Prologue
CARISSA
“You want me to do what?” I couldn’t possibly have heard my mother correctly.
She and my father had done everything they could to prevent me from dating, including shipping me off to an all-girls boarding school in Switzerland when I turned thirteen.
They’d even extended my stay there by an extra nine months so that I could supposedly enjoy additional culture and travel before returning home to make a decision about my future.
I’d only been home for a few weeks, and they’d kept me sequestered on our family estate the entire time.
Up until the moment my mother called me into her office to discuss my social obligations, I had been beginning to wonder if they were trying to hide me away from the world.
Although I was excited about attending a charity gala with them, it was virtually impossible to believe they would want me to be so blatantly in the limelight during my re-introduction into society—especially not in a situation where men I’ve never met would have the opportunity to bid on a date with me.
“I’ve made appointments for you to have your hair and nails done the morning of the event, of course,” she continued, ignoring my question.
My parents had never really listened to anything I had to say, so it didn’t come as a surprise.
“We can’t have you embarrassing us during the bachelorette auction. ”
And there it was—confirmation that I had in fact heard her correctly the first time around. Considering my inexperience with men, I was both thrilled and petrified by the very idea of going on a date with a stranger.
“Mother,” I snapped, glaring at her until she finally lifted her head. “A bachelorette auction? Really?”
“Oh, your father will make sure the winning bid is placed by someone of which he approves.” She waved off my concern. “And the proceeds will go towards a good cause, I’m sure. Several of my friends’ daughters are participating.”
It was almost as if I’d walked into an alternate universe.
There had been so many times when I’d tried using the same kind of logic with her to get her to agree to let me do something all the other girls were doing.
Wearing makeup when I turned fourteen, co-ed dances with an all-boys school, vacationing with friends during Spring break.
Time and time again, I’d been told that just because my friends were doing something didn’t mean it was proper.
Yet here she was, tossing me to the wolves with the excuse that the daughters of her friends were going to be up on that stage with me.
I wasn’t excited by the prospect of participating in the auction, but what could I do but meekly agree?
I didn’t have any friends in town, my parents had kept me too isolated over the years to develop any relationships with anyone other than our long-term staff.
Both of my best friends were thousands of miles away, with an ocean separating me from them.
I also didn’t have money of my own. Not yet.
The funds from the trust my grandparents had setup for me before their deaths weren’t scheduled to come to me until my twenty-first birthday or upon my marriage, whichever came first. Since my parents had been successful in keeping me away from most boys, I was fairly certain I was going to have to wait until I become of age before I’d have access to my money.
All appearances to the contrary, I was penniless and completely dependent on my parents for the next two years.
It wasn’t something that had overly concerned me when I’d returned home because I figured they’d be content to ship me off to college to get me out of their hair.
But my father had barely said a word when my acceptance letters to Brown, Wellesley and Bryn Mawr had come in the mail last week.
He’d also studiously avoided any of my attempts to discuss my future plans with him.
Between him fobbing me off and the surprise my mother had just dropped in my lap, I was beginning to wonder if I’d have been better off staying in Europe with my friends.
I wasn’t really close to my parents since there had always been distance between us, both physically and emotionally.
But I knew them well enough to recognize that something was off with them…
and to worry about what it might mean for all of us.