Chapter 1
Chapter One
Samuel
Five Years Ago
The reflection of the warm, golden light danced and shimmered on the sleek surface of the diamond, making it sparkle against the dimly lit backdrop of my home office.
There were a thousand things I should have been doing besides staring at this engagement ring. That was the thing no one ever told me about success — with success came the responsibility to ensure the livelihoods of each and every one of my employees.
But right now, all I could think about was Imogene.
And how it felt like my plans for giving her this ring were slipping away.
I thought it would go off without a hitch. I’d surprise her with a belated birthday trip to Hilton Head now that she was done with finals. We’d take Ollie, since she loved that dog as much as I did. I’d attach the ring to his collar, then have him run up to her. When she’d notice the ring box on his collar, I’d drop down to one knee and ask her to be my wife.
But it didn’t look like that would be happening this weekend.
Unbeknownst to me, my best friend and business partner — who also happened to be one of Imogene’s closest friends — also planned a surprise for her. An elaborate party at The Swan House in Atlanta he bought out for the occasion, costing him thousands of dollars.
Imogene didn’t even like parties, especially the type of party Liam liked to throw, inviting anyone who was someone to be there.
I hoped to use this as a way to convince her to finally tell him the truth about us, like I’d been begging her to do since her actual birthday.
While I wanted to keep what we had a secret from my best friend in the beginning, too, I now regretted ever making that agreement. Wished I’d thrown caution to the wind and refused to hide what we had from everyone.
I thought I was doing the right thing. I saw the way Liam looked at her. Knew his feelings for her went beyond that of a close friend. A part of me hoped he’d eventually get over it once he realized she didn’t return those feelings.
That never happened.
Now, I was tired of having to hide what I shared with Imogene because she was scared of how Liam might react. Of losing him as a friend. Would she ever want to tell him the truth?
Or was she content for me to remain her dirty little secret?
I thought buying her a ring and proposing would show her how serious I was.
Now, after our argument earlier today, I questioned everything.
Even if I convinced her to take this next step, was this what our marriage would be like? Her always choosing Liam over me because of some misplaced responsibility she felt toward him, all because her sorry excuse for a sperm donor took Liam’s mother from him?
From the beginning, I thought their friendship was toxic. After witnessing how much he manipulated her over the past year, that feeling had only grown stronger.
What would it take for her to see what everyone else did?
The shrill chirping of my cell broke the silence, and I shut the velvet box, tucking the ring back into the top drawer of my desk.
Grabbing my phone off the surface, I clicked on the incoming text from Jonah, one of the teenagers I mentored at the local community center I founded a few years ago when my gaming platform took off.
If it weren’t for this kind of program, I wouldn’t be where I was today. There was no question in my mind about starting a program like this as my own way of doing something useful with the money I’d made, instead of simply watching it grow in my bank account.
Jonah:
The asshole came home drunk again.
I cursed under my breath, clenching my jaw.
Like most kids in my program, Jonah had a rough home life — an abusive father who drank a lot, then took it out on everyone else. This was the reason he wanted to learn martial arts. Not to be able to hurt his asshole father, but to learn how to take a punch so his mother didn’t have to.
As I learned early in life, calling the police didn’t always help in these types of situations. Especially for kids who lived in neighborhoods where violence and crime ran rampant. Even if the cops did make an arrest, it rarely helped. The instant they returned home, things would be much worse than they were before. Instead, you just learned to take the abuse as you counted down the days until you could finally be free.
Me:
Are you okay? How about your mom?
Jonah:
I was able to distract him long enough for her to get out with the younger ones.
I squeezed my eyes shut. I hated that this was the world Jonah was forced to grow up in. I didn’t have it much better, but at least I had my foster brothers to depend on when shit got bad.
I was the only person Jonah had.
Me:
Want me to call someone?
I didn’t know why I bothered asking. His answer was always the same. Just like mine was. Which was why I hadn’t intervened.
Yet.
Instead, I’d done everything I could to teach Jonah how to defend himself and the rest of his family.
Jonah:
Can you come get me?
I checked the time to see it was almost midnight. It would probably take me about twenty-five minutes to get to his neighborhood. I needed to wake up early for an important meeting with the heads of a company that had been trying to buy our firm from Liam and me, which I resisted at every turn. Still did.
But if Jonah needed me, I’d be there for him.
Like I wished someone had been there for me all those years I hid in my room praying I wouldn’t hear the floorboards creak near my door.
Me:
Will you be okay until I can get there?
Jonah:
I’m out of the house, but I’d rather not sleep on the street tonight, even if it’s safer.
I cursed again, hating he thought it was safer to sleep on the street in a rough section of Atlanta than in his own bed.
Me:
Drop a pin and I’ll be there as soon as I can.
Without wasting another second, I jumped to my feet and grabbed my keys. As I made my way toward the front door, I paused by the hallway closet and opened the safe, retrieving my pistol. Then I dashed out of my house and into my SUV.
The streets of my residential neighborhood were relatively quiet this late at night. Growing up in foster care, I never could have imagined owning such a nice house in the upscale Buckhead area of Atlanta. While some people in the foster care system had great placements, I wasn’t so lucky. Instead, each placement only seemed to get worse. The only thing that saved me was martial arts and wrestling. Because of that, I was awarded a full scholarship to college. If that had never happened, I wasn’t sure where I would have been today.
Probably in prison.
Or worse.
As I drove through the city, cozy residential neighborhoods eventually gave way to dilapidated buildings with boarded-up windows and graffiti-covered walls. I hated that this was all Jonah had ever known. I could only hope my program did for him what a similar one did for me.
Despite his circumstances, Jonah was a bright kid. Demonstrated a keen mind, especially when it came to computers, which was why Henry, one of my foster brothers and a computer genius, took him under his wing, as well. Hopefully, between the two of us in his corner, he could break the cycle.
After navigating a few more blocks of rundown buildings, I pulled into the parking lot where Jonah dropped the pin, verifying I was in the right place. I had no idea why he was here. In the past, whenever he ran into trouble, he’d hide out in a church. But tonight, he was somewhere in an old shopping plaza, the buildings looking like they’d been vacated long ago.
I parked in the empty lot near the building and scanned the area for Jonah, not immediately seeing any sign of life.
Fishing my cell out of my pocket, I fired off a quick text.
Me:
Here.
Within a few moments, a hooded figure emerged from the side of the building and made his way toward me, a gun clutched in his hand. I didn’t even want to ask how Jonah came to own a gun, considering he was under eighteen and couldn’t buy one legally in the state yet. Considering where he lived and his current situation, I couldn’t blame him for wanting one to be on the safe side.
As he grew close, I unlocked the car, continually scanning my surroundings. A chill trickled down my spine, something unsettling filling me with an odd sense of premonition. The sooner I got Jonah out of here, the better.
With quick motions, he opened the passenger door and slid into the car, not removing his hoodie.
Nor did he lower his gun.
In fact, he raised it, pointing it at me, its black metal glinting in the moonlight.
My pulse raced as I tried to comprehend what was happening. “Jonah, what are?—”
I stopped short when he finally looked up.
Only it wasn’t Jonah.
The piercing gaze that met mine belonged to my best friend.
“What are you doing, Liam? Where’s Jonah?” Panic raced through me as I stole a glance toward the glove box where I’d stashed my gun.
A sly smirk crept across Liam’s mouth, revealing a side of my friend I’d never seen before. “Don’t worry. He’ll be well taken care of.”
Before I had a chance to react, a loud bang reverberated in the car as a searing pain tore through my body. I slumped against the seat, my world going dark.