It was worse than he’d suspected.
He no longer wondered if he was being framed. He knew it and he had to find the evidence to prove it before it wasn’t only his potential downfall on the line. He inhaled once. Slow and steady. Then again. Outbursts and temper flares solved nothing. No one had ever won in a courtroom that way.
One more inhale and he tested his voice, pushing resolve into each word. “I’m going to fix this, Sophie. Get you back as the chair of your foundation.”
She reached over and grabbed his hand. “You’re going to concentrate on your case and forget my foundation.”
“I can’t do that.” He wasn’t guilty. Neither was Sophie. Yet he’d started to fear that might not matter. Still, Sophie didn’t deserve this.
“You have to.” She squeezed his hand until his gaze met hers. “And you have to let us help you. Let Brad help you. He’s your brother. You guys would do anything for each other.”
The brothers never had to ask each other for help. It had always been freely given. Drew hesitated, then nodded. The same way he had as a kid after Brad had described one of his latest stunt-inspired ideas. Somehow Drew had always ended up involved in Brad’s ploys no matter the ploy.
He acknowledged Sophie’s words. Yet he refused to entangle his brother or his family any further. “You guys have enough to worry about. The twins are going to be here any day.”
“That doesn’t mean we can’t be there for you too,” Sophie challenged.
“If I told you that I had outside help, would that make you feel better?” Would it make him feel better? He twisted the cap back on the coffee thermos. The Irish cream suddenly curdling in his stomach.
“Is this good help?” she countered.
“She’s one of the best attorneys in the state,” Drew admitted.
She was also the one Drew had refused as his counsel, insisting he wanted to protect her reputation and livelihood. Still, Molly had been convinced she could defend him. But he hadn’t told Molly what he suspected was really going on. Would Molly even want to help him once she understood the real risks to her own career? Having his back in a professor’s office was a far cry from going into court against an enemy like the current district attorney.
He glanced at Sophie and saw the tears she refused to release. Anger and anguish twisted around his spine. He had no choice. He had to try before more of his family suffered.
“Why am I sensing a but coming?” Sophie’s smile was fragile. A flicker of hope flashed in her tear-soaked eyes. “She’s one of the best attorneys in the state, but...”
Drew scrubbed his hand over his face. “But I might have already dismissed her as my legal counsel.” Turned away her intelligence and experience. And hurt her feelings.
“Might have.” Sophie frowned. One of her eyebrows arched up. “Or did.”
No, that hadn’t happened. It wasn’t my fault. That was what he wanted to say to Sophie. It was Molly McKinney after all. Molly had gone through law school with an unyielding composure. One she hadn’t lost. But he’d seen Molly flinch on the balcony the other evening. The smallest of tells, there and gone on her face. But even in the shadows of the night sky, he’d noticed his refusal had gotten to her. Guilt knocked through him.
“I need to make this right,” Drew vowed. For his family. “I need to apologize to Molly too.”
He gathered the tuxedo kitten twins and slipped the pair back inside the oversized kennel. Scooped up the tabby and calico, easing the pair into the same kennel. All the kittens returned to their temporary home, the toys returned to the toy bin and the cat room returned to normal, Drew faced Sophie.
Now he had to return their lives to normal.
“Apologies always go better with gifts.” Sophie held out her hands and let Drew pull her to her feet. “And not just any generic gift either. Make it thoughtful.”
“How hard can that be.” Drew hugged his sister-in-law, silently vowing all would be fine. He would make sure of it.
One hour and a wardrobe change later, Drew strode through the lobby of the Fog City hotel, a shopping bag from Peapod Toy Parade in his right hand. A bag from Bouquets by Baylee in the other. With luck, he had captured thoughtful. But would his gifts and apology be enough?
To find out, he just needed Molly to open her hotel room door.
CHAPTER SIX
THE KNOCK ON the hotel room door interrupted Molly’s latest attempt to sooth an unhappy Hazel. Molly opened the door, eyed Drew and tried not to be too envious of his wrinkle-free, no-spit-up-embellished attire. Across the hall, another suite door opened, and the older woman in the doorway aimed a put-upon grimace in Molly’s direction before stuffing earplugs back in her ears.
Molly shifted a crying Hazel to her other hip and scowled at the older woman. She focused again on Drew. “This is definitely not a good time. I’m trying to get Hazel to sleep.”
“I only need five minutes.” His shopping bags transferred to one hand, he lifted his arm and spread out his fingers. “Just five minutes.”
That was enough time to drop off takeout. Or, in Drew’s case, give Molly an apology for firing her the other night. But she suspected he wasn’t there to give her the job back. Molly stroked Hazel’s flushed cheek and her daughter grabbed a hold of her finger. She opened her mouth to speak.
But a foursome of twentysomethings spilled out of the elevator, each one struggling to prove their mastery of the luggage cart. Loud voices and laughter bounced along the hallway. The clunking of ice from the machine into a bucket and the knocking of the luggage cart into the wall startled Hazel back into her tears and the start of a full-blown wail.
Drew lunged forward, set the two shopping bags he
