“You want me to—”

“Get close to him.” The words were like chips of ice. “Any way you can. Get close enough to bring the man down.”

Kelly thought for a moment she might actually faint.

This was too much. Simply too much.

“You’re crazy! I’m not a spy. You want me to fuck him again, knowing that he was responsible for—”

She had to break off the words because the reality suddenly came home for her. She’d had sex with the man responsible for her father’s death. He might not have pulled the trigger, but he’d killed her father just the same.

And she’d allowed him into her body, she’d felt his hands all over, she’d surrendered part of herself to a man she could only hate.

The wave of nausea was too strong, and it drove her to her feet. She jumped up and ran for the bathroom, gagging a few times as she processed the truth.

It was too horrible to accept. Too horrible to allow.

She stood over the toilet, waiting to vomit, but it never came.

Her mother’s voice came from behind her. “You’ll have to be stronger than that, if you’re going to get this done.”

“I’m not going to get any of this done. It’s crazy, and I’m not going to do it.”

“Yes, you will. If you ever want to live with yourself, after today, you’ll do it.”

“It will never work. He’ll find out who I am.”

“No, he wouldn’t. I paid good money to bury the records of your identity. He won’t find anything.”

“I still won’t do it.”

When her stomach had settled enough, Kelly went over to the sink to splash water on her face.

“Just go away. Why are you all of a sudden so set on this anyway? You’ve had eighteen years to put your ridiculous plans into place. Why now?”

She was drying her face when her mother responded, no resonance at all in her tone. “Because I’m dying. It’s now or never.”

Kelly gasped and whirled around, clutching the towel in her hand.

“Cancer,” her mother said blandly. “I have no more than three months. Do this for me now, so I can die in peace.”

“I’m sorry. I’m really sorry. But you abandoned me when I was ten, so I’m not sure what you expect of me now. Blood just isn’t enough. Not to do this. It will never work, and I can’t even stand the thought of the man now, much less get close enough to him to”—she shook her head—“I’ve put all this behind me. I’m not going to let it drag me down now.”

“You haven’t put it behind you. Don’t lie to me about that. I’ve been watching you for a while now. You don’t let yourself get close to anyone. You never risk a real relationship. You never let anyone really touch you. Why do you think that is? It’s because you’re still trapped in the same nightmare I am—the utter injustice that has no answer. Well, here’s your chance to answer it, to move on at last. And to let me die with some sort of peace.”

For a moment, just a moment, Kelly wanted that so much she could taste it. Closure. Peace. Healing. An answer. Something to cover the dark void beneath the precipice she always felt perched on.

But it was too slim a hope, and there was no way she could do what her mother wanted her to do. The woman must be completely heartless to even ask it of her.

Heartless. Or desperate.

“He thinks he’s untouchable, Kelly. We can’t let it him get away with it forever.”

“No,” Kelly said again. “That’s my final answer.”

“You say that now, but I don’t think it is.”

—

It took almost an hour before Kelly could get rid of her mother, and she had to drink the rest of an opened bottle of wine before she could dull the pain of the day.

She fell asleep or passed out afterward, waking to the sound of her telephone.

It was Reese. Her friend. Her only real friend, whom she’d known since high school. Wanting to go out for the evening.

Kelly blinked at the clock to discover that it was after nine. She felt like absolute crap, but the empty apartment and the memory of Caleb—and her mother—and her father—rose up to meet her in the void. Quickly, she told Reese she had to shower and get ready, but could do something afterward.

They ended up going to a trendy pub in Georgetown, since Reese currently had a thing for academic types.

Kelly already had a headache, so she didn’t drink very much, but she flirted with every guy who approached in an attempt to wipe out her conflicted thoughts.

It was wrong of her mother to ask something like this of her. It was absolutely wrong.

And the thought of Caleb and his fine body, hard cock, and cold, calculating mind still made her stomach churn in horror and disgust, partly because it still turned her on.

Why the hell had she been so stupid as to fuck him in the park? She couldn’t forget how good it had been. And now she’d fallen right into her mother’s trap.

He probably was at least partly responsible for the death of her father, if not the primary guilty party. She completely believed he was capable of it. That afternoon, she’d read through the file her mother had given her. As promised, it wasn’t pretty at all. He’d blackmailed and extorted. He’d ruined people’s lives. It was widely believed in certain circles, although never proven, that he stole the research that led to the development of one of Vendella’s most profitable medications.

The man was a monster in a five-thousand-dollar suit.

But she would have to hate him at a distance. She couldn’t do anything else.

“What’s the matter with you tonight?” Reese asked, turning away from the law student she’d been chatting with. He was too young for her, but Reese didn’t care about such things. She was pretty and tiny, with dark hair and big brown eyes, and she was a serial dater, always desperately in love with whatever man she happened to be with until she decided he wasn’t in fact the love of her life.

“Nothing. What do you mean?”

“I thought you were going to launch yourself at that guy just now. I mean, you always come on strong, but not that strong. It’s like you’re possessed.”

“I’m not possessed. Just horny.”

Reese was peering at her. “I don’t think so. Something is eating at you.”

“Nothing is eating at me.” Kelly was closer to Reese than anyone else, but there was no way in hell she would tell her about Caleb or her mother.

“Okay. You don’t have to tell me.”

Kelly sighed, feeling like she’d hurt Reese’s feelings. She hated feeling guilty like that, and Reese was the only one who could make her feel that way so easily.

“I’m sorry. I just can’t talk about it now.”

Reese’s expression relaxed. “Well, tell me later, then. Did you meet someone?”

Kelly rolled her eyes at the sparkle in Reese’s. “No, I didn’t meet anyone.” It wasn’t exactly true, but meeting Caleb was closer to a nightmare than a potential romantic interest.

Before Reese could reply, Kelly’s phone buzzed. She pulled it out and blinked down at the screen for a long time after she read the words.

Let’s not call it seconds. Let’s just say it’s more of the first time. Tomorrow evening?

Kelly’s breathing was loud and ragged as she stared down at the text. It was Caleb, although he hadn’t used his name. Asking to meet up with her again—in his typically clever, arrogant way.

He’d probably killed her father, and now he was asking her for a date.

He wanted to fuck her again, and her body kind of wanted it too.

A surge of rage swept through her, the likes of which she’d never experienced before.

“What is it?” Reese demanded, grabbing Kelly’s arm. “What’s the matter? Did something happen?”

Something had happened. Caleb Marshall had happened. And ten-year-old Kelly’s life had gone into a downward spiral she’d never been able to pull out of.

But she wasn’t helpless. And she wasn’t weak.

Caleb wasn’t as untouchable as he thought, and he wasn’t irresistible either.

So Kelly tapped out her reply.