Prologue

PROLOGUE

APRIL

I couldn't look away from the picture that was quickly burning itself into my mind. There I was, on the cover of the tabloid I'd bought at the corner market below my high-rise apartment. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been so pissed. Luca was such a piece of shit. How could he do this?

The cover of the tabloid showed me dancing on a table, topless. I could still remember that night. I'd been drunk as hell and out of my mind on molly. When Luca took the picture, it was supposed to be all in good fun. We'd all laughed, joking about what would happen if it ended up on the internet. Luca had laughed about it.

Then he went out and sold it.

It didn't matter that my tits were blurred out—my face was easily visible. No way anyone wouldn't recognize me. With fame, you had to take the good with the bad. The good? Money, travel, meeting celebrities and star athletes. The bad? Never having privacy, not being able to trust anyone, being recognized everywhere. It was a double-edged sword.

I leaned back against my leather sofa and ignored the ringing of my phone. I didn't even have to glance at my phone to know it was my manager, Larry. He'd called me seven times already, but I needed time before I spoke to him. No doubt, he had a plan to try to spin the whole thing. I didn't see how he could, though. Everything Luca had sold was true. How do you spin the truth?

I'd broken things off with Luca a few days ago, and it had been coming for a while. Several weeks before I broke up with him, I found out he'd been stealing from me. We were both models, but I was much more successful. It made my skin crawl to say it, but I was a household name. Luca? He was a pretty face who had been in three ads for hemorrhoid medication and one fashion show put on by one of those crazy eccentric designers. Luca had walked twice—once completely naked, then with a hat on… and nothing else. According to the designer, the clothing was up to the imagination of the crowd . Needless to say, I was much better off financially.

Luca had forged my signature to grant him access to my bank account. By the time I realized what he'd done, over forty thousand dollars had gone missing. My accountant had figured everything out, and once I knew, I'd kicked Luca's ass to the curb. That should have been the end of it. Instead, he pulled this shit. Two years together, and this was how he thanked me for not having his ass arrested.

The story that accompanied the pictures was just as bad. All the dirt that a famous supermodel could possibly have was in there, and everything was true. If anything really made me feel dirty, it was that. The sex, the drugs—all of it. Luca had gone full scorched earth. I was so fucking angry at him, but if I was being honest, I was angry at myself, too. Luca and I had gotten together right when I was spiraling. In my darkest time, he'd been the one to push me over the edge, filling me with drugs and negative thoughts. Larry had warned me to break up with him sooner, but I hadn't listened.

As though he'd heard me think about him, my phone rang again. Tired of the incessant ringing, I answered the phone. "Hello, Larry."

"This motherfucker. I swear to God I'll have his balls hanging on my Christmas tree this year. I've got our lawyers working on getting the story pulled, full retraction, and we'll sue Luca till he's living in a fucking cardboard box down on Skid Row." Larry's voice was so loud it hurt my ear.

I couldn't see suing him being very successful. You couldn't sue someone for telling the truth. It was an invasion of privacy and shitty, but the biggest punishment he'd end up with would likely be probation or something. If that were the case, he'd laugh all the way to the bank. The tabloid had probably paid him a million-plus for the story and pictures.

Instead of arguing with Larry, I said, "Sounds great. Get his ass. Let me know how it goes."

I ended the call and walked over to the massive window that overlooked Hollywood Hills. From this height, it was beautiful. Down there among the dirt and backstabbing? It wasn't pretty. Los Angeles had given me a lot, and now it looked like it was going to take its pound of flesh as payment.

Over the next several days, the true fallout of the story became clear. The paparazzi had never hounded me as much as other celebrities, but now I couldn't set foot outside of my apartment without someone snapping a picture of me. My building security had even had to tackle some photographer who'd dressed up as a maintenance guy to get a shot of me going into my penthouse. Then the gifts started coming—gifts from men all over the country, all sexual in nature.

The story Luca had sold delved deeply into my sexual tastes. S we'll let you do that when you're sure."

