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PROLOGUE

Four years ago

No had she known the day was just going tosuck? Caitlyn Lena Rogue Walker watched as Principal Thompson entered the classroom after her freshmen students had left for the day Hot on his heels were the self- righteous Nadine Grace and her bully of a brother, Dayle Mackay

She kneas co to a student’s defense thefor the shoe to drop, and she had a feeling that when it fell, it was going to be an earthquake in her little life

At least she didn’t have to worry about it happening any longer

Maybe she should have heeded her father’s advice about co here to his hometown to teach He had wanted her to stay in Boston; he’d wanted her to be a lawyer rather than a teacher Or better yet, the wife of a lawyer Being a lawyer or the wife of a lawyer didn’t suit Caitlyn Rogue though Neither did the name Lena—her friends and family knew better than to call her Lena if they wanted her to respond She wanted to teach, and she wanted to teach in the picturesque little town her father had told her so many tales of

Perhaps she should have heeded the tales he had told her of Dayle Mackay and Nadine Grace though, as well as his warnings tooff their radar hadn’t been as easy as she had thought it would be

And as her father had warned her, they would target her simply because she was a Walker Nadine Grace and Dayle Mackay had tried to destroy her father when he was younger, and it seemed they were more than determined to destroy her

She had lived in Soh to know she loved it here

Long enough to plant a few quick roots, to dream, and to meet the county’s beyond-sexy sheriff

The schoolteacher and the sheriff What a fantasy Because withinabout Dayle and Nadine At the end of the school term the year before, she’d been forced to enter their radar to defend one of her students against Nadine’s accusations that he had cheated on an exam that she had overseen as a member of the Board of Education Caitlyn knew the boy hadn’t cheated, just as she knew that no defense would help her now

As her gazeas her heart began to pound a heavy, sluggish beat

Brother and sister resembled each other in too many ways The same black hair, the same squared features Nadine was built sreen Dayle Mackay was taller, with thicker black hair and forest green eyes He would have been handsome if the evil that was a part of his soul didn’t reflect in his eyes

Neither Dayle nor Nadine spoke as they entered the roo them cautiously as Nadine moved forward and slapped a small stack of pictures down in front of her

A glih to know exactly how Dayle and Nadine intended to destroy her