Valeria felt short of breath as she watched Samuel Baxter head for the elevator. “Fucking asshole!” she cried, as tears welled up in her eyes, and Nick hugged her, trying to calm her down. “I'm sorry, Valeria. If he had deposited the check you wouldn't have been able to take that money from him, but even so, the lawsuit was already filed,” Connor explained. Nick tried to keep his composure for Valeria, but he was just as angry as she was. “What are we going to do?” he asked the lawyer. “We'll go to trial and fight for Alice,” Connor declared confidently. “It starts in three days, so we'd better start preparing now.” They spent the afternoon calling the witnesses the lawyer had decided to call at the first hearing. But in the days that followed, neither Valeria nor Nick could rest easy. They had left the work in the hands of the twins, Bruno, and Oli, and had devoted themselves entirely to preparing for the trial. Valeria seemed strong and confident, but Nick knew she was having

If Valeria and Nick were desperate about having to subject Alice to the stress of a trial, Samuel Baxter was too, but for a very different reason. “You do realize that if the girl testifies, you're not going to win the case, don’t you?” Miller asked as soon as they left the courthouse. “You're supposed to be my lawyer, can't you fix it?” Baxter growled at him. “Yes, I could do a couple of things, but if I have to get my hands dirty, I'll do it for myself, not for two idiots like you and Miranda,” the lawyer replied. “Be very careful how you talk to me,” Samuel raged. “I'm paying you!” “Nooooo. Miranda is paying me, but you and I both know she doesn't give a damn about you. She just wants to hurt Nick Bennet's wife, and you're a pawn in her game,” Miller retorted. “So here's your problem. If the girl talks, you're finished.” “Why? She probably won't say anything—” Baxter muttered. “You’d better pray that’s true, because don't kid yourself, no matter what I say in court, you're a

Nick stopped immediately, as he felt small hands tug at the edge of his coat. “Niiiiick! Nick! Ni-nick!” He turned around, pushing Baxter away from him and looking at Alice who held out her hands to him, crying disconsolately. The truth was that she was more hysterical than afflicted. Nick had always seen her as excessively clean, and it was alarming to see her crying, with her face dirty from tears and a runny nose. He did what he wasn't supposed to do, but he didn't even think about it. He bent down and lifted Alice in his arms, pressing her to his chest as the little girl wrapped her arms around his neck and hid her face in his shoulder. “Calm down, my child, calm down!” The sirens of police cars began to sound in the distance, and Baxter glared angrily at them. “You just signed your sentence!” Nick spat the words. “Now get the hell out of here, and don't you ever come near my daughter again!” Samuel had no time to retort, he ran to his car and the tires burnt their rubber on

“Well, I'd rather go with my dad.” That answer came as a surprise even to Judge Adams. So much so that she had to ask again for confirmation. “Alice, when you say you want to go with your dad, do you mean Nick or Samuel?” she asked. “Samuel, Samuel Baxter, my biological father. I want to go with him.” Valeria and Nick looked at each other with incredulity, and Connor sighed with concern. The judge looked at them all and returned to the questioning. “Alice, do you love your dad, Samuel, very much?” The girl looked up at him and shivered. “No,” she answered honestly. “I don't like him one bit. He's always been mean to me, and he calls me mean things, like ‘stupid’.” The silence in the room was absolute as Baxter turned red with rage. “Then why do you say you want to go with him, honey?” Judge Adams asked, wrinkling her forehead. “Because he told me that if I didn't say that, he was going to hurt my sister—” “That's a lie!” Samuel shouted, standing up, but several bangs from th

Valeria was on the verge of a nervous breakdown. How could Connor possibly ask her to do that? “There had to be another option!” she whispered in desperation. “There is,” Connor replied. “It would be waiting while this drags on for months, put Alice through this same process over and over again until the judge decides in favor of one of you because of exhaustion or burnout, but maybe by then Baxter will have managed to do something to turn things in his favor. Do you understand that?” “But—” “Valeria, I don't want to force your decision, but you have to trust me now!” Connor looked her in the eye and took one of her hands in a gesture that made Nick's hair stand on end. “Obey me.” The end-of-recess call sounded at that instant, and Judge Adams took her seat. “Mr. Sheffield, do you have an answer for me yet?” he asked. “Yes, your honor, my client would like to make a brief statement if you will allow her,” Connor replied. “Go ahead.” Valeria stood up without letting go of Nick'

