OBSESSED

69

I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed. "They're watching us in here. Be careful what you say."

"What could I possibly say to make this any worse?" James demanded, throwing his hands up. "You—oh, Mother is going to have a fit when she hears about this. You royally fucked up this time, brother."

Although he was right, I rolled my eyes. "Come here," I said as I stood and moved over to the bars. He did. I lowered my voice. "They are accusing me of things I didn't do. I never raped Leah. Everything sexual we did was by consent. Surely, our lawyer can fight that as defamation."

His eyes widened. "Jesus, fuck. You raped her? You son of a bitch—"

"No!" I hissed. "I love Leah. I would never even think of doing such a horrible thing to her."

"Well, she must have said that you raped her if they are charging you with it. Apparently she really wants to incinerate your reputation."

I closed my eyes and rested my forehead against the cell bars. Could my little Leah really say such an awful thing about me? I did fuck up with the video I took without her knowing. I admitted to that and I honest to God deleted it without hesitation. But that was the only sexual offense I had ever committed against her and it was hardly a condemnable crime.

How could she do this to me?

"Damn it," I muttered. "Damn it, Leah. Why?"

James heaved a deep breath and I opened my eyes in time to see him lean against the bland concrete wall across from my cell. "You better hope that lawyer can work a miracle."

I backed away from her bars and ran my hands through my hair. It felt oily and disgusting. What I would do for a hot shower.

"He has no choice but to get me out of this," I muttered. "It's not going to be over for me, James. It will never be over for me."

—(—)—

After an agonizingly long week of little sleep and stale jail food, James, my lawyer, and I had nailed down our strategy for the case—my best shot at getting the fuck out of here. My mind continuously wandered to Leah. Was she alright? Were they holding her in one of the jail cells too? I needed my freedom but I also needed to know she was going to make it out of this. She might have started this ordeal to ruin our lives but I couldn't stop caring about her. Whether she believed it or not, she was my match, my soul mate. We belonged together, especially if I could still love her after all of this shit.

That afternoon, I dressed in slacks and a suit jacket James had brought me. I was marched into the courtroom with two guards, which was frankly ridiculous. I could practically feel the bags under my eyes and my fingers itched to smooth out my hair one more time. The handcuffs prevented me from doing so.

As we walked down the aisle past the spectator benches, I scanned the room. Hardly a soul was here. I noticed a reporter dressed in a suit sitting in one of the pews and quickly looked away. That was just what we fucking needed. My mother would probably pay to have my ass sit in jail if news about a Muller diving off the deep end got around. She cared too much about her beloved elite social circles to have any of us, including my father, tarnish the family name. My father would never forgive me for this, even if I managed to get a lighter sentencing. I was grateful James had kept this a secret from them, but I knew it was just a matter of time.