After Brooks left for his meeting, I couldn’t help but wrap myself in a fluffy white robe that I found in the closet and lounge on the couch. I felt strangely good and safe, my head still buzzing from earlier, and I let out a long sigh.

I’d never experienced wealth like this before. I knew that people like the Barones lived in places like this, but it still felt completely unreal. I leafed through a packet that I found on the coffee table and realized that there were menus and lists of places I could go, like a sauna or even a small doctor’s office.

This damn place came with room service. I couldn’t help but laugh. I came from a neighborhood where the closest grocery store was actually a little bodega that barely carried any food. Here, though, I could have them deliver a full breakfast to my door with only a phone call.

I wished I had come here sooner. But then again, I likely wouldn’t have been allowed in here if it wasn’t for all the insane stuff that had happened.

Really, if it weren’t for Brooks and Louisa. They were the only ones who seemed to care at all about what happened to me, as far as I could tell. With Brooks away at this meeting, I was really and truly alone for the first time in a while.

I didn’t know what I wanted from all of this. I didn’t know where this was going or what our options even were. Louisa just kept saying that she was going to help us, but I didn’t know what that really meant. I didn’t know if she was going to somehow get the mafia to stop thinking about me and hunting me or if she was going to get me out of the city.

And I didn’t know what that meant for Brooks. If I was safely smuggled out of the city, that meant he’d be able to get back to work. He could go back to his old life without a problem and he wouldn’t have to worry about my safety. Louisa could look after that, or really I could look after myself.

Everything felt simultaneously fixed and still completely up in the air. It was bizarre the way all of this was shaking out.

Just as I got up the nerve to call room service and get something to eat, there was a knock at the door. I got up, half expecting to find a cart of food already waiting for me, as if the Barones were so rich they could somehow read my mind.

Instead, as soon as I opened the door, Louisa stepped into the room and shut it behind her.

“Louisa,” I said. “Hi. I didn’t expect you.”

“Let’s talk,” she said. I watched as she walked over to the table and sat down, crossing her legs neatly and smiling at me.

I followed her, fascinated by her every move. She was such a strange person, so abrupt and forward. She seemed like she didn’t mess around and didn’t have time to pretend she was something she wasn’t.

I sat down across from her, feeling somehow inadequate. Louisa was smaller than me, but she seemed to loom so large whenever she was around.

“What do you think of me?” she asked.

I blinked, surprised by the strange question. “I don’t know,” I admitted. “You’re hard to get a read on.”

“Do you trust me?”

“You haven’t given me a reason not to so far.”

“Good.” She looked around the room. “Do you know how we bought all of this?”

I shrugged. “I assumed with all your money. Your family has been in business forever.”

“True,” she said, “but it’s more than that. My father was one of the most ruthless businessmen in the whole city for a very long time, and although he’s gotten much older, he’s still as shrewd as he once was. All of this is only possible because of that intense and unwavering dedication to the family.”

I nodded. “That makes sense, but I don’t know why you’re telling me this.”

“That’s the sort of man I come from,” Louisa said, looking at me. “That’s what I’ve inherited. But I disagree with my father in a lot of ways.”

“Human trafficking,” I said softly.

“Exactly.” She paused for a second, studying her nails. “All of this is built on the backs of the dead. This table, these rugs, this air, it’s all because my father was more violent than his contemporaries.”

“You don’t seem against violence,” I said, narrowing my eyes.

“I’m not,” she admitted frankly. “Violence is a means to an end, and for my father, that used to be true. But things have begun to change in the mob.”

“Is that something you’re trying to change?”

“Somewhat,” she said, “but not exactly. I wasn’t lying to you when I said that I want to give power to the powerless.”

“What do you really mean by that?” I asked, surprised at myself for being so forward.

“I wanted to join my father’s business. Years ago, I refused to go to college, refused to become the good girl civilian that my father wanted me to become. I wanted to join the business, because I knew I’d be good at it. When he refused, I locked myself in my room.

“But that was foolish and childish, and I soon realized that. Instead of lounging around and crying about my problems, I began to learn how to use computers. The internet was my window into the world, and I gained some serious skills. I spent all day and all night learning my craft, and eventually I entered into some intense and important underground hacker groups.

