Chapter 4

The Wellington Riding Club invitation arrived on heavy cream cardstock, embossed with gold lettering—an exclusive charity event for Manhattan's elite equestrians. I hadn't requested an invitation, which should have been my first warning. The second should have been the handwritten note: *Your presence would add such distinction to our gathering. We've missed you at the club.*

I traced my fingers over the elegant script, remembering the countless hours I'd spent in the saddle as a teenager. Before Jonathan. Before I'd become a shadow in my own life.

"Are you actually considering this?" Marcus asked when I mentioned the invitation during…