Page 51 of Forged in Peril

In any case, she was also the only lawyer at FBS, and they would likely need her help in dealing with D&P.

“Okay, dorks,” Asher chimed in, smirking in Ben’s direction as Grace pretended to smack him in the ribs. “I have things to do this morning, so I think we’d better get on with it.”

“Me too,” Reilly chimed in, glancing up from his phone. “My wife has an ultrasound today, and I’d like to be able to make it for once.”

“I’ll be here all day,” Ben said.

“I wish I could be,” Grace said, her gaze lingering on Ben a little too long. “But I have to leave after lunch. I’m going away with my parents to Montana this weekend.”

Gabe raised a hand, and the rising chatter in the room went quiet at once.

“If Bristol is ready to talk, I think it’s time to listen.”

He nodded toward her, and Cameron watched as she pushed her chair back, gripping the armrests tightly as she cleared her throat.

She caught his eye for a long moment, and he stared back, hoping to convey what he was feeling without the use of words.

She could do this.

She was strong.

Her voice wavered as she began to speak, giving the team a quick rundown of her pursuit of the law and her time at Columbia. But by the time she had gotten to the meat of her time at D&P, however, Cameron realized that her fear must have begun to fade away.

She relaxed her white-knuckled grip on her chair, and her voice was confident as she met the eyes of the others at the table. Her mouth was set firm as she discussed Dillon Warrington, and the way that he had fooled her into thinking he was her friend.

Righteous anger seemed to be driving her now, and Cameron listened intently as she went over that fateful encounter once again, so different from the frightened woman who had told him the same story the night before.

Finding the courage to bring darkness out into the light for all to see had given her a sense of power that all of his reassurances could never have provided, and by the time she had finished her story, he felt as though his heart would burst with admiration.

It was Jaclyn who spoke first.

“I’m not really surprised that D&P is involved,” she said softly, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears. “They’ve gotten so huge over the last decade or so that it seemed inevitable to me that corruption would follow.”

“Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” Ben recited, his face set in a scowl. He looked like he wanted to tear Dillon Warrington limb from limb nearly as badly as Cam did.

Despite his computer-nerd persona, he suspected that the mere sight of the huge, bulky redhead would have been enough to send the coward running.

Shame he had taken the easy way out before they got the chance.

Jaclyn nodded. “There are definitely some things I can do on the legal side to rattle their cage, so long as I have the financial backing of FBS if things go south.”

“Like I said, we protect our own,” Gabe said. “Let them threaten us. Our coffers are healthy. I’m not scared of them.”

Bristol shook her head. “Wait, wait, wait.”

“Bristol, we–” Cameron started, but she ignored him.

“I never said I wanted to rattle cages. I just want the terror to stop, and going after D&P seems a lot like poking the bear.”

“Poking the bear is what we need to do,” Cameron said. “They need to know that you’re not afraid of them.”

There was a chorus of agreement from the rest of the table.

Bristol gave a humorless laugh. “But I am afraid of them. I worked for these people for two years. I know what they’re capable of.”

“And I know what this company is capable of,” Gabe said calmly. “They’re not just harassing you. They’re poking a bear of their own.”

As always, Cameron was amazed and a little jealous at the way his oldest brother could command a room, without needing to so much as raise his voice.

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