Page 1

Prologue
Her body jerked,twitched, shuddered.Her head hit the floor even as her hand flew out blindly.
“What do you need?”He crouched in front of her.Handsome.Charming.The devil in the flesh.
She couldn’t speak.He would know that, of course.He knew so much.Had made her the object of his intense study.What she’d viewed as interest, attention—and, God forbid,love—all of that had been a lie.A carefully orchestrated trick so that she’d fall ever-so-willingly into his web.
“I can’t hear you, sweetheart,” he murmured, his voice so tender and caring.“Why don’t you try again?”
Such a bastard.Her teeth snapped together.Her fingers tingled as the shaking continued.It would get worse.She knew exactly how this would end.
And he would just keep watching.
“Do you have regrets?”He stroked his chin.“I bet that you do.I bet that you regret ever bringing up the past.Ever doubting me.”
She regretted ever having met him.
Her twitching fingers stretched more.Had she reached the knife that she’d dropped earlier?
He didn’t even look at her hand.His brilliant blue eyes—electrifying eyes—remained locked on her face.She could see the sick excitement in his gaze.He liked her suffering.
That was only fair.She’d like his, too.
In the distance, she could hear the frantic barks of a dog.The dog wanted inside.Desperately.But the dog couldn’t get past the locked door.
The dog’s claws scratched against the wood of the door as the barks turned into a long howl.
“Tell me what you need.”His hand stopped stroking his chin.“I can give you everything in this world.You know I have that power.The connections.I can do so much for you.Haven’t I helped you already?Didn’t I make your nightmares vanish?”
He was the nightmare.Not the knight in shining armor.Those jerks didn’t exist.If you wanted to be saved in this world, you had to save yourself.Basic truth.
Had she managed to grab the knife?She wasn’t sure.The tingling in her fingers was worse.The back of her head rapped against the hardwood floor.
“Oh, darling.”His hand slid beneath her head.“You are going to hurt yourself.”
No, she was going to hurthim.Even if it was the last thing that she ever did.
A headache throbbed—then pierced—behind her left eye.When she looked up at his handsome face, she could have sworn she saw a golden aura around his head.Almost like he was an angel.
Not an angel.He’s the devil, and I will send him to hell.
“What do you need?”he demanded.
The beautiful stranger above her was relentless.The stranger—her husband.
“Who do you need?”His voice dropped to a tender caress.
A tremble rocked her entire body.“Y-you…”
He began to smile.
But the smile died when her hand lifted, and she drove her knife right into his side.
I need you to die.
ChapterOne
The first time that Ebenezer “Eb”Jones saw Naomi Romano…she was dancing in a fountain.In Vegas.Her pale blue dress had been utterly drenched as it clung to her like a second skin.Her long, dark hair had been wet, trailing over her shoulders, and utter delight had lit her face as she laughed.