Chapter Ten
Sarah
Icouldn’t get over the realization that the father of my child was a criminal. And not just any criminal. If the DA was to be believed, he was the leader of the criminals, the head of the Bratva, which I’d just learned was what they called the Russian mafia.
I slept with the boss of the bad guys. We made a baby together.
It felt surreal, but at the same time, it explained a few things. That darkness I’d sensed in him that had thrilled me. Now, I knew better. That darkness helped him run a criminal empire, allowed him to break the law and call it a way to make a living. Thinking about how that darkness excited me made my stomach twist.
I still found it hard to believe. His lawyer painted the picture of a businessman, the head of his family construction firm, and an upstanding member of the community. A picture that contrasted sharply with what the DA was saying. But the fact that Dmitri Gorsky was standing trial for orchestrating the events that led to my boss’s murder had to prove something. No matter how much I wished it wasn’t true.
As the opening statements were wrapped up, the DA called his first witness. The medical examiner described his findings from the autopsy and the timeline of when Mr. Moss’s death occurred. Then Detective Johnson took the stand and talked about Dmitri’s known associates, naming the three men identified as the ones who had threatened my boss that day inhis office. They were all listed as employees of the construction company Dmitri owned, or had financial ties to it, although the detective strongly implied that the business was a front, which Dmitri’s lawyer objected to.
While all of this went on, I felt my anxiety get worse. My chest was tight, and my mind kept jumping to worst-case scenarios.
What if he came after me for testifying? Wasn’t that the kind of thing the mafia did? I’d seen it in movies, but I had no idea if they were accurate. I had no idea about anything.
But I knew a little about custody issues. I had always felt guilty about not being able to find Dmitri to tell him about our daughter. I felt like it was my duty to at least inform the man, even if he had no interest in being involved in our child’s life.
Now, I was terrified he’d somehow discover her existence. If he was powerful enough to have men like that working for him, what else could he do? Would he try to take her away from me? Would he hurt her? Hurt both of us?
Everything inside me said he wouldn’t, but how could I trust that gut feeling? I’d obviously been horribly wrong about him when we met.
If he was determined and had an army of mafia men at his back, what chance did I have of stopping him from talking my daughter from me? Could I even do anything to stop him if he made that decision?
My heart pounded in my ears, and I wished I could back out of all of this. I wanted justice for Mr. Moss, but at what cost?
“Mr. Reid, please call your next witness,” the judge said.
“Your honor, I’d like to call Sarah White to the stand.”
My heart was in my throat as I stood on shaky legs. This was it. I was doing this. I was going to look into the eyes of the man who fathered my child while I testified against him.
I could feel him watching me, but I kept my gaze trained straight ahead, looking at the empty witness stand as I walked forward. The silence in the courtroom was oppressive, but it also allowed me to hear the door opening behind me. Stopping, I turned back to see three bailiffs rush into the room. Everything froze as they rushed past me and toward the judge, who look just as baffled as everyone else. They stopped in front of the judge’s bench, and he leaned forward as one of the men spoke in a low voice.
I found myself glancing at Dmitri. He was watching the judge and bailiffs, his brow furrowed and mouth turned down. Even like that, he was unbelievably attractive.
Guilt immediately followed that thought.
How could I even think of him that way, knowing what I knew about him now?
“Ladies and gentlemen,” the judge said, standing. “We’re going to have to delay these proceedings. There’s no need to panic, but there’s been a bomb threat made on the building. We’re going to have to evacuate while the NYPD conducts a thorough search of the building. Court will reconvene on Monday. Please make your way out in an orderly manner.”
Relief washed over me, which was probably crazy, considering I’d just heard there was potentially a bomb in the courthouse. But I couldn’t help being glad that I didn’t have to testify today. I had a few days to wrap my head around the idea of facing Dmitri on the witness stand.
Some people rushed out of the courtroom as if they thought a bomb might go off any second. The rest of us filed outa little more calmly, but no one was dragging their feet. Even the judge took of his robe at the bench and left it in a crumpled heap on his chair so that he could join the rest of us in heading outside.
It was startling to step outside and see the street filled with police cars. There was a SWAT team van on the corner and men in uniforms all over the street. A man with a badge hanging around his neck spoke into a walkie-talkie while gesturing for all of us to move away from the building.
We were a hell of a diverse crowd, standing there and waiting for the police to tell us what to do next. Lawyers and judges and criminals and jury members. Then there were people like me who were only present to testify about a crime we never wanted to be involved in.
I pulled out my phone to send a text to my mother, telling her about what was happening and that I was safely outside, just in case she saw it on the news. I didn’t want her to freak out.
I’d just put the phone back into my purse when I heard a familiar, deep voice directly behind me.
“Sarah,” Dmitri said, and dread sat like a heavy weight in my stomach.
Turning slowly, I braced myself to speak with the man I remembered fondly and feared in equal measure.