Read Listed: Volume III for Free Online

resent it when Mr. Marino started to squeeze him out of business in an
attempt to persuade him to sell?”
    Hathaway
objected to something about the questioning, but Emily was too blurry to follow
the details. She used the brief pause to try to pull herself together and get
her mind to work better than it was.
    When
Barton started to question her again, he asked, “How did you feel when the
defendant used his influence in the neighborhood to keep your father’s store
from turning a profit?”
    Emily
stared at him, bewildered. “I don’t know what you mean.”
    “I
don’t know how I can ask the question any clearer. How did you feel when Mr.
Marino used his influence in the neighborhood to squeeze your father out of his
business?”
    “I
didn’t know he did that.” She was absolutely horrified by the idea—by what
Vincent Marino might have done to her poor father.
    “How
profitable was your father’s store in the last months of his life?”
    “Not
profitable at all. He was trying to keep it from folding.”
    “And
who did you blame for that?”
    “No
one. It was just one of those things.”
    “You
didn’t blame Mr. Marino?”
    “I
didn’t know he was doing anything.” A few embarrassing tears streamed from her
eyes. “My dad never told me. I thought it was just one of those things.”
    “You
didn’t resent Mr. Marino for it?”
    “Objection,”
Hathaway interrupted. “Asked and answered.”
    The
judge sustained the objection, and the brief pause gave Emily a chance to
hurriedly wipe away the tears. She was a wreck. She was doing a terrible job. Talking
about her father like this—learning the truth about what he’d had to go through
without her ever knowing—was heartbreaking. She didn’t dare look over to Paul.
He would be so disappointed in her.
    “Had
your husband shown any signs of romantic interest in you before he married
you?”
    The
shift in topic was so abrupt that Emily couldn’t follow it. “What?”
    “Had
your husband shown any signs of romantic interest in you before he married
you?”
    “No,”
she admitted, “But he didn’t—”
    “So
your courtship and marriage were…sudden?”
    “Yes.”
She sniffed a few times, desperately needing a tissue.
    Barton
didn’t give her time to explain further. “Did you find it surprising that a
rich, attractive, older man would be willing to marry someone like you?”
    The
question hurt and surprised Emily so much she gasped.
    When
it looked like Hathaway was about to object, Barton added, “I mean, marry a teenage
girl he'd never shown any interest in.”
    “There
were certain circumstances,” she began, trying desperately to think clearly,
even though her hands were shaking helplessly and her eyes still blurred with
tears.
    “Ah,
circumstances,” Barton interrupted. “Was your testifying in this trial part of
the marriage agreement you made with your husband?”
    Emily
gulped, understanding where this was going. “Yes.”
    “Do
you believe that your husband is in love with you?”
    It
was awful. Absolutely awful. That Paul didn’t love her, and that she was
ruining him now by speaking the truth. She choked, more tears sliding down her
cheeks.
    “Please
direct the witness to answer the question, your honor.”
    “Mrs.
Marino,” the judge said, “You need to answer.”
    Emily
managed to force back the emotion. “No. He’s not in love with me.”
    “Did
your aunt recently die, Mrs. Marino?”
    “Yes.”
    “Is
your father dead?”
    “Yes.”
    “Where
is your mother?”
    She
shrugged. “On the street somewhere.”
    “Have
you been diagnosed with a terminal illness?”
    “Yes.”
    “Are
you seventeen years old?”
    “Yes.”
    “Mrs.
Marino, has your husband taken advantage of you?”
    “No!”
    “You
wouldn’t consider it taking advantage if a man marries a vulnerable girl in
order to get her to testify against his father?”
    “That’s
not how it happened.” She was washed with heat again, hating her