Chapter One
“New information in connectionto the Mitchell Faraday case—”
Click.
“Bestselling author Asher Dare connected to Mitchell Faraday. Sources—”
Click.
“Author Asher Dare—”
Click.
“Asher Dare—”
Click.
“Author of the popular Marshall Kane Mystery franchise—”
With a frustrated sigh, Cameron Stone turned off the television and tossed the remote onto the leather cushion beside him. It had been two hours since they’d sent their guests home. Two hours since he’d traded in his Halloween costume for a pair of sweats and a T-shirt.
Two hours since everything had gone to hell.
As promised, the security team had taken care of coordinating with the valets out front and setting up a barricade at the gate to keep back the media. Still, someone had needed to explain to guests why they were being asked to leave the Halloween party early, and neither he nor Asher had known what to tell them.
Going into a long monologue about Asher’s past didn’t seem like the best idea. Everyone would find out soon enough about his involvement in the very public Mitchell Faraday from over a decade ago. The names Kyle Anders and Landon Dwyer would become household names—at least for their fifteen minutes of fame.
Cameron gritted his teeth and exhaled sharply through his nose. Landon Dwyer was a swine, but at least he understood the guy’s motivations. As a celebrity gossip blogger, digging up people’s pasts and spreading rumors about them was practically in the job title. As for Kyle Anders, Cameron didn’t get him at all.
Kyle had lived through the same abuse and suffered the same atrocities as Asher at the hands of Mitchell Faraday. He knew better than anyone how painful those memories were. Instead of their shared past eliciting even a modicum of empathy, however, he’d shown up after fifteen years demanding money in exchange for his silence.
When Asher had refused to be blackmailed, Cameron had known the fallout was inevitable. He just hadn’t expected it to happen so soon.
Thankfully, Asher’s agent had stepped in to take charge when both he and Asher had floundered for what to say. She’d given guests just enough information to get them moving and keep them calm without actually revealing anything too private. It had been pretty damnimpressive, and not for the first time, Cameron had been glad to have Becca Taggard on their side.
Once they’d gotten everyone to their vehicles, he and Asher had watched through the security feed as complete bedlam unfolded at the gates. It was surreal to see the news vans lined along the otherwise quiet street, but it was the reporters scurrying around like ants at a picnic that had really unsettled him. The worst had been the way they’d leaned over the barricades, thrusting recorders toward the procession of cars as they yelled their questions and snapped their pictures.
He’d held his breath as he had watched his parents’ maroon SUV roll through the gates. It had taken a lot of begging to get them to leave in the first place, and he wouldn’t have been surprised if his mother had issued a few choice words to the cameras. In the end, the worst that had happened was his sister’s insane best friend, Maddie, sticking her middle finger out of the back window as they passed.
“This is fucking insane.” The cushion beside Cameron dipped when Nico dropped down on the sofa. “I mean, I expected a few reporters or whatever, but nothing like this.”
Cameron glanced at his best friend and nodded. His protests had been feeble at best when Nico had insisted on staying while everyone else was being ushered out to theircars. It was selfish, and he knew that, but having Nico there made him feel a little less alone.
“I didn’t expect so much attention, either,” he agreed.
“This?” Rounding the back of the sofa, Luke McKibbon waved a hand toward the front of the house as he lowered himself to the cushion on Cameron’s other side. “If this turns out to be anything like the trial, that out there is only the beginning.”
“You don’t think that will happen, do you?” Cameron sat up straighter, his heart beating a little faster, panic simmering just below the surface at the picture Luke painted. “I mean, this isn’t anything like that, right?”
For starters, there was no court case to drag on for months. There were no new allegations of abuse or misconduct. If Asher wasn’t so well-known, no one would even care. At least, that’s what Cameron told himself.
Luke had ditched the twigs and flowers that had constituted the entirety of his woodland nymph costume. Now dressed in a pair of black sweats with an oversized gray T-shirt he’d raided from one of the guest closets, he looked younger, more innocent, and far less vibrant than Cameron had ever seen him.
“I don’t know.” Luke shook his head. “I hope not, but it was a big case, and Asher wasn’t even famous back then. I have no idea what will happen now.”
“Yeah, but you guys were on your own back then.” Nico leaned forward, resting his elbows on his denim-cladknees. “This time, Asher can pay for an entire team to take care of this. Like that PR guy. He says he has some ideas, right?”
Luke turned toward Nico, leaning slightly to the side to look at him around Cameron. “He might be able to put a spin on it, control the story, but he can’t get rid of the media.”
