Chapter One · Wren · Imola, May
The first time I see Theo Vance after the lawsuit, he is standing at the back of the Kestrel motorhome with his arms crossed, watching me come up the steps.
He has not changed in eight years. He is, if anything, more himself.
I stop on the second step.
He says, “Hi, Wren.”
The way he says it is the same way he said it the morning I told him I never wanted to see him again. Quiet. Not asking for anything.
I keep walking.
“Press conference is upstairs,” he says behind me. “You’re early.”
“I know what time it is.”
Then I am in the kitchen of the Kestrel motorhome, and the Kestrel team principal — my sister’s husband, give or take a wedding date that has not been set yet — is standing at the espresso machine in a thousand-dollar charcoal polo with three sugars in his hand. He looks up at me and he says, “Wren. Sit. We need to talk to you about Theo.”
I do not sit.
— The full first chapter is sent to waitlist subscribers when the cover reveals in spring 2026.
