I didn’t do it. I never betrayed my friend. Last year, I was kidnapped along with presidential candidate’s daughter Lindsay Bosworth, forced to help her assailants, my mother implicated in one of the biggest political scandals in American history. I've been cleared of any wrongdoing, but that doesn’t matter. Once you’re tried by the media, you’re guilty as sin. The truth doesn’t get the public’s attention. But shame? Shame sells. And everyone assumes you’re tainted.

Shot in the head by a brutal assassin during a case of mistaken identity, poor Lily’s been in a coma for over a year. When she emerges, her killer is right in the room, standing next to the man who saved her life.

The first time I met Hudson Rothschild was at a wedding. I’d received an unexpected invitation to one of the swankiest venues in the city. Hudson was a groomsman and quite possibly the most gorgeous man I’d ever laid eyes on. He asked me to dance, and our chemistry was off the charts. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to get involved with him, considering the wedding I was at. But our connection was intense, and I was having a great time. Though the fun came to a screeching halt when Hudson figured out I wasn’t who I’d said I was.

On a rainy night, I drove my overstuffed junker car back to a town I never expected to see again. And when I needed a rescue by the side of the road, a six-foot-tall piece of hot, unfinished business named Mark was what the universe sent me. Three years earlier, I’d fled town (and Mark) to follow my wrongly convicted father to his federal prison, working crappy jobs to stay afloat and visit him every second I could. But now, Dad’s dead, and I’m mysteriously offered the best job of my life at the college where his life blew up when he was accused of a crime he didn’t commit.

I lie for her. I hunt for her. I kill for her. And above all, I betray my mission for her. Our training taught me to be a sociopath. A machine. A pawn.