Page 112 of Broken Dreams

I do note how judgemental he is, and it makes me decide that I’m going to need to speak to his sons, despite how badly Alisa has treated me in the past. It is possible she’s not their sister, but I can take the steps to find out for sure.

“You’re being oversensitive, Theo,” my father says. “She’s not doing anything, which is part of the problem. She could be deaf as well for all I know!”

His roar is something that makes my heart pound faster, but I force myself not to react. He wants to believe I’m both deaf and mute? Game fucking on.

I’m not responsible for his prejudices.

“If she doesn’t speak, then how are we meant to protect others from disappearing?” Patrick asks. “Adira has been discussing setting up task forces to protect our people from traffickers, yet she’s the only proof that it happens.”

“Yes, my bruises were a miserable example,” Adira says sarcastically. “I know what happened to Quinn, and I can tell you that she was sold by someone who is close to her. There are snakes everywhere. The variations of how people end up at auction or sold are many, it doesn’t mean it isn’t happening any less.”

“Between the foul women at ROWS who spout off their bullshit to omegas on how to make the correct choices, to the ways they’re actually responsible for selling off our people in Minnesota, the evidence is in front of your faces,” Cian says.

Remembering Emilia’s podcasts, I decide to look it up so I can show it to Cian and Adira on the way home. The more people who know about this, the better. There’s safety in knowledge.

“Fucking ROWS,” Corbin mutters. “The organization should just be wiped out. They have several anonymous backers in ourranks who are protecting them, though who I haven’t been able to suss out.”

“Madam Ophelia no longer has her protection at the Jefferson Auctions. I’m sure we can create some trouble for her,” Cian says wickedly.

“That woman is vile,” Adira agrees. “I would thoroughly enjoy fucking with her.”

“Aren’t you, ah, on hiatus from murder sprees?” Mr. Finnegan asks delicately.

“Because I’m pregnant?” she asks.

God, that traveled quickly. Adira isn’t even showing yet. She’s like three months into her pregnancy from what I’ve heard Duncan talk about. He’s really excited to be an “uncle”. Both brothers are.

It makes me wonder about if they want kids, or if I want to have them. The neverending list of things I need to think about or face only seems to grow. I really need to talk to Duncan and Callum about seeing a doctor they trust to run some tests.

I want to know exactly what Bret’s done to my body over the last sixteen years.

“…Isn’t that right, Quinn?” my father asks. Since he thinks I’m deaf, it doesn’t really matter if I’ve been lost in thought, so I make no effort to show that I heard him.

I’ve also missed whatever put down Adira must have given Mr. Finnegan as well, because her pregnancy is no business of his.

Rolling his eyes, he shakes his head.

“Excuse me, gentlemen. I’ll return shortly. I’m going to go check on dessert. Maybe my daughter will want to tell me where my wife is then,” he mutters.

Oh, so he was prattling on about how Mom left him. Wonderful.

Watching as he leaves, I notice how Theo also stands to follow him. As soon as my father walks around the corner, I glance up to see if I can find any cameras.

“There’s no video recording devices here,” Cian tells me. “It would be considered an act of war against the council.”

Nodding, I pull out my tablet from my clutch. While I don’t trust Mr. Finnegan, I doubt he’s working with my father in any way. He wasn’t very present in my life outside of during parties I had to attend.

“I’m perfectly capable of speaking, just not in a traditional way,”I say. “My father sold me to a pedophile when I was fourteen, and then I was sold to an alpha who runs a sex club. Callum and Duncan saved me.”

The less they know about Linus, the better. While pack records are public, I want to protect him as much as possible by not involving him in any of the families’ bullshit.

“Fuck, Quinn,” Corbin says, appearing gobsmacked as he glances from the tablet to me. “Is everyone at this club someone who’s been bought in some way?”

I nod because it’s faster, my gaze moving over the men at the table. Theo crosses his arms over his chest, almost glaring at me.

“Your father saw an opportunity to sell you. It doesn’t make him any less shitty of a person, but that doesn’t mean we need to know your family’s dirty laundry,” he states.

God, this fucker is a really wonderful human. Corbin and Patrick stare at him aghast, while a new player enters the conversation. He’s someone that I’ve also seen at parties or he’d come by the house when I was growing up to speak to my father.

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