I'm asked to see Danielle in her office first thing in the morning, and I know I've landed myself into deep shit. Colby could have been killed because of my cowardice last night, and even though I cleared the air with him in the water spa, I know there's still some fog I need to get rid of.

My hair is still wet from the quick shower I had this morning, where I scrubbed at my skin to get rid of the stench of chlorine clinging to my body, and the nearest clothes I could grab was a long-sleeved white top and a pair of grey joggers. I should've probably at least tried to look more presentable before meeting with the scary boss, but my exhausted body simply couldn't. Seriously, I'm worried I might all asleep in her office.

I knock timidly on the huge door to Danielle's office. I hear voices from inside before Adam opens the door. He doesn't say anything, just brushes a hand against my shoulder as he walks past, and Danielle calls out a 'come in'.

I obey, walking through and closing the door behind me, braced to face Danielle's wrath. But when I turn around to see her leaning against her desk, wearing a loose, floral dress with a small smile on her face, I'm confused.

She angles her head towards the glass doors leading to the huge balcony and I follow after her as she floats over to it. It's a sunny day, as if summer has already arrived, and I take a seat in the comfortable chair beside the one Danielle neatly sits in. 

It's quiet. The birds are tweeting in the distant trees but there's no other sound, and the land goes on forever. Pretty much all of the rooms have a balcony but this has the best view by far.

"So," I start awkwardly, leaning back in the chair with my arms splayed over the armrests. "I guess you're not mad at me?"

Danielle chuckles, the sound as ethereal as always, keeping her eyes on the horizon. "I'm not," she says. "Concerned about you? Yes. But not mad. Everyone made it out that house alive, we now have a shit tonne of money, some of which has gone to as many girls I could find whose lives were affected by that bastard, and we won't be getting into trouble. There's nothing to be mad about."

I sigh, chewing on my bottom lip. From the way she talks about it, she makes it sounds like it was the most successful raid she's organised.

"But I didn't shoot," I mumble. "I didn't shoot once."

"Neither did I."

I glance over at her, eyebrows drawn together while she looks entirely at peace with the world. The sun is beaming on her face, no shadows or blemishes to be seen, while she has money and love and everything anyone would ever want in life. The perfect vision of prosperity. "What do you mean?"

"I've never told you about my mother, have I? The real Mrs Vasquez-Jones," she smiles at the last bit, shaking her head.

I'd never even thought that Danielle would have parents. Most of the time I imagine that she was built on another planet and one day was magically placed on Earth to kill some evil men and take their money for good causes. It seems more likely than being birthed and growing up like every other human being.

"You haven't," I say.

"Well, she was leader of the Thieves before I was, my Grandmother before that. It's tradition to pass the leadership to the first born child, and both my Grandmother and mother only had one daughter each. They were very glamorous and very powerful, and my mother was my biggest inspiration. She still is."

I notice that she's speaking of her mother in past tense.

"I've been trained to become a thief all my life," Danielle continues. "Any child of the leader is basically born into this world, so mother started me off early. By the time I could walk she was building my strength, and I held my first gun when I turned ten. She was an incredible woman, very loving to everyone who worked for her and I knew that she loved me, even if she sometimes had an odd way of showing it. I just remember thinking that I wanted to be just like her, even when she was working me to the point that I would collapse or yelling at me so loudly that I would have a splitting headache.

"Now, I've promised myself that I will never become that kind of mother. Adam has told you that we want to have a family one day, and as soon as I do, I'm done. None of my kids will be destined to live this lifestyle and I want to raise them in a normal environment. But this doesn't mean I question mother's parenting techniques. She simply wanted what she thought was best for me, but like you said last night, I don't think she ever thought that maybe she was in the wrong. She was blinded by the power and money and she wanted me to have the same, even if that's not what I wanted. But I loved her.

"It wasn't until my first raid, when I was fifteen, that I grew scared of her. She had organised a raid similar to the one last night, and I was thrilled to go out and prove myself to her. But then I..."

She pauses for a moment, composing herself. She's not crying but her face is full of emotion.

