PROLOGUE
LUKE
The bus station is eerily quiet at three in the morning. I didn’t think anyone in Manhattan ever slept. I’m not looking forward to a cross-country bus ride, but I’ll be able to keep much more under the radar than if I tried flying or renting a car.
I bought my ticket with cash, and now I wait.
Until—
Something nudges the small of my back.
“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” a deep voice says.
“Who the hell are you?” I begin to look over my shoulder but—
Fuck. It’s a gun. It nudges harder into my back.
“You really didn’t think you could hide from us, did you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I say, willing my voice not to crack.
I can handle whoever this is. I’ve handled worse.
Of course… When I had to handle worse, I wasn’t a fucking stool pigeon.
“I think you know where this ends,” the voice says.
“We’ll see where it ends.” I scan the station.
I see one security guard. Just one. No police officers.
I’m not sure how I can get the security guard’s attention. I’m not sure if I even want to. Whoever this is, if he’s anything like I used to be, he’s already taken care of the security guard.
“What the fuck do you want?” I say through gritted teeth.
“Not much,” he says. “Just your big head on a fucking silver platter…Lucifer Raven.”
1
LUKE
Lucifer Raven.
I know the name, have said it in my mind, but when someone else says it in reference to me, it catapults me back.
I must face the sins of my past if I’m going to be worthy of Katelyn.
“You’d better have good news for me.” I take a deep drink of the bottle of bourbon I’m holding.
“We found her,” Dred, my head of security says. “She’s on a private island in the South Pacific.”
“How the fuck did you let this happen?” I demand.
“I’m sorry. It’s her brother, the SEAL. He’s got connections with the Wolfe family.”
“Not the Wolfes of Manhattan.”
“They’re the ones.”
“Fuck. When can I get there?”
“Your reservations are made. You’ll be traveling under your alias.”
“You want to give me a reason I shouldn’t fire the lot of you?” I shoot daggers at him with my eyes.
“We found her, Raven. And believe me, Buck Moreno kept her hidden well.”
“Yeah? I’ll deal with you idiots when I get back. Give me the information.”
Nine hours later I’m on the island with the knife I pilfered from one of the guards. Seems even the Wolfes’ hired guns can be bought. The guy’ll be toast by tomorrow, but he’ll be rich toast. I made sure of that.
I down a few shots of bourbon, follow Dred’s instructions and make my way to Emily’s room. I pick the lock quickly and quietly and enter.
I inhale.
The milky and slightly gingery scent of Ivory soap. Emily uses it to clean her paint brushes. An easel is set up with a canvas and a work in progress.
It’s a simple ocean scene, the operative word being simple. Emily has never lived up to her potential. Some of her abstracts are genius, but this? Any simpleton can paint an ocean, for fuck’s sake.
She’s done her best work while living with me. Even she admits that. I ought to destroy this piece of shit.
But I won’t.
I’ll sit here, inhaling the fresh scent of Ivory, which overpowers her own citrus and coconut fragrance.
I love her. I fucking love Emily Moreno. I’ve given her everything. Why does she want to leave me?
Why do they always want to leave me?
I cock my head when I hear the lock on the door click.
Emily enters, and she’s wearing—
For fuck’s sake, she’s wearing a man’s shirt. Not only a man’s shirt but a man’s shirt that’s bright royal blue with palm trees and pink flamingos splattered all over it. Then I feel it—the familiar slithering of rage curling up my spine.
She gasps when she spies me sitting on the bed. I turn back to the canvas depicting the ocean scene.
I don’t look up. I’ve become adept at controlling my rage…most of the time. I can play the role of an icy bystander…most of the time.
“Not your best work, Emily.”
She doesn’t reply.
“Then again, I was always your muse.”
Still no reply.
“You didn’t truly think you could escape from me, did you?” I rise then and turn toward her, narrowing my eyes, trying to still the anger pulsating along with my rapidly beating heart. “Pack your things. We’re going home. Now.”
“No,” she says.
No. She knows better than that. But this “no” ignites something more in me. Makes me want her all the more. Makes me more determined than ever to have her.
I shake my head. “Whose shirt is that?”
“No one’s.”
I do my best to remain calm. “You’re not that good a liar, Emily.”
“How did you get in here?”
I scoff. “Really? You think I’m a vampire or something? That I need an invitation? We both knew I’d find you.”