Iris Giorgianni is no ordinary girl. She's living a double life: a neglected daughter at home, but a fighter on the streets. As the leader of The Sangue - one of the most wanted and well-known gangs in London - Iris has a reputation to uphold. Only...
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'The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world. Lies will pass into history.'
- George Orwell
IRIS STARED at Wrench, feeling her heart pound in her ears.
Wrench. Living, breathing Wrench, was standing right in front of her.
What was he doing here? Had the police enrolled him here too? Iris doubted it. A part of her knew it was more than that. Wrench was the type of person to follow up on unfinished business. And apparently, they had more than enough of that.
It hadn't been long since she'd last seen him, but he seemed different – maybe it was because he didn't have any weapons on him; all that was left was his battle scars, most likely some inflicted by Iris herself, and the same, tattooed neck, beady eyes staring at her with a look of arrogance. It was Wrench all right.
And just like that, her gang life had caught up to her.
Iris opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off by someone behind. "What's this?"
Levi.
She turned around, staring at the boy who was eyeing up Wrench with a certain look Iris couldn't decipher. Of course. She'd forgotten that she had run away from him back near the lake.
Oh, god. Wait.
Wrench was going to tell him everything. She was fucked. They would know about her life back home.
What would they think of her then?
"I'm Louis." Wrench replied. His voice was steady, scarily soft, and serious. Certainly nothing like the Wrench she knew. In fact, she didn't even know his real name was Louis. All Iris knew was that he belonged to their rival gang, and he was a venomous, hatred-driven, aggressive person, hunting for blood. Specifically, Iris's. "I'm new here. Pleased to meet you."
Levi looked surprised. "Oh. Cool, man. I'm Levi. Do you two know each other or something?"
Iris replied 'No' at the exact same time Wrench said 'Yes'.
"Oh, come on," Wrench grinned, moving forward to punch Iris playfully on the arm. "You're gonna ghost me like that?"
Iris dodged Wrench's fist, feeling the knife wound from weeks ago throb as she stared at the hands of her attacker. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"We were together." Wrench said to Levi, as if Iris wasn't there. He cocked his head as if to mimic the cute nature of a puppy, but Iris knew he was playing a game of manipulation. Why he was, she didn't know. "We had to break up because Iris was coming here. I just thought – why don't I also go and then we can be together?"
Iris felt the blood drain from her face. "No we were not."
"Yes, we were. You know how we met? Well, we were both in gan-"
