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Prologue

Six years ago

Nicolette Besson was going to die

She was seriously going to drown herself if the de Vincent brothers didn’t leave the veranda Like, hold her own head underwater and never co to let the suit

Nope

She peered over the edge of the pool There was a good chance the brothers didn’t even know she was in the pool since she was on her knees in the shallow end, hiding like an idiot

What were they even doing over there, all huddled together, whispering? Knowing theood whatsoever

If her daddy knew they were out here, all crowded together like they were, with Lucian, as always, in the ans

Whatever shenanigans meant

Devlin was the oldest de Vincent, and Gabriel was the est of the brothers, and he was always in trouble Always Especially since their momma died and their sister disappeared Devlin and Gabriel looked just like their father, dark haired and intense, but Lucian and his twin took after their mother

She really hoped Lucian’s friend wasn’t with theave her the creeps He was alwaysstaring at her Which eird, because he wasn’t particularly nice to her So the same air as him, and other times, he stared at her like

Nikki shuddered, not wanting to think about that

She bit down on her lip as the ceers When were they going to leave? Her et out of the pool and then they’d see her and she would just die

Gosh, why in the world did she ever get in this pool? She couldn’t even swi had been so hot and sticky And she’d been bored sitting in one of theanywhere because Mr de Vincent was home

Mr de Vincent didn’t like noise of any kind, and all Nikki did was ot excited and forgot where she was Sitting quietly was not how she wanted to spend her suh They had—

Lucian suddenly threw his head back, laughing wildly The sound startled her and she felt her lips twitch Lucian had the best laugh It always sounded like he was seconds away fro that would most likely upset his father and make her parents shake their heads fondly

What were they doing?

Her gaze shifted to Devlin He was standing there, staring at Lucian with a blank face Gabe was grinning, though, and shaking his head while Lucian estures with his hands

Gabe was always grinning

Nikki wondered if Gabe had brought her any spare wood back froers were itching to otten her for Christ how to make beads out of the wood, the hollowed-out kind she could force string through to make a necklace or bracelet She could ask Gabe now, but then he’d see her in the pool, and she couldn’t let that happen

If there was one person she did not want to see her in her bathing suit, it was Gabe

Inching over the floor of the pool, she was careful and quiet as the water steadily rose around her A sudden gust of wind rocked the patio uarden surrounded her The sky was starting to turn gray andGreat Maybe she wouldn’t have to drown herself Maybe she’d get lucky and lightning would take her out

Because she was not letting theht from the local Kmart

No way

The de Vincents were like three brothers to her—older brothers Like waaay older Well, Gabe and Lucian treated her like a sister Not Devlin, though He acted like she didn’t exist, and that was just fine by her, because Devlin didn’t like noise either and he never smiled Like ever

Even though Nikki had just turned sixteen, she wasn’t even sure how she felt about boys other than the fact she foundher daddy that she was a late bloomer Nikki rolled her eyes She wasn’t a stupid flower or so

But the de Vincents were different They weren’t boys in any real sense of the word And everyone Nikki knew found them attractive After all, her best friend’s older sister had supposedly hooked up with Lucian and was now totally obsessed with him