GIA SAT ON HER BED while Smoke stood by her door. As soon as they left Simone in Carter’s room, they walked hand in hand toward her bedroom. The quiet walk had settled her nerves and strengthened her resolve to tell Smoke about her sordid past—a past her brother still blames himself for not saving her from. She rehearsed her story—knew it by heart but wanted to make sure she didn’t leave anything out by chance. It wasn’t that she had forgotten what she’d been through—she couldn’t. Those scars she’d been left with never healed right. The ones that were seen and unseen were always there, an unspoken judgment that she let herself fall for a pretty face and even prettier lies.

“I’m sorry, Gia. I just need you so much. I get so angry when they look at you like they don’t know you’re mine.” He knelt down beside her bruised body. Her lip was blooded, and her neck was bruised. She had no idea how she would hide this from Otto. She was running out of makeup, and the weather was getting warmer. She was also running out of excuses to decline being around her brother and little sister. They’d get suspicious soon enough, and the last thing Gia needed was for them to show up unexpected.

How would she hide the truth then?

She felt rough hands in her hair, and she winced when her head was being pulled up at an odd angle. “I can’t live without you, Gia, and I won’t. You’ll die before you get the chance to leave me.”

Gia jumped when she felt Smoke’s hand on her leg. She hadn’t heard him move, but his massive body was squatting down in front of her. She watched his hand reach for her face, his knuckle wiping away fresh tears she thought she was done crying. “You don’t have to tell me, sunshine. I want all parts of you, but I’d chop my own hand off before I became the reason for these tears.”

Smoke’s voice was rough, and she smiled weakly at him. He was such a contrast to the men she’d been with—the monster she thought she’d been in love with. Smoke was overpowering, menacing when he wanted to be. He took up all the space and air in any room he walked into. Even when he was doing nothing more than standing behind Sofia or leaning up against a wall when the Council had their meetings, his presence was meant to be felt.

Gia had always been aware of Smoke from the moment she met him. Her body had instantly relaxed around him as if it was finally coming home to a safe space. She hadn’t trusted it in the beginning because of her inability to see the monster her ex had been, but that first night she fell asleep curled around him was the first time in a long time she had a restful night’s sleep. It was the first time she realized, even behind his crazy antics, he wouldn’t hurt her.

“You know, I watched my stepfather kill my mother.” Smoke’s admission stunned her. He rarely talked about his past. Whatever she had known about him had come from his time with the Unhinged Brothers.

Smoke moved to sit next to her on the bed, and she interlaced their fingers together because she needed something to ground her through his confession and give her strength to utter her own. “He used to beat on us. He cracked my ribs twice, broke my mother’s ribs and nose so many times I think the cops stopped coming around when I called because they knew my mother would just go back to him.”

She felt Smoke’s grip on her tighten just as his body seemed to close whatever space was between them. “The night my mother was killed, they took over an hour to get to us. Small town, and I guess they didn’t feel like wasting their time again.” He let out a chuckle, but it lacked any real humor. “I was sixteen when it happened, and when the cops questioned me, I told them I wasn’t home and didn’t see anything. For all I knew, she fell down the stairs and snapped her neck.”

Smoke’s voice held no emotion. It felt like a stranger was recounting the story instead of someone who was personally connected to all parties, and Gia understood that. She hadn’t talked to many people about what went on with her and her ex, especially not about how she escaped the abuse. The one time she ventured out to a therapist she thought for sure she’d break down retelling the horror that she lived through, but she didn’t. In her mind, it had happened to someone else—she had disassociated with the events that led up to her pulling that trigger.

If she believed it happened to someone else, the weight of the guilt she carried was easier to manage. It sucked she couldn’t keep her mind from remembering that it was her story and her experience because as soon as she was left alone those first couple of months, those screams that followed her had been suffocating.

Smoke turned to face her. His other hand came to rest on the inside of Gia’s thigh. “You know most people ask why she stayed in an abusive relationship, but that’s not the question on your mind, is it?”

Gia shook her head. She knew why women stayed in abusive relationships. It was never as simple as putting one foot in front of the other and walking out the door. Most abusers isolated their victims, made them feel alone and dependent on them. Gia could have walked away early on in her relationship, but she ignored all the red flags that didn’t seem so bright at the start. The longer she stayed with him, the more fear grew inside of her that he would kill her or Otto would kill him and land himself in jail, and Gia didn’t like either of those options.

