“Thanks.” It was simple: an emerald cut on a gold band. She’d chosen a plain gold band for her wedding ring and now wore them paired and with pride. Grant said he would have married her even if she’d rejoined the cult. It was a terrible joke, and he’d apologized for days. Either way, they were happy.

“Your hair is pretty badass that length, if you don’t mind me saying.”

Rainy smiled her most genuine smile. “I most certainly don’t mind you saying,” she teased. She’d learned that the best way to honor her mother was through her life, not the length of her hair. She’d cut it to her chin in the “baddest” bob and never looked back.

“You sure you don’t want to do the interview? It might be good to talk about it.”

Braithe shook her head, but it was the look of horror in her eyes that made it clear to Rainy: she would never talk about what happened. “I was caught in it, but that’s your story to tell. Besides, there’s nothing more that I want than to move on with my life and put all that behind me. I lost so many things through that experience.”

Rainy nodded. Her wine arrived. Tomorrow she was doing a TV interview with a morning show on what the media was calling Tauredia. In the wake of Taured’s death—which the police had easily seen was self-defense on Rainy’s part—what was left of the compound had dissolved, those remaining members detained and Taured’s cult the subject of multiple documentaries and podcasts currently in production. Everyone wanted to talk to Rainy, the woman who’d gotten away from it all and taken down the leader. The floppy disk and the photos she’d stolen all those years ago were now part of ongoing investigations into the dark side of the web and Taured’s part in it. Taured had sent their photos to other email addresses, and those recipients were now being investigated, too. The only reason she’d agreed and flown to New York to do the interview was to raise awareness about women in positions like the one her mother had been in.

Viola, who still felt bitter about being left out of the Vegas saga, insisted on coming to New York.

“Bitches aren’t leaving me out of the action anymore. Baby is coming!”

“I still can’t believe we made it out of that alive. And I still can’t believe you didn’t have a better plan.”

Rainy smiled. Act now, think later had worked for her, but barely.

“I wasn’t really given much time to plan. But I had a couple backups.”

“Like the note at the soup station?” Braithe’s eyebrows were all the way up, her smile repressed.