"I was almost raped," she tells me. "A guy grabbed me, threw me into the room and locked the door. I had a gun in my hand. I could've easily killed him right there and saved myself. But I couldn't press the trigger. He took the gun from me and started to rip my dress off. I was fifteen, scared out of my mind, and if it wasn't for another one of the Thieves bursting through and killing this guy, I would've been traumatised for life." She glances over to me for the first time. "I didn't shoot, either.

"Mother was pissed. She yelled at me, telling me I was a disappointment, that she wished I wasn't her daughter. I believed every word she was saying to me and it broke me. So, not even a week later, mother sent us on another raid, and that's when I killed my first person. I didn't even think, I just shot. And I shot again, and again, until my first nine people were dead. It wasn't until I got home and my mother started congratulating me that I realised how much more that shattered me. I was proud of myself, but the first time you kill someone, you're awake for days. You don't want to eat. You don't want to get up in the morning. You feel like you don't deserve to.

"But it gets easier. I get it, it's a nasty job, but you have to realise that you're ridding the world of evil people and giving to those who are good. We never kill people who don't deserve to be killed. When you understand that, killing will simply be second nature."

She looks directly into my eyes. "Aurora, I'm not mad like my mother was. I know exactly how you were feeling when Colby was on the floor, and I know that it may take some time for you to end a life. But I want you to know that there's no pressure to do so. You press that trigger when you're ready to do so. Understand?"

I nod my head, at a loss for words. Danielle smiles, pats my arm, before leaning back into her chair.

I swallow the knot in my throat. "What happened to her?" I ask quietly. "Your mother?"

"She was killed two years ago in a raid. So I was twenty-five." She sighs deeply. "We were found out, these people were about to take me before she sacrificed herself. She was raped, beaten, and thrown into a river. I didn't even recognise her face when she was dragged out."

Fuck. I couldn't even imagine that. 

Her voice is almost shaky. "I became leader, one of the youngest there has been. Zavier had been my friend for a long time so I made him my second in command. And that was it. I barely had time to grieve if it wasn't for Adam letting me cry on him every single night, only to get out of bed and keep the Thieves going. He tried to convince me to just give it up, hand the leadership to Zavier and run off to Hawaii or something, but in all honesty, I want to continue what my family has left behind. I want to keep doing what mother had fought so hard to protect. I mean, it could've been me tortured and dumped in a river, but she sacrificed herself for me for a reason. I need to keep this going for as long as I can."

I rest my head against my hand and process every word slowly. She allows this, standing to her feet and leaning over the balcony to watch the world in silence. She's still not crying, so I don't either, no matter how much I want to cry for everything she's been through.

"Are you okay, Aurora?" she asks, turning to face me. "I know it's a lot. I just wanted you to know that I understand you, you do belong here, and I still see a lot of potential in you."

I give her the most grateful smile I can muster. "I'm okay. And thank you."

"Come with me," she says. "I have something to give you."

I stand up and follow her back into the office. She goes over to her huge, oak wood desk and uses a key to open the drawer. I don't want to be nosy, but from a quick glance I see that there's a few envelopes with each person's name written on the front in Danielle's curly handwriting. She finds the envelope named 'Aurora' and hands it to me.

I open it to find a wad of cash inside, what must be almost a thousand. I look at her, confused again. "But I did nothing to deserve this."

"Oh, don't be modest," she laughs. "To be fair, it's not a lot, but everyone starts off with this kind of wage at first. Whether you shot someone or not, you're still a part of us and you still earned this."

"You're amazing," I say truthfully. "You've been through so much yet you're probably the strongest person I've ever met. And generous. I don't know how you do it."

She folds her arms as she leans against her desk. "I might've been through a lot but I believe that everything happens for a reason. If you trust in that, you can get through anything."

I nod, looking down at the envelope in my hands, before there's a knock at the door. I guess that's my cue to leave.

I open it to find the rest of the thieves waiting outside, presumably to be given their money, or to see if I've been kicked out. I smile at all of them and they all, except one, smile back when they see the envelope in my hands, seeming genuinely happy for me. 

The one exception is watching me with dark brown eyes as I walk by, neither a smile or a frown on his face, before entering Danielle's office and closing the door behind him.