"If they find out, they'll use it against us. Not in the trial itself—your testimony is too strong—but in the press. In appeals. They'll paint you as unstable. Suggestible. Claim you were unduly influenced by people with their own reasons to want Venetti put away."
"That's ridiculous," Eden says. "The Ironborn have nothing to do with Venetti."
"The Ironborn have a reputation for putting bad guys behind bars by any means necessary." Rodriguez doesn't blink. "The Hargrove case and appeals have been front-page news in Atlanta for two years. Twelve jurors know exactly who they are, and thedefense will use that." Her eyes move from me to Ash. "Which is why we need to discuss Ironborn involvement going forward."
I know what's coming. Every muscle in my body tenses.
Ash shifts beside me. "Our involvement."
"The trial starts tomorrow. Eden testifies in the morning. If everything goes as planned, verdict by end of day." She pauses. "What I need is for her to walk into that courtroom with absolutely nothing the defense can use against us. No scandals. No questions. No orc MC member in the gallery drawing media attention."
"So what are you saying?" Ash's voice is hard. "We can't be there?"
"I'm saying your presence would turn this trial into a circus. 'Witness hides with biker gang, orc enforcer shows up to intimidate the jury.' It writes itself."
"No."
The word rips out of me before I can stop it. Everyone turns.
"I told her I'd be there." I step forward. "Every step. That was the plan."
Rodriguez's eyes narrow. "Plans change, Mr. Diesel."
"On your watch, she got shot." I jab a finger toward Carver. "Your safe house. Your security. She's got a bullet wound in her shoulder because your people couldn't keep her safe." The beast stirs in my chest, that old familiar rage clawing its way up. "That's not happening again."
"Mr. Diesel—"
"I'm going." My voice drops into something not quite human. A growl building in my throat. "She's not walking into that courthouse without me."
I see Rodriguez register it—the size of me, the tusks, the barely contained violence humming under my skin. For half a second, fear flickers across her face.
Then it hardens. Certainty.
"That." She points at me. "Right there. That is exactly why you can't be anywhere near this trial."
I freeze.
"The growling. The posturing. The intimidation." She doesn't back down. "You just demonstrated precisely what Venetti's lawyers will use against us. This is what the public sees when they look at you. This is what the media will report. And Venetti's people?" She shakes her head. "They'll have him out on appeal before the ink on the verdict is dry."
The beast howls. I force it down.
"I wasn't—"
"You were. And you didn't even realize it." She's not angry anymore. Just matter-of-fact. "That's the problem. You can't help what you are. And what you are is a liability—not just to Eden, but to every person Venetti will kill if he walks free."
Every person Venetti will kill. Because of me. Because I couldn't keep the monster leashed for thirty seconds.
I tried to fight for her. And my fighting is exactly what proved Rodriguez right.
"I've been prosecuting cases for fifteen years," Rodriguez continues. "I know how juries think. I know how defense attorneys operate. If Venetti's lawyers get a whiff of this—" She gestures between me and Eden. "—they will use it to destroy her credibility. And that destroys our case."
I watch the color drain from Eden's face.
"Then they stay out of sight." Maya steps forward. "Don't come to the courthouse. Stay at a hotel. They can be in Atlanta without being visible."
"No. These lawyers have investigators. Contacts. If Eden is seen with an orc—any orc, anywhere in Atlanta—before, during, or after this trial, it becomes ammunition."
"For how long?" Eden's voice is barely a whisper.
