Chapter 1

Jael secured a band-aid on the woman’s forehead, running her thumb along the edges to make sure they stuck.

“Sorry about the cartoon frogs,” she said. “It was all I could find.” Her fingers lingered, hoping the positive touch would counteract what Becca had experienced earlier in the day.

“I don’t mind,” Becca said, gently prodding her puffy nose and the black bruise below her eye. “Too bad there’s no band-aid to fix this.” She huffed a laugh, but Jael recognized it for what it was—a cover for the fear, obvious to Jael who was all too familiar with the emotion. She’d witnessed more than one man’s terror as he stared death in the face and lost. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t been the one inflicting it. Her senses were still so attuned to such vulgar acts that her stomach turned even as she tried to make up for her past by restoring other’s lives.

“Only time will do that,” Jael said, collecting the pieces of band-aid wrapping and stuffing them in her pocket. She smiled almost apologetically as she lowered her voice so the two kids in the room couldn’t hear. “I still think you should go to the hospital. I can only fix the cuts on the outside. You said he hit you pretty hard in the stomach.”

“It’s not the first time he’s done it, and I always recover.”

“You’ve been lucky.”

Becca shook her head. “They’ll ask too many questions. You know I’m not ready to talk about it yet. If it wasn’t for you—” Her eyes shimmered with tears that she didn’t bother to blink away. “Thank you, Jael. I don’t know how many times I can say it, but you’re a godsend.” Her voice croaked, and she coughed a little before rubbing at her neck where light bruising was visible.

“Then I guess mentioning the police again is pointless.” Jael sat back and looked at the kids. The older of the two, Jack, had his baseball cap on sideways and his legs draped over the arm of the chair while he played a game on his phone. The younger one, ten-year-old Kaitlin, was reading a thick fantasy book.

“One thing I can give you,” Jael continued, “is some time to process your thoughts. But we can’t wait too long.”

“I know.” Becca rubbed her hands down her thighs. “I know there are timelines I’ll need to follow. Martin has made it clear to me more than once that I can’t disappear with the kids, or he’ll send the police.” Her voice wavered, and she cleared it. “I’ll be more prepared to face everything in the morning.”

“I hope so. A restraining order would help.”

“Would it?” Becca’s question was sharp and accusing, coating her fragility in a quiet fury out of necessity. Her eyes flicked to the kids, then to the ground. “Sorry.”

Jael rested her hand on top of Becca’s. “Right now, you feel like you’ve lost everything. But you haven’t. This is the beginning of getting your life back.”

“I wish I could see things the way you do.”

“That’s why I’m here. So I can help you.”

“Can’t you do it for me?” Becca laughed a light, sad sound.

“You know I would if I could. But you need to be ready for what’s ahead. You have to be sure that this is what you want. There’s no point staying if you’re going to go back to him again.”

“No. No, I won’t. Not this time.” Becca looked at her kids. “It’s different this time.”

Kaitlin, sensing the directness of her mother’s gaze, looked up. Her tired eyes drifted across to Jael with a depth of understanding a kid shouldn’t have.

Jael’s heart skipped a beat, and she almost called out what she saw, but instead, she said, “We’ll find someone the kids can talk to as well. It will be good for them to tell their side of what’s happened.”

Becca chewed on her lip, already raw and close to bleeding. “Okay.”

“At least you’ll be safe here tonight. Hannah will contact you about the next steps?—”

“Hannah?” Becca asked warily.

“She’s the one you spoke to on the phone. She’s a very good friend of mine who works closely with the foundation. She knows a lot about women in your situation and can talk you through the process.”

“But you’ll come back?”

With all the uncertainty Becca and her kids were facing, what they needed was a small amount of stability and a sense of home.

“How about I bring you your groceries on Saturday, and I’ll include the ingredients to make chocolate chip cookies.” The kids looked up, and Jael winked. “I have a few appointments during the day, but I can come by at dinner, and we can bake together.”

She looked at Jack, who was nodding eagerly. Even the video game couldn’t compete with freshly baked cookies. It made Jael wonder if they’d had much in the way of home-baked anything. It was the one thing her mom had taken the time to do with her when she was a girl.

“Thank you,” Becca said. “For everything. I don’t know how I could ever repay you.”

“Getting your life together would be the best gift you could give to me.” Jael glanced at the clock on the wall and internally grimaced. “I have to go. I’m sorry.”

“Already?”

“I have a prior engagement I can’t miss.”

“Of course. You would be very busy helping others. I’m being selfish. I’m sorry.”

“Not at all.” Jael licked her lips instead of explaining that her appointment had nothing to do with helping anyone. “At least you can all rest well tonight. No one knows you're here except Hannah, myself, and the caseworker we contacted.”

“I don’t know if it’s possible to relax yet, but thank you anyway.”

