Page 49 of Brage & Dinah

He slipped on his vest, put an unlit cigarette in his mouth, and opened the door. She followed without him answering her. She wasn't too worried about getting in trouble. Her job at the bar was temporary. She knew that from the beginning, and now it'd changed to when Brage felt it was safe for her to go back to Idaho.

In the alley, Brage put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. She startled and found him motioning Roar away from a group of bikers.

Out of the privacy of the bedroom, she leaned closer to Brage for support. When she wasn't working—when Slag didn't need her—she found herself on guard and tense. Everything could change in a heartbeat, and they could send her away. She wasn't ready to leave Brage, despite her need to separate herself from the motorcycle club.

Roar led them into the back door of the bar and to the breakroom. She relaxed a little. If he was taking her to The Fire Ring, then she must've done something wrong while covering Peer last night.

"Go ahead and take a seat. I thought it would be easier to talk with you here where we won't be interrupted." Roar pointed.

She slid into the nearest chair. Both men remained standing.

"Brage's told me you've had trouble sleeping." Roar walked to the other side of the small room.

"I'm...fine." She frowned at Brage for sharing something so personal. "A lot has happened."

"Babe, you're yelling out for your mom almost every night." Brage squatted near her chair. "It's been going on the whole time I've had you in my bed."

She laughed to cover her embarrassment. "So, I talk in my sleep."

The dreams had come more frequently since Brage kidnapped her. Stress did wonky things to people, and obviously, her mental state couldn’t handle everything when she closed her eyes.

"Geez, guys." She shifted to stand, and Brage caught her hand. "Can't a girl keep her dreams private."

She hadn't discussed them with him. Why would she?

"We gave you a lot of information when we questioned you. You've got a copy of your birth certificate we obtained." Brage reached up and pushed her hair back from her eyes. "I think you need to call your brother and find out who your parents are. Something isn't right."

"I told you, I know who—"

"I believe you were told wrong." His gaze softened. "Roar's agreed to let you use your phone. You can check on your brother, if you want, and ask him about the information we found on you."

She looked between both men. The whole conversation seemed like a setup. Were they trying to get information about Moroad?

"The only condition is you allow us to stay in the same room with you." Roar crossed his arms. "We can't have you unconsciously sharing any info that will compromise Slag, and after you're done talking to him, you'll need to give the phone back to me."

She shook her head. They still wouldn't trust her.

Unable to look at Brage, because she wouldn't want him seeing how it hurt that he still believed she'd harm him or Slag, she sighed loudly. Her brother was her brother, and because Tony was her only link to family and she worried about him after he got shot, she held out her hand.

Her heart raced. "Fine."

Brage squeezed her thigh and stood. She turned on her phone. At least Roar had kept it charged. While the phone loaded, she asked, "Is there anything I'm not supposed to say?"

"Talk about whatever you need to, just leave Slag out of the conversation and don't talk about staying here," said Brage.

Her brother was going to ask where she was. She'd be disappointed if he didn't.

"Keep it on speaker. We'll let you know if something comes up that we need to shut down." Roar turned a chair and straddled it backward.

She set the phone on the table. "Hang on. I'm not asking Tony about anything you can use against my brother, either. If that's your intent, forget it. I won't call him."

"You control the conversation. We're only protecting ourselves." Brage remained beside her and lowered his voice. "You should trust me by now, I'm not going to do anything that hurts you."

Could she trust him?

Never had she felt so vulnerable. Away from home, away from her family, she'd dug herself into an impossible situation, and yet, all she could go off of was the way Brage had treated her.

He'd kidnapped her, and because she understood how serious motorcycle club's operated, she couldn't blame him. He hadn't physically hurt her. Scared her to death—yes. But, he hadn't harmed her.

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