Chapter 30
Brielle
”What do you mean if?” I growl, my composure taking a hit with these people”s blatant lack of concern. ”A minute ago you said when.”
”We aren”t sure what his attorneys will request,” one of the people standing in front of me says.
”I just want to know if I”m going to have to get on the stand or not,” I snap.
”How can we put you on the stand when you won”t even tell us anything before the hearing?” a woman says and the irritation in her voice matches my own.
”I told you when I first got here that I don”t know anything. I don”t understand why I”m here to begin with. I told Detective Greene last year that I didn”t have any proof about what Nathan and Xan were doing.”
”Have you recently spoken with Detective Greene?” a third attorney asks me, his eyes narrowing.
”She”s missing,” I say. ”And before you try and blame me for that, he told me she was.”
Kincaid frowns in my direction when I point at him. I don”t know why but the disappointment in his eyes makes my chest ache a little. He”s been so generous to me, making sure I was safe and giving me a place to stay for the last month.
”If we put you on the stand, we”re going to ask you about the sexual assaults,” the woman says as if she were the one given the task of relaying this information because of her gender.
I can say her delivery is absolute shit.
”What?” My voice is weaker now. ”This is supposed to be a case for all the people he”s hurt.”
”You”re the only victim we have.”
”Your entire case rests solely on me?” Fear swims through me.
”We thought you knew this,” one of the male attorneys says.
I glare at him, tears burning my nose, but I”d never cry in front of these people. I know once the floodgates open, they”ll never close again.
”Because I”ve had so many conversations with anyone in this office?”
The woman stands a little taller before speaking. ”Everyone you talk to either disappears or ends up dead.”
”Ruby,” the man says, putting his hand on her shoulder, and it”s then I see the fear in her eyes.
She shrugs off his touch, holding her hands up at her ears. ”I can”t. I won”t.”
She walks out of the room. The woman has every right to be scared, but if Nathan sees her name attached to anything related to his case, he won”t care that she quit before she faced him in the courtroom.
”They”re ready,” the receptionist that was outside the office says when she sticks her head in the door.
I wish I could just walk out of here like Ruby did.
All it takes is a look from Kincaid and his men activate as we leave the office and walk toward the courtroom. My hands are trembling so badly, I can”t hide it. I squeeze my hands into fists over and over, but it doesn”t help. I try to discreetly shake the tension from them, but it makes no difference either.
I look ahead of me, allowing my eyes to drift toward Beck for the first time today, and I hate knowing that I had something to do with the darkness under his eyes. When he locks his gaze with mine, I see darkness in them too, but it looks like fear and heartbreak, not the anger and hatred I”d expect after the way I treated him last night.
He stands taller but pulls his eyes away quickly so he can say something to Kincaid. The president of Cerberus MC turns his attention to me, his eyes searching mine before he walks up and stops in front of me.
”Do you need a minute?” he asks.
I nod, knowing I need more than a minute, but I”ll take what I can get.
He indicates the ladies” restroom across the hall, and to my surprise, no one follows me inside. I imagine had Ruby not just thrown her career away, she”d be in here with me.
I take in the silence, closing my eyes after stepping up to the sink. My stomach rolls, the threat of getting sick right now is very real.
I can”t face him.
But I have to.
I”m their only witness. It all rests on my shoulders.
I can”t be in this position. It would be bad enough to even walk into the courtroom. To be the only witness in a case against him? The man could die, and his spirit would still seek revenge against me. There”s no fucking way this works out in my favor.
I snap my eyes up when a door on the other side of the restroom opens.
”Sorry,” a lady in an ill-fitting suit says before she goes into one of the stalls.
She doesn”t seem like a threat, but I can never tell with Nathan. He has the ability to convince the most innocuous people to do his bidding.
I keep my eyes locked on the mirror, the stall door in my line of sight until the necklace Beck gave me last night pulls my eyes to it.
It”s a survivor necklace, and although I always wanted one, I never imagined myself as a survivor.
”We”ll never make it to twenty-five.”I can”t count the number of times Xan whispered those words in my ear. I do know it was enough that I started to believe it. Surviving Nathan Adair doesn”t happen.
What I can”t figure out is why I”m so scared to die. It”s something that I always knew was coming.
The necklace means nothing, but when I wrap my hand around it, I just can”t rip it from my throat. It”s foolish of me to imagine a life where I could be normal and loved.
”You deserve to be loved.”
I hated him when he said that to me.
”Everyone you talk to either disappears or ends up dead.”
Ruby was right. I have enough blood on my hands.
With my eyes closed I pull the necklace free and drop it on the sink. When the first tear pushes past my closed eyelids, I know I have to let it all go. My chances of survival are almost non-existent, but I just can”t manage to give up yet.
I eye the other door, knowing that getting out of here will probably be impossible, but I also know I have to try.
I pull the door open, seeing a short hallway that leads to several other offices, and I understand this to be the courthouse employee entrance to the restroom. If people were smart, they”d make this damn door only accessible with a keycard or something.
I make it to the end of the hallway, finding a single elevator door. I press the down button with my fingers crossed in hopes that it takes me to employee parking or some area that Cerberus or that other group hasn”t thought to cover. They”ve been pretty fucking thorough so far, but I knew I couldn”t get lost in the thoughts that I was actually safe.
After climbing on the elevator and pressing G for the garage, I pull my oatmeal-colored jacket off, turning it inside out so the paisley print liner is showing. I pull the pins from my hair and let it settle around my shoulders. I have no money, no identification. I have nothing, but it isn”t the first time I”ve been in this situation.
I hold my head high as the elevator doors open, knowing I need to look as if I belong here. There”s a security checkpoint, but they”re only monitoring the people entering the building, presuming that those leaving had been checked on their way in.
No one shouts my name or runs after me as I push open the heavy door and step out into the frigid weather.
I pull in a fortifying breath of the cold air and before I can take a step, warmth covers my side.
My heart races as I look up at the scarred face of a man I don”t recognize.
”Your car is waiting right over here, Ms. Adair,” he says, his voice full of gravel.
I don”t miss the warning in his tone or the feel of the gun pointed at my back.
I don”t have many choices, but I do risk a glance back through the glass. The security guards are speaking with a man there.
The click-clack of footsteps draws my attention in front of me, and I feel a hint of hope when I see a man and woman walking in our direction to enter the building.
”Make a scene and I”ll not only kill those two but everyone they love.”
I don”t doubt his threat, and I know he must”ve been well informed by Nathan of my weaknesses. I might be capable of getting hurt myself, but I”ve always hated being the reason anyone else suffered at Nathan”s hands. It was the only thing that separated me from Xan, and Nathan hated that he couldn”t break me all the way. He hated my compassion for others even though there were times when the abuse got so bad I caved.
”Try me,” he growls in my ear, and that”s all it takes for me to give the people walking toward me a small smile before allowing him to escort me to the waiting car.
The guy behind the driver”s seat doesn”t even bother to look my way when the man with the scarred face opens the back passenger door.
”Scoot,” he snaps, crawling in beside me when I make room for his massive form.
The car pulls out of the underground garage, and I tilt my face toward the sun, knowing it may be the last day I”ll have the chance to see it.
I lift my hand to my throat nearly to the point of tears that I pulled the necklace off. I”d like to have something to hold on to, a token of someone”s love when I die.