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“How do you know Greg Sanders?”
The name immediately caused my body to stiffen. The heart monitor began to increase rapidly, keeping pace with the frantic, anxious organ in my chest.
Greg Sanders. A name that sounded normal, like it could belong to the average guy living across the street—someone who had a family and obeyed the law. An illusion created to ensure his sick pleasures and profitable business continued without suspicion.
“I met him when I was six years old.” My eyes slid shut as I winced, shuddering as I remembered how easily he infiltrated my home and began to groom me. “My mother dated him, but he never wanted her.”
Grim sneered with disgust. “I know who he wanted.”
Everyone in this room understood what that meant.
“How did you escape?” Macon asked.
“After six years, I got older, and his interest faded,” I replied bitterly. “He made the mistake of leaving the basement unlocked. I snuck out in the middle of the night while he slept.”
“He found someone new,” Wraith guessed.
“Yes.”
“But he tracked you down last night, didn’t he?” Macon shook his head. “That sick fuck.”
“He never stopped hunting me. I was a loose end, and he couldn’t allow that.”
Grim clenched his hands, cracking his neck, agitated. “Xenon said you lived in Georgia. He found your mother’s autopsy report and your birth certificate.”
“Xenon?”
“Our tech expert. He’s a brother and good at finding shit people keep hidden.”
“Yeah, I did. I was born there, but we didn’t stay. My mom overdosed on drugs, but I think Greg killed her. I saw him set the needle down when I walked in the door after school. She never woke up.”
How tragic that both my mother and Heather’s died the same way, in misery, trying to escape a life they hated. Even if Greg forced that fatal dose into my mother’s arm, she would have done it herself eventually.
Macon hung his head. “Fuck.”
“Xenon said there’s no paper trail. You just disappeared. Children’s services tried to investigate, but Greg changed your name and moved you out of state.”
“He did. I hitchhiked, walked, and moved from town to town, hoping to leave him and my past behind. I still don’t know how I ended up in Tonopah, Nevada.”
“You’ve been on the run ever since,” Wraith whispered. “Fuck.”
“I’ve done shit I’m not proud of to survive,” I admitted, “but I’m still breathing. I won’t let him win.”
Three men stared at me with expressions I couldn’t decipher. Respect? Awe?
“The Royal Bastards are part of this now,” Grim announced. “We’ve got your back, which means there’s a few things we need to settle.”
Surprised, I swallowed, wondering what that meant. “Tell me.”
“First, in order to be under our protection, you need to prospect for the club. Wraith has volunteered to sponsor you.”
Wow. “I get to be a Royal Bastard?”
“After your probation, yes. You’ll be voted in.”
“I don’t know what to say.”
“You’ll be given a new ID, social security number, all the legal documentation, and a name change. I even had Xenon throw in a high school diploma, so you don’t have to worry about missing the last few months of school. It’ll protect you from that sick fuck and buy us some time to figure out how we keep you hidden.”