“People always assume leaving an abusive relationship is as simple as walking out the front door,” Gia whispered, her own experience coloring her words. “Given your mother had you to worry about, I’d say she didn’t have the means or the resources to run without putting you in more danger.” Gia knew escaping alone wasn’t easy, having a child—whether the woman shared it with the abuser or not—was twice as hard.

“I am more curious about why you didn’t tell the cops about your stepfather, though. Did you think they weren’t going to do anything?” Gia glanced up at him, wondering if his life had always been a series of unfortunate events or if he was like her, who knew what peace, happiness, and love were earlier on, only to have it ripped away later.

“I knew there would be a case, but I had zero faith in the system. Even at a young age, I knew my stepfather would either do as little time as possible or completely walk away. So, I lied, knowing my stepfather wouldn’t be around long enough to see another sunset.” Smoke’s confession made Gia tense.

She knew Smoke had killed—heard of the Unhinged Brother’s reputation as soon as she and her brother started managing Tres Bellas. She’d seen Smoke bury a body with a knowledge that only came from someone doing this a long time, but she had always assumed his first kill hadn’t been until he’d gotten with the Unhinged Brothers.

“You were so young.” Gia swallowed past the emotion that seemed to be stuck in her throat. Natalya was only twenty, she couldn’t imagine her baby sister doing something like that and carrying it with her for the rest of her life.

Smoke shrugged like none of this was a big deal. “The second my mom married my stepfather, the trajectory of my life had already changed. It was only a matter of time before I ended up exactly where I am now. That’s why it kills me that you’re surrounded by all this violence.”

You don’t know the half of it.

Gia wasn’t some princess who lived in a porcelain castle. She hated that Otto made it seem like she was, but she understood his worry. He didn’t want her repeating the mistakes she made—didn’t want any more blood to stain her hands. She never got to ask Otto why he voted for her and the other women to be in the mix of things when he had desperately tried to separate her from it. He interfered with every relationship she tried to have after her ex and made sure she stayed out of Bruno’s line of sight. If Otto had it his way, he would have shipped her off with Natalya to some fancy college and away from New York.

“You shouldn’t carry the weight I carry, sunshine. I’ve seen you knock down so many of Boris’ men, and I wonder what your journey will be like when the dust settles and you make your way back from all of this.” She felt the press of his lips against her forehead, and she closed her eyes, soaking him up.

Smoke worried about her soul—about her conscious. He had no idea that she’d been floating around in a darkness she became accustomed to a long time ago. Even if this war didn’t happen with the Council and Boris, she wasn’t sure if she would find her way to the surface or get dragged further into the darkness. The men she killed, she didn’t think about them the way she did her ex and his best friend. She’d been able to compartmentalize what was happening now better than she’d been able to in the past, and a part of that had to do with where her emotions were.

She didn’t know the men she killed. For her she’d been able to rationalize their deaths away. Her ex and his friend? Not so much. Her heart was intertwined with her ex’s. She couldn’t get the stupid thing to stop beating for the man, even after he held her down and let his friend have his way with her. It had destroyed her when she’d been assaulted, but instead of her getting angry, she clung harder to him instead.

Smoke and Gia sat in silence—the minutes ticking by, allowing Gia time to find her voice again. Smoke maneuvered them to lay on her bed, and his arms easily wrapped around hers. She found herself curling into his body, like she’d done so many nights before. It always felt like the most natural thing in the world to have him in her bed. It didn’t matter now that they were in Ethan’s compound; this felt right.

Gia could feel her heart rate slow as her body began to relax into his. She waited, giving her mind time to relax as well, knowing in the stillness she’d find her tongue and speak about events she’d hadn’t spoken about in years.

“I know you said you wanted to tell me, but I’m okay with waiting. I gave you part of my past to ease your mind, but I did give you some heavy shit to shift through.” Smoke’s fingertips made circles against her shoulder. The movement acted like a lullaby, but instead of lulling her to sleep, it pulled her secrets out of her.

“I’ve killed before, Smoke.” Gia kept her voice low, fearing if she said anything out loud, it would break the fragile glass she had surrounding her mind. “Boris’ men, these raids, aren’t the first time I’ve held a gun or shot to kill.”

