All I Want Is You E-Book

Iris Morland

• Herausgeber: IRIS MORLAND
• Kategorie: Gesellschafts- und Liebesromane
• Serie: The Youngers
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2018

Seitenzahl: 284

Beschreibung

A brilliant, aloof lawyer, Phin Younger has focused solely on his career and on helping people less fortunate.
Living his life without romance? He’s just fine with that. Phin knows all too well how relationships make life messy and complicated.
Until the day Emily Lassiter begs Phin to help her teenage brother. Beautiful but as fierce as a lioness, Emily is like no other woman he’s met.
Suddenly, all of Phin’s plans to avoid romantic entanglements are thrown out the window the moment he sets eyes on Emily.
A former model, Emily now struggles to make ends meet for herself and for her teenage brother Josh. When Josh commits a crime that could put him behind bars for years, she turns to her brother’s court-appointed lawyer, Phin Younger, for help.
But Emily never expected that her brother’s lawyer would be young and handsome. And she definitely never expected that Phin’s kiss would heat a need inside her that soon transforms into a conflagration.
When these two can no longer deny their feelings for each other, an embittered rival of Phin’s threatens to destroy his career, dragging Emily into the scandal.
Now these star-crossed lovers must overcome the fears that hold them captive—or face a future without the love that could set them both free.

Leseprobe

All I Want Is You

The Youngers Book 3

Iris Morland

Blue Violet Press LLC

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Epilogue

Enjoy this exclusive excerpt

Also by Iris Morland

About the Author

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be constructed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental.

All I Want Is You (The Youngers Book 3)

Published by Blue Violet Press LLC

Seattle, Washington

Copyright © 2018 by Iris Morland

Cover design by Resplendent Media

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Chapter One

Sighing deeply, her feet aching from standing all afternoon and evening, Emily Lassiter glanced at the clock on the wall of The Dine in Five and wanted to sigh all over again. She still had two hours left on her shift.

Normally her waitressing shifts went by quickly, but tonight there was a dearth of customers, which meant there was only so much work to do. Her boss, Lawrence, had already sent two other waitresses home. Emily was just glad that she got to work tonight—she needed the money rather desperately.

“Your table wants more ketchup,” said Lawrence as he passed her in the hallway. Middle-aged and married with three kids, Lawrence had been like a father figure to Emily ever since she’d gotten this job two years ago. When he looked at her pale face, he added, “You okay, kid?”

Emily forced herself to smile. “Fine. Ketchup, you said? I’ll go get that.”

Lawrence looked like he didn’t believe her, but thankfully his phone rang, effectively distracting him. Emily went to the kitchen and grabbed a full bottle of ketchup.

The table in question had four guys about Emily’s age—four guys who’d been ogling her since the second she’d taken their orders. Emily was no stranger to male attention, something she both loved and hated for various reasons. Hated, because men tended to see only a pretty face and nothing else. Loved, because it had opened doors for her to become a model. Unfortunately, her few years of modeling had gone nowhere, and now here she was, waitressing and scraping together a living for herself and her younger brother, Josh.

“Here you go,” she said, setting the ketchup on the table. “You guys need anything else?”

One guy with a buzzed head and cleft chin eyed her up and down. Emily restrained from crossing her arms over her chest when his gaze lingered on her breasts.

“You work here long?” the buzz-cut man asked. “I haven’t seen you here before.”

Emily barely stopped herself from rolling her eyes. “For a few years. You guys enjoy your meal.”

Emily was tempted to tell Lawrence about this group, but she was tired of going to him when a male customer hit on her. Sometimes she blamed herself for the attention. Had she smiled too much? Given some kind of hint that she was interested? She always made certain to be polite and friendly, nothing more, but a niggle of doubt always bloomed inside her.

Her customers now occupied with eating, she stepped outside into the cool night air for her break. Although it was July in Portland, the nights edged toward chilly sometimes. Emily wished she’d put on her sweater before stepping outside.