“Lock all the windows, and deadbolt the door. It won’t be necessary; this is a good neighborhood. But it will make you feel better. If you need anything at all, you have my number. There’s enough food in the kitchen to last a few days at least, so if you’re not comfortable going out, there’s no need to leave the house.”

She stood and gave Jack a handshake, then rubbed Kaitlin’s head, eliciting a giant grin.

Becca walked her to the door and gave her an awkward hug.

“We’ll talk soon,” Jael said.

When the door was shut and the deadbolt engaged, she went to her car and drove around the block to a quiet stretch of road where she pulled over.

After confirming she had the road to herself, she took off her sneakers, then worked her jeans down her legs before bending with some difficulty to pull them all the way off. She reached for the slim skirt off the back seat, shaking it out before she wriggled into it.

All that was left was to touch up her makeup. With the mirror down, she added a brighter shade to her neutral lipstick but hesitated as she ran her finger under her bottom lip to tidy it up. Her lonely green eyes stared back at her. They were like Kaitlin’s, who had seen things way too young.

Her breathing became labored, but she jabbed at the mirror, flicking it up to sever the memories before they dragged her into a dank pit of despair. She didn’t have time to wallow in self-pity. Not when Becca genuinely feared for her life and the lives of her kids.

Pulling back onto the road, she focused on the street ahead and steeled herself for the meeting that lay ahead.

Catalina was not the trendiest restaurant in the city, but it served the highest clientele with the best service. Anyone who was anyone dined there.

Jael pulled to a stop at the front door and slipped on a pair of silky white stilettos before stretching her long limbs to the curb. She handed the valet her keys and wasted no time entering the restaurant. She was already late.

He was at his usual table. He liked things to be a certain way and had the financial bulk to pull it off. Whatever Gregory wanted, Gregory got. Even at eighty years of age.

“Sorry I’m late,” she said as she leaned down to kiss her dad’s cheek. He’d been in his fifties when she was born, and most people who didn’t know them assumed he was her grandfather.

“Traffic?” he said, looking amused, like when a cat plays with its prey.

“A little.” She sat across from him, tucking her knees neatly under the white tablecloth before shaking out the napkin and placing it in her lap.

“How was your morning?” He opened his menu and, before she could respond, said to himself, “I think I’ll have the duck today.” Then he looked up at her, waiting for her reply.

“It was fine.” She straightened her fork, then opened her own menu to avoid his gaze.

“I take it you were doing work for the foundation?” This was meant as a jab. She knew the tactic well. When she was a girl, and she saw her mom taking a sleeping pill early in the afternoon, Jael would often say, “Are you having one already?” Her tone was always silky with innocence, but her meaning was clear.

“Yes, Dad. I was doing work for Vita Nova.”

He nodded, his eyes drifting back to the menu. “It takes up a lot of your time. Makes you late for your other responsibilities.”

“Isn’t it better to be late because I was helping people instead of because I got caught up playing tennis or getting my nails done?” She fisted her left hand and dropped it into her lap when she remembered she’d chipped a nail carrying Becca’s bags into the house. He would notice.

“I suppose, if that’s how you want to look at it. Should I order the duck for you as well?”

She nodded, setting her menu aside. If she let him choose her meal, it would give him the sense of control he needed in order to let the matter drop. “That would be lovely. Thank you.”

The waiter approached with a bottle of wine. “Jael, it’s good to see you again. We always enjoy having you and your father with us. Gregory?” He said, turning to her dad. “I believe this is the vintage you were referring to.”

Gregory did a quick study of the bottle. “You are a wonder, Mattia. Thank you.”

After the waiter poured the drinks, he left with their order, and the conversation dimmed into the same bland small talk they always had and which would last throughout the lunch. Her dad would tell her about issues he’d had at work and would ask her opinion but then not listen to the answer. If she bothered mentioning a detail about the foundation, his face would slacken until he came up with a suitable change of subject.

“You haven’t told me your thoughts on Christopher’s appointment,” he said, wiping his mouth once he’d taken the first bite of his meal.

“Yes, I have. I told you he’ll do a fine job.” Which was mostly a lie.

She’d known the Siseras most of her life. Not well, but enough to know that, while her own dad had steered away from crime in the later years of his life, Artus Sisera, Christopher’s father, had dug deeper into it. And gotten better at it. They already had Jabin Enterprises, and now, with Christopher taking over the reins of her dad’s company, they’d rule over Heber Industries as well. Probably using it to advance their illegal activities.

But she’d already processed this move and left it behind her. She’d never had an interest in the business beyond how it could fund Vita Nova. Once her dad had promised the funding would continue after his departure, she didn’t care who was in charge. She’d grown up surrounded by questionable activities and had learned, finally, how to distance herself from it.

