Chapter 1

I'd just gotten back from class when I heard the noise coming from inside the estate.

Erin, my housekeeper's daughter, had brought half her class over and thrown a party in my home.

Cake and frosting were smeared across the floor, and the whole place was a wreck.

She turned around and looked at me, her voice all apology.

"Vivian, I'm having a party here tonight. You'll need to find somewhere else to sleep."

A few of the friends she runs with started laughing.

"Hey, poor girl, Erin told you to leave. Are you deaf? Gutter trash doesn't get to crash our party."

I laughed. Nothing about it was funny.

Erin had been living in my house and driving my car for years, and I'd never said a word about it.

Now here she was, ordering me, the woman whose name was on the deed, out of my own home.

What neither of them knew was that I wasn't some easy mark. I was the goddaughter of the Rosen family.

If I hadn't wanted one quiet year at school, the guards my family put on me would have already stepped out of the dark.

*****

Cameron, our live-in nanny, came out with a tray of fruit. The second she spotted me, she went rigid, then hurried over.

She stopped in front of me, nervous, and dropped her voice. "Vivian, weren't you at your club meeting? What are you doing back?"

I pointed at the wreck of the living room and looked at her. "That's not your concern. What you owe me is an explanation."

"Ms. Rosen, come here. Let me explain." Cameron grabbed my hand and hauled me toward the front door.

She called back over her shoulder to her own daughter, and what came out of her mouth stopped me cold. "I'm so sorry, Ms. Carter. I'm taking Vivian out right now."

Caught flat-footed, I let her drag me out the door. I didn't fight it. I wanted to hear what else she had to say.

A whine crept into her voice. "Vivian, Erin only wanted the house for one night. Why do you have to make a thing out of it?"

"It's my house," I said. "Get them out. Now."

Her whining got louder. "Vivian, Erin has lived in that house since she was a kid. You showed up out of nowhere for school. It's yours now, fine, but she uses it once in a while. What more do you want from us?"

I hadn't expected her to say anything that shameless.

I had opened the house up because I needed somewhere to live while I was in school. When I found the live-in nanny had her daughter staying there too, I let it go.

All my leniency bought me was two people who thought the place belonged to them.

I looked her in the eye and spaced out every word. "Last time I say this. Three minutes to clear everyone out, or I have every right to throw you both out with them."

"Forget it." Her face darkened, and she turned back into the house. "Vivian, you're impossible. Stay out here and think about what you've done. No wonder your parents dumped you here and never visit. It's that temper of yours."

I went after her, and she shoved me hard enough to put me on the ground. The heavy front door slammed shut in my face.

A laugh scraped out of me. Cameron actually thought she was dealing with some rich girl nobody cared about.

I got up and tried the door. She had locked it from the inside.

My expression went flat. "Cameron, open the door. Right now."

Through the front windows, Erin and her friends watched the whole thing, and their laughter carried through the glass.

I ignored them, pulled out my phone, and made a call. Under a minute later, two big men in dark suits arrived, worked a set of tools, and had the door open without a sound.

The moment the door swung open, Erin and her friends froze. Something about the two men radiated enough menace that nobody moved a muscle.

"Wait, is that private security?" someone whispered.

"Who hired those guys?" another one said.

A second later, I stepped out from behind them.