He arrives all in black. Diamond cufflinks. On his tanned wrist is a watch that costs more money than we have ever seen in our entire lives. He carries one red rose for my mother. A few months later, Tiernan Morelli places red roses on my mother’s grave. That same day he tells me that he is my new guardian. I should have realized from the start that he has more in common with thorns than roses. Now I know the truth: I am a pawn in his dangerous game of revenge. I was too young and naive. Now it is too late to escape his clutches. I belong to him.