“That was the start of the Spiders, though we weren’t the Spiders back then. Really, we never chose a name; Spiders was given to us. At any rate, what began as a small gang of activist hackers slowly grew into my current organization of dedicated fighters.”

“Are you all women?” I asked.

“No,” she said, “but we are mostly women.”

“How did you put all of this together without leaving the compound?”

She smiled ruefully. “I didn’t. Well, at first I did, but soon it grew too fast and got too large, and I found myself sneaking out more and more.”

This woman was amazing. She said all of these things with a straight face, almost as if nothing was special about what she was saying, but it was actually incredible. Louisa couldn’t have been much older than me, and she was probably actually my age, though it was hard to tell with her. But she had accomplished so much in such a short time.

She was dangerous though, and I could tell there was something she wasn’t saying. I felt comfortable around her, but I knew that might be a dangerous mistake to make.

“Why are you telling me all of this?” I blurted out, unable to stop myself. “I’m nothing, not important. Why are you helping me?”

“You’re not nothing, Emma,” she said, her face intense and serious. “You’re a survivor. After all this, you think you’re nothing?”

I shook my head. “I’ve gotten lucky. Brooks helped me.”

“Yes and yes, all true. But most women in your position would have quit or crawled into a little hole somewhere to die. But not you. Kasia told me what you did back at the safe house.”

“Kasia survived?”

Louisa nodded. “And so did many of the other fighters. But the girls, they survived because you took control of them, you talked to them, you made them understand. That’s an incredibly valuable asset, Emma.”

“I just did what anyone would do.”

“Listen to me. I want you to join my organization. I want you to become a part of us.”

I gaped at her. There it was, the real reason for me being here. I knew there was something she’d been holding back from saying, knew there had to be more to this trip to the compound.

But I would never have guessed this.

“What about Brooks?” I asked her stupidly.

“He’s none of your concern anymore,” Louisa said. “I know you’re fond of each other, but as we speak, Brooks is being offered a serious promotion within the mafia, one I doubt he will turn down.”

I frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. I thought he was in trouble with them.”

Louisa laughed. “He was, or at least he was with Dante. But his real boss, Gian, doesn’t give a shit about any of that stuff. Gian only cares about results, and Brooks gets results, as you’ve seen. Brooks is being offered to run his own territory, and that will make him a very rich and very important person within the mafia.”

I found that hard to believe. Brooks didn’t seem like the type of person who wanted power, or really cared about promotions.

“So what?” I asked her.

“Brooks won’t need you anymore,” she said pointedly. “Come join me. I can give your life meaning. You’ll help people, Emma. You’ll save more women like the girls you helped last night. We can do great things together.”

I shook my head, totally overwhelmed. “I don’t know,” I said.

Louisa stood. “Think about it. Let me know. But please, Emma, be careful around Brooks. He might not be the man you think he is.”

I couldn’t say a word as Louisa turned and left the room. The door shutting behind her felt like a concussion grenade going off in my brain.

I was spinning out of control. Louisa wanted me to join the Spiders, thought that I could be an asset to her. She wanted me to do important work, the sort of thing I never imagined for myself. I always thought I’d end up working in some diner for the rest of my life, maybe get married, maybe pump out a bunch of kids.

But suddenly I was given the opportunity to join a group of women dedicated to giving power to the powerless.

The only thing holding me back was her warning about Brooks. It felt wrong, and I could feel myself rebelling against it. So far, though, Louisa hadn’t lied to me. If Brooks really was being given this promotion, maybe I did need to worry. Would he actually betray me in the end in order to further himself?

That seemed so unlikely, but Louisa’s words kept coming back to me. Maybe Brooks really wasn’t the man I thought he was. Maybe Brooks really was more dangerous than I thought.

I had a lot to think about, and I felt like I was totally trapped. I returned to the couch, not hungry anymore. The novelty of ordering food had completely worn off.

This whole place was built on blood and death, and Brooks might want to move further into that world. I knew he was a killer, but I didn’t think he was evil.

Maybe I was wrong about him, and maybe Louisa was right.