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CHAPTER ONE
REINCARNATION. KARMA. SINS coming home to roost.
Once upon a time, in the not-too-distant past, if anyone had asked me if I believed in any of those things I’d have rolled my eyes and told them to get real. That life worked on the amount of effort you put into each day.
On love.
Loyalty.
Hard work.
How wrong I was.
Frozen outside the towering glass and steel offices of one of the most powerful men on the globe, my wrists tingling from the phantom handcuffs that might become real before the hour was out, I wondered which deity I’d wronged to bring me to this end.
Did it even matter that the domino effect of sheer rotten luck mostly had nothing to do with me? Was it worth ranting that the sins of the father shouldn’t be visited upon the daughter?
No.
The awful truth was, while the majority of what happened to me in the past few years wasn’t my fault, this last, shocking misstep was one hundred percent mine.
Sure, I could prove that a collection of things had culminated in that one gigantic error, but the reality was inescapable. The buck, and the blame, stopped with me.
Time to own it, Sadie.
One more minute, I silently pleaded to whatever higher power held my fate in its cruel grip.
But, adding to every other misfortune unfolding in my life, my plea went unheeded.
The two sharply dressed security guards who’d been eyeing me with increasing wariness through the imposing glass frontage were heading my way. These days the whole world was on edge. I of all people should know that.
The economy had been partly responsible for decimating the family I once took for granted. The family currently hanging by a very fragile thread.
And dressed in threadbare clothes that were at least five seasons old, my troubled expression reflected in the polished glass, I wouldn’t be surprised if I was wrestled to the ground and arrested for trespassing. Or worse.
Disturbingly, that possibility gleamed palatably for a second, attesting to my true state of mind. Really? I’d rather be arrested than—
‘Excuse me, miss. Can I help you?’
I jumped, my hand flying to my throat to contain the heart beating itself into a frenzy. The burlier of the two guards had stepped through the revolving doors without my noticing and now stood a few feet away. Everything about him promised he could switch from courteous to menacing in a heartbeat.
Definitely time to own it, Sadie.
‘I...’ I stopped, moved my tongue to wet desert-dry lips. ‘I need to see Mr Xenakis. Is he in?’
His eyes narrowed. ‘You’ll have to ask for him at the reception desk. Do you have an appointment?’
I nearly laughed. How could I make an appointment to confess what I’d done?
‘Um, no. But—’
