Chapter 15
Newton
If Brielle wanted to ease into being around people, she chose the very wrong time to gain enough courage to leave the room.
She spent the day nervous. I can”t count how many times while we were watching television that she shifted in the closet. I even got up and moved the armchair in case she wanted to sit in it rather than behind me where she has spent the last week. She only came out of there twice to go to the restroom.
Evenings at the clubhouse house are always a little hectic. The people who aren”t Cerberus are coming in from work. Many of the women are involved in community events, meaning they have Cerberus members along with them. Some have shops here at the clubhouse but have to leave regularly to get supplies. Devyn often makes deliveries for people in the community who have placed sewing orders with her.
I know that Oracle and Beth went for a bike ride earlier today. I know I called it an ambush this morning when discussing it with Brielle, but this is really the only way I can see them getting the chance to talk. Throughout the day I”ve considered it more of an “oh, you”re here and I”m here, let”s talk” situation.
There isn”t anyone in the living room yet, but Brielle hurries past the door into the kitchen. There”s a huge open window on one wall of the kitchen that allows platters of food to be passed through easily when there”s any sort of gathering here. I can feel several pairs of eyes follow us as we pass it. No one slinks into the kitchen to talk to us, and that isn”t even a conversation I had to have with my teammates. They”re all well aware of the way she”s struggling, and they have enough training to know that doing too much too soon could set her back.
”Any spot you”d like,” I tell her when we step closer to the grouping of sofas on the front wall of the clubhouse.
Unsurprisingly, she takes the seat in the corner, eyeing the spot next to her.
”May I sit beside you?” I ask rather than just assuming that”s what she wants.
”Please,” she says, a certain level of desperation in her voice.
I don”t sit close enough for our thighs to touch, but I”m definitely in a position to be the first line of defense if anyone tries to approach us.
I pull in a deep breath, letting my chest puff up a little that she sees me as a protector, despite knowing there”s no one here that would dream of ever hurting her.
The front door opens several times. First, it”s Drake coming in with Boomer. They each nod in our direction, hands locked together, before they disappear into the kitchen.
”That”s surprising,” she whispers.
”Drake works at the local bar,” I explain. ”According to Boomer, he”s the Cerberus member, he”s the best thing that’s ever happened to him.”
There”s a warning in my tone, and I know Brielle has had enough life experience to understand the meaning. Any opinions she might have against a same-sex relationship won”t be tolerated.
”I guess I didn”t realize how progressive the club is,” she says, looking at me. ” I can tell by that tone in your voice that you think I might have an issue. Let me be clear that I don”t.”
”I know Nathan was an evil man,” I explain.
She freezes beside me. I haven”t mentioned his name once since she got to the clubhouse, but I”m not foolish enough to think she’s forgotten the man. There”s no level of safety that would ever be capable of making that happen.
”He was,” she quickly agrees. ”But even as heinous as he was, he didn”t have an issue with same-sex relationships either.”
I know it must hurt her to admit that although the man had flaws, there was at least an ounce of decency in him.
I look over when the front door opens again, knowing we aren”t going to get a simple nod this time.
I give Kincaid a light smile as he approaches. Instead of standing over us, he takes a seat on the coffee table in front of us.
”It”s good to see you out here, Brielle,” he says to her.
She”s stiff beside me as she nods.
”I wanted to talk to you about Nathan.”
Just when I didn”t think her body could grow any stiffer, she freezes completely. No doubt hearing his name twice in a few minutes is threatening to shut her systems down completely.
”The judge with the district court has set his bond very high, making his attorney fight for a bond hearing that they”ll have next week,” Kincaid explains.
”H-he can bond out?” Brielle stammers, and I hate the glassy look of her eyes telling me that she may cry with the news.
”He”s never been convicted of a crime, and with no criminal history, it”s nearly impossible for the judge to deny bail.”
I keep my eyes on Kincaid when I feel Brielle scoot a little closer to me, and I have to fight the urge to wrap my arm around her shoulder and pull her closer.
”I just wanted to update you, not scare you,” Kincaid tells her, also reading the fear in her body language. ”But that”s not all we need to discuss.”
I almost open my mouth to tell him that she”s heard enough, but I know it won”t go over well. At this rate, she may never want to leave the room again, and I hate the way I”m torn on how that thought makes me feel.
”Xan,” Kincaid says. ”No one has claimed his body. The coroner doesn”t know what to do.”
”Nathan should make that call,” Brielle whispers. ”I have no power to do anything.”
Her refusal to help make plans to lay the man to rest increases my confidence in her, and it quiets that voice that keeps wondering if she”s here for nefarious reasons.
”Nathan has refused to even acknowledge his son”s death past swearing vengeance on whoever took his life,” Kincaid says with a frown. ”They”ll hold his remains longer, but I just wanted to check with you since he”s your brother.”
”He isn”t my brother,” she snaps, making Kincaid pull back a little.
The man stands without arguing with her as he looks in my direction. ”Let me know if you need anything.”
Neither of us speaks when he walks away. He pauses in the middle of the room, pulling in a deep breath, before turning back around and retaking his seat on the coffee table.
”I know this isn”t something you want to discuss, and normally I would give you as much time as you needed to heal, but Nathan is going to be extradited back to Ohio. The prosecutors there feel like they have enough to proceed with a grand jury indictment on him.”
”Back to Ohio?” she asks, shaking her head. ”That”s a mistake.”
”I don”t control what the police do,” Kincaid says.
”He has so many people in his pockets,” she says, then immediately snaps her mouth closed as if she didn”t mean to say it.
”It would be great to know who those people are,” Kincaid urges.
”I don”t know who they are,” she says a little too quickly to make either of us believe her.
”Do you know what might”ve happened to Detective Andi Greene?”
Her jaw flexes and, at first, I think she”s mad that Kincaid is still here asking her questions, but then her chin quivers.
”She”s gone?”
Kincaid nods. ”She disappeared a couple of months ago. No trace, just gone. We assume Nathan or Xan took her in order to find you.”
I think if it were possible, Brielle would curl into a ball.
”Any idea where they might have taken her?” Kincaid prods again, not one to give up easily.
We both know he”s skating a line between keeping her calm and trying to find out more information.
Brielle hasn”t been very forthcoming. The prosecutor”s office, as well as Detective Greene, have been adamant that she knows more than what she”s saying, but I have to wonder if she isn”t talking to protect herself rather than trying to protect her stepfamily.
We all heard the threats Nathan made. The man was so willing to put himself into a position to get caught just to get her back in his clutches that it”s clear he”s obsessed with either her or vengeance against her enough to make mistakes. Something he hasn”t done much of his entire criminal career.
”They never told me where they keep the women, just that they had them,” she says, and a part of me wants to believe her.
Kincaid nods before standing once again and walking away.
She”s trembling before he even makes it around the corner into the kitchen.
Beth doesn”t come through with Oracle, and I”m sure she”s no longer in the right headspace to speak with the woman.
”Want to go back to the room?” I ask, and she stands as she nods.