Blurb:
Safe in the ivory tower…
Gabriel Miller swears he’ll keep
me safe. Enemies lurk outside, waiting to strike. An army held back by these
walls.
Except some animal instinct warns
me the danger is much closer. It’s already here. Is Gabriel my protector or my
enemy? Is this house a castle or a cage?
There’s nowhere for me to go, no
one left for me to trust.
No escape from a past determined
to capture its prize.
Excerpt:
A sleek black limo idles in the
center of the parking lot, the gleaming black stark against the backdrop of
cracked concrete and cigarette-littered gravel. It’s not for me, I tell myself.
It can’t be.
It’s probably one of Chastity’s
customers.
At eight o’clock in the morning.
In the cheapest motel in Tanglewood.
The driver steps out and nods to
me in that deferent, discreet way that drivers have. My stomach sinks. He opens
the back door and stands beside it, a silent invitation. A tacit command from
the man inside.
My feet move me across the
pavement, breath trapped. It’s that moment when you’ve slammed your finger in a
door, before the pain has registered, when your mind is all too aware of what
comes next.
The shadowed interior hides his
face, but I know who it is before he speaks.
“Good morning,” comes the low
voice of the man who made me come on his desk. The door shuts behind me,
enclosing me in the warm darkness.
“What are you doing here?”
A shuffle of papers. The scratch
of a pen. As the darkness solidifies, I see him reclined in the back of the
limo, focused on a stack of papers in front of him. Working, like I’m a
distraction. “I’m your ride.”
He doesn’t even look up. “Excuse
me?”
“To Landon Moore’s office. That
is where you’re going, I assume.”
My eyes narrow. “How do you know
that?”
Finally he looks up, his golden
gaze searing me. “Because you’ll do anything to get your house back. It’s the
only place you feel safe, isn’t it? The only place you felt loved?”
My stomach clenches. “How did you
know where to find me?”
“I don’t think you need me to
answer that.”
Because he knows everything that
happens in the city. He could have had me followed after I left his office
yesterday, but odds are he knew where I was before. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’d
rather walk on nails than ride with you.”
I pull the latch to discover that
the door is locked. From the inside.
My gaze flies to him. “You’re
kidnapping me?”
“Unfortunately,” he says with
fake sympathy. “You’ll have to explain to the cops how I abducted you and
transported you in comfort to your previously planned destination.”
The car glides forward, as if
connected to his very will.
Asshole.
I glare at him, settling into the
warm leather. Are these seats heated? Of course they are. I have to admit this
is way more comfortable than the city bus, but everything has a cost. And when
it comes to Gabriel Miller, the cost is always too high. “Why are you doing
this?”
“Does it matter?” he asks, his
voice faintly mocking. “As a gentleman your comfort is my highest priority.
It’s enough to be of service to you.”
“You’re not a gentleman.”
“Probably right. In that case I’m
coming with you to see sweet old Uncle Landon give you the horrible news, to
see your face fall as he assures you there’s nothing you can do.”
My throat constricts. “Can’t you
find someone else to torture?”
“No one nearly as pretty.
Besides, my presence has some advantages.”
“My very own supply of fire and
brimstone?”
“People are more inclined to tell
the truth when I’m in the room. My reputation for dealing with liars and cheats
is somewhat brutal.” He leans forward, his eyes reflecting sunlight. “All of it
true, I’m afraid.”
I’m living proof of that, the
fallout from my father’s decision to steal. “Be careful or I might think you’re
actually being nice to me.”
A short laugh. “Not a chance. It
will be my pleasure to see Landon Moore break. And even sweeter to watch you
break, too. A show I can’t pass up.”
Don't forget to visit the remaining stops on the tour.
Author Bio and Links:
Skye Warren is the New York Times
bestselling author of contemporary romance such as the Chicago Underground
series. Her books have been featured in Jezebel, Buzzfeed, USA Today Happily
Ever After, Glamour, and Elle Magazine. She makes her home in Texas with her
loving family, two sweet dogs, and one evil cat.
