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Chapter One
Ryzen
I adjusted the focus on my binoculars and swept from window to window of the high-rise building across from me until I found who I was looking for. The wind coming off Lake Michigan was cold enough to seep into my bones, but it didn’t bother me. I couldn’t feel anything anymore except hate. Anger. Rage.
Nova La Roux danced around her kitchen, a bottle of wine in each hand. I followed her from room to room as she twirled and grabbed more bottles, placing them on top of a table.
Fucking bitch. I was going to wipe that shit-eating grin off her face if it was the last thing I did. I could have done it right then. Taken her out. Ended Cian Blackwood too once and for all. But where was the fun in that? No, I wanted to take my time with her. With them. She was going to pay for ruining my life, and I would make sure it was slow and painful.
The L train rumbled below, screeching its way through downtown Chicago. This city reeked of wasted dreams and desperation, just like me. I’d had the perfect life until I met her. Now? It was gone. Ruined. No, this wasn’t my home anymore. But before I left for good, I was going to finish what I had started all those months ago.
My phone vibrated from my duffel bag, and I reached down and pulled it out, glaring at the screen. Fucking Riddick. I’d told him not to call tonight. Not when I had important matters to handle. But my overly paranoid brother had never been one to listen. He had pleaded, practically begged me to stop my “ridiculous” plan to get even. But I was just as stubborn as he was. Nothing was going to stop me—not him, not Blackwood, not the fucking FBI. No, Nova was as good as dead.
I pressed the end button on the screen and tossed my phone back into my bag. The moonlight reflected off the cool steel of my gun, and I smirked. Maybe I should have a little fun and shoot out her windows. Let her know she wasn’t as safe as she had thought. I peered through the binoculars and froze as Nova stood on her terrace only one hundred yards away.
She was looking right at me.
There was no way she could have seen me from there. I wiped the sweat from my forehead, letting the darkness of the rooftop cloud around me. She yelled something inaudible, and I dipped below the railing, my heart pounding in my ears.
Not tonight, Nova.
But soon.
Soon your life will be over.
And mine will just be starting again.
Chapter Two
Nova
The hair on the back of my neck stood up, and I froze mid-booty-shake. The sky was painted black, with just the moon illuminating the rooftops across from our building. Was somebody watching me? I placed the bottles of wine on the table and threw the door to the terrace open. I glared out into the darkness, my hands on my hips.
We were high on the sixtieth floor in my safe little tower, where no monsters could get me. Well, at least that was what I liked to pretend when my anxiety spiked. But I knew who was out there waiting for me.
“Come and get me, asshole!” I yelled into the night, my gaze traveling from rooftop to rooftop looking for any sign of movement.
Get a grip, Nova.
OK, maybe I was paranoid. But could anyone blame me? It had been eight months since Ryzen Goodacre had kidnapped me and hidden me away on his island of terrors. Five months since he had escaped jail while waiting for his attempted murder trial to start. It had been tough for a while—the nightmares, constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for him to pop out and grab me—but I was better now, mostly thanks to my therapist, Dr. Loomis. He had been a lifesaver and helped me overcome most of the fear and trauma I had been carrying around.
I was not a victim.
I was a survivor.
A fighter.
I was not the same woman I had been a year ago, and that was definitely a good thing.
I would not let Ryzen Goodacre control me. Ever again.
My hand grazed over the switchblade in my pocket, reaffirming it was still there. I never went anywhere without it. Cian had tried to make me carry a gun, but I didn’t want to. Guns made me feel uneasy, and I needed to feel in control.
It was quiet this high up. The only sound was from the music I was playing while I got ready for our family dinner. Only once I was satisfied there was nobody watching me did I head back inside and slide the terrace door shut.
I would talk to Cian about putting some privacy film on the windows. Every little thing like that mattered. We needed to do anything and everything to keep the safety we had carefully cultivated all these months.
Ryzen was probably long gone by now, off in Mexico or perhaps Bermuda. Maybe the Bermuda Triangle had snatched him away and he was rotting at the bottom of the ocean. The thought gave me a fleeting moment of peace, and I went back to gathering wine bottles for our dinner.