“I’d like you to expand on that,” her dad said. “If you don’t mind.”

“What do you want me to say? I’ve never worked with him before. I hear his work ethic is solid, and I assume he knows how to do the role, but beyond that, it’s not really any of my business.”

“What are your thoughts about Christopher beyond his role as CEO?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“As a man.”

“Like I said, I don’t know him well enough to comment. You’d know better than I would.”

“Then you trust my judgement about him?”

“Sure. But I don’t see why it matters. You’ve never cared about my opinion in the past.”

“That’s harsh.” He smiled. “But true. You don’t have the experience to offer. Christopher’s a good man. Dependable.”

“Okay.”

“I’ll be working closely with him. He’ll be around more.”

“Then I’m glad you like him.”

“It wouldn’t hurt you to take an interest.”

“Why?”

“You don’t want to better understand the man who will be responsible for your future?”

“You mean the foundation?”

The smile he gave her said more than words, but it could have simply been a way to keep her off balance. She knew her dad well, but sometimes it felt as if she didn’t know him at all.

“He’s different from me and Artus,” Gregory continued. “He sees the world as it should be. You’d like him if you got to know him.”

“Why is this so important to you?”

“You can be thick sometimes, my dear. He’s going to be running my business. I’d appreciate it if it mattered to you more.”

“Fine.”

“Wonderful. In which case, I should inform you that I’m organizing a dinner for Saturday.”

“This Saturday?”

“The one and only.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t make it. I have other plans.”

Gregory pulled his chin in and made a noise between a scoff and grunt. “Then cancel them.”

“I can’t.” She was looking forward to baking cookies. A small delight in a joyless life.

“Whatever it is, this is more important. We’re celebrating new beginnings with Christopher at the helm of Heber Industries before we make a public announcement. You just said you’d make an effort.”

“I understand why you’d like me to be there, but you can’t expect me to drop everything?—”

“Why not?”

“It’s a business dinner. I have nothing to do with your business.”

“I can’t believe you would say that. Heber Industries is my life’s work, and I’m handing over the torch. It’s one of the most important nights of my life, and you don’t want to be there?”

He always did this. Made her feel small and selfish when he didn’t get his way. There would be more dinners and more occasions to celebrate. This one wasn’t as important as he made it out to be.

He shook his head in disgust. “I’m sorry, but you’re coming to the dinner.”

She wouldn’t give in. Not this time. “No.”

Gregory slammed his hand on the table, clinking the glasses and silverware. She’d been expecting it, but it still made her jump. A few patrons at nearby tables turned, but he ignored them.

“It’s that foundation again. Am I right?” His face had taken on a reddish sheen.

“Yes.”

“Handing out Girl Scout cookies is more important than a groundbreaking dinner with our closest friends and allies?”

“I help people, Dad. I save lives. Start lives.”

He held back what would have been a derisive laugh. “You save lives,” he muttered. “Listen to yourself.”

“If you took any interest in my work, you’d have a very good idea of what I do.”

“Because I don’t already have enough on my plate?”

Jael took a breath, tangling her fingers together in her lap. The conversation never went anywhere positive when they talked about this. Her dad had allowed her—in his mind, anyway—to create the foundation. He thought it would be a nice plaything and hadn’t been prepared when it became a passion for her.

“I’m a grown woman. If you cared to see that, you’d let me order my life how I see fit.”

“You know nothing of life. Not real life. How could you?”

“How could I? Isn’t that what you had in mind when you included me in your extracurricular activities?”

“Keep your voice down.”

“Why? I didn’t give any secrets away.”

“People will get the wrong idea.”

She lifted an eyebrow. “Really? Wouldn’t it be better if they got the wrong idea than the right one?”

“You know what I mean, and you know how it sounds when you say things like that. I don’t like this attitude on you.” His lips puckered. “It’s ugly.”

“Then stop criticizing my choices.”

“I’m trying to help you.”

“How is a dinner party helping me?”

“I don’t have time for this. If you want to keep your foundation running, you’ll be there.”

“You’re threatening me now?”

“That’s not a threat. It’s sound advice. With Christopher taking over as CEO, he’ll be the one signing your checks. Do you think it’s a good idea for him to believe you have no interest?”

Jael bit her lip. She hadn’t thought about the full implications of Christopher’s new role. In her mind, the payments would keep coming. But her dad was right. The new CEO of Heber Industries wouldn’t necessarily go along with it, and Christopher was somewhat of an unknown quantity to her. It would help if she could find out from him what his thoughts were about Vita Nova. At least she could let him know she would appreciate Heber Industries’ continued support.

She kept her voice steady. It didn’t matter how many times she was forced to concede ground to her dad, it always felt like she was losing another part of herself. “Fine. I’ll be there.”

“Wonderful.” He smiled as if there had never been a doubt in his mind.