Second Chance Scandal

There was no point in telling her we were going to hang out. She was already disappointed in finding us together. It would only get worse if I told her the truth and hated that I was keeping this from her.

I never kept anything from her.

“This is why I was hesitant about you moving here with me, Sophie. Jax is a charmer. He’s a flirt. You see all the random girls who come in and out of the house.”

“I know.”

“Do you?”

“I do.”

“Then I don’t need to worry about you staying away from him?”

I shook my head.

“Promise me you’ll stay away from him, baby.”

I nodded.

“I need to hear you say the words. Promise me, Sophie.”

“I promise.”

This was the first time I’d ever lied to my mom, and when I got out of the shower the next morning, I knew it wouldn’t be the last.

The Great Gatsby I was reading in his library last night was sitting on my bed.

And I knew with everything in my heart…

* * *

Jax had left it there for me.

FIVE

SOPHIE

NOW

I was exhausted.

Benjamin was only six, and he was already proving to be a rebel without a cause. Every week it seemed like it was something different with him, getting in trouble for one reason or another.

I couldn’t for the life of me figure out what was going on with him, but getting into mischief seemed to be his current pattern. Taking away his video games and grounding him wasn’t working, and I was at a loss with how to fix what was bothering him.

My son was a typical boy and hated talking about his feelings. He was as stubborn as he was loving, and he had me wrapped around his little finger. I ran seven miles on the treadmill, hoping to run off the stress and worry I felt about Ben to no avail.

After I finished my workout at the gym in our condominium, I made my way back up to our place. We were vacationing in Seattle for a few weeks, and I owned the penthouse suite of the tallest building in downtown Seattle. The whole top floor belonged to us.

Unlocking the door to our home, I walked inside and quickly made myself a smoothie. I was unable to shake the intuition that something else was happening with him. Once I was done with my shake, I set the dirty glass in the sink and inhaled what felt like my hundredth deep breath of the morning.

While walking toward my bedroom, I looked out the floor-to-ceiling glass sliders that wrapped around our entire home. I appreciated the view of downtown Seattle like I did every day. It was one of the reasons I bought this condo in the first place. I loved that you could see outside in every spot you stood in.

Although I had multiple properties, this one was one of my favorites. I was a New York Times bestselling romance author, writing under a pen name. Nobody but my closest friends and family knew what I did for a living, and I preferred it that way.

However, it was becoming harder to hide my identity from my readers. They wanted to know who I was, and I couldn’t blame them. With social media being at our fingertips, I was constantly worried that someone would figure out who was writing these love stories behind their e-readers.

They hadn’t yet, though. My team spent a lot of time making sure of it, but I knew it was only a matter of time before the truth of my identity was revealed. All I could hope for was it would be under my terms, and I wouldn’t be forced to make myself known for one reason or another.