waited until we were in the hallway to smack his arm. "She knows your mother?"
"Hush," he said, putting his arm around my waist to guide me out of the building. "You'll ruin my reputation around here. I can't let anyone know my mother is the most terrifying person on the planet."
Carter grinned as he fell in behind us, hands shoved in his pockets. I glanced at him and he shook his head. "She's a lovely woman. Just doesn't like practical jokes," and Carter sent a significant look at his brother.
I laughed, delighted, and almost tripped in my glee as Benedict opened a door and we were outside in the chilly air. He held me close to his side and bent to kiss the top of my head. "I don't know what he's talking about, I was an absolute angel as a boy."
And I'd believe that right after I met the tooth fairy. By Carter's snort, doubt was the correct response. I leaned into Benedict as we walked slowly away from the courthouse, down an almost-familiar street. "How does she know your mother?"
Benedict dropped his wounded expression. "Geralyn is a badger."
"A what?" I stopped in my tracks and looked back at the courthouse.
"A werebadger," Benedict said. He smiled, and held my face in his hands as he pressed his lips to mine. "She's tenacious as fuck, too. No one crosses Geralyn. Even the loan sharks won't dare pop up on her radar."
"A badger," I said under my breath, and shook my head. So I would definitely have to be on my best behavior. She meant every word of her threat.
"Yep." Benedict kissed me again, slower, and as I melted against him, humming with pleasure as he kindled heat all the way through me, Carter cleared his throat. Benedict glanced at his brother, still kissing me, and managed to say with half his mouth, "Give me a break, dude."
Carter rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. "I'll call Edgar for a ride. Congratulations, Eloise," and he walked away with a long-suffering sigh.
Benedict nibbled on my lips as his hand pressed to the small of my back and drew me close. My knees weakened and I linked my arms around him. He chuckled. "I like you in those fancy clothes, looking all prim and proper. I want to take them all off you, of course."
"Maybe you should," I murmured, and played with his tie.
"I promised to buy you lunch." Benedict canted his head at the restaurant right next to him, Bistro Nord, where we'd eaten together that first day. "And this time I want to make it all the way to dessert."
I bit my lower lip as I looked up at him and nestled my hips to his. I pushed my hair back and went up on my toes to whisper in his ear. "Are you sure?"
"Maybe we'll get dessert to go. They'll box it up for us." He groaned as I kissed his jaw, and he squeezed my butt to draw me closer. "We can skip the salad. It's terrible. Vegetables are rubbish."
I laughed and drew away, tugging on his hand to guide him toward the restaurant. "Well, if we have the salad, we might need to take a break in the middle. I certainly might need to excuse myself." As he pulled me back suddenly and crushed me to his chest, I added, "And if you meet me in the bathroom, we can have dessert early."
The purr rumble started in his chest and he kissed me, hard. I closed my eyes and relaxed against him. I finally felt warm all the way through. Every time he touched me, I felt alive. Benedict drew back but kept me close as he headed to the restaurant and the polite doorman with averted eyes. My lion leaned to murmur in my ear, "Maybe we have dessert before the soup, and then after the salad, and then we take the chocolate mousse to go so we can have dessert at home. Twice."
I laughed, cheeks on fire, and headed straight for the bathroom as Benedict chatted with the maître d'. If we locked the door, he could hold me up against the wall and we'd have plenty of time and room in the super fancy bathroom. I shivered in ecstasy, ready for him as I heard the heavy tread of his steps approaching. I unbuttoned my skirt.
Maybe not entirely on my best behavior.
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