Chapter 449
Chapter 449:
I pushed through them, my face a mask of stone.
Inside the precinct, the air smelled of stale coffee and misery. I saw Gabriel handcuffed to a bench. He looked beaten, small.
He was crying.
Rage flared in my chest. Pure, white-hot rage.
I walked up to the desk sergeant. I slammed my hand on the counter.
“I want bail,” I said. “Now p>
Evelyn Vance, Alistair’s lawyer, was a shark in a silk blouse. She slapped a folder of paperwork onto the sergeant’s desk with a confidence that made the officers nervous.
“My client is being held on an uncorroborated accusation,” Evelyn stated smoothly. “We are posting bail immediately p>
While she handled the bureaucracy, I looked around the precinct. In a glass-walled interview room nearby, I saw the accuser. She was a young woman, pretty in a fragile way. She was weeping into a tissue, a female officer patting her back.
I walked over.
The woman looked up. When she saw me, she flinched dramatically, as if I were going to hit her.
I stopped at the doorway and lowered my sunglasses.
“I have security footage from the trailer,” I lied. My voice was calm, steady as steel. “My Chief of Security, Felix, installed hidden cameras months ago when we signed the endorsement deal. Standard protocol for high-profile assets p>
It was a complete bluff. Gabriel’s trailer was old; it didn’t even have Wi-Fi.
The woman’s weeping stopped instantly. Her eyes darted to her phone sitting on the table. A classic tell. She was checking for instructions.
“If you recant now,” I offered coldly, “I won’t press perjury charges. But if you make me release that footage in court, you will go to prison for filing a false report. And whoever paid you won’t be there to bail you out p>
Evelyn stepped in close, her voice a whisper meant only for me. “We traced a deposit to her account this morning. Shell company linked to the Kensingtons p>
I nodded. The woman was shaking now. She knew she was caught.
Ten minutes later, Gabriel was released.
𝘙𝖾𝗮𝘥 𝘄i𝘵𝘩o𝘂𝘁 𝘭𝗶𝗺𝗶𝘁𝘀 о𝘯 𝗯𝖾𝗹𝗇𝘰𝘷e𝗹ѕ.𝗰o𝘮
He stumbled out of the holding cell. When he saw me, he collapsed into my arms. He was trembling violently.
“I didn’t do it, Skye,” he sobbed. “I swear. She just started screaming p>
“I know,” I said, holding him up. “I know, Gabriel. Get in the car. Felix will take you to a safe house p>
“Thank you,” he whispered.
I watched him leave with Felix. Then I turned to follow them to the exit.
The automatic glass doors slid open.
And in walked the circus.
Liam Kensington entered first. He wasn’t walking. He was seated in a manual wheelchair this time, looking smaller and more diminished than he had in the electric one. Sienna was behind him, gripping the handles and pushing him forward like a prop. They were flanked by their own PR team. They were clearly here to “support the victim,” a calculated stunt designed to destroy my artist and my brand.
The hallway was narrow. We were forced to stop face-to-face.
Sienna gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. “Skye? Defending a rapist? How low can you sink p>
Cameras flashed from outside the glass doors, capturing the confrontation. I looked at Liam.
He looked terrible up close. His skin was gray. A sheen of sweat covered his forehead. He was fighting the fog in his brain, his brow furrowed as he looked at me.