Jade’s feet led her to Carter’s room. She knew her sister was behind these doors, but she hesitated to go in. She left Wolf with Cree, the two catching up on everything he missed being locked up and what Cree’s role would be for the meeting tomorrow. Ethan hadn’t decided yet if she or Simone would need to attend the meeting in person. The chances that Simone would be the one going to Bocca Felice were slim. She needed to man the electronics with Seven and Babyface. They wouldn’t risk one of their best techs out on the battlefield, especially if something went wrong with the earpieces.

That left Jade to go in with Ivy and Gia, but Ethan had changed his mind as quickly as he put the idea out there. He was looking to rattle Bruno and Boris, enough that they sent men after the women. Jade had been a hired gun, no real connection to Boris other than money spent that he couldn’t get back. Ethan didn’t think she’d be enough to get Boris to make a mistake.

She was equal parts grateful to sit this one out and also hated the idea that she wasn’t pulling her weight. She hated being idle. Every con she ever ran, it was always her and Simone against the world. They had to stay ten steps ahead of whoever they were taking from, and it kept Jade constantly moving. Now if she wasn’t sparring in the training center, she was holed up in the compound keeping Wolf company. Jade wasn’t complaining about spending time with her Wolf, but she wanted to do more. The only thing she’d been able to give the Council was the list of Boris’ properties and payments from his special deliveries, and even then that was short-lived because of some firewall Simone couldn’t break through.

“How did I know you’d be up here, bandit?” Wolf’s deep voice made her swallow a yelp. She turned around, knocking her elbow into the wall, and she winced.

Wolf reached for her, faster than he usually moved, and ran his thumb across her elbow. His touch was soft, but his gaze turned molten, melting her from the inside out.

“I usually feel you coming. You’re getting sneaky.” She pressed up on her toes and gave him a quick kiss. “What are you doing up here? I thought you and Cree had more to go over?”

Wolf smirked, sending Jade’s pulse into a tailspin. He seemed more playful—back to the man she met not that long ago. “Cree being home helps, doesn’t it?” she whispered, figuring that had caused the shift in Wolf’s mood. He’d been withdrawn since he woke up because Carter and Dom weren’t awake. It had gotten worse the longer it took to get Cree out, but now that he was under the same roof as the rest of the Council, the tension in Wolf’s body seemed to ease, if only for a little bit.

“A lot actually.” Wolf looked past her toward Carter’s door. “I’ve been around a long time, Bandit. I know when to hold on to good news, no matter how small.” He leaned and kissed the side of her head. “Go be with your sister. I know you need to feel like you’re doing something. She needs you. I’ll go visit Dom.”

Jade watched Wolf walk away before she turned and grabbed the door handle. She slowly turned it, holding her breath as she walked into Carter’s room. Jade wasn’t one for hospitals—she hated them. The clean distinct smell always reminded her of death, and though Carter wasn’t holed up in some fluorescent lighting, windowless room, the atmosphere wasn’t all that different.

The sounds of machines beeping seemed unnecessarily loud in the otherwise quiet room. Jade took in Carter’s form, noticing how pale he looked since the last time she had to come up here. He looked battered and bruised, a complete contrast to the man who had looked at her with anger in his eyes because he thought she was her sister.

Jade remembered the utter shock on Carter’s face when he thought she was Simone and how that shock turned into something tender when they were getting ready to face Sofia. That initial run in with Carter felt like several lifetimes ago. Jade felt significantly older than she had been when she first took on the job for Boris, but in the same breath, she felt stagnant. Life had continued on for almost everyone in the compound, except Dom and Carter.

And Simone.

Jade glanced at her sister curled up into a chair that looked as comfortable as sleeping on a thin cardboard box in the middle of winter. She looked too big for the chair—half her body was draped over it at such an odd angle, Jade wondered how Simone wasn’t in any pain.

“I was wondering when you were going to come sniff me out.” Simone’s tone was harsh, but Jade shrugged it off as she closed the door and stepped farther into the room.

“Well, at least I know why you’re being a raging bitch. You can’t be comfortable in that chair, Simone. I’m sure Ethan can bring something up that’s a little more conducive to you sleeping up here. And don’t tell me you’re not sleeping here, I check on you every night before I knock out, and you’re never in your room.” Jade swung her arms aimlessly, unsure of where to sit or stand. There seemed to be only one chair in the room, which was currently occupied, and she felt weird standing at the foot of Carter’s bed.

“Why are you up here, Jade?” Simone dropped her feet on the floor, spinning in the chair to face Jade. “Do they need me for something?”

