“You clearly have no idea who you’re speaking to.”
“I know exactly who andwhatyou are. But you don’t know me. And you have no idea the things I’m capable of.”
“Is that a threat? Because I could have you arrested for?—”
“Oh, it’s no threat.” Archer shook his head again. “That’s a promise I will move heaven and earth to keep.”
“She killed my boy.”
“No, Ididn’t!” Cassie insisted. Stepping several inches to the right, she craned her neck around Archer to get a better look. She wanted to see the other man’s face. She needed to look her ex-father-in-law square in his angry eyes when she said, “My God, Alistair. How can you possibly think I could do something as horrific as murdering Russ?”
How could he think she was capable of murderinganyone?
“Because you wanted to take everything you could from him!” he accused. “The house, the money…the firm he built withourfamily’s money. You wanted it all. And when you realized you weren’t going to get it, you lured him to the house he paid for, and you killed him!”
“You’re wrong.”You’re so, so wrong.“I didn’t even know Russ was coming over that night. And the only reason he did was to bring me a copy of the changes he’d insisted his lawyer make to the divorce settlement. All things that benefited me, by the way.”
If Ellie were here, she’d be screaming at Cassie to shut her mouth and walk away. But Cassie was smart, and she knew how to handle herself where the law was concerned.
She hadn’t said anything she hadn’t already told the police. Certainly nothing she wouldn’t say under oath while on the stand. And while she loathed the blood-sucking paparazzi fortifying this moment forever with their pictures and videos, she also knew this was the perfect opportunity to show the public that shewasn’tthe violent, uncaring person the angry man had tried making her out to be.
“I don’t believe you!” Alistair’s voice rose even higher. The skin covering his forehead and cheeks turned red with fury.
Again Cassie kept her composure like a pro as she calmly stated, “You don’t have to believe me. My lawyer has the papers Russ brought to me that night. Any handwriting expert worth their salt will be able to prove that the changes that were made are all in Russ’s own handwriting.”
She took a step forward in an effort to make the man see she was telling him the truth. But in a protective move, Archer shifted his body to the side, purposely blocking her path.
Knowing that was a fight she wouldn’t win, Cassie decided to stay where she was as she continued speaking to a man she prayed she’d never have to see again. “Even if I’d wanted to hurt your son—which Ididn’t, there was no reason for me to.”
“Bullshit.”
“It’s not bullshit, Alistair. Russ came by that night to tell me he’d conceded to every offer I’d made.”And then some.“Don’t you see? I was free. Russ and I werebothfinally free to move on with our lives. So you can stand there and call me whatever names you’d like. Run over to those reporters and spread all the lies you want to tell. Hell, you can spend the rest of your life hating me for something I didn’t even do, for all I care. But not a single one of those things will bring Russ back, and they sure as hell won’t change the fact that I had no idea that wine was poisoned when I handed your son that glass.”
Shaking off Archer’s hold—which was only possible because Archer had decided to let him—Alistair appeared to have regained a modicum of control. But as the wealthy man took a step back and began smoothing the front of his designer suit and tie, he gave her an ominous warning…
“If you think I’m going to let you get away with murder, you’re even dumber than I thought. Rest assured, Cassandra…I won’t stop until you’ve gotten what you deserve.”
“Walk away, Montgomery,” Archer ordered. “Do it now, before I change my mind and decide to pound your weaselly ass into the pavement.”
“Is that another one of your ‘promises’?” Alistair’s sarcastic comment was accompanied by an angry glare.
She and Barbara watched the two men silently as Archer said, “You bet your ass it is.”
“Come on, Alistair.” The man’s wife wrapped her frail fingers around the top of his arm and pulled him back toward her. “Everyone will be waiting for us back at the church.”
Much to her relief, Russ’s father made the smart decision to listen to his wife. The infuriated man let the older woman pull him in the opposite direction, but not before turning those cold, hateful eyes in her direction one final time.
“You know, it’s too bad Washington did away with the death penalty. I would have loved to have watched them shove that needle into your arm.”
The man’s parting words pierced her heart, and Cassie thought she may have gasped. But then Archer was there, wrapping a comforting arm around her shoulders and tossing out his own parting comment…
“Come near her again and it will be the last thing you do.”
Archer reached down and took her hand in his. The undeniable sense of safety and comfort his touch brought forthwas instantaneous. The feeling of his warm, callused palm sliding against hers as natural as anything she’d ever known.
Walking in silence, they kept a slow but steady pace as they made their way to Archer’s SUV. Correction, theteam’sSUV.
They’d stopped earlier at his office on the way to the church to make the trade. Archer’s truck for a Tahoe. But this wasn’t just any Tahoe. No, the SUV he was currently helping her climb into was a freaking beast.