The weight of responsibility on her shoulders, the grief in her eyes—they hit Alex like a kick to the gut. He squeezed his fingers around the padded arms of the chair, fighting the urge to walk over there and wrap her up in his arms. For Christ’s sake, he was only human. To see this confident, polished woman so lost and vulnerable turned him inside out. She was clearly afraid to be here, yet she’d somehow found the strength to overcome it and do what she felt necessary.

“And these greedy men.” She pushed a hand through the tangle of her hair and blew out a breath, then drew her knees up to her chest and looped her arms around them. “They have taken a lot of lifes badly, your men have done enough to risk their lives by simply coming to site. How the hell can this still be happening in this day and age? I’m not brave, never have been. I’m scared to death about going into battle with them, because of what happened to my father, but if he had the courage to defy the Connery fam