I consider pulling away for a moment. We haven’t been intimate in weeks—not since the night before Lauren’s murder, in fact. But when Stuart’s mouth moves down my torso, I don’t resist. He stops exactly where I want him to and stays there until I’m over the edge. I climax a second time during the main event. As soon as my orgasm has subsided, Stuart speeds up his tempo, moving ever faster until he lets out a deep groan, at which time his entire body becomes rigid. He stays that way for a few seconds, and then he relaxes.

“I love you,” he whispers into my ear.

As I’m catching my own breath, I realize that I’ve had a nice day. The first in . . . I don’t know how long. Certainly since my arrest. But even since before then, when the highs I enjoyed in Lauren’s company were always juxtaposed with the guilt that brought me low when I returned to Stuart.

After feeling nothing but guilt around Stuart for months over my affair with Lauren, I realize all it took was her murder to relieve me of that cloak.

41. ELLA BRODEN

41.

ELLA BRODEN

We are the third case on the court calendar. The appearance is designated as the initial pretrial conference, but it’s more akin to a meet and greet so the judge can say hello to the lawyers. The only thing we’ll actually accomplish is the selection of the trial date.

That’s good for me. I need more evidence, and that means I need to give Gabriel time to find it. Of almost equal importance is that I need a few months, at least, to regain my footing. I’ve been a prosecutor again for a week now, and I’m finding the adjustment back to working full time more difficult than I anticipated.

Normally there wouldn’t be any opposition from defense counsel about setting a distant trial date. For most defendants, especially those out on bail, delay is the next best thing to acquittal—both represent time spent out of prison. But my guess is that LeMarcus Burrows is too smart to fall into that trap. He knows I don’t have much evidence, which means that, in this rare instance, time is not on his client’s side.

I get to court early, an old habit of mine. I like to see the judge in action before my case is called. I scan the courtroom, but I’ve arrived before Dana Goodwin and her team.