Page 80 of Brage & Dinah

When Roar came into the bar and Brage gave him all his attention, she had a feeling something was going down. Brage always stayed aware of her. Whether that was to wink, nod, or give her that heated expression that was reserved only for her, she never felt ignored.

Until tonight when whatever was going on occupied him fully.

"Just tell me." She swallowed. "Is it about our trip to Idaho?"

"No."

She pulled the sleeves of her sweatshirt over her hands. "Do you want me to leave the clubhouse?"

Brage's hand tightened on the empty chair. Her heart pounded, aching in her chest. The emotions she wanted to hide in front of the other two men pushed to the surface.

His gaze intensified. "Babe."

Hearing the need for her in his voice, she stepped forward and slid into the chair, reaching for him. He held her hand in both of his.

Roar sat opposite them, leaning forward, and braced his elbows on the table. "We've had something come up that involves you."

"At the bar?" She looked between the men.

Had one of the customers complained? Nothing out of the ordinary had happened directly to her. Tonight had been one of the easier nights. It'd stayed busy, and she'd barely had a minute to catch her breath. Had she missed an order or said something that was misconstrued to one of the customers?

Roar shook his head. "Jeremy Aldridge, the President of Moroad Motorcycle Club, has contacted me."

His voice waned in her head as her pulse beat in her ears. She held on to Brage. Whatever Jeremy told Roar about her was a lie. They were criminals and had stolen her from her family.

She should've gone to the police and reported herself as a missing person, a child, but having been raised by Brad and Tony, she always viewed law enforcement as the enemy. Used to solving her own problems, the police weren't her first option. They hadn't even been a thought until later when the truth had come out.

The whole lie that things were fine at home and she was cared for and happy was one she'd told on a weekly, if not daily, basis growing up. She was taught not to trust anyone in authority because they would rip her away and shove her in a prison for kids or worse, put her in an orphanage.

Growing up, that was her biggest fear.

She'd watched the police arrest both her brothers, numerous times over the years. Tony and Brad always claimed their innocence and believed law enforcement arrested them because they belonged to a biker club.

While she understood her fears were unjustified, she also knew that going to the police now would bring all of Moroad down on her head for going after one of their own. Instead, she cut herself off from Brad and Tony. They could live their miserable existence without her, and hopefully, Brad would stay in prison and Tony would soon follow.

"Aldridge requested to meet with you." Roar watched her for a reaction.

"No." There was no hesitation.

"I think—"

"No. Absolutely not." She looked to Brage for support. "Tony said one of the Moroad members killed my father and took me from my mother. They ruined my whole life. They're murderers, and I want nothing to do with them."

Nothing would change her opinion. She pressed her hand to her chest. The ache spread up into her throat, choking her.

The small room closed in on her. There was no way she was going back to Idaho now. She wanted to stay far away from Moroad Motorcycle Club.

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