Page 14 of Retaliation
“Wings.”
His lips parted slightly at that answer, and I arched an eyebrow.
He recovered fast, though. “How did the man die?”
“Bullet to the head.”
Andras stepped back from the podium and removed his jacket. He turned back to me as he rolled his sleeves up his forearms, revealing multiple tattoos covering his dark skin. “Well. Ms.…?”
“Braun. Sara Braun.”
Andras nodded. “If I were your lawyer, I’d have a hell of a time trusting your words. Your inflection changed twice, indicating two lies, instead of two truths. You answered quickly enough. But the strange part was the lies in your second round of statements did not match your first.”
My mouth popped open, and I squirmed under his hard gaze. He seemed to enjoy that.
“So, Ms. Braun, I can only assume you’re a murderer, but the weapon was not a gun, you’re not a brunette, and you do have wings, perhaps of an angel tattooed…I’m going to guess, across your back.”
I laughed, keeping my voice as casual as possible when I responded. “Not exactly.”
Andras narrowed his eyes before turning to the class.
“Luckily for Ms. Braun, we don’t care whether or not she is a murderer. We care about beneficial evidence, creating doubt in court, and keeping our client out of prison. Perhaps it was a gun, perhaps not. As long as the weapon of choice remains a mystery, our case remains strong. Winning is not always about facts and hard evidence. It’s about perception.” He glanced back at me with a smirk, and my face heated. “Sit down, sweetheart. Your time in the spotlight is over.”
I bit back a nasty retort as I slumped into my chair. What a fucking prick.
Tibby clapped in my ear. “I am having so much fun. I’m going to install cameras in that room so I can see your face every time that jackass calls you out. What a wonderful day.”
I nearly jumped when the guy sitting next to me leaned over and whispered close to my ear. “For the record, you don’t look like the murdering type to me.”
His easy smile and dark-blue eyes danced with mischief as he winked at me, and I couldn’t help but smile back. Why was he so familiar?
I winked in turn, leaning toward him. “Looks can be deceiving.”
His responding smile made my insides melt. From what I could see, his skin was bronzed like he’d spent the last few hours basking in sunlight. His light-brown hair fell in waves around a chiseled jawline. The clothes he wore were simple—a navy T-shirt, fitted just enough for me to take note of his toned arms and chest, torn and stained dark jeans, and muddy, unlaced boots.
“So what do I look like then?” he whispered, his breath tickling my ear.
I let my eyes roam over his broad shoulders and squared jaw, marked with stubble from a few days without shaving. I inhaled slightly as he cocked his head, waiting for my answer. He smelled like a campfire.
“You smell like a lit match, and your clothes are too dirty for a law student. I’m going with a logger. Got lost on your way down from Canada?”
He barked a laugh, and Andras snapped his head toward us, glaring.
“Ms. Braun, are you interrupting my class again?’
Oh Christ. “Um no—”
“My fault, sir,” the logger cut me off. “Just couldn’t help myself.”
Andras stalked toward us, his eyes gleaming like a predator. He pressed his hands down on my desk, staring into my eyes like he could read every dark secret I held inside. He spoke without moving, and I swallowed audibly.
“You can help yourself out of my fucking classroom, Leviathan.”
Holy shit. I clamped my mouth shut and forced my eyes not to widen in shock.
“Holy shit!” Tibby screeched in my ear. “Is that Levi Delano next to you? What the hell is he doing there?”
I pressed my lips together, unable to answer Tibby’s questions as the keys on her keyboard clicked away. What was he doing here? Levi was a firefighter, not a college kid. He barely finished his associate’s degree at community college before joining a firehouse in the city. And how the hell did I not even notice an Obscuritas Prince sitting next to me? I was way off my game this morning and too busy eye-fucking Andras to see the devil sitting next to me.
