PROLOGUE – MARCUS
TWO YEARS AGO
This wasn’t right. Nothing about this day was right. Sylvie was dead. Adrian’s sweet and unfailingly kind sister was taken from this world, and no amount of money could save her. I know, because our families tried. It wasn’t like in the movies, where some dumb fuck kidnapped the girl, left behind all kinds of evidence, and demanded money for her safe return. There was no evidence, nothing even I could sniff out. And I prided myself on being able to successfully manage most situations.
But not today. Today was the funeral of Sylvie Polaris. I failed my best friend when I couldn’t find her and bring her back to her family. Adrian stood beside his mother and father, Kieran a step behind them. Even though the Polaris family had adopted him as a child, he always stayed just far enough out of the light. Was it his choice, or theirs? It wasn’t Adrian’s doing. The three of us, while not related by blood, were brothers in every sense of the word. It wasn’t something surface-level, like the friends you make at school, chatting enough to be social. No, there was something more between us. A bond akin to soulmates.
After today, I wasn’t sure that bond would be the same. I could feel the fissure opening inside me, pulling me away and into a path away from those I loved. How could I stay after I failed them so spectacularly?
“I know that look, Marcus,” Kieran murmured, sneaking up behind me. The cub was always so damn stealthy. “Don’t even think about it.”
A low growl rumbled in my chest, enough to let him know I wasn’t in the mood, but it didn’t deter him. Kieran was the youngest of us, five years my junior. We’d been out celebrating his 30th birthday when Adrian received the news about his sister’s kidnapping.
“Growl all you want, old man,” Kieran huffed, his voice still barely above a whisper to avoid disrupting the mourners. His unruly hair brushed over his forehead as he leaned forward. “This is not the time to go on one of your little walks and leave us behind.”
My lips mashed together in a thin line, and I resisted the urge to cross my arms. The motion would wrinkle my suit and draw attention to us. Kieran might enjoy the spotlight, but I sure as hell did not.
As usual, his musings were spot on. Kieran Browning was what some might call a whiz kid. He was incredibly smart, a fast learner, and too observant for his own good. He was also a late bloomer. Adrian and I often beat the shit out of other boys back in our school days when he was teased for being so scrawny. But now he was just over six feet tall and muscular. Not as broad-shouldered as Adrian or me, but he could carry his own in a fight if needed.
But it was that intellect and keen ability to sense our moods that had my muscles tensing now. I enjoyed my solitude, preferred my own company in most instances. And now, with the taste of failure in my mouth, the cabin was calling my name.
Kieran, Adrian, and I built the cabin from foundation to rooftop, and every inch of it was designed specifically for our needs. It was roughly two hours from the city, an escape the three of us seemed to crave more and more. We’d never wanted the life our families pressed us into. The politics, the underhanded deals, it was dull and inauthentic.
After college, I defied my own parents’ wishes and joined the Rangers, quickly moving through the ranks to become the Chief Ranger of the national forest not far from where the cabin resided.
“I’m going to the cabin,” I finally responded to him. “There is nothing for me in the world, and I can’t imagine Adrian wants me around.”
Kieran snarled under his breath, the sound more like a hiss of annoyance. “This wasn’t your fault, any more than it was mine or Adrian’s. We know nothing about her death at this point. But we will find who did this. And when we do, we make them pay. Together.”
Adrian bowed to his mother before joining us on the far side of the cemetery, where Sylvie was being laid to rest. “Don’t abandon us now, Marcus.”
He spoke as if he heard every word of our conversation. It was always that way between the three of us. His words sent a sharp pain of hurt through me. “I would never abandon you. I just thought you might prefer to be with your family for a time.”
Adrian shook his head, his silvery white hair styled neatly to match his fully black-suited attire. “My mother will grieve alone, with an endless supply of booze. And my father is keeping secrets. I have no desire to be in their house after today. No desire to be in the fucking city. I’m going to the cabin.”
I clasped his arm. “Alright, brother. We’ll go together.”
Kieran nodded, a small smile on his lips. “It will be good for all of us to leave this life behind.”
Thunder rumbled in the distance, dark clouds heavy with rain threatening to drench the earth with the coming storm. An omen, perhaps? Or just my general melancholy seeping in. There was very little light left for me in the world. No great love to share my sorrow with. At least I had them, the brothers I wished for as an only child, who became my true family.
A new resolve settled within me. We would weather this storm, as long as we had each other. Nothing and no one would tear us apart.
1
GOLDIE
PRESENT DAY
“Goldie Lockhart! Where are you, you insolent child?”
I’m not, though. A child, that is. I arguably am insolent. Like right now, as I’m running away from my unwanted husband-to-be and my own parents.
“Get back here right this instant!” my father continues yelling. “You’re embarrassing us!”
Heaven forbid I’d embarrass them by not wanting to marry the supreme narcissist they picked for me. Or, rather, that their bank accounts picked for me. Heck, maybe they even got money for my hand in marriage, it wouldn’t surprise me.
I duck into a service corridor. Because of course this forest villa has staff hallways like a medieval castle. The Westons sure do behave like they’re royalty. But their son, Thomas Anthony, is no prince.
