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I knew we needed to give Hunter’s lawyer an answer. Anthony and I had already talked to Sean and Bash about what we felt was right, and that was to settle, but we all thought it would be better to talk to Gage together, as a group.
Which was the main reason for the meeting.
“What about it?” Gage growled.
I knew it was on me to answer his question. I was the only one who could get through to Gage when he was angry. I stared at my friend. “Gage, Anthony, I, and the others all think we should settle—”
“Settle? The fuck we will,” Gage said. “We’re not going to let that bastard win.”
“It’s not about letting him win,” I told him. “It’s not a competition. If we take this to court, our reputation could be at stake.”
“And if we settle, if we say that I’m guilty, you don’t think that will hurt our reputation too?”
“You didn’t talk to me about any of this,” Jason piped in. “So don’t act like we’re all in agreement here.”
“Right, I’m sorry,” I said. “I wasn’t able to meet with you—”
“I guess you weren’t able to meet with me, either” Doc said as he held his phone up to his ear, likely trying Snow again.
“No, but we’re talking now.”
Gage scoffed. “There’s nothing to talk about. I’m not going to settle and admit to something I didn’t do.”
“I don’t blame him,” Jason said with a shrug.
Anthony joined in. “It’s not admitting guilt, settling doesn’t mean that you did it. It just means we don’t have to deal with the courts or convince a judge that you’re innocent. We believe you, Gage, but the judge doesn’t know you and with your record—”
“My record shows I was defending my sister. This is different.”
“Not to a judge. He or she will look at it as you beat the shit out of one guy who made you mad, who’s to say you wouldn’t do it again?” Anthony said. I cringed as the words came out, I knew they were going to backfire badly.
Gage slammed his fists down and scowled at Anthony. “I didn’t beat the shit out of him because he made me mad. I was protecting Claire and you damn well know that—”
“I do know that, but the judge doesn’t,” Anthony said.
“Sounds like you don’t believe me,” Gage replied.
“I do believe you, but I’m trying to explain—”
I motioned for Anthony to shut his mouth. For once, he was doing more harm than good. We had agreed I would handle things to avoid the very situation we were in.
Jason piped up again, “You do know that any sentence is automatically negated when you add a ‘but’, right?”
“Exactly!” Gage agreed with Jason.
“Whose side are you on?” Anthony spat at Jason.
“No one’s. What I am saying is I see Gage’s point. I thought we were supposed to stick together.”
Doc cursed, but it had nothing to do with the conversation at hand. He was still trying to get through to Snow as chaos erupted around him. He didn’t even seem phased by it—he was so focused on trying to call her.
“Stop it!” I called out, slamming my fist down on the table for emphasis. I rarely raised my voice, and from the looks on their faces, it surprised them. It also stopped the fighting.
“We need to talk about this like adults, not fight like a bunch of animals,” I said.
“Easy for you to say when your reputation isn’t on the line,” Gage growled.
“Maybe you don’t realize it, but all of our reputations are on the line. We could lose everything we’ve worked for. Everything you’ve worked for,” I said, staring directly at Gage.