But the cold disappeared from her mind as she began to calculate on her phone how much she’d already made tonight, adding it to the running total for the week. Tonight being so slow meant she’d make a lot less in tips, and when she saw the final pathetic number on her phone’s calculator, she wanted to cry. She was already on thin ice with her landlord as it was. The last three months, she’d paid the rent late, and he’d warned her that if she did it a fourth time, he’d evict her and Josh.

That was the last thing she or Josh needed. Her younger brother, who had just turned sixteen, was both the love of her life and the bane of her existence. After their mother had died nine years ago, their father having passed away when Josh was a baby, Emily had become more of a mother to her brother than a sister. Josh had been a sweet, shy boy, interested in building trains and not much else. Within the last year, he’d not only shot up in height, but he’d gotten involved with a group of boys that had brought him nothing but trouble.

Now her sweet baby brother was an angry teenager who skipped school, smoked, drank, and refused to do anything Emily told him to do. Just that morning, she’d gotten a call from Josh’s high school, telling her that he was practically failing everything except physical education. If he didn’t do something to improve his grades, he’d have to redo eleventh grade.

Emily rubbed her temples. She couldn’t even help her brother with his grades, considering that she hadn’t graduated from high school, either. She could barely even read, although she’d done her best to keep that a secret from everyone, including Josh.

She could always do those photos for Landon, her ex-boyfriend. Landon had promised her a hefty sum if she’d do nude photos for him. Emily had always told him no, not because she thought posing nude was wrong per se, but because that wasn’t the type of modeling she wanted to do. She preferred modeling clothes, not her body. It was a different set of skills, anyway, the ability to show off a dress or a top, versus showing off everything that God had given her.

But right then, she was tempted to take Landon’s offer. What did it matter, anyway? She needed the money, Landon had the money, and it’d be a quick way to get it.

And yet, she hesitated. Maybe that made her stupid, but right then, she’d prefer to be stupid than go against her own principles. Smiling bitterly, she realized that a person could only keep to their principles for so long until they were hungry enough not to care.

Emily took another deep breath, then another, trying to center herself. She couldn’t break down right now. She needed to keep smiling so she’d get good tips. And if she was good at anything, it was making people feel at ease with her pretty smile and melodic voice.

Returning inside the diner, she cleared plates and brought checks to the group of four guys. Emily hoped that the buzz-cut man would give up on getting her number, but when she came back with their receipts to sign, he said, “You got a boyfriend? Because if you don’t, you should give me your number.”

She could smell alcohol on his breath as he leaned toward her. She took a step back as she shook her head. “I’m taken,” she lied. “Sorry about that.”

She’d found that men tended to leave her alone if she said she was claimed, like she was an object that someone had already called dibs on. It rankled, but it was better than men continuing to hit on her.

Buzz-cut man, though, wasn’t going to be put off that easily. “I don’t see a ring,” he said. His grin turned to a leer. “Come on, sweetie. I saw how you looked at me. Don’t play dumb with me.”

“I’m taken,” she said more firmly. “You guys have a good night.” She said the words in her coldest tone, and anyone with an ounce of brain cells could tell she was serious.

The buzz-cut man scowled. “Bitch,” he muttered. “You’re not that pretty anyway.”

Emily had heard every insult under the sun. She simply ignored the man, focusing on the new table of customers who were, thankfully, all women.

Later, Emily collected the receipts from the guys’ table, and when she opened them to check for tips, she realized that all four had left her zero tips. The buzz-cut man’s receipt read, No tips for bitches, on the line for the tip amount. It took her a long moment to read what the man had written, and she was glad nobody was watching her try to read it. That only made things worse.

When Emily finally deciphered what it said, she turned scarlet with anger. She swallowed against sudden tears. It was stupid, letting this get to her. When Lawrence came out of the kitchen, she forced back the tears. She wouldn’t let guys like that ruin her night.

The rest of the night went smoothly, and although Emily ended the night with less tips than usual, it wasn’t as terrible as she’d been expecting. Lawrence handed her the stack of cash after going through the receipts.

“Here,” he said, handing her an extra twenty-dollar bill. “For those assholes who didn’t tip you.”

