Over His Knee, Part Three by Hannah Ford
Chapter 5
LILLIANA
“So you sent Jeremy the pictures?” Kovax Williams asks me about an hour later. We’re sitting at a wooden table in a small room at the courthouse, one that’s reserved for lawyers and their clients. And I guess Kovax is my lawyer, even though if I had my pick of lawyers, it definitely wouldn’t be him.
He’s very… smarmy is the only word I can think to use. He wears an expensive suit and a Rolex watch, his hair slicked back, his cologne overpowering. He’s the kind of guy who looks like he’s trying way too hard – like he wants people to know he’s rich. He has bulbous lips and a weak chin and the gold ring he’s wearing on his thumb is flashy and over the top. But if he’s Grayson’s lawyer, then he must be good. And I need someone good to get this restraining order so that I can move on with my life.
“No, I didn’t send the pictures to him,” I say. “He took them off my phone without my permission.”
“You took the pictures just for yourself?” There’s something incredulous in his tone, like he can’t imagine a woman’s body might have any other purpose other than to be for a man’s pleasure.
“Yes.”
He glances down and makes a note of something on the legal in front of him, then gathers up his things along with my phone. Apparently the only people allowed cell phones in the courthouse are lawyers, and so after going through the metal detector, Kovax was given possession of mine.
It makes me nervous, knowing he has access to everything that’s on there. Of course, this whole thing is making me nervous, although so far it hasn’t been as bad as I thought it would be. Apparently right now we’re just filing for a temporary restraining order, which means I don’t even have to meet with the judge.
Instead, I filled out a form, listing all the things Jeremy has done to me, and why he shouldn’t be allowed to contact me or be within one hundred yards of me, my home, or my work. Now Kovax will present it to the judge, who will look it over and hopefully grant me the restraining order. It will be valid for two weeks, after which we’ll have a hearing, where Jeremy will be allowed to present his side of things before the judge decides whether or not the order of protection will be made permanent.
That will be the hard part -- facing him in court. But I can’t think about that now. I have to focus on getting this part done, and then getting the hell away from Grayson and figuring out what the hell I’m going to do for a job.
“How long will this take?” Grayson asks from next to me, his tone curt and impatient. He arrived at the courthouse after me and he’s barely looked at me during this whole meeting. I wonder why he’s even here.
“Late for work?” I ask, before I can stop myself. “Wouldn’t want the boss to get mad. I can hear he’s quite demanding.”
Grayson turns to me, a cold look on his face. Kovax smirks and shoots Grayson a knowing look, as if he can tell what happened last night, that I’m a woman scorned.
“It shouldn’t take long,” Kovax says. “The judge has a light docket this morning.”
Kovax exits the room, leaving me alone with Grayson.
He says nothing, instead just staring at me across the table. I resist the urge to squirm on my chair, wishing fervently I had my phone or something to distract me.
And then I think, you know what, fuck that. He’s the one who did something fucked up. I should be squirming on my chair. I should be doing way more than that – hell, I should be filing a restraining order against him.
And yet Grayson still just sits there, so smug, like his behavior last night was totally acceptable, like I’m the one who’s being crazy.
“Are you going to apologize for the fact that you left me locked in your torture room last night?” I ask finally.
“I’ll never apologize for keeping you safe, Lilliana. And as far as it being a torture room, you didn’t seem like you were feeling much torture when you were in it.”
My mind clouds as images from last night flash bang through my mind. His mouth between my legs, his lips on mine, the exquisite pain and pleasure that he inflicted on my body.
I open my mouth to protest, but before I can, the door opens again.
“Well, there’s good news and bad news,” Kovax says.
“What is it?” Grayson growls.
“The good news is you don’t need a restraining order.”
“Wait, what?” I ask. “I don’t get it.”
“The bad news is that we can’t serve Jeremy.” Kovax shakes his head. “Jeremy Zabrinski is dead.”