Ashley N. Rostek

I’m tired. I’m tired of running, tired of hiding, tired of always looking over my shoulder. Now my guys must endure this too. The clock is still ticking in my head. I feel him circling, getting closer and closer. The fear I carry is nearly suffocating. Not for me, but for my guys.

Each of my guys is a great man and each fills a missing piece of my broken soul. I’m falling in love with them. Maybe I already have. The question is, do they love me back?

The Stone brothers are the reason I can smile again. They are my only light in the drowning darkness. What started as friendship between them and me has become something more. They want me and I want them, too. But that won’t happen with my grief tearing me apart.

My family is gone. My parents. My twin sister. All of them murdered by the man who has stalked me for years. He nearly killed me, too. But I got away and he’s still out there, searching for me. He won’t find me. At least, I hope not. Thanks to WITSEC, I’ve been given a new life with a new identity.

From a young age, I mastered how to lie and hide my pain behind a practiced smile. I was never told, but I've always known that I need to cover my punishments beneath pretty, pastel clothes and white pearls.