Love All Out - Part 4 (A Stepbrother Romance) Read Online Free PDF Page B

it, we were pulling up at the courthouse.
    “Ready or not, here we are,” Matt said as he slid the truck into park.
    “And there they are,” I added, staring up at the stone courthouse steps. Bradley and his parents were standing on the landing.
    “If you want, we can wait here until they go inside,” James suggested. “I know you don’t want to cause a scene or make this any harder than it already is.”
    I shook my head. I didn’t relish the thought of facing the Millers, but I wasn’t going to cower away from them. “I didn’t do anything wrong,” I said. “I have no reason to hide.”
    I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed out of the truck. Matt and James did the same and both offered me their arm as we stepped towards the courthouse. I took Matt’s and whispered “sorry” to James. He gave me a silent nod as we approached the staircase. We were halfway up when Dale called down to us.
    “Just the people I want to talk to,” he said. The whole family sneered down at us, their hands on their hips.
    God, it’s like they rehearsed this.
    “We have nothing to talk about, Dale,” I called back, my eyes fixed on the door.
    We just have to get inside.
    “Oh, I think we have plenty to talk about,” Dale said, his voice hard, his words clipped.
    We reached the top of the stairs and Dale stepped in front of us, blocking our path to the door.
    “Listen Dale, you need to back off,” James said, his voice patient but firm.
    Dale turned to him, his face full of rage. “I don’t take orders from disgusting sister fuckers,” he spat.
    I felt my face flush and watched James’s turn a deep shade of red. Matt tightened his grip on my arm, while Bradley and his mother stood a few feet away acting like nothing out of the ordinary was happening.
    “That’s right,” Dale continued. “I know all about the two of you and your disgusting relationship. Bradley told me everything. And to think, Willow. I used to believe you were good enough for my son.”
    His condescending attitude was more than I could take. I straightened my back and stared at him, determined to stand up for myself. I narrowed my eyes and put my hands on my hips.
    “I can’t believe you ever thought your piece of shit son was good enough for me ,” I hissed. “I don’t know what Bradley told you and I don’t care. You can’t prove anything. But I can,” I finished with an evil smile.
    “Our lawyer will get those surveillance tapes tossed out of evidence,” he growled. “You should save us all a bunch of time and drop the charges today. I’d hate for my dear friend Cole to hear about what you and James have been up to and have another heart attack.”
    I couldn’t believe he was trying to use Daddy’s heart attack to blackmail me. Rage boiled through my body and James stiffened beside me.
    “I wasn’t talking about the surveillance tapes, though good luck getting them thrown out,” I snorted. “I was talking about your financial ledgers. You know. The ones that prove you’ve been embezzling from your own company. ”
    Dale’s mouth dropped and he visibly shrank in front of me.
    “I guess Bradley left that out when he was telling everyone’s secrets,” I continued, still furious. “Let’s just say a friend stumbled across the info and saved it for a rainy day. I won’t drop the charges against Bradley, because your son is a criminal. So are you. And if you push me one inch, I’ll make sure the IRS gets copies of your ledgers. Now, if you’ll excuse us, we have a hearing to get to.”
    I took Matt’s arm again. As we pushed past Dale and stepped into the courthouse, I felt like I was floating on air.
     
    ***
     
    “Hi Daddy, how are you feeling today?” I held my phone to my ear with one hand and brushed Glory’s mane with the other.
    “I’m feeling pretty good, pumpkin,” he assured me. “I did six laps around the cardiac floor today. Dr. Gulley’s confident I’ll be able to come home on Monday.”
    “It’s