I called Larry the minute I got off the phone with my parents, but he was not as excited about my plan as I was.

"Fiona, I don't know about this. Do you really think going to some one-horse town in the mountains is the best thing to do right now?"

"Larry, dammit, how many times have I told you to call me April? And yes, I do. I can get out of the spotlight. A place with no paparazzi, and the only newspaper publishes stories about chili cook-offs. Sounds like the best place to lay low and mentally recover."

"Fio— sorry, April, if this is really what you want, I can make it happen. I want what's best for you, kid."

"Do it, Larry. Make it happen," I said. The excitement and longing built stronger in my chest even as I said it.

He sighed. "Okay. I'll make the arrangements. Cancel any upcoming appearances or photo shoots. I'll get with the marketing team to release a statement saying Fiona Steele is taking a break from the industry and to respect her privacy."

"Thank you, Larry. It means a lot."

After getting off the phone with him, I had another call to make—to my older brother Kris. Sitting on my bed, I stared at the phone for several moments. I hadn't been in their lives nearly enough since moving to LA when I was eighteen. Kris was newly married. I'd been invited to the wedding but couldn't attend due to a fashion show in Milan the same weekend. It had been a bullshit excuse, but there it was. And Kellan had a son I hadn't seen since he was probably two or three years old. The kid had to be close to nine or ten now. I'd been such a shitty sister, and now I was going to call them up out of the blue and ask for a favor.I'd been gone fifteen years. Visited maybe once in the last decade. God, I was a real piece of work. I sighed and dialed Kris.

"April?" he answered, sounding shocked but happy.

"Hey, big brother. How's it going?"

"I'm fine," he paused, then added, "how are you?"

"Hanging in there. By a thread, but still hanging."

"Those assholes should have never printed that stuff about you."

"I didn't call to talk about that. Let's stay on happier things. I, uh, I was thinking of coming for a visit."

"Oh, wow, yeah, that would be great. When?"

"Well, funny you should ask. I think I'm going to fly out tomorrow. I really called to see if I could bunk with you or Kellan when I got there."

There was a pause, and my heart leapt to my throat. I was sure he'd call me crazy or give some lame excuse. Why would one of my brothers do something like this for me when I'd been MIA from their lives for so long? Would I have done it for them if the tables were turned?

"Hell, yeah, you can," Kris nearly shouted as he laughed. "We'd love to have you. My house is kinda small, but Kellan has an extra bedroom and bathroom at his place. It would be perfect."

Simple as that, I was on my way back home. Larry had a private flight booked on a Lear jet, and my taxi picked me up the next morning at six. It was crazy, but every step I moved closer to Lilly Valley, a deeper sense of peace overcame me. Like I'd been fighting something, and had finally given in. It was the best I'd felt in a month.

Hours later, I was in my rental car and cresting a hill on the highway. Spread out below me was Lilly Valley. Seeing it, I truly understood the phrase ‘no place like home.' Lush forest and rolling hills that were like stepping stones to the Rockies in the distance surrounded the town. The place looked like a setting in a movie, and I smiled.

I pulled into Kellan's driveway. As I stepped out of the car, I looked around and took a deep breath. You never really understood how gross the air in Los Angeles was until you were in a place where the air was fresh and clean. It was like a whole new world.

The front door opened and two men, almost identical, came running out, laughing. Kris and Kellan had the same bold bright red hair as I did. Before I could even react, they'd scooped me up between them and were hugging me. The embrace from my brothers was much more emotional than I thought it would be. They were hooting and yelling, and I was on the verge of tears. Happy tears, yes, but tears nonetheless. I really had thought they'd resent me for being gone so long. A few phone calls here and there, a visit every four or five years. To be wanted, and loved, was more than I'd had in a long time.

Hugging them back, I forced my face into a smile. Inside, I felt like a terrible sister. So much time had been spent living a life that, for all intents and purposes, was shallow and empty. Here were the people who truly cared for me. In that moment, as I hugged my brothers, I decided to make things better while I was here.