Prologue
Violet
I edged down the narrow staircase that led to the kitchen below. Shadows danced across the walls and held the air in the steady peace of the night. A breeze blew through the valley and billowed through the trees. The hum of it softly battered at the walls.
Within the old house, the silence was heavy and dense. As heavy and dense as my heart that thundered at a ragged beat.
I inched farther.
Carefully.
Recklessly.
There was no longer anything I could do to stop the draw of the quiet chaos that waited in the darkened room below.
When I made it to the landing, my breath hitched with the gust of energy that suddenly lashed and whipped through the stilled disorder.
The man a storm where he sat like a stone fortress at the small kitchen table.
Protective and fierce.
His big body bristled with a rage that seemed to be waitin’ for permission to be unleashed.
A wanderer who’d come home.
Did it make me a fool for wanting to remind him that this was where he belonged? That it was right for him to be adored? That he deserved to be loved?
I stepped deeper into the dancing shadows at the base of the stairs.
I knew when he felt me.
When his spine stiffened and his stony jaw clenched.
He slowly pushed to his full, towering height.
The man a dark avenger.
“Violet.” My name rumbled through the air like rolling thunder. “What are you doing down here?”
Fear tumbled through my belly when I saw the lust flare in his eyes.
The greed and possession that curled his hands into fists.
But I would no longer live my life running from what I wanted most.
I could live in fear of what was to come, or I could live my life to its fullest, and I knew I wanted to live like a flower beneath the sun in full bloom.
I lifted my chin when I released the words, “I just need to know one thing right now, Richard Ramsey. Tell me it’s true. Tell me you still love me because I’m done pretending like I don’t need you.”
Maybe I shouldn’t have given him that trust.
Maybe I shouldn’t have given him the chance to lie.
Maybe I should have known I would regret it all over again when I saw the guilt flash across his stunning face.
But I was finished running.
So, I stepped off the cliff I’d been teetering on for the last six years, straight into a free fall, and prayed he’d be there to catch me at the end…
One
Richard
I’d heard it said the thing about running from your past is it always catches up to you.
I’d heard it said that the demons of every mistake you’d ever made were constantly hunting you from the sidelines. Lurking in the darkness where they waited for the perfect time to attack, salivating at the chance to sink in their teeth.
A dark destiny ready to devour.
And sometimes? Sometimes they messed with the wrong damned person.
Someone who had nothing left to lose and only one sacrifice left to give.
Atonement and retribution their one purpose.
Doing a little hunting of my own, I blew out the back door of the banquet room. It dumped me in a long hall lined with doors. Antique wall lamps cast a yellowed glow through the narrow space.
My attention jerked from one direction to the other.
Searching through the shadows that filled the corridor of the age-old hotel.
Swore I’d seen something.
Someone.
Someone who didn’t belong.
That prickly feeling you got when something was amiss.
Wickedness underfoot.
Felt it slithering across my flesh and sinking into my bones.
The sounds of the party echoed through the wall. Carefree laughter, easy conversation, and the joy of the celebration.
What I should be doing was enjoying it with my family and friends.
With my band.
But no—I’d caught a feeling that I couldn’t ignore.
Heart raging in my chest. This thunder that howled and ravaged like a beast.
I swore I saw a shadow dip out at the far end of the hall.
That was right when the door I’d just came out of burst open behind me and my future brother-in-law, Royce, came fuming through it.
“What’s going on?” he growled. Dude was nothing but intimidation. Covered in tats and wearing one of those fitted suits that made him look like the reaper had come to collect and you were gonna pay. I darted in the direction of where I was sure the shape had gone. Voice filled with the intimation of the feeling I’d gotten, I shouted over my shoulder, “Someone’s here who shouldn’t be.”
“Shit,” Royce wheezed, right behind me.
Our feet pounded the floor, a vibration proclaiming destruction was on its way.
“This way. Think he slipped out the back exit,” I shouted.
“Who?” Royce was right at my side, venom in the words, dude feeding off the rage I was throwing.
“Don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
Desperation clawed through my chest as I raced down the hall, took the left, and pushed out into the night and into the dingy alley at the back of the old building.
My gaze jumped both directions, trying to catch onto a hunch.
To the intuition that had sent me hunting in the first place.
“This way.” My head jerked to the left, and we both took off in that direction.
A heavy fog hung low in the darkened sky, and silvered rays slanted through the night from the muted lights flickering from the hotel.
Vengeance pulsed in my veins, and I gave myself over to the fight.
To the instinct to protect.
I rounded the end of the building just in time to catch sight of a burly shadow in the distance. Barely visible through the haze.
“Right there.” I pointed at the lumbering figure that blazed a path down the side of the building.
“See him. Don’t let him split.”
“Not a fuckin’ chance,” I gritted, increasing pace as that feeling consumed me. Overwhelming in its pull.
I couldn’t mess this up. Couldn’t stumble. Couldn’t stop.
We gained on him. Getting closer and closer. Close enough that I could taste the vileness that throbbed and slashed through the air as he attempted to flee like a pussy bitch.
Under the haze of dim lights, we could see the shape bolt across the next street up that was pretty much deserted.
Wasn’t much of a surprise for a town this size at this time of night. Place was mostly shut down except for the few bars and restaurants that remained open.
“He’s going right. Asshole is heading for the park.” Royce’s words were harsh. His breaths panted from his lungs.
Without slowing, I raced across the street, and my heart that was already beating a motherfucking drum jumped into my throat when a car came out of nowhere, making a quick right from the intersecting street.
“Richard,” Royce shouted as the headlights bared down on me.
Tires screeched and a horn blared.
Panic jolting through my being, my hands shot out like that was gonna make a lick of difference, planting on the hood just when the car came skidding to a stop.
“What the hell?” the driver shouted, honking the horn again.