“Oh, you don’t have to—”

“No, but I’m going to. You know you can always tell me when guys harass you.”

His probing look made her glance away; she shrugged. “If I came to you every time, you wouldn’t do anything else.”

“Well, that’s what I’m here for.” He patted her shoulder awkwardly.

Emily was on the bus home when her phone rang. Considering how late it was and that she didn’t recognize the number, she let it go to voicemail. The same number called her a second time, though, and she picked up with an annoyed, “Hello?”

“Is this Emily Lassiter?”

Emily didn’t recognize the voice on the other end. Was it a bill collector? Her blood froze. Or was it somebody from her apartment, telling her she was getting kicked out? She stuttered out yes and waited for the bad news, never expecting what she’d actually hear.

“This is Officer Monroe at the Multnomah County Detention Center. Your brother has been arrested and is in our custody.”

Emily was glad she was sitting down; otherwise she would’ve collapsed onto the floor of the bus from shock. Arrested? “Oh God, what did he do? Is he okay? Can I talk to him?”

“He’s fine, ma’am.” The officer cleared his throat, and Emily heard voices in the background. “He was pulled over this afternoon after a friend of his was allegedly involved in a robbery. Your brother was the driver of the getaway vehicle.”

“I want to talk to him. Is he there? Can I come see him?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am, no. He’ll have a hearing that will include any charges filed against him within twenty-four hours. You’ll be able to see him then.” The man paused before adding, “I’d recommend finding an attorney immediately, if I were you.”

Emily’s heart sank into her toes. “I can’t afford a lawyer,” she whispered.

“Then your brother will be appointed one by the county. Let me have you talk to Harry here. He’ll fill you in on everything you need to know about what’ll happen going forward.”

By the time Emily arrived home, she could only sit down on her threadbare couch and stare at the wall. The adrenaline that had been racing through her body had turned to ice in her veins. She’d heard the words felony and tried as an adult and aiding and abetting and all she’d wanted to do was talk to Josh, to hear his side of the story, to understand what had really happened.

Emily put her head in her hands, her shoulders shaking. She’d never felt so out of her depth, so terrified of something she had no knowledge of. She’d never even gotten so much as a speeding ticket, and here her baby brother was, arrested and facing serious charges.

Her head pounded. Exhaustion swamped her until she could barely find the energy to get up from the couch and go to her bedroom. Before she did, though, she went to Josh’s room, staring at the empty bed—never made, of course—the desk covered in everything but schoolwork. Posters of bands that Emily had never heard of hung on the walls, while clothes were scattered over the floor. She sat down on his bed, and she smiled even as tears pricked her eyes when she saw the photo of herself and Josh on his nightstand.

Josh had been twelve in the photo, and Emily had still been modeling. She touched Josh’s face in the photo, a sob breaking through. Where had her little brother gone? And what if she couldn’t get him back?

She clutched the photo to her chest, lying down on Josh’s bed, inhaling the teenage boy scent that permeated the sheets. She wished her mom were alive, although part of her was glad she wouldn’t see her son like this. No, this would’ve broken their mom’s heart; she’d had such big plans for both Emily and Josh.

Tears leaking from her eyes, Emily held the photo close until she fell into a restless slumber.

Chapter Two

Phin Younger tapped his pen against the table as he waited for somebody from the DA’s office to show up for this court case. Phin’s client, a sixteen-year-old who’d been the driver of a getaway car for his friend who’d committed a robbery—slumped in his chair despite Phin’s admonition that he should sit up.

Josh Lassiter was tall and bulky for his age and looked much older than sixteen. He had a sulky turn to his mouth that Phin had recognized the second he’d shaken the kid’s hand and introduced himself as his court-appointed lawyer. Josh had sneered and told him in no uncertain terms that he was wasting his time.

Phin often felt like he was wasting his time—or rather, like he was fighting a losing battle with these cases. As a court-appointed lawyer who worked in the county’s public defender’s office, Phin got the cases of people who couldn’t afford a fancy lawyer. Phin was his client’s only chance at either getting out of prison or at least getting less time. But with more and more cases piling onto his desk, Phin could only help so many people. And there were always too many people needing help.

