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Damn it. “I’m sorry, Iz.”

She glanced up in surprise. “It’s okay. It was a long time ago.”

“Yeah, that’s not something you just get over.”

“True, but I have Emma now. I can get over anything if it means keeping her safe.”

His admiration of her knew no bounds. She was a badass. “What happened to him? Your stepfather?”

“I eventually escaped and went to the police. I told them everything. Well, not how we robbed banks and such, but everything about the murder. They investigated and arrestedhim three days later. He’s been rotting in prison in North Carolina ever since.”

“How old were you?”

“Ten. From there, I was in and out of so many foster homes, I became a walking cliché.”

He shook his head. “There is no way you could ever be a walking cliché. Still, that was very brave.”

“Not really. He had no leverage over me apart from his paltry threats. My ex was much smarter when it came to such things.”

“In what way?”

She smiled sadly. “He had leverage. And he used it well. But he wasn’t like that at first.” Her gaze slid past him as the memories resurfaced. “He was so kind and attentive, and I…I had no one at the time. I was living on the streets when he saw me one night, and…it’s complicated.”

He didn’t want to push her. How her ex had groomed her to be his doormat was not important for the time being. “So, there’s an entire chapter of the Bandits that knows about your ability?” How many men would he have to take down?

“No. He never told them. He wanted me and my ability all to himself, so he kept them in the dark. He just told them I could talk my way into or out of any situation.” She shrugged. “He wasn’t lying.”

“Why didn’t you use your powers on them? Your stepfather and your ex.”

“I did, but it often backfired.”

“In what way?”

“My stepfather put the fear of God in me when he figured out that I’d once given him a directive. And Ross had safeguards in place.”

“What kind of safeguards?”

“He figured out pretty quickly how it all worked. When I give a directive, it displaces time. Throws you off balance. The targetsenses it when they snap out of it and things aren’t quite how they left them. So, Ross slowly figured out other ways to control me.” She looked up and impaled him with an accusing glare. “Like you will probably try to do the minute you come up with a plan.”

“You clearly don’t know me very well.”

“Don’t tell me, you’re not that kind of guy?”

“No, I’m just really bad at making plans, so you’re safe with me. I try not to think that far ahead. What was the leverage?”

“The leverage?”

“You said earlier he had leverage. That’s how he controlled you. What was it?”

“Oh, my sister.” Her eyes instantly shimmered with emotion. “If I didn’t do what he wanted, he threatened to put her in the hospital. He wouldn’t kill her. That would defeat the purpose. But he would make sure she spent several days in intensive care.” A bitter laugh escaped her at the thought. “Not that he would do it himself. He wasn’t only a thief. He was a coward of the lowest form. He would have his cronies do it so he couldn’t be implicated.”

“What did he have you do?”

She huffed out a breath and shook her head, the memories clearly unpleasant. “At first, it was little things. Get him out of a speeding ticket. Convince a cashier to give him a carton of cigarettes. Tell one of his cronies to take money out of the MC president’s safe for him.”

“I take it the demands got worse over time?”

“Much. He was worse than my stepfather in some ways. And he had big plans. He wanted me to con older adults out of their life savings.