I stood at the window looking out over the city. I could see all the way across our neighborhood and into downtown Chicago. I watched the cars bustling down the road, the people moving between the buildings, and the life and the beauty.

My mind wandered over the past week. We’d been busy as hell trying to get a bunch of new girls off heroin, which was never fun. I also had classes to deal with, which meant I was basically pulling double duty all day and night. Nursing classes weren’t easy, especially when you were basically already a practicing nurse all day long. At least I’d gotten better at speaking Russian, so I could communicate with a lot of these girls.

The Spiders were real, and they were doing good work. I saw much less of Louisa Barone, but I’d formed a real friendship with Kasia over the last year. The Spiders were putting me through nursing school in order to make me better at my job, which was essentially to try to help the girls acclimate to a world without sex slavery.

It was a hard job. These girls were beaten, broken, and hooked on drugs. They’d never experienced real kindness at all in their lives, and it took them a while to finally accept that we were trying to help. But I was patient and I was kind, and eventually they all figured it out.

We were the good guys. We were giving power to the powerless.

I heard the key turn in the lock and the door push open. I glanced at my watch and saw that it was past midnight as Brooks came into the room.

“Honey, I’m home,” he said.

I turned, smiling at him. “How was work?” I asked.

“The target is very, very dead,” he answered, coming over to me. “How are you?”

He pulled me against him and kissed me deeply. It felt like it did the very first time he’d touched me, all fireworks and electric tingles along my spine.

“Today was good,” I said, “though I felt sick as hell this morning.”

He frowned and put his hand against my stomach. “Poor girl.”

I smiled and kissed him. “It’s worth it.”

And it was. I couldn’t believe I was carrying his child, but I couldn’t imagine anything better. We lived in a large penthouse at the top of a building the Spiders owned, and it was going to be the perfect place to raise a child. There were good, private schools nearby, and Louisa promised to take care of everything financially. We had to just keep concentrating on our jobs.

Brooks worked for the Spiders. He was a killer and always would be, but now he used his skills for good. He’d been skeptical of the Spiders from the start, but he’d slowly begun to see the truth of what they were doing.

He still sometimes said that he felt like Louisa was playing some bigger game, but if she was, I never saw it. The only thing I saw was her saving women from sex slavery and giving them a life again.

“Listen,” Brooks said. “I made a little stop earlier today.”

“Oh yeah? Between all your killings?”

He laughed. “Only killed one guy today. The others were more cooperative.”

“That’s nice, honey.”

He grinned at me. “Cut it out. I want to ask you something.”

“Yes, dear?”

He rolled his eyes. “Look.” I watched as he took a little box from his pocket, and my heart started to race. “We keep saying we’re going to do this one day, but I’m sick of putting it off. Marry me, Emma.”

“Of course,” I whispered.

He opened the box and showed me a beautiful, enormous diamond ring.

“Brooks!” I gasped. “How could you afford this?”

“Don’t worry about it.” He took it out of the box and slipped it on my finger, a perfect fit. “You like it?”

“I love it.” I kissed him hard, my heart hammering.

I couldn’t believe this had happened to me. Only a year ago, I was living a horrible life, afraid every day of my father. Now I was engaged to the love of my life, the strongest and most honorable man I’d ever met. I did work I really believed in, important work. I helped save lives.

Not to mention the child I had growing inside me.

And I lived in a gorgeous penthouse. Nothing could have worked out better.

There were still problems, of course. The mafia was getting more aggressive in trying to fight us, and their war with the Russians was slowing down. The Russians were also starting to come after us, and so more and more of our people were getting caught.

But the risks were all worth it. Brooks wrapped me in his arms and held me tight, and I felt safe. I knew I was safe. Brooks would keep us alive, keep us safe. We had a family on the way.

“We’ll do this right,” he said. “Big wedding. Invite everyone in the city.”

I laughed. “How about we just go down to the courthouse and make it real?”

“That can work too.” He grinned and kissed me.

That was all I needed, just Brooks and a judge and a pen to sign the papers with. Brooks was my truth, my honor, my purpose. This family and this life, it was all I could ever need, more than I could ever ask for.

My beautiful apartment, my beautiful husband. I didn’t know how I’d gotten here, but I couldn’t imagine being anywhere else. I trusted him with everything I had, and he trusted me.

Trust and love. That was going to be enough, more than enough, just perfectly enough.