Page 26 of Saint’s Revenge

"How long have you been here? At the Iron Phoenix?"

"Since the night I left." She looks down at her hands. "I ran here, and Phoenix took me in without asking questions. Just told Cole to leave and never come back when he showed up the next day."

"This place seems different," I say. "From what I knew."

"It is." Ivy's voice is certain. "Phoenix built something here that's about protection, not exploitation. The women aren't property. The kids are safe. The brothers actually care about each other instead of just using each other."

"That must have been an adjustment."

"Biggest one of my life." She smiles slightly. "Still getting used to it sometimes. Still wake up expecting to find myself back in that nightmare. But every day it gets a little more real."

I take another bite of sandwich. My jaw protests but I'm too hungry to care. "What's it like? Living here?"

"Loud. Chaotic. Full of people who've all been through their own versions of hell." Ivy leans back in her chair. "But it's also... safe. The first place I've felt safe in years. Maybe ever."

"That must be nice."

"It is." She studies me for a moment. "It can be that for you too, you know. If you want it."

"I don't know what I want yet." The admission feels important. Honest. "Right now I'm just trying to process that I'm still alive and Daniel isn't."

"That's fair. You don't have to figure everything out right now." Ivy stands, starts gathering the empty water bottle. "Just know you're welcome here. Phoenix made that clear. And the rest of us, the other women, we understand what it's like. Coming from places like the Vipers. Trying to build something better."

"How many others?"

"Eight of us total now. Well, nine with you." She counts on her fingers. "Me, Nora and her daughter Grace, Eden, Rosie, Quinn, Hannah, and Lily. All of us came here running from something. All of us found family instead."

Family. I haven't had real family since before my mother died. Just Daniel and Lucas, and that fell apart five years ago.

"I'd like to meet them," I say. "When I'm... when I can move without feeling like I'm dying."

Ivy smiles. "They're looking forward to meeting you too. Fair warning though, some of them are intense. Nora will mother you to death. Rosie throws things when she's startled. Quinn can disable a man twice her size, and Hannah doesn't trust easily."

I can't help but smile despite the pain it causes my jaw. "Sounds like an interesting group."

"That's one word for it." Ivy heads for the door, pauses with her hand on the frame. "Get some rest. Let Lucas take care of you. He's been barely holding it together since he brought you in."

She glances at him sleeping on the couch, and something soft crosses her face.

"He loves you, you know," she says. "Maybe doesn't know how to say it yet. But it's written all over him every time he looks at you."

Before I can respond, she's gone, closing the door softly behind her. I look at Lucas. At the uncomfortable position he's folded into just to stay close to me. At the blood still on his clothes and the exhaustion etched into every line of his face.

*He loves you.*

I've known Lucas since we were kids. Knew him better than anyone except Daniel. And I knew, somewhere deep down, that what we had was more than friendship. But we never said it. Never acted on it. Too scared of ruining what we had. Too convinced nothing good could last in our lives anyway.

Then he left. Five years of silence. Five years of wondering if he ever thought about me. If he regretted leaving. If he blamed me for not being strong enough to walk away from Daniel when he did.

And now he's here. Came back when I called. Killed his brother to protect me. Promised never to leave again.

Maybe Ivy's right. Maybe he does love me.

Maybe I love him too.

I reach over, ignoring the protest from my ribs, and brush my fingers against his hand where it's dangling off the couch.

He stirs immediately. His eyes open slowly, blinking against the light. He registers where he is, then his gaze finds me immediately.