Total pages in book: 40
Estimated words: 41105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 41105 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 206(@200wpm)___ 164(@250wpm)___ 137(@300wpm)
Autumn should’ve walked away when she had the chance...
But instead, she let herself be pulled deeper into the world that surrounds Ryder—the luxury, the danger, the lies.
Every touch is addictive. Every secret drags her further from the woman she used to be.
And just when she thinks she’s found solid ground, the rules change.
The pieces are rigged.
And the one thing she wasn’t prepared to gamble…is already on the table.
Her fate isn’t just tangled with his anymore.
It belongs to him
*************FULL BOOK START HERE*************
EPISODE 1
Autumn
The clamorous sounds in baggage claim have softened to a steady hum, overpowered by the train of thought that’s roaring through my mind.
Ryder has a daughter?
The beautiful girl in front of me has his eyes—that unmistakable shade of blue—and the longer I study her delicate features, the clearer it becomes: she’s his, through and through.
I blink a few more times, still in utter disbelief.
“The most important thing in my life…”
“There’s an extra loop in your ‘R’ here.” She rubs the whiteboard with her pinky finger. “If you make it too swirly, someone may think it’s an ‘S’ and you might pick up the wrong girl. Then I’ll be left here alone.”
“I’ll remember that,” I say. “You said your name was Adele, correct?”
She nods, capping the marker. “Adele Ivy Rochester. What’s your name?”
“Autumn Jane.”
“Your mom gave you two first names.” She smiles. “Should I call you Miss Autumn Jane or Miss Jane?”
“Either is fine.”
“Okay.” She pulls a cell phone from her jacket and steps back. Then she taps the screen a few times and holds it to her ear.
“Daddy, I’m in New York with Miss Jane,” she says. “Can you talk to me right now?”
“Of course,” he says, and I realize she’s hit the speaker button. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Everything.” She suddenly looks upset. “So much bad stuff happened to me today.”
“I’m listening.”
“It’s been a never-ending nightmare…”
I lean against the luggage cart as she launches into a rapid-fire monologue. She’s speaking so fast that I can only catch bits and pieces of her words.
“I made first chair again,” “She made fun of me,” and “This train in the rain.”
Squinting at the embroidered gold letters on her blazer, I try to decipher the words.
Thornfield Boarding School
London
There’s a line of tiny print under those, but Adele turns away before I can read it. She rushes toward a baggage carousel and jumps atop the ledge. Then she tiptoes around the edge, continuing to vent to Ryder.
I type her school’s name into my phone’s search bar, and a colossal iron gate appears. The words ‘Home of the Most Brilliant Minds and Artistic Talents’ glide above it.
As I click through the website, Kylie’s name flashes onto my screen.
Unsure of whether to talk to her now or wait until I’m on the jet, I walk toward Adele.
“I shouldn’t have to do it at all,” she whines to Ryder. “What do you think?”
“I need the rest of the story, Adeline.” His voice is firm. “You know better than that.”
“Well, it’s…” She looks up at me, finally realizing her dad has been on speaker all this time. Gasping, she turns it off and rushes away from me again.
Okay, then.
“Yeah, Kylie?” I answer the call.
“Why didn’t I research the distance between Seattle and Colorado before renting a car?”
“Because you’re you.” I smile. “Logistics have never been your strong suit.”
“Well, it’s twenty hours total, and I have eighteen left,” she says. “I’ll pull over in a few to nap and head toward you after.”
“Or,” I say, “you can save yourself the time and just—”
“He makes people disappear, Autumn.” She interrupts me. “Every person who has ever been involved with this guy in one way or another winds up missing, seriously injured, or dead. No exceptions.”
Silence.
“That’s not even the worst thing I discovered in the database about him.” She breathes slowly. “He’s—He’s not a good man, Autumn.”
“What about Nate?”
“Nate will probably star in an episode of True Crime soon.” She sounds as if she’s on the verge of hyperventilating. “I told you what my dad says about domestic phone calls being recorded, so me meeting you in person is better, and it’s more than worth this drive, okay?”
I say nothing.
I stare ahead at Adele as she laughs loudly. As she makes it more than clear that she has no idea what type of man her father is.
You and me both, Adele.
“Autumn?” Kylie asks. “Autumn, are you still with me?”
“Yes.”
“Please stay the hell away from this guy and don’t speak to him until I reach you, okay?”
“Kylie, I’m already…” My chest suddenly tenses, and I’m not sure why, but something warns me not to reveal that I’m working under Ryder.
It’s the same intuition that hit me years ago when I started hiding certain secrets from everyone in my life.
“You have as many layers as I do, Autumn; you just hide them differently.” I shake away Ryder’s recent words and let out a slow, unsteady breath.
“You’re already, what, Autumn?”
“I’m already on the same page with you.”
“Okay, good. I don’t want you to mysteriously disappear…” There’s a pause. “In case you’re off somewhere when I get in, do you have a key under the mat?”
“No, just call me.”
“Okay, talk soon.”
“Talk soon.” I end the call and stare at my screen.
A small part of me wishes I never asked her to look into Ryder, but an even bigger part of me is demanding the entire truth about him once and for all.