Page 93 of When Love Takes Over
He pushed me toward one of the police cars as my father hopped out of his car.
“What the hell is going on here!” he shouted.
“Stop where you are, sir. Don’t go any further!” another officer yelled at my father.
“Pops, I don’t know what the fuck is going on. They said assault and battery, but they got the wrong man.”
“I’ll meet you at the police station with our lawyer.”
“Make sure Malyah knows I’m okay.”
The officer shoved me into the back of the squad car and slammed the door. I was pissed but trying to keep my cool. I hadn’t put my hands on anybody, and I couldn’t wait to find out who lied on my name.
I checked my surroundings as we drove away, and right before we turned the corner, I saw a woman in a gray jogging suit with the hood over her head and big sunglasses covering her face.
The woman held up her phone, presumably recording the entire incident. When I noticed the familiar car behind her, I read the license plate to confirm my suspicions.
“CRICH1.”
I should’ve known Callie was behind this when the officer said assault and battery. I hadn’t assaulted her, but if we ever crossed paths again, it might very well be a different story.
About two hours later, I was in the interview room with my lawyer, Matthew Thompson. He came in apologizing for the delay in his arrival, saying they’d given him the runaround forthe first hour, and he had to threaten to sue their asses for denying me my right to counsel.
“Why am I here?”
“Callie Richards claims you assaulted her last night in the parking lot ofOP Bar & Grill. There’s a video that’s posted of her on the ground, and you stepping over her to get into your car. It’s gone viral and looks very damaging.”
“Fuck.”
“Tell me what happened.”
For the next few minutes, I described what occurred between Callie and me last night.
“Do you think the bar has cameras outside?” he asked.
“I don’t know, but Ronin saw the whole thing.”
“He’s been blowing my phone up, but I had to get this handled and didn’t answer.”
“He’ll tell you the only reason I put my hands on her was to move her away from my car so I could leave.”
“I’ll call Ronin when I leave. In the meantime, your bail should be set shortly, and you should be released in the next few hours. There’s not much we can do until you’re out and more information is gathered. I’ll reach out to the bar owners about the footage, and we’ll talk more later.”
“Sounds good.”
“Your family is well-known and has never been involved in any scandals. Unfortunately, the media has gotten hold of this story, and it’s all over the local news. You might want to hire a publicist to help clean this up if you don’t have one.”
“We have a company spokesperson, but she’s never had to deal with anything like this.”
“I guess you’ll find out what she’s made of. I’ll be in touch.”
Matthew left, and I was taken back to a holding cell. I was surprised I didn’t wear a hole in the floor with all the pacing I did. Time dragged, but my mind raced as I thought about howdisappointed my family probably was and how I’d fix this so it wouldn’t tarnish our legacy.
“Goode, you made bail. Let’s go.”
I was relieved but played it cool. After getting my belongings and signing some paperwork, I was free to go for now. The first person I saw when I entered the vestibule was Malyah. She rushed into my arms and embraced me tightly.
“Are you okay?” she asked after a lingering kiss.
