Brage tilted his head, and his mouth softened. A tear rolled unchecked down her cheek. If he hadn't of caught her meeting with Tony, she would've been gone by now, and he would never have to see her again.
As quickly as that thought entered her head, she regretted wanting to leave Brage. She wasn't foolish. She understood the situation, having grown up watching her brothers fight for their place within a motorcycle club. It was a hard and mostly illegal lifestyle. Her brothers paid for many of their crimes, but she also knew that what they did to others wasn't legal or right.
Her time with Brage, which started off wonderful had turned to something bigger than she'd planned. If circumstances were different and she could've remained the woman he'd hooked up with a few times, she could've enjoyed the way he was looking at her right now. As if he could fix everything and take her back to having pleasure in her life.
"Babe, your birth certificate says you're twenty-four years old," said Brage softly.
Shaking her head, she forced herself to pay attention. "Then, there's a mistake. I know my own birthday."
Brage leaned closer. "Brad Reed is listed as your father."
"No, he's my brother. My parents were Al and Michelle Reed. They died in a car crash when I was almost six years old." She scoffed. "Brad got custody of me after their death because he was twenty-two years old. Someone got their facts wrong. He had custody of me because my parents are dead."
Elling cleared his throat. She looked up at the Slag member.
"A change in custody doesn't change a birth certificate," said Elling. "Even if that were the case, putting Jane Doe without any other identifying information in as the mother on a government-issued document would classify as fraudulent by law."
"Jane Doe?" She looked at Brage. "What's he talking about?"
Brage held out his hand. Roar passed him a file.
"Read it." Brage stood and walked over to the other men.
Curious, she opened the tan colored file and shifted through the papers. Glancing up at the men, she wanted to ask why they had paperwork on her, but the sight of the birth certificate caught her attention.
The little details were new to her. She had no idea what time she'd been born or at what hospital. Seeing the misinformation about who her parents were, she looked up and found Brage watching her, ignoring the other men.
"This is wrong. I-I don't know why it would say this, but I know who my parents are," she said.
He returned to the chair in front of her. "Do you remember them?"
"No, but—"
"Babe, you claim to have been six years old when they died. I'm much older than you, and I can remember things back to the time I was four and five years old. It's not all clear in my mind, but I could give you enough details you could find out if they are facts." He paused. "I was four when my younger sister was born. I remember the hospital waiting room, seeing her get her head washed by the nurse, and holding her for the first time."
She stood, not wanting to hear his memories. Everyone was different. Just because she couldn't remember what her parents looked or sounded like it didn't mean anything was wrong with her.
How many times had she explained the same thing to the school nurse growing up or the therapist she was sent to because her teachers suspected something was wrong with her?
Brage followed her and guided her over to the corner of the room, blocking the others from her. "It's important that you remember, Dinah."
"Why? So I can feel the pain of losing my parents again?" She swiped at her eyes. "Just let me go. I'm not going to tell Tony anything about Slag Motorcycle Club. I don't even know what he wanted me to find out or know anything about what you do. I'm done. If he's in trouble, he's going to have to face the consequences on his own. I can't do this anymore. He was almost killed—by you today. I'm miserable, and I just want to go back to Idaho and—"
"So were you."
Her heart pounded. "I was what?"
"Almost killed today." Brage's voice lowered. "You were in the middle with over four hundred men pointing their guns at—"
"I know. I know." She fisted her hair and backed into the wall. "I'm not a part of this. I swear to God. I am not a part of Moroad. I was only trying to save my brother from getting in trouble with his club. That's all."
Brage closed his eyes an extra beat as if it was painful for him to hear that she was innocent. She had no idea what he expected, but she'd handed him the truth.
"Please," she whispered. "Let me walk out the door. You'll never see me again. I promise on my life."
"I can't," he whispered back. "It's more dangerous for you out there by yourself now that Moroad has taken a hit. They won't stop coming after you until..."
She looked away, unable to face what he was saying. Deep down, she knew he was right. Even Tony had warned her that Moroad wasn't above killing her.
Chapter 17
"She's not going to be held a prisoner by Slag." Brage refused to sit at the table in the meeting room of the clubhouse.
"My opinion..." Roar looked at each officer. "I don't trust Dinah."
"She doesn't even know why her brother, or whoever the hell he is, sent her here." He gripped the back of the chair. "Besides looking around to see if any of us are watching her, she hasn't tried to fight her way out since the fiasco with Moroad. She's given us no reason not to believe her."
Every fucking day, he witnessed Dinah slipping into a depressed state. Over the last week, she hadn't put
