Chase Sterling always felt like furniture. The kind you don't notice, the kind that's easy to shove in a corner and forget. He was used to it: people looked right through him, brushed him off like lint. But it only takes one phone call to erase a lifetime of being overlooked. When his estranged family meets a tragic end, Chase suddenly finds himself in charge of the sprawling Sterling fortune. Turns out, riches aren't the only thing the family left him. There's a curse running through his blood, warping love into something hungry and dangerous, impossible to escape.

Vivian Ashford never set out to blow Chase's life to smithereens. Just one decision (a sharp, ruthless move at graduation) was all it took to set their worlds spinning out of control. While Vivian soaks up the Hollywood limelight and collects red-carpet headlines, Chase slips into his new role as Manhattan's most intimidating heir. But no matter how far they run, something keeps yanking them back together, like a stitch in an old wound that refuses to heal.

The premiere ends at 10 PM. I smile for cameras. Answer questions. Play the part of happy actress in love with her producer boyfriend.


Marcus kisses me for the photographers one last time. "I'll see you tomorrow. Dinner?"


The paparazzi swarm immediately. A wall of bodies and cameras and shouted questions that blend into incomprehensible noise.


"Any comment on Chase's new girlfriend?"


I push through them. Get to my convertible. Top down because LA nights are perfect and I needed air. The leather seats are cool against my skin, still holding the chill of evening despite the warm breeze.


I start the engine. Pull out of the parking structure.


Three cars. Maybe four. Headlights in my rearview mirror. Close. Too close. Bright enough to make me squint even with the lights of the city all around us.


I turn onto Sunset Boulevard. They follow.


Chapter 30 - The Accident