The courtroom door opened and, turning, Phin watched a harried woman hurry down the aisle toward them. Her dark hair was falling out of a bun, and her blouse was lopsided; she’d most likely missed a button in her haste.

“Mr. Younger?” the woman said as she approached Phin.

Josh muttered something, and it took Phin only a moment to put two and two together. This must be Josh’s sister, his legal guardian. “Yes,” said Phin as he stood and shook the woman’s hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“I’m Emily Lassiter.” She looked over Phin’s shoulder, her gaze worried as she tried to catch Josh’s eye. Her brother was studiously not looking at her; her shoulders slumped. “Thank you for your help,” she said sincerely.

Despite her rumpled appearance, Emily Lassiter was absolutely gorgeous. Ridiculously, absurdly, unbelievably gorgeous. There were too many adverbs to describe her beauty, if he were honest. Phin stared down at her, suddenly struggling to find the words to reply to her. Seeing her up close was rather like getting hit by a train.

There was no other way to describe it. Even with her hair a mess and her blouse lopsided, she had the widest, prettiest green eyes he’d ever seen. With her heart-shaped face, high cheekbones, and milky skin, she could’ve graced the pages of some magazine. Even her nose was pretty: tilted slightly upward, it was as delicate as the rest of her.

As someone who worked with the public, Phin had learned how to talk to people, despite it not being his greatest strength. He’d learned that men respected frankness with a touch of arrogance, while women preferred a kinder approach—less frank, more conciliatory. Phin had worked with people from all walks of life: from high-powered executives to criminals who’d never known an ounce of kindness in their entire lives.

He’d worked with nice people, annoying people, stupid people, mean people. He’d learned how to use language to make people do what he wanted, something he’d struggled to do as a child who was too cripplingly shy and awkward to string coherent sentences together.

This ability he’d supposedly perfected apparently didn’t stretch to women he found attractive. And Jesus Christ, Emily Lassiter looked like she’d stepped out of a painting into this dingy courtroom.

Swallowing, his mind racing, Phin shuffled some papers on his desk before finally saying bluntly, “You should sit down before the judge gets annoyed.”

The judge was drinking coffee as he waited for some bit of paperwork to read over, but Emily blushed all the same and sat down without another word. Phin wanted to kick himself. When he saw Josh smirking at him, Phin wanted to tell the boy to mind his own damn business.

“What’s taking so long?” said Josh as they waited. “Why did I have to get up this fucking early for no reason?”

“Most of what’s going to happen going forward is going to be you waiting,” said Phin quietly.

Finally, the hearing began.

“Since you are accused of having assisted in the crime of robbery in the second degree, Mr. Lassiter,” the judge said, “you’ll be charged with aiding and abetting, which falls under the Ballot 11 measure and is a class B felony. This also means that, since you are above the age of fifteen, you could be tried as an adult and could face up to five years and ten months in prison as a result.”

Phin heard Emily inhale sharply. He wished he’d had time to prepare her, but between Josh and his ten other clients, he hadn’t gotten a chance to contact her.

“Considering that Mr. Lassiter has been suspended from school four times now and has run away from home twice, I’m setting the bail at one hundred thousand dollars, ten percent of which must be posted for Mr. Lassiter to be released,” said the judge. “That being said, the defendant will stay in juvenile detention for now, instead of being transferred to prison, assuming good behavior.”

Phin sighed inwardly. He’d hoped the judge would be lenient in terms of the bail, but he’d known that nothing less than fifty thousand dollars would have been allowable based on the charges. At least Josh wouldn’t be moved to an adult prison—that was one thing to celebrate.

When the hearing was over, Phin said to Josh, “I’ll talk to you soon, all right? Most likely later this week.”

Josh shrugged, although Phin knew the kid was terrified. His face was ghostly pale, and as the guard led him out of the courtroom, Josh stumbled over his feet. Phin’s heart pinched at the sight. The kid had made a stupid mistake with grave consequences.

