“Other than the coercion, those accusations are not cited on the restraining order. They spared you that, so we can deal with it now. We know what we’re up against. We will be more prepared when we reconvene.” Looking Taylor in the eyes, he said, “Don’t do anything stupid. Don’t go over there. Don’t call them. Don’t contact them in any form. Everything you do or say will be used against you in this case. For us to win, we need to keep you squeaky clean. If we can, I have no doubt she’ll walk out of here with you on Friday.”
“She’ll be here?”
“Yes, he wants them present. She’ll have to look you in the eyes and accuse you of coercion for this order to stay in place. Is there any chance she’ll do that?” He searched Taylor’s eyes for any tick that might let him know if he’s lying.
Staring him unflinchingly in the eyes, he replied. “No. None.”
Caleb nodded, pleased. “Good. Let’s keep it that way.” The two men started walking toward the corner. Caleb put his arm out and hailed a cab. As he was getting in, he said, “Hang tight. We’ll take them down on Friday. In the meantime, I’ll do my due diligence. Keep your phone handy and yourself out of trouble.” The door slammed closed and the taxi drove off.
Taylor stood on that corner for minutes… at least five disorienting minutes before his feet started moving. He didn’t know where he was going but he knew there was nothing at his apartment worth hurrying back for.
When he looked up at the cloudy day, his life seemed to play on a projector before his eyes, for a brief second worrying him that maybe he was dying. As he walked down the street, he recalled so many of the times Taylor had been called a “Golden Boy.” With a nickname like that to live up to, he was always doomed to fail in some way.
Parkinson’s.
Katherine.
His parents.
Rufus.
And now, Jude’s family.
The world seemed determined to right the wrong it made when the boy was born too smart, too handsome, too kindhearted, too talented, too much of everything. Karma wanted her penance and she was taking it threefold.
But what none of them counted on, and what Karma couldn’t predict was that the “Golden Boy” was also too determined to let fate destroy his happiness. Jude was not in a power position. She was at the mercy of the courts, the hospital, and her family. She may not be able to fight, but he could, and he would. He’d fight not just for her, but for him. His whole heart and soul were wrapped up in the woman he was just forced to leave behind.
All the depressing shit that had happened to him, fine. Whatever. But this, he refused to accept it, refused to let anyone else dictate his future.
Taylor would get Jude back. There would be a way to prove them wrong and he was determined to find it.
THERE WAS NO way to properly prepare to have your life shoved under a microscope, dissected, and left to defend the mutilated pieces that were pulled apart out of context under examination. But Taylor tried his best. He wore his wedding suit to court that morning, hoping the threads that bound her to him would hold strong today. It had been three days since he’d seen Jude. He was ready to defend his love and get his wife back.
June twelfth. Caleb was waiting for him outside the courthouse at a coffee stand on the corner, and wasted no time with his client. “Do not talk unless you are on the stand. Got it?”
“Yes.”
“Do not make eye contact with anyone other than the judge. Got it?”
“Not even Jude?”
“She’s different. We need her sympathies on our side.”
“Sympathies? We’re married.”
Caleb didn’t respond to that. He just raised a perplexed brow. “Do not make eye contact, Taylor, with anyone else. Not her parents or any member of her family or her legal team. They’ll read it as aggressive and use it against you. Remember they will try to goad you as proof that the order should be kept intact. Don’t give them that reason. Got it?”
“Got it.”
He stopped and looked at Taylor. Caleb Monroe was very serious in tone for eight in the morning, but Taylor liked that. Caleb warned, “Speak to no one but the judge. No one. Got it?”
“Yes.”
They walked inside the courthouse and went through the metal detectors. Once they were alone again, they continued walking, and Caleb continued talking, “We’re lucky to have this hearing so fast. Damn lucky that Judge Matthews is open to hearing the case after the other day. Let’s not blow it. No matter what they throw at us, we’ve got to keep our cool. Understand?”
“I do, but we can’t lose.”
Caleb was focused ahead. “I fight to win.”
Taylor liked the confidence in his voice and nodded because he related. He fought to win too.
They walked inside the courtroom and took their seats. Taylor hadn’t bothered to tell his parents for many reasons, but foremost, he couldn’t deal with their disappointment that this was even happening to a Barrett. He hadn’t even told them about being married, so bringing up a restraining order wasn’t something he really wanted to do. So he was going at it alone. There were a few unrecognizable faces behind him, a few on the other side, and Jude and her legal entourage had yet to arrive.
The large wooden doors that needed oiling opened and the squeak of the hinges made Taylor glance back. That’s when he saw them: the lawyers, the stepfather, the aunt, Isla, and Jude at the back. Today, she was a mixture of the woman he knew. She was part Judith, with her hair pinned back tightly, and part Jude in the dress she’d been wearing when he’d fallen in love with her. It was the one he had married her in, too. Chartreuse with little pink flowers embroidered around the bottom. A matching pink sweater covered her shoulders. Even with the overwhelming sadness on her face that left only traces of the laughter they had shared, she was stunning, and Taylor’s breath was taken away.
Isla saw Taylor and a small smile appeared, a silent apology of sorts it seemed, but he didn’t care about her. He only wanted Jude to look at him, but she kept her eyes down as low as her head hung. This was not good.
“Let me guess,” Caleb whispered. “The one in green and pink?”
“Yep.”
“Shit,” he muttered under his breath. “They’ve gotten to her.”
At first sight he thought the dress was a sign for him. But she wouldn’t look at him and that sign shouted louder than the sundress. The thought of how they had gotten to her made his blood boil. “I told you they would hurt her.”
“Calm down, Taylor. We have the facts on our side.”
“The facts don’t matter if she argues them, if she is being forced to side with them.”
Caleb turned to Taylor. “Tell me again. Is there any way she’ll turn against you?”
“She won’t speak a word against me. I know it,” he replied, not hesitating. “She would be tortured first, but probably has been. She won’t hurt me if she can help it.”
“The question remains, can she help it?”
Taylor stood as Jude passed by, but she still didn’t look at him. Her lawyer stepped between them and led her to the far side of the table. Taylor had never been a violent man. He was too sensible for that. But once he met Jude, once he felt real love, he suddenly understood the desire to lay down one’s life for someone else, to offer to take a hit to protect someone you love. He turned away from the lawyer’s back, wanting to pummel him for being a wall that kept him from her. He sat, trying to swim to reason and catch his breath again.
Thirty minutes into the proceeding, Taylor looked to the opposition and saw big blue-green eyes stealing a glance at him. She looked away, but it was as if her eyes were drawn to him because she soon looked back again.