My sister hurled red wine across my dress uniform and told me I had no place in that ballroom, my father told security to get me out before I humiliated his future son-in-law, and I watched the stain slide over my ribbons, checked the countdown on my watch, and said, “You’re right. I don’t,” because in less than a minute the entire room was going to understand why I had really come.
and how quickly charm can make a beautiful room excuse extreme danger.
Harper called me two weeks later.
I stared at the caller ID, watching her name flash on the screen.
I answered on the fourth ring.
That single action, more than the federal arrest, or the dramatic courtroom plea, or the ruined multi-million-dollar engagement, was the part I still couldn’t continue reading …