Most people didn’t know that in Oregon, certain crimes came with mandatory sentences, and being under the age of eighteen didn’t exempt you, either. Phin disagreed with the law, especially in terms of juveniles, but all he could do was work within the system and help his young clients as much as humanly possible.

Gathering his briefcase and papers, Phin looked up to see Emily in front of him.

“Could Josh really go to prison for six years?” she asked, her green eyes wide with fear. She looked wan, dark circles under her pretty eyes. “For just driving away?”

“Unfortunately, yes.” Phin winced. “I apologize, but I have another hearing to get to right now. Please call my office and set up an appointment for later this week so we can discuss further. I can’t talk specifics now, but I have reason to hope that we can get the judge to agree to a plea deal so this doesn’t go to trial.” He reached inside his suit jacket and handed Emily his card.

Her shoulders slumped. “Thank you. Are you saying Josh might not go to jail?”

“It’s hard to say at this point. Like I said, I can discuss further with you at our appointment.” Realizing he sounded brusque, he softened his tone. “I’ve seen worse cases, Ms. Lassiter. Don’t give up hope.”

Her chin wobbled. “I’m trying, but I feel like my hope is getting crushed no matter what I do.”

“Don’t give up hope,” he repeated. Seeing her wet eyes and quivering lower lip, Phin wished he could do something for her. Give her a hug, at least, although that would be inappropriate. Tapping the card in her hand, he said, “Call my office. I’ll see you soon.”

Despite two more hearings that day, Phin couldn’t stop thinking about Emily Lassiter. He told himself it was just because she was pretty, he was a heterosexual male, and he was as shallow as any man. He remembered the curve of her lip, the freckles on her cheeks, the sweep of her dark lashes. She’d had a beauty mark near her mouth that he’d wanted to taste.

I need to get ahold of myself. She’s not for me.

Despite Phin’s belief that love and all of the emotions related to that feeling were both messy and pointless, that didn’t mean he didn’t want sex, either. It had been a while, admittedly. Maybe he just needed to get laid, with all of this thinking about his client’s gorgeous sister.

Blowing out a breath, he was about to leave the courthouse to return to the office when he ran into the last person he wanted to see: Sterling McIntosh, fellow lawyer, former law school classmate, and a smarmy son of a bitch who Phin loathed. Luckily, the feeling was mutual.

Phin had heard that Sterling had recently gotten a job at the county district attorney’s office. It still surprised him that anyone would hire Sterling, considering his less-than-sterling reputation, but it helped that his father was golf buddies with the governor.

“Long time no see, Younger,” said Sterling. “How’s it going?”

“As you see me,” said Phin dryly. “I’m going back to the office.”

“The hero of the poor and downtrodden fights on,” mocked Sterling. “How do you manage to pay your bills? I’m curious.”

“Just like anyone else: I actually work.”

Sterling’s smile twisted. They both knew that Sterling preferred the title of lawyer more than the actual work.

“You still think you’re hot shit, don’t you? When we both know you aren’t getting paid more than some checkout boy at the local grocery store.” Sterling stepped closer to him.

Although Sterling was about half a head shorter than Phin, he was muscular and probably weighed as much as him. Not that Phin had ever imagined decking the guy in the face.

Sterling said in a low voice, “Don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did to me. You almost got me kicked out of law school over some stupid rule—”

“Criminal offense, actually.”

“And you have the gall to act like you’re better than me?” Sterling’s eyes flashed. “This is the last thing I’ll say to you: you better watch yourself. Because the second you step out of line? I’ll know about it, and you’ll regret it.”

Sterling pushed past Phin, Phin wishing he’d given into his baser instincts and punched the guy already. So Sterling was still pissed about what had happened years ago? Fine. Sterling was like a rooster in the henhouse: a lot of crowing until he came up against a bigger, smarter rooster.

Phin never stepped out of line, anyway. He did everything by the book—his personal life included. But as he thought of how orderly and by the rules his life was, Emily’s face flashed in his mind. It reminded him that even a straitlaced lawyer like himself could be tempted to break the rules if given enough incentive.

