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PROLOGUE

Nine years ago

Junior year, University of Colorado, Boulder

WITH A WAD OF money in his pocket and a couple of beers in his system, business and journalis taken away his every mode of personal transportation back in freshman year While the deprivation had only lasted nine o—he’d never have discovered the beauty of a long walk at night if he hadn’t been without a car Walking took longer, but the cool Colorado spring air cleared his head

Yeah, the old e favor back then when he’d co up to his dorm room, pissed because Liam had moved into the dorm instead of the upscale apartment, complete with doorman, that his father had chosen for him off campus As Liam had suspected, he’d later had confirmation that his father had prepaid the doors and submit weekly written reports

The brutal match of wills that had taken place two years before hadn’t been pretty The old man had demanded—not kindly or softly, either—that Liaht had been the first tiround with his father Face-to-face, instead of in the quietly rebellious ways he’dquestions wrong on his college entrance exah to be shipped off to Harvard

But that night in his dorm, he’d called the oldhis BMW 3 Series sports car, all three boats and the Jet Skis, but the price had been a small one to pay

But huirls who lived in the rooly altercation

That was the night he’d met Gabrielle Miller and Marie Bustamante

Detouring froinning of his sophoet his car back—he headed toward an upperclassman dorm on the Boulder cao The girls hadof sophom

ore year, and again at the beginning of their junior year They’d been talking about getting an apartment for senior year Gabrielle was leery of the extra cost Marie, asin food and nutrition, wanted a place closer to the coffee shop where she’d been promoted to senior barista

Didn’tas he knehere to find them

He uy who visited a confessional before he slept off his sins, but he’d found that he woke up better that way Besides, if irl confessor instead of a priest, there’d probably be a whole lot

He knocked And waited Past et up for him Just as he’d done for theone to Denver for so to raiseshe was always volunteering at

And the tiuys trying to force her to spend the night there

He’d called his father for the first issue The old irls to Gabrielle’s mother’s house Liairls could drive it back to Boulder

The second one, the frat party that had gotten out of hand, he’d handled hiuys were too drunk to reason with, and then the next day, when they’d sobered, he’d issued threats Neither Marie nor Gabrielle had been bothered by the frat boys since

He knocked again, glanced at his watch and then tried to discern if light was co from beneath the door The sweep prevented such a tell They could both be out Marie had been dating a guy she’d met at the coffee shop Some older dude inhoer brothers played baseball for his high school tea the next day Saturday Gabi didn’t really like spending the night at her mother’s place

Not that Liahbors His BMW wasn’t safe parked out front

Just as he was turning to leave, the door opened Both girls stood there in flannel pants and baggy, thigh-length T-shirts, staring at hi up randomly—pillow hair, she called it Marie’s hair was pulled back into her usual ponytail

“You guys in bed already? It’s Saturday night” Lia down to the beanbag chair he’d left in their room freshoing to be his keepers

His conscience