Jade saw the bags under Simone’s eyes and cursed. Simone was going to push herself to a level of exhaustion that made her collapse or something worse. Jade knew Simone was sitting day in and day out at the computer screens, trying to crack a code that seemed uncrackable. When her frustrations had gotten the better of her, she exhausted her body in the training center, and when that didn’t knock her on her ass, Simone would sit next to Carter and watch over him—still avoiding sleep. It felt like Simone needed to be on all the time.

If Jade couldn’t sit idly on her hands, neither could Simone. The sisters were cursed with a need to always be doing something—a habit they picked up living on the streets. If they stayed in one place too long, it was easier for people to find them, and they had crossed too many people to wait for them to come find them.

“They don’t need you for anything. Maybe you should sleep?” Jade voiced it as a question instead of a suggestion. She didn’t outright want to tell her sister what to do, knowing Simone would do the opposite.

“Maybe I should sleep?” Simone chuckled, but it lacked any humor. It added a thick layer of tension to any already rocky atmosphere, and Jade hated it. She knew Simone was hurting but didn’t know how to offer a solution for her.

“Don’t you stay awake watching your Wolf sleep? Don’t you keep your ear to his chest to make sure you can still hear his heart beating?” Simone looked back at Carter and gently reached for his hand. “Every single time I close my eyes, all I see is this idiot pushing me toward your Wolf while he had to go play superhero.”

Simone’s shoulders fell and she dropped her head. Jade was next to her in a flash, wrapping her arms around her sister’s shoulder. “It should have been me in this bed—he wouldn’t have stayed behind if it wasn’t for me, Jade. He should have walked out with the rest of them.” Simone let out a sob, and Jade squeezed her harder.

Simone wasn’t one to show emotion—not the way Jade did. Jade still had a little hope left in her that there were better days coming, and when she found Wolf, the little romantic she was thought her happy ending was coming. Simone was hasher; she surrounded herself with hard edges that kept people out. Jade wasn’t sure she’d ever see her sister trust anyone long enough to fall for them, and the one person who had got Simone ended up in a hospital bed trying to protect her.

“You know this isn’t your fault,” Jade whispered the words, knowing Simone wouldn’t actually hear them to believe them. “I know you need to feel like you’re doing something and getting results, but this isn’t one of our cons. We can’t bait and switch our way out of anything here.”

Jade tugged Simone toward her. Simone’s eyes, which mirrored her own, were bloodshot red, but Jade didn’t think that was from any tears she shed for Carter. Simone was crashing, her walls were crumbling, and if they didn’t get a break soon or Carter didn’t improve, Jade wasn’t sure how much more Simone could take. Simone was strong, but these were different circumstances; it wasn’t just the two of them against whatever threat was out there. There were more people involved now, more emotions and connections, and a better chance of losing someone or everything.

“You gotta rest, Simone,” Jade pleaded. She couldn’t keep the emotion out of her voice. “The stakes are higher. This wasn’t our war, but we had the means to help them end it, and we can’t do that if you don’t rest. Your mind is the sharpest in this compound, but it’s being torn in three different directions.” Jade needed her sister to slow down, even though she understood the need to keep moving.

Slowing down gave the mind time to play out all the fun what-if scenarios and let the dark thoughts take over to the point there was no light at the end of the tunnel. It was why Jade had sought out Simone. She needed something to do to keep her mind at ease.

“If I rest, I’ll miss something. I want to be here when Carter wakes up, and I need to crack that stupid firewall. I—”

“You would have cracked it already if you weren’t running on empty.” Jade cut her sister off and had to suppress a smile when Simone narrowed her eyes. “If you think the boys can handle it….” Jade shrugged.

It was a low blow to use Simone’s ego against her, but when Jade saw the fire spark back in Simone’s eyes, Jade knew she had won. If Simone was one thing, it was competitive and because they were the new kids on the block with the Council, Jade knew under less strenuous circumstances, Simone would have been on her A-game, flexing her tech-savvy prowess.

“Very sneaky, Jade. It worked, but it was still sneaky.” Simone’s gaze flicked back toward Carter. “I still don’t want to leave him, though. I’ll rest,” Simone continued right when Jade was going to protest. “Do you really think Ethan can have a bed brought up? I’d feel more comfortable sleeping up here than alone in my room.”

Jade nodded and shot to her feet. The feeling that she was finally useful gave her a renewed sense of energy, and it helped that her twin was looking less rundown. “I’ll go check, and hopefully by this time tomorrow, you will be a hero and Boris will be long gone.”