(18+) RED (Complete)

Ch. 76: Shaking hands

"Who are you?" Veronica exclaimed, and I wasn't sure if it was good or bad that she wasn't playing on the same team as the man who was holding the gun. Yes, it was a man, although I didn't recognize his voice. But Michael did.

"Mr. Maxwell."

"Didn't expect to see me here, did you?" I heard him rumble next to me, but the pressure against my temple was way too strong to even think about turning my head.

"Please put the gun down, sir."

"Nice place you've got here," the man complimented, ignoring Michael's plead, but it didn't sound nice at all. More spiteful.

"Who is he?" Veronica asked again, and somehow her confusion amused me. I was just too goddamn scared to even think about the tiniest smile.

"I'm the 'idiot's' father," the man spat, and quoted Michael's previous words with his fingers.

"You're that lawyer?"

Ah. So Veronica did know parts of the Ryan case. She just pretended to be stupid. How convenient.

"Former lawyer, thanks to this whore."

Michael was following every move the man made with Argus eyes, but stayed in the same position. Both of us knew that I would probably be dead if he moved.

"She ruined my career, my business and my marriage. And she put my son in jail and ruined his future too. She ruined everything!"

His voice was like thunder and his words like spitting fire, and I tried to choke the whimper that brewed inside me. What I couldn't stop though, were tears of fear that rolled down my cheeks.

"She ruined my life, too!" Veronica interrupted with a whining voice, clearly happy to have found someone just as mentally ill as herself.

"Mia didn't do anything wrong," Michael growled threateningly to her. "You fucked up your own life, Veronica. All by yourself."

Then he slowly turned to Mr. Maxwell with the same calculated expression.

"And your son can't blame anyone but his own actions."

"Michael, don't..." I warned, but winced from the pain when the gun was twisted against my skin. And I felt helpless when the man wrapped an arm around my chest to keep me from making any attempt to escape.

"How would you feel if it was your own daughter who was exposed like that?" Michael asked, but the man just laughed.

"That would never have happened, because I would never raise my children to act that way."

Michael mumbled something, and I would kick his leg if I could. Now was not the time to poke the bear.

"Okay," he finally said with a sigh of exasperation, probably realizing the same as me. "What do you want? Money?"

"I want to clear the name of my company," the man announced, as if it was as easy as to turn a button. Michael frowned and shook his head slightly. I think he struggled to comprehend his real intentions, because the way it sounded he sure didn't care much about his son. It was his company.

"How..." he started, but was cut off.

"You see, since nobody wants to hire a lawyer that couldn't defend his own son, I need you to get my son out of jail and make a public announcement that says everything was a misunderstanding. And that you paid the judge to..."

"But that's all lies! Your son did those things on purpose! Not only to Mia, but several other girls too," Michael objected, and I felt the arm tighten around my chest and made it harder to breathe.