Fix You: Bash and Olivia, Book 2 of 3 (McDaniels Brothers) by Christine Bell

Chapter One
    Bash
     
    “They’re willing to drop the charges down to misdemeanor simple assault and battery with an eight-month sentence at the county jail. With good behavior, you’ll be out in six.” Dean Salisbury, public defender, peered at me through weary gray eyes and leaned forward, resting his elbows on the Formica table between us. “I think you should seriously consider it.”
    Those last words hit me like a gut punch. It was one thing to be offered a plea bargain. It was something else to have your lawyer telling you to take it.
    “Nope.”
    Matty’s voice was louder than a whip crack in the sterile little room. He sat next to me on a too-small metal chair, his whole body tensed like he wanted to pounce on someone.
     “No fucking way.” The legs of the chair scraped against the black and white speckled laminate floor as he faced me. “If you agree, you’ll not only miss the Spada fight, but you’ll also have a record. People are going to think you’re out of control. A troublemaker. Sponsors won’t want to touch you. Think long-term, Bash. This could change the trajectory of your whole career.”
    It was hard to ignore the judgment in his voice, but I couldn’t blame him. He had, after all, told me so. He’d said right from the get-go that messing with Olivia Beckett was going to cause major shit for me, but I didn’t listen.
    Olivia’s face flashed through my mind and I waited for the anger to come. I should have been furious. The whole reason I was in lockup was because she’d been about to get her ass whooped by her prick of a boyfriend. I’d intervened, and wound up popping him in the mouth. Hard. It had felt good at the time, but now I felt empty. Like a scooped-out pumpkin.
    It was bad enough that my future was crumbling right in front of me. But far worse than that, I’d been in jail for three days, and hadn’t heard from or seen Olivia. My brothers Matty and Reid had both come twice, so it wasn’t a matter of rules and regulations, either.
    Face facts: she just doesn’t want to see you, man.
    I shoved away the thought and turned my attention back to my attorney. “And if I don’t take it? What’s the max they can put me away for if I lose at trial?”
    Salisbury shifted in his seat and blew out an Eeyore, woe-is-me sigh. “The problem is that Abernathy Senior is pressing friends in high places for the felony aggravated assault charges to stick. Technically, because you’re a boxer, your hands can be considered as deadly weapons. If he succeeds, you could have a serious problem. We’re looking at a felony charge and state penitentiary time. Whole different ball game there.” He raised his brows and pursed his lips. “Could be your particular skill set might give you a leg up and people will leave you alone. Or, could be they look at you as a challenge, which would make for a very long, hard eight months.”
    Matty slammed the table with a ham-sized fist. “This is bullshit. He was protecting a girl from getting assaulted. Surely that falls under some sort of self-defense law or something, doesn’t it? What should he have done, just let the guy beat her ass?”
    “The problem is, it’s Junior’s word against your brother’s as to the catalyst. Andrew claims they were arguing over the girl, and Bash made it physical.” Salisbury held up both hands and continued over Matty’s protests, “Now, of course I’m still going to contact the girl”—he glanced down at his notes—“Ms. Beckett, but she still hasn’t come in and at this point we have no idea of whether she’ll corroborate your story or not. Frankly, the fact that she didn’t come forward to file a complaint against Andrew when the incident took place is an issue.”
    I didn’t bother to tell him that, had we known Andy was going to press charges, she would have. But hearing that she still hadn’t responded the police inquiry was like salt on an open wound.
    Salisbury seemed oblivious to my sudden