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Prologue

“I can’t let you do this I won’t Kelly, the man is insane”

Kelly Waller reached over and touched her husband’s hand, looking for reassurance He took his hand off the wheel and squeezed her fingers Strange how intiht That touch, fueled by twenty years of love, had served as her rock in the nightht hours Without it, she would have been screa

“He won’t hurt me We’re family”

“You told me yourself he hates his family”

“I have to try,” she said “They’ll kill our boy”

To the car up the curve of the driveway Old Texas oaks spread their wide canopies over the grassy lawn, sprayed with drops of yellow dandelions and pink buttercups Connor wasn’t taking care of the grounds His father would’ve had the weeds poisoned

Her stoo back and somehow undo the events of the last two days A part of her wanted to turn the car around It’s too late, she told herself It’s too late for regrets and what ifs She had to deal with the reality, noit was She had to act like a mother

The driveway brought them to a tall stucco wall She raked hertime, but she was sure the wall hadn’t been there before

A wrought-iron gate blocked the arched entrance This was it No turning back If Connor decided he wanted her dead, her h to stop him

Connor was the cules aiic and connections He was supposed to have been a worthy successor to the fortune of House Rogan Much like her, he hadn’t turned out the way his parents had planned

Tom parked the car “You don’t have to do this”

“Yes, I do” The dread that hung over heranxiety Her hands shook She sed, trying to clear her throat “This is the only way”

“At least let me come with you”

“No He knows ain, but the clump in her throat refused to disappear She never knew if Connor could read people’s thoughts, but he was always aware of e watched and probably listened to “To does, if I don’t coo home to the kids There is a blue folder in the cabinet over the small desk, the one in the kitchen On the second shelf Our life insurance policies are in there, and the will”

To home We’ll deal with it ourselves”

She jerked the car door open, ju on the pavement

“Kelly!” he called “Don’t!”

She forced herself to touch the iron gates “This is Kelly Connor, please let me in”

The iron gate slid open Kelly raised her head and stepped inside The gate glided shut behind her She walked through the arch and up the stone path that wove its way through the picturesque copse of oaks, redbuds, and laurels The path turned, and she stopped, frozen

The large colonial beast of a house hite walls and distinguished colonnades was gone In its place stood a two-story Mediterranean-style one to the wrong property?

“Where is the house?” she whispered

“I demolished it”

Kelly turned He stood next to her She re pale blue eyes Sixteen years later, he stood taller than her His hair, chestnut when he was younger, had turned dark brown, alained a square jaw and hard ly handsoalIt was the kind of face that commanded obedience He could’ve ruled the world with that face

Kelly looked into his eyes and instantly wished she hadn’t Life had iced over the beautiful blue irises Power stirred deep in their depth She could feel it just beyond the surface, like a wild, vicious current It bucked and boiled, a shocking, terrifying power, proe of iron will A chill ran from the base of Kelly’s neck all the way down her spine

She had to say so

“Dear God, Connor, that was a ten-million-dollar house”

He shrugged “I found it cathartic Would you like some coffee?”

“Yes Thank you”

He led her through the doors into a lobby, up a wooden staircase with an ornate iron rail, to a covered balcony She followed hie until she sat down on a plush chair Beyond the rail of the balcony, an orchard stretched, the trees weaving their way around ponds and a picturesque creek Far at the horizon, the bluish hills rolled, like distant waves

She s with his back to her, waiting for the coffees

Establish a co?” she asked It had been the favorite hangout of the Rogan kids That’s where they’d gone when he’d had to ask her advice, back when he elve and she’d been the cool older cousin Kelly, twenty and wise in all things teenager

“It’s still there The oaks grew and you can’t see it from the balcony” Connor turned, set her cup in front of her, and sat down

“There was a time you would’ve floated the cups over,” she said

“I don’t play games anymore At least not the kind you remember Why are you here?”

The coffee ers She set it down She hadn’t even realized she’d picked it up in the first place “Have you watched the news?”