Chapter Three

Emily tried to calm her racing heart as she waited to see Josh’s lawyer later that week. When Mr. Younger had told her that Josh could go to prison for close to six years, she’d wanted to throw up. He wasn’t even eighteen yet! And he hadn’t even been the one to rob that store. How could that be fair or just?

“Ms. Lassiter?” Mr. Younger entered the tiny waiting room at the public defender’s office. “Come on back.”

Emily followed him, once again admiring how young and handsome he was. When she’d first seen him in the courtroom, she’d almost demanded to know how old he was because he seemed too young to know what he was doing. She’d been afraid he wasn’t really a lawyer but instead some intern practicing on her poor brother. But, no, according to everything she’d found online, Phineas Younger, J.D., was as much a lawyer as she was a broke waitress and former model. He’d graduated at the top of his class from the University of Oregon, and he’d been working as a public defender since he’d passed the bar.

As they entered his office, the sunlight streaming through the only window, Phin’s hair gleamed. Emily had never seen a shade like that: it was strawberry blond, but depending on the light, it either looked pure red or pure blond. Right then, the sunlight made the auburn strands sparkle. It was ridiculous, really.

Emily had to force her thoughts away from admiring her brother’s lawyer’s hair like a total idiot. Stop gawking at the lawyer, Em.

“Right. Have a seat.” Phin sat down in front of his desk, which was immaculate in its organization, color-coded files placed in various bins and organizers. Pens were lined up next to his left hand, while a calendar with neat handwriting took up much of the room on the desk. Emily looked around, her gaze landing on the bookshelf that took up the entire southern wall.

Trying to make out the titles and knowing it was hopeless, she suddenly felt intimidated. Of course she knew Phin was smart: he was a lawyer, for God’s sake. But the books were like a flashing signal that screamed at her that she was out of her depth.

“Your brother, to put it mildly, is in a difficult spot,” said Phin as he opened a file, not wasting any time. He scanned a document, his lips thinning as he read through it.

“As I mentioned at the hearing, despite Josh’s age, he would be tried as an adult since second-degree robbery has a mandatory sentence if convicted, and Josh knew that his friend planned to rob the store, too. The fact that Josh and his companion were pulled over by the police and the stolen merchandise was found in the trunk, along with the more serious charge of Mr. Berkley threatening violence toward the sales clerk during the robbery, doesn’t help, either.”

When Emily had spoken with Josh yesterday at the detention center, Josh had insisted that it had all been his best friend Reggie’s idea. This hadn’t surprised Emily, considering that Reggie seemed to be the instigator of Josh’s skipping school and running away. Emily had tried to get Josh to stop hanging out with Reggie, but short of locking Josh in his room, she couldn’t watch over her brother constantly and work to pay their bills.

After meeting with Josh yesterday at the detention center, Emily had finally heard the entire story behind the robbery. Josh hadn’t wanted to talk about it, but Emily had badgered him until he’d given in.

According to Josh, during an afternoon when the two boys skipped school, Reggie came up with the plan of stealing from a local department store. “All you have to do is take shit to the dressing room, because there aren’t any cameras there,” he’d told Josh.

When Reggie had told Josh that they could steal small, expensive items like perfume and sell them for extra cash, Josh had finally agreed. It had seemed like a straightforward plan. Reggie had insisted that his cousin stole from places all the time and that was how he got most of his money.

After some discussion, Reggie decided he would be the one stealing; Josh would drive Reggie’s cousin’s car when Reggie came out of the store. It was a simple enough plan: steal bottles of cologne and perfume along with any other small items that Reggie could fit into his oversized jeans pockets. Easy in, easy out.

The plan seemed to go off without a hitch. Reggie stole hundreds of dollars’ worth of merchandise and walked out of the store without incident. Josh had noticed that Reggie seemed on edge as he’d gotten into the car, swearing at Josh when he hadn’t driven off fast enough. That was when Josh had noticed the knife in Reggie’s hand.

Reggie had denied threatening anyone, but deep inside, Josh had known otherwise. Reggie had insisted that they celebrate their victory. They hadn’t gotten caught, had they?

