Pine River was supposed to be a new start for me. And it was, especially attending school with my three overprotective cousins, who were the triplets at the top of the social hierarchy. Except they weren’t alone there, and the first day when I came to school, I saw him. Scout Raiden. Tall. Lean. Tattooed. Mesmerizing. He was a golden god with dark and piercing eyes—looking like he wanted to eat me up. The feeling was mutual, and that was a problem.

There once was a girl with fireflies in her eyes and music in her soul. Remember her... she's important. She's the reason I panic-bought the little brick house on Maple Street, the one I lived next door to for eight magical years. Now that I'm back digging up floorboards and lost journals, I can't stop thinking about the two people who grew up here. You see, that girl was my best friend, and this house was once hers. She also had a big brother who was my everything before circumstances turned us into nothing more than memories.

Warning: This is a dark romance stand-alone that contains violence, strong language, and graphic sexual situations. He's the silent neighbor who vanishes at night and reappears when the morning news is reporting on the latest victim. How do you know this? You watch him through the curtains as his silent stalker. Everything about him is twisted, but you can't get past his stare. It's hypnotizing and the hardest pull you've ever experienced...you know it's all wrong. Then he walks through your front door covered in blood. Who will you trust?

When I asked my best friend to run away with me at 16, I knew he’d say no. He had football, an amazing family, and a happy home to go back to every day. So the night I snuck out of his bedroom window after hugging him goodbye, I’d accepted I’d probably never see him again. Then we both wind up at Lindon University four years later.

It started out like any other Tuesday. I spent 12 hours writing algorithms for one of the largest companies in the world and then came home to work on a pet project of mine—feeding facts about the men I knew into a formula to find my perfect match before my twenties came barreling to a close.