Page 19 of Echo’s Secret

"Not quite. I told him I'd think about it and came back the next night. And the night after that. Spent two weeks watching him and the brothers. Trying to figure out if this was legit or if it was another situation I'd have to walk away from."

Hannah sets down her fork. "And?"

"And I realized they were exactly what they said they were. Good men trying to build something that mattered. Protecting people who couldn't protect themselves. Being the family they never had."

"Like us," she says softly.

"Like us. Three years ago, and I’ve been here ever since."

"And the war with the Vipers? What was that about?"

I tell her. All of it. How the Vipers used to be honorable before Demon took over. How they corrupted into trafficking and drugs and violence. How Phoenix's parents were killed. How we rescued six women from a warehouse. How they kept coming after our families.

"So, you attacked them," Hannah says. "Burned down their clubhouse."

"We ended it. They're not a threat anymore."

She looks at me for a long moment. "Do you regret it? Any of it?"

"No."

"Not even the violence?"

"Especially not the violence. They hurt people who couldn't fight back. They deserved everything they got."

Hannah nods slowly. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay. I understand now. This isn't just some gang. It's a family. And you protect family."

"Always."

"Good." She picks up her fork again. "Because Theo's family now too. Which means if anyone comes after him—"

"They'll have to go through me first," I finish. "And the eight other men who just claimed him as a nephew."

Her eyes go shiny again. She blinks rapidly and shoves more pancakes in her mouth to avoid dealing with emotions. Claire comes by to refill our coffee. I nod my thanks, and when she leaves, I lean forward slightly, elbows on the table.

"My turn," I say. "What happened after you left Sacred Heart?"

Hannah wraps both hands around her fresh coffee cup. Stares into it like she's reading tea leaves.

"I aged out at eighteen like you did. Got the same duffel bag and fifty dollars. Difference was they had a placement for me, a group home for women transitioning out of the system. Shared apartment with three other girls, all of us trying to figure out how to adult when nobody ever taught us how."

"How long did that last?"

"Six months. Then I had to find my own place. Got a studio apartment in a terrible neighborhood. I worked two jobs, waitressing during the day, cleaning offices at night. Barely made rent most months."

I watch her face. See the exhaustion that's been building for years, not just months.

"I did that for five years," she continues. "Just surviving. No friends really. The girls from the group home all moved on or moved away. I dated a few guys but nothing serious. Nobody I trusted enough to let in."

"What changed?"

"I got tired of barely surviving. Went to community college at night. Got my Associate's degree in early childhood education. I thought maybe I could work with kids. Be the kind of person I needed when I was young."

"Did you?"