PROLOGUE
The end of GOLD LUST
Julia
The cape slipped from my fingertips as I blinked. The room around me wobbled, much like the illusion of heat on hot pavement. The temperature began to rise.
Margaret slouched down on the sofa.
“Margaret?” Her name from my lips sounded odd. “Vicki,” I yelled her name as her glass of champagne shattered on the edge of the hearth and she reached for the mantel.
“Don’t drink it…” she mumbled as her knees buckled.
I’d only had a sip of the champagne, not as much as either of the other ladies. Yet my hands began to tremble as I tried to steady myself.
“You aren’t wearing the pearls.”
I turned to the unfamiliar voice. Blinking, I tried to focus. “W-what are you doing here?”
It was the woman from the consignment shop, the same one at the coffee shop.
The dress she wore matched mine.
The exact same.
In her grasp, she was holding the box with the pearls. “Let me help you.”
I pushed my way past her to the bathroom. Turning on the faucet, I splashed water to my lips.
The light-haired woman came around the corner. “You’re very pretty. Of course, you do have youth…that will fade.”
My stomach cramped as I leaned forward. “Please leave.”
My thoughts went to my phone, but I couldn’t recall where I’d put it. “My bodyguard….”
“Oh, I think it’s time for you to rest, Julia.”
“No. My wedding.”
She had my champagne flute. “Here. Take another drink.”
I shook my head, swiping the flute from her grasp. The crystal exploded upon impact. Shards of glass and liquid littered the floor. “Vicki.” I tried to scream, but my voice was merely a whisper. My fingers blanched as I held tight to the vanity. “I…I.”
The woman smiled as my knees gave out and the cramping increased.
On my knees, I could see her lips moving and hear her voice, but everything around me was too far away—as if I were watching through a telescope. I flinched as she leaned down, pulling the hairpiece from my hair.
From my place on the floor, I watched as she added the accessory to her hair. “I need to hurry. It’s my wedding day.”
“Who…?” I wasn’t sure if the word was audible. “Who are you?”
Her smile faded as she adjusted a necklace with a large solitary diamond in the reflection. “You know who I am.”
I shook my head. The pieces weren’t falling into place.
“I’m the woman Van loves, the only one he’s ever loved.”
Her smile reminded me of a cartoon—too large and too exaggerated.
This woman wasn’t real. She was a caricature in my mind.
“Van…” I could barely form the word. Everything was losing focus. “You’re…?”
“You know who I am,” she said again. “I’m Madison.”
Van
From the end of GOLD LUST onward
A memory came back, one I’d tucked away, an action I’d intended for good. Or maybe it was manipulation. The deed was my way of planting a seed of doubt, offering an escape and a refuge. I’d wanted Madison to have an alternative, an option to leave Phillip and come back to me. What I did occurred so long ago that I’d blocked the memory.
I’d moved on.
My heart raced with the memory.
Despite my efforts to keep Julia safe, I’d promised Madison a haven, a place to go if she and Brooklyn needed to escape. I’d given her access.
If Madison was on my property, there was only one option.
I put the truck in gear and turned the wheel. “I have to go, Lena. I need to call my security.”
“Van, where do you think she is?”
The racing of my circulation buzzed in my ears as I came to grips with the answer to Lena’s question. “Fuck, she’s in the house with Julia.”
“I don’t believe my sister is dangerous.”
“I don’t know what to believe.”
“Shit,” she said. “Hurry.”
I hit the disconnect button and called Julia’s cell phone. It went immediately to voicemail. My tires screeched as I accelerated on the main road. Trees whizzed by in a blur as other cars appeared to be standing still.
Hitting the screen on the dashboard, I called Albert’s number.
My breath caught as he answered. “Albert, is Ms. McGrath okay?”
“She’s upstairs. Margaret said they needed a few more minutes.”
“Go up there. I’m on my way.”
“Your brother?” Albert asked.
“No, his wife. His ex-wife. Fuck, it’s a woman.”
“A woman…the DNA…”
He didn’t need to finish. The ache in my chest told me I was right.
“Albert, open the front gate. I’m not slowing down.”
“Yes, sir.”
The call disconnected as memories flashed in my mind’s eye and my heart raced.
The dream I’d wanted for so long had come true—Madison had come back.
That fruition was no longer a dream.
It was a nightmare.
Banging my hand against the steering wheel, I muttered, “Fuck, Madison. Why now?”
Lena said Madison had been out of the hospital for a month. And all that time, she’d been here, living on my land, in the cabin and the guesthouse. She’d waited for our return. The knowledge caused acid to bubble in my gut.
Gripping the steering wheel tighter, my knuckles blanched as I pushed the accelerator to the floor. The gate moved as I approached, opening enough for me to pass through.
The truck’s tires sent loose snow and ice in a rooster tail as I sped up the private driveway. The only vehicle in front of the house was Albert’s. “Please don’t let me be too late.”
I screamed for Albert as I jumped out of the truck and ran up the front steps to the house. There was only a slight hesitation as I laid my palm over the sensor and the locks disengaged.
“Ms. McGrath.” Albert’s voice could be heard from the front French doors as I barreled into the house.
Taking the staircase two or three steps at a time, I ran to the second-floor landing and down the hallway toward the master bedroom suite.
“Sir?” Albert turned my way. “The suite is locked. I don’t hear anyone.”
“Break down the fucking doors.”
He pulled a pistol from beneath his coat, his gaze coming to mine as he pointed it at the ornate doorknobs and lock.
“Fucking do it,” I said, taking a half step back. Raising my volume, I yelled to Julia, “Stand back.”
The gun’s blast reverberated throughout the hallway as the metal and wood splintered. Barely a second later, Albert cleared the way, pushing the broken doors inward with his shoulder.
My breathing stopped and my feet forgot to move as I took in the front room of our suite.
“Fuck,” I growled as my eyes scanned.
Prepared for the wedding, wearing a green dress, Vicki lay crumpled on the floor near the fireplace. Broken glass littered the hearth. Upon the sofa, slouched against the cushions, Margaret appeared to be sleeping, a crystal flute lying on the carpet by her hand.