Jack blanched. “I know. I’m so sorry. How did Monty find you?”
“Does it matter?” Gemma asked, trying to see anything good in the man. “You were a coward and you know it. You had a duty to report the abuse. Now, tell me if you’re still going down that cowardly path and forgoing every oath you ever took. You’re doing it again withanother woman.”
Jack looked down at his hands. “I’ve tried to get her to leave him, but she’s too scared. She thinks she can save him. Maybe change him when they get married.I keep hoping.”
Gemma flattened her hands on the desk to keep from punching the stupid screen. “He’s goingto kill her.”
Jack shuddered. “You don’t know that. It’s possible he can change.” But it didn’t sound as if he was convinced of that. “I have tried to help her and have stitched her up a couple of times. He doesn’t mean to lose his temper. But yes, he does hit her, and I have helped him to hide that fact.”
Gemma wanted to throw up. “What if she has a child and doesn’t get free? Are you going to patch that kid up and hide that abuse, too?”
“Of course not,” Jack gasped.
Gemma shook her head. “You know, I think you would. You’re lost. Why did you let him hit me?”
“I couldn’t stop him. I’m so sorry.” Jack’s gaze lifted to the computer screen, his eyes stark. “Is that what you wanted to hear, Gemma? It’s true. Does that satisfy you?”
“Almost,” she said, the blood rushing through her head so quickly she could hear it. Jack didn’t deserve to be a doctor. He was a cowardly man, aged before his time, living all alone without any real hope of saving his brother. It was pathetic. “Why didn’t you get free of him? Find a life and make your own family?”
“I couldn’t,” Jack said. “He’s all I’ve got. It’s my fault I left him alone with thoseawful people.”
A lot of people had crappy childhoods, but they didn’t end up being monsters. “You’ve atoned for that,” she said wearily, losing her anger. “But you’ve made mistakes since. How many women have you patched up to protect your brother? Is there something in this that you get off on? Do you like fixing what he breaks?”
Jack shook his head.
They were both silent for a coupleof heartbeats.
Finally he spoke. “Ihave a niece?”
Gemma looked at one of the people who could’ve helped her and hadn’t. “You’ll never meet her, Jack.” She endedthe video call.
* * * *
Jethro sat next to Gemma with Scott on her other side so that the two men flanked her in front of the ostentatious conference table. It was after eight at night, but it was good they were getting this over with quickly.
He stared at the table. The thing was inlaid mahogany and probably cost more than a small country, and the artwork on the golden-hued walls was abstract and expensive. The plush leather seats were nice, though. The opposing attorney had said they could meet at his office this evening.
So here they sat in the enemy’s camp. Jethro didn’t like the other bloke having an advantage. Of course he could just snap the necks of anybody who bothered him, sothere was that.
Scott looked over Gemma’s head at him. “Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. Let me be the lawyer here.”
“Feel free,” Jethro said, reaching for Gemma’s hand beneath the table.
She clutched him, and he almost made the offer to break Monty’s fingers one by one.
The door opened and Monty Cameron walked in beside his lawyer, a skinny man named Fred Counters. Monty’s gaze instantly sought Gemma, and a flare of anger shone bright until he banked it. Even so, his cheeks turned crimson and his nostrils widened as he pulled outa chair to sit.
His lawyerfollowed suit.
Monty looked at Scott and then at Jethro. “I’d like to speak with Gemma alone.”
“No,” Jethro said.
Scott sighed.
The other attorney looked at Scott. “My client would like to have a private conversation. I can guarantee that hewill be civil.”
“You can’t guarantee that fact,” Scott said, a thread of pure steel in his tone. “Your client is a batterer who forced my client to go on the run to protect herself and her child. I am more than happy to litigate this, and frankly, I look forward to it.” He shuffled a couple of papers. “We have two women prepared to go on record about abuse from your client.”
