CHAPTER 11 - THE HEADLINE WAR

POV: LisaThe first thing Lisa saw when she woke was her own face.Not in a mirror, but in a notification, in the dim screen vibrating against her pillow. The photo had been taken from outside the elevator, through the narrow seam where the doors had begun to part. Ethan’s shoulder filled half the frame. Lisa’s profile filled the other half. Between them, against the steel wall, the emergency-stop light burned red.It looked intimate.That was the cruelty of it.It did not show his hatred. It did not show the way he had looked at her as if loving her had become another accusation. It did not show the printout he had forced into her hand, or how cold his voice had been when he left her standing there.The headline beneath the photo was sharp enough to draw blood.LISA HASSE SECRETLY MEETS WITH ETHAN ELSNER AFTER FATHER’S BAIL DENIAL.Lisa read it three times before she moved.Then she sat up, placed both feet on the cold floor, and forced herself to drink water. Her father had taught h

CHAPTER 12 - SENATOR VALE'S ALIBI

The Pierre at six in the evening looked like a stage that had not yet decided which play to perform. Crystal sconces threw rivers of light along the walls. Waiters moved between donors with platters of food no one was hungry for. The air smelled of orchids and very old money.Lisa was not on the guest list.Camille had spent a morning trading on Hamilton's name and an afternoon trading on her own, and by lunch a senator's aide had agreed to overlook the absence of an invitation in exchange for an absence of cameras. The compromise had cost Lisa a black sheath she did not particularly enjoy and the loan of a coat she would have to return by midnight.She walked into the ballroom with her shoulders precisely level.It was, she had begun to understand, an art form: how a woman entered a room that had agreed in advance not to want her. There were ways to do it badly, with too much chin, too much smile, too much apology. Her father had spent decades teaching her to do it cleanly. Tonight s

CHAPTER 13 - THE WOMAN IN BLACK

POV: EthanLucas Lawson’s offices were quieter than Ethan had expected.He had walked past the building a dozen times, usually with the detached arrogance of a man who believed he would never need anyone whose name appeared on a criminal defense door. The walls were lined with framed appellate briefs, shelves of casebooks, and a single black-and-white photograph of an empty courtroom at night. It should have looked sterile.Instead, it looked controlled.That annoyed him more than it should have.Lucas met him in the small viewing room without offering coffee.Ethan did not blame him. They were not the kind of men who could share coffee without turning it into a contest.—I am letting you watch this once —Lucas said—. Then it goes back into evidentiary custody. If you tell me you saw anything I have not seen, I will pretend you did not say it.—Understood.—If you try to use what you see to confront anyone before the chain of custody is documented, you will damage the case. And I will

All Chapters of GUILTY OF LOVING YOU: Chapter 11 - Chapter 13

CHAPTER 11 - THE HEADLINE WAR

CHAPTER 12 - SENATOR VALE'S ALIBI

CHAPTER 13 - THE WOMAN IN BLACK