Rhys stiffened. “Not always.”
Broni really did not want to speak her next words, knowing the pain she was about to cause Rhys regardless of his treatment of her—he would’ve callously let her be raped by the bikers without lifting a hand to help to prevent it.
“Even before your family’s deaths, that was why you becamea lawyer.” Sighing, Broni’s weariness etched her profile. Her voice broke on her next sentence. “When your family died, it cemented a century’s worth of the ugliness of the humans you tried to protect.”
Disgust was written all over his face. His chair fell back as he got to his feet. Broni bit her lip. He wasn’t going to listen any longer.
“Sit down,” Adam orderedRhys. “Is she telling the truth? Are you a lawyer?”
“Not since my family was killed,” Rhys clarified as he picked his chair up, reluctantly resuming his seat.
Broni turned to Jacewho was staring stoically at her, not letting his expression give anything away. The club enforcer would be the hardest to convince.
“Do you regret taking the life of your brother?”
Jace’s chair scraped against the floor as he stood to his feet. “I’m not sitting here listening to any more of this bullshit. She’s obviously with the cops who gave her all this information on us.”
“If the police knew you had deliberately killed your brother, why wouldn’t they have arrested you?” Broni reasoned.
“No evidence.” He neither confirmednor denied killing his brother.
“The gun that isburied in your mother’s grave would be proof enough, don’t you think?” Broni mocked his words.
WhenJace sat back down in his chair, Mason stiffened in his chair as Broni turned to look at him.
“Mason, remember when you were seventeen? You broke into that home, searching for something to steal to purchase the drugs you were becoming addicted to? You thought the house was empty, but it wasn’t, was it? The father of the small family heard you; he found you ransacking his home. He nearly beat you to death, but you managed to escape. When a trophy fell from a cabinet, you used it to knock him out. You believed you had killed him, so you left town on your bike, afraid of being tried for murder. That’s when you met Adam and became a part of his club. It was a year later that you found out he hadn’t died. By then, you no longer cared.
“At least once, I have helped all of you to survive. Now, I expect my due—for you to protect me.”
Silence filled the room.
“I have to give you credit. That’s one hell of a spiel to save your ass,” Adam broke the silence, her final words left behind.
She had failed. They couldn’t believe her. To do so would mean they were as crazy as they believed her to be.
“Get back to work cleaning. Mason, Jace, make sure the men leave her alone. Rhys, see if you can do a better job at keeping her under control until tomorrow night.”
Broni turned to the doorway. At least her impending rape had been put off for another day, but she couldn’t leave without giving a final warning.
“Adam,you need to prepare for the coming battle. They will come for me.”
“Like I said, we can handle it.”
Broni went through the doorway. If they didn’t heed her warning, they were already doomed before the battle had even begun.
As soon as the door closed behind her, Adam turned to Jace.“Call our informant at the station. Ask if there are any mental patients missing.”
“How did she know about us? That was fucking creepy,” Jace said, reaching for his cell phone.
“I don’t know. Maybe she’s psychic? How the fuck should I know?”
Rhys stood up, going to the door.
“Rhys… why didn’t you ever try to get yourself out of trouble when you were arrested?”
“I was a lousy lawyer.”
* * *