If bombs had human expression, they should look just like Samuel Baxter looked at that moment: red, bloated, and out of control. “Mr. Miller! I asked you a question.” The judge was growing impatient. “Does your client have the financial means to afford to raise a child with special needs like Alice?” Miller snorted helplessly. “Your Honor, my client and I would like to request a continuance for—” “For what?” Connor interrupted him. “For making up records that we know are inexistent? Please! You just filed a child support suit, Miller! Even the statuette of justice knows your client has no income to support the child! For God's sake, just hand over the records to the judge and let's get this over with!” Miller gave him a look of hatred, but as soon as he turned to the Judge he could tell by her impatient face that she was not going to give him any more leeway. He picked up the records that were inside his briefcase and brought them to the judge, who flipped through them, incredulou

Valeria jerked up, kicking Nick in the calf out of sheer habit. He jumped off the couch and the two of them stood facing the social worker. The room was filled with candy, popcorn, half-drunk sodas, and the movie The Pacifier that had been paused and was showing a very funny expression on Vin Diesel’s face. “This is outrageous!” said Mrs. Baptiste. Nick and Valeria looked at each other with wild eyes. They were wearing Tasmanian Devil and Bugs Bunny pajamas, they were disheveled and haggard, and it looked like a scene of the worst fetish. “It's not what you're thinking!” Valeria hurried to say. “It's just that we're testing fabrics for Alice's clothes!” Nick said to try to help her. “Yes, and we wanted to test them to see if they would work!” “But nothing weirder than that!” They looked like two naughty children justifying themselves, and Mrs. Baptiste raised a hand to shut them up. “No, it's outrageous that the night you spend without the child is spent on popcorn and coke, wi

  Valeria felt that the ground was shaking under her feet. That soon the world would begin to turn and she would forget everything. Nick's mouth was intoxicating. His hands were strong and addictive, and she just wanted to be there, be there forever and— Her body suddenly tensed, and Nick stopped kissing her. She breathed heavily, controlling the excitement she had, and closed her eyes for a second. Then he leaned down, picked up Valeria's blouse from the floor and put it back on. “Nick—” “Don't say anything,” he murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead. “I'm not stupid, troublemaker. You don't trust me, or rather, you trust me for other things, but not when it comes to this.” “I'm sorry,” Valeria said, stepping down from the desk without looking at him. She wasn't ready, she couldn't forgive him yet. “You're right, I trust you for a lot of things, but... I still—I can't. I'm sorry.” “Don't be sorry,” Nick replied, getting dressed. “That fear you have is entirely my fault. But I

  The speed at which Nick reached the door of the house seemed superhuman, and so did his surprised face. “What's going on?” he demanded in a dry voice. “Miss Milli Kerr was found dead in one of the alleys behind Sheffield & Lieberman, and we found evidence implicating Mrs. Bennet,” said an officer as he directed her to the patrol car. “Noooo... Nick!” Valeria was terrified, and with good reason. “I was with her all night,” said Nick vehemently. “You'll have to report that at the station, Mr. Bennet,” said the other policeman. “74th Precinct.” Nick approached Valeria, who was already sitting in the squad car. “I'm right behind you, honey. Don't worry, okay?” Nick told her. “Don't say anything until Connor's with you. I'm right behind you!” And as soon as the patrol car pulled away, Nick ran toward the house. He changed clothes at great speed and called Connor. “Yes?” answered the half-asleep lawyer. “Connor, I need you.” “Nick, at this rate, I'd better go and sleep with you

Nick stopped breathing at that very second. He blinked and was about to shout that this was a preposterous lie, when Connor pushed him toward the station exit. “That’s imposible, Connor! She was with me all night! I swear on Alice!” “I know! But getting hysterical isn't going to solve anything,” Connor reprimanded him, “let alone getting yourself locked up for causing a disturbance.” “Someone had to have paid him!” Nick exclaimed. “Obviously, but we're not going to yell Valeria out of here. Our best move is to place your faces on the city's security cameras, so get out there and trace the damn circuit as soon as possible.” Richard went out after them and pulled Nick's arm, climbed into the driver's seat himself, and made him give him the address. It was obvious that Nick was affected by what had happened, but Richard couldn't imagine it would get this bad. For his part, Connor returned inside the precinct and requested a brief meeting with the station chief. “You're asking a lot