I skimmed my hand up and down her arm. “Seems a contradiction, but they’re truly the best guys you’ll ever meet. They’d give it all for anyone in trouble.”
Everything about me hardened, needing her to understand. “And I mean that literally, Daisy.”
Confusion fluttered through her features. “What are you saying?”
I inhaled a steadying breath before I fisted my left hand, drawing attention to it. “I know you’ve noticed this tattoo. Same one as the rest of my crew have.”
Her nod was timid. “I have.”
“It’s more than just a symbol of our brotherhood. It stands for Sovereign Sanctum.”
She blinked, having no clue what it meant.
A ball of razors rolled my throat.
I’d sworn to never share these details with anyone. Had fought it for my brothers, thinking they were only inviting grief into their lives with the treachery. We were supposed to go it alone.
But I recognized now we couldn’t.
There had always been someone meant for each of us. Someone carved from our spirits.
“When we realized we couldn’t go on the way we’d been with the MC, we knew it was time for a change. That we were destined for something different. It started with River. He came upon this woman one night, her husband threatening her with a knife. He took care of the guy…”
I phrased it carefully, not sure how much Daisy could handle in one night. She could ask for greater details later. I just needed her to see. Needed her to see the real me.
She winced, though she gave a slight nod, encouraging me to continue.
“The woman was afraid,” I told her. “Scared of what would happen when the police came in and found the guy on her floor. So River brought her to us. Said he was going to help her. Get her set up with a new life.”
Surprise flashed through Daisy’s expression, though there was an undercut of awareness. Like she might have a hunch exactly where I was going with this.
I kept running my hand up and down her arm. Trying to soothe her. To let her know, no matter what, she was safe with me.
“We all agreed to help, and Sovereign Sanctum was born that day.”
She shook her head a fraction.
“It’s what we do, Daisy. What we really do. We get women and children out of dire situations. Steal them away from their abusers, bring them to The Sanctuary to recover. Then we place them into homes with new identities.”
Uncertainty twisted across her brow. “You work for like…a secret shelter?”
“You could say that, except the shelter is us. We do everything and anything it takes to get those families to safety. We were already thieves. Liars. Killers. We figured, why don’t we take what we do best and make something good out of it?”
That confusion was there again. “You mean, youkillthehusbands or boyfriends? Their abusers?”She mouthed thekill, glancing around like she thought there might be a wiretap somewhere in the room.
“Only if we have to. As a last resort. But it happens a whole lot more than I’d like to admit. These are monsters who think they get to treat the ones they are supposed to love the most with duplicity, and they don’t often take kindly to us coming in and stealing them away.”
“Is what you do…” She ducked her head before she looked back at me and whispered, “Illegal?”
My nod was slow. “Very.”
She stayed silent for a few moments, chewing at the inside of that cheek. Worry filled her delicate features. “And you think one of them is who was after you last night?”
“Possibly. But I’ve been known to get called in on other jobs. Jobs where someone is in danger, but it might not have a thing to do with Sanctum. If someone needs help, I step up to do the dirty work.”
“You’ve always been willing to give everything.”
Air seeped out of my lungs, and my heart jackhammered in my chest. “No, Daisy, because I thrive on the violence. I need it.”
