Richard's POV
They put me in a chair at the head of the table.
They did not do that out of courtesy but because the head table was the most exposed seat, the one where every person in the room could see my face without turning.
I did not object.
Ten men. All watching and they were all calm.
Benjamin sat directly across from me. Emmanuel had a notepad. Christopher had his phone face-down on the table but his hands near it. Levi was the one who had called me, and he looked exactly as I had expected: unhurried, paying attention, giving nothing away.
Evelyn was not in the room.
I had noticed that the moment I walked in. I did not ask. It was not my place to ask.
Benjamin spoke first. "You drove here on your own. No lawyer. No representative."
"Yes."
"Why?"
I set the photograph on th
