He had the sense to pay the parking fee, but after that he was a man on a mission. I climbed into the passenger seat and just held on as he tore out of the parking garage. Once we reached the car, I was worried he’d only unlock his side, but he pushed the button twice, unlocking all the doors. I handed him the keys and kept pace with him. “Give me the fucking keys, Dante!” he snarled. “Keys,” he snapped as he held out his hand. I was about to put myself between him and Mel when Magnus suddenly veered to the left and headed towards the stairwell. The lawyer she was with put up his hand and began calling for security, but Magnus ignored him. The woman had the sense to look afraid as he neared her. My fear was that he was going after Mel because I saw his eyes lock on her where she was waiting by the elevator with the attorney who’d escorted her into the courtroom. His rage was palpable and I was actually nervous about trying to stop his forward motion. I kept up with him, though I wasn’t really expecting any threats…Trent and his lawyers had gone after Magnus in such a way that there’d been no way for me to protect him. Magnus stalked past the prosecutor without a word and he completely ignored me as he strode by. Magnus was dismissed from the stand a minute later after the prosecutor tried to undo the damage, but it was clearly too late because several of the jurors were looking at Magnus with heavy disapproval. She stood up and held Magnus’s gaze for several more seconds before leaving the courtroom. I turned to look at Mel and saw her practically beaming. The defense had raised enough questions about Magnus’s credibility that some of the jurors were bound to question his version of events. I had no doubt there was more to the story, but it didn’t matter. I wanted to believe the defense attorney had made the words up, but the fact that Magnus had gone completely pale at the question and had barely moved as the fight between lawyers raged on around him told me otherwise.

Even with the appropriate context, there was no denying the impact those words would have on Magnus’s credibility. It didn’t matter that this time around the judge sided with the prosecutor because all Salvatore had had to do was get the ugly words out there. That you were done with her?”Ĭhaos erupted as the jury gasped and the prosecutor shot to his feet. DuCane, is it true that on the day your daughter disappeared, you told her to leave and not come back. I hoped like hell it was over, but when I saw the irritation in Salvatore’s gaze as he briefly faced the audience while he was pretending to look through some papers on his desk, I knew he wasn’t done.

It was a good answer, but I knew the damage had been done.

Bound to the Alpha by Riley Trent