PROLOGUE
BASH
Ireland is fucking beautiful.
But that’s not why I’m here, and I absolutely don’t have the time or even the desire to sightsee.
The whole place smells like rain and old stone, and I love it. Ivy crawling up the sides of buildings that have probably been standing longer than anything in Castlebrook where I’m from. The campus of St. Killian rises out of the fog like something out of a gothic novel, and I’ve got a tingling feeling from my toes to my ears. I’m one step closer to where I’m meant to be.
People come here for the prestige.
For the history.
For the romance of it all.
I came here for one reason…theonlyreason.
Livingston Rhodes. My songbird.
It's been ten years since the first and only time I’ve been in the same place with her.
That’s exactly how long I’ve been looking for her.
An entire decade of thinking about her, wondering if she was okay, and knowing that she would be better if we were together. My obsession with Livy changed over the years, intensified, and now it’s full-blown. Nothing will stop me. I saved her life thenight her parents were killed, and she’s been burned into my mind ever since. We were only ten when we met, but I knew she was special. I knew, maybe not in the way I know now at twenty, that we belonged to each other. Despite the fact that I have a twin brother, Livingston Rhodes, is without a doubt my other half. My soulmate. She is the one I belong to, even if she doesn’t remember me. I have spent all of my teenage and adult years digging through records, teaching myself how to hack every system that I thought might have even the faintest bit of information on my girl. I’ve never given up, and the more I learn about her, the more deeply connected I feel to her. I wasn’t supposed to be at that lodge that night, but my father had brought me on a whim to attend one of his shady business meetings. It was fate. I was meant to hear my songbird humming and wander off to find where the beautiful melody was coming from. She needed me then, and I know she needs me now.
For the longest time, I thought maybe I was chasing rumors. At one point everything regarding my girl was wiped from the mainstream internet, and I wondered if I had dreamed her up. That’s when I bartered with Caiden Grey. If it exists, he can find it. He gave me a lead and a set of skills I’ve mastered over the last few years. It’s been slow, agonizing, but I’m finally here in the same place she’s hiding out.
My father is a piece of shit, and while I considered it for a while, I know he didn’t have Livy’s parents killed. I would have killed him myself if he had. If I knew he put her in any sort of danger, I would have ended his life without a second thought.
Whoever killed her parents is still out there, which means my girl is still in danger. Her father was a low-level criminal, which makes things more difficult than if he were a high-level member of the Black Crown Society or even an important player in the Castlebrook mafia underworld.
My jaw tightens as I make my way across the campus. I think about how this all came to be. Caiden was the one who tipped me off. World champion bull rider. Castlebrook Falls legend. A man with connections that stretch so far across the globe it’s honestly terrifying.
When Caiden calls, you answer. But I’ve taken care of some shit for him when he was in a bind, and he looks out for me because of it.
He called me and said someone had been asking about Livingston Rhodes through an anonymous inquiry that even his best hackers can’t trace. But because of the inquiry, he was able to figure out why they had a sudden interest. Livingston’s name was public again, and so was her location.
I didn’t ask any questions.
I packed a bag.
Three hours later, I was on a plane to Ireland.
Caiden handled the rest. A spot at St. Killian. Paperwork that would take normal people months to arrange.
I owe him big time, and that’s fine.
Because I would burn the entire fucking world down if it meant finding Livy.
And tonight, I finally did.
The research library at St. Killian University looks like a cathedral. Vaulted ceilings decorated with crystal chandeliers. There are massive stained-glass windows spilling pale moonlight across rows of long oak tables.
It’s quiet.
Almost empty this evening, and that’s just what I was hoping for.
I’ve done enough sneaking around over the years to slip in and remain unseen. I haven’t seen her yet, but I’ve been getting updates from one of Caiden’s little minions who hacked the cameras on campus. She’s on her way here, and I’m irrationallyjealous that someone else is watching her right now. I’ll have to cut off his access once I get settled in and can hack into the surveillance system myself. I lean against the back of a towering bookshelf, the hood of my black sweatshirt pulled up over my head, trying to keep my breathing steady.