But their victory had only lasted for so long. Josh had pushed aside the thought of the knife.

Josh was so excited at how much Reggie had stolen for them both that he didn’t realize he was speeding. When a cop pulled him over for going twice the limit, Reggie almost bolted right then and there.

The boys weren’t good enough actors to fool the police officer. At their edgy and nervous looks, he asked them to step out of the vehicle, and within moments, the officer found the stolen merchandise. He’d already gotten a call about a robbery, and he identified Reggie as the person at large. Within minutes, both Josh and Reggie were arrested.

Sitting in Phin’s office, Emily wished she could go to the detention center and shake her brother until his teeth rattled. She’d wanted to do exactly that yesterday. How could he have been so stupid?

Emily rubbed her sweaty palms against her dress. “I still don’t understand why Josh would be charged with robbery, too. He didn’t steal anything—Reggie did.”

“But he knew Reggie had planned to rob that store, and he helped him get away. That’s more than enough in the eyes of the law,” said Phin.

“So that’s it?” She felt tears of despair prick her eyelids. “Josh will go to prison no matter what?”

Phin’s voice was gentle as he said, “Most likely, but since he wasn’t the one who committed the robbery itself, that gives us a little leeway. I believe a plea deal is in his best interest in this case. He can plead to a lesser charge so this doesn’t go to trial, and then it also doesn’t fall under a Ballot 11 measure. He’d be tried a juvenile, which is about rehabilitation, not punishment.”

Emily listened as Phin spoke at length about plea deals, sentencing, and all kinds of legal jargon that went over Emily’s head. By the time he was finished speaking, she felt like her brain was completely overloaded.

“It can’t be that easy. Josh takes a plea deal, and that’s it?”

Phin smiled grimly. “Well, we can try. The judge doesn’t have to accept it.”

At that thought, Emily felt a bubble of hysteria building inside her. The burden of everything weighed on her until she wanted to collapse under its weight. She wondered if this was what it felt like to drown—one minute you were breathing oxygen, the next, your throat closed as the water rushed in and filled your lungs.

The thought of Josh in prison shot straight to her heart. And their mom—she’d be devastated if she were alive. Emily had failed their mom as surely as she’d failed Josh.

To Emily’s immense humiliation, tears filled her eyes until she started crying right in Phin’s office. She couldn’t stop crying even if she wanted to. It was like a dam had burst and the river had to run its course.

“I’m sorry,” said Phin quietly as he placed a box of tissues in front of her. “I’ll do the best I can for your brother. I promise you that.”

Emily just cried harder. She grabbed a handful of tissues to wipe her face, but it was no use. She couldn’t stop crying.

Finally, her sobs turned to hiccups, and then she was dabbing at her reddened eyes and blowing her nose as she tried to put herself to rights. She blushed scarlet when she looked up to see Phin watching her, his own expression one of secondhand embarrassment tinged with dismay.

Emily sniffled. “God, I’m sorry. I didn’t come here just to cry in your office. I’m a mess.” She grabbed more tissues, like they could ward off more tears. “I’m not usually a crier.”

“You’re not the first person to cry in my office, Ms. Lassiter, and I doubt you’ll be the last.”

She laughed a little. “I guess that’s reassuring.”

“At least you didn’t throw a book at my head.”

“Someone threw a book at you?” She stared at him, incredulous.

“She was… distraught. Luckily it was a paperback, and she had terrible aim.”

“I’m not sure why someone would want to throw something at you. I’d rather throw something at my brother.”

“Ms. Lassiter,” said Phin, his expression turning serious. “I meant what I said. I know a court-appointed lawyer seems like the short end of the stick, and I won’t lie and say that that’s not often the case. There aren’t enough of us to go around. But I don’t do this job for the glory: I do it because I want to help people who need help the most. The people who are forgotten in the system.”

He sounded so sincere, so passionate, that Emily’s overburdened heart lifted a little at the words. When had she last been able to rely on someone else? Too long. Since her mother had died, really. Emily had taken care of herself and Josh without any help.