“Violence is easy.” My voice is barely above a whisper. I want to stop talking, to cut this off before I bare my still-beating heart for this woman, but the only other person I’ve talked to about this is Broderick. And even then, I filtered so much, even more than I’m doing now. If he pitied me, I might just die. I exhale slowly. “It came naturally to me—it still does.” I guess I really am an Amazon down to my core. The thought might make me laugh if I could work up the energy for it. “I ended up as an enforcer for one of the local groups. They taught me everything I needed to know.”

“And the Paines?”

At that, I smile a little. “I tried to rob Broderick. He kicked my ass a little and then hauled me back to their sad excuse for a base. Within a couple days, I was taking orders from Abel. I haven’t looked back since.”

“Quick turnaround.”

I look at her. “You’ve been the heir to the Amazon throne your whole life. You don’t know what it’s like out there. The Paine brothers actually care about their people. They ask a lot of us, yes, but they value our lives and our safety. That kind of thing isn’t common.”

“I suppose not.” She combs her fingers through her hair, expression still contemplative. “Where did you say you were from, again?”

That surprises a laugh out of me. Does she really think she can trick me into telling her? Absolutely not. “You didn’t seriously mean it when you said you wanted to kill my parents.”

“When did they start burning you?”

Frustration bubbles up inside me, bringing the truth with it. “I was six. I had been playing with one of the neighborhood boys. Those silly kid games. He kissed me.”

She narrows her eyes. “Normal childhood stuff.”

“My parents didn’t think so.” I refuse to revisit that memory; their hateful words, my screams and sobbing.

Monroe nods slowly. “Twelve years is a long time, love. Someone has to balance the scales.”

“Stop calling me love.”

“Do you really want me to stop?” she fires back.

I’m speechless for a moment. Of course, I want her to stop. It’s… Damn it. “No.”

“Again, stop trying to change the subject. I would like the town name.”

I stare. “You’re serious.”

“I already told you I don’t bluff.”

She had. I just… “But I’m not one of your people.” Not anymore. Not ever as far as she knows. “You don’t have to play avenging Valkyrie for me.”