Kate’s being set up.
She has one shot to get the proof.
And Dr. Daniel is the perfect decoy.
Kate’s mother left the business and fortune to her. Not her stepfather. But Kate needs the proof, so she needs to go to the Caymen Islands to get the evidence. Her plan to take a cruise there gave her a crowd to blend in.
However bad guys after her and no one ever believes her.
Except Sexy Doctor Daniel Collins. She has no time to like anyone and trust has never been easy.
But when he offers to help her out of her predicament, keep her safe and be her pretend boyfriend, she’s starting to let him in, at least for the vacation.
At the end they were going to separate but as the cruise docks, she wishes he’d want to stay.
But a fashionista and a doctor have nothing in common. So what happened next she never expected.
Find out what and order now.
“Get out of my room, Stephanie.” Kate ripped her wet, white hotel towel off her head and threw it at the door. “Get out, now.”
“Sis…” Stephanie’s tears swelled.
Kate rolled her eyes and lifted her head higher. No. Crocodiles don’t regret anything, and no one had any idea about anything.
“Dad’s money is on hold…” her sister began.
“By the government.”
“You caused this, Kate. You turned Dad in.”
“Yep.” Kate’s nostrils flared. “He set me up to take his fall. You helped him with setting me up.”
“I didn’t.”
“Shut up.” Kate held back from throwing anything at her, but her sister needed to leave. Right now. Kate’s fingers curled into a ball, and if she was pushed any further, she was about to get violent.
Kate turned away for a moment to calm down, but the energy inside her entire body grew. “The press thinks I’m an alcoholic, drug-addicted socialite without a soul. You did that.”
“You were supposed to see reason and support me in running Mom’s company.” Stephanie tapped her foot, and the noise echoed in Kate’s ears. She bit her lips to hold back.
“Dad tried to make me marry that security exchange inspector to keep a man quiet about insider trading.” Kate jerked her head at her sister. “You agreed with him.”
“You’ve never set foot in Mom’s company since the day she died.”
Kate cracked her knuckles. Her lack of interest in the company wasn’t part of this betrayal. “Stephanie, you needed to stay out of it.”
Stephanie took a step closer. Kate’s arms shot in front of her ready to defend. Then Stephanie grabbed her arm and stayed too close. Kate couldn’t breathe and fought the urge to throw her off. Stephanie’s whine made Kate’s fist clench.
“He’s my father too and it’s my money!” Stephanie said.
Either the Miami heat or the blue ocean outside their all white hotel must have gone to Stephanie’s head.
Kate tugged her arm for freedom. “That argument worked when Dad was in the room. He’s in another state now, in jail. Now let me go.”
Stephanie dropped Kate’s arm, but stayed in her face. “You’re so ungrateful. We took care of you.”
“We?” Kate’s laughter bubbled up. “He’s only your father when you want something.”
“Kate, don’t be mean-hearted. He raised us.”
What dramatics her sister created today. When had she gone to acting school? Kate crossed her arms over her chest. “Doesn’t matter.”
“Yes it does. He’s why I invited you to my wedding,” Stephanie shouted.
Kate’s body stayed tense. She’d come to Miami for this cruise to get the bank statement from the Grand Cayman account and to open her mother’s safety deposit box. Being a Sparrow meant everyone watched everything she ever tried. “Dad set me up.”
“It’s not like you have anything in your life that’s worthwhile, so I guess you’re out to ruin my life, is that it?” Stephanie laughed. “It’s not like any man would marry you.”
The muscles ticked on her face. Kate took a few deep breaths. She wouldn’t do anything rash. “Dad spoiled you. Real men don’t like princesses who always get their way.” Kate’s nails bit into her hand, and she heard the edge in her own voice.
The press followed her everywhere. She was the billionaire heiress of a fashion empire, accused of stupid crimes she would never commit, and she refused to reveal her reasons for being here. Not to Stephanie.
She clenched her teeth. Fighting with her sister never ended well. Stephanie’s wedding had one purpose and the theatrics made her entire body tense. Her eyes narrowed and her elbows bent, ready to strike. Stephanie needed a reality check.
Kate should keep a lid on it. The second Kate had turned the evidence against her father in, the false charges against her had been dropped. Kate’s plan had been tit for tat; the charges her father put on her would now lead to his own downfall. He should have left her alone. Karma won.
Now, Kate stepped back, threw her hands to her sides, and did the opposite of good sense. She taunted her sister. “He’s so guilty.”
“There is no proof. He’ll get out, and the press on that glorious day will destroy my wedding and leave it in a shambles. I can’t chance the timing.” Stephanie fell onto the bedspread in hysterics. “I don’t know how to live without money. Please don’t ruin everything for me. I need to be married.”
“You should tell the truth, Steph.” Kate heard her heart pound in her chest; at the same moment, the waves crashed outside. “The truth frees you. Eric and you should start life honestly. You don’t love him.”
Stephanie cowered on the bed and held a pillow over her head. “I can’t. Kate, please don’t hurt me.”
What? Kate leaned closer. Her heart calmed down for that split second. She intended to lower her sister’s pillow and continue this conversation as an adult. They did not have to be at each other’s throats. She stepped forward, but the door opened.
A reporter snapped a picture. The first thing that zipped through her mind was, What a set up. The flashing lights blinded her.
Kate stepped back and turned away. Then sure enough the idiot, Eric, rode in to save his perfect, blond, blue-eyed princess. His twenty-year-old voice sounded like a teenager as he called out, “Angel!”
Idiot. Kate turned around with her arms crossed. The constant clattering of cameras clicked. Now she had even more trouble in her life. She’d had enough of this nonsense, these lies. Eric, the fool, was about to marry Stephanie. It was perfect, really. They deserved each other.
She took a step to leave the room, then stopped.
No. Even idiots have the right to know the true nature of what they marry. Kate slammed the door to block the reporter, then calmed her voice and stated, “Eric, my sister’s not in love with you.”
“She’s lying.” Stephanie bounded to her feet, and clutched the odious boy. “Kate, stop it. Can’t you be happy for me? Please don’t ruin everything. Not when we need to be a family, for Dad.”
Kate’s chest was heavy. Stephanie hadn’t always been exactly like their father. But Kate had failed to protect her. Their father’s influence had been too strong. Stephanie now stood as a manipulative, backstabbing pretty-girl who believed her bought friends were real. Kate stared into her sister’s pretty blue eyes that mirrored her mother, and stopped. “Our father is guilty. He can rot.”
Kate stared at the window with the bright light and balmy breeze coming in. She focused on the light. Light represented freedom and truth, and one day, Kate’s life would be blissfully sunny and warm. “Eric, my sister has no money. Our father has been arrested—”
“He’s innocent,” Stephanie yelled back. “There is no evidence, not like the facts against you, sis. Dad will get out…”
Not if Kate had anything to do or say about it. She bit her lip. This childishness had her head spinning. Stephanie’s wedding provided the perfect solution to everything. This cruise to the Caymans gave Kate the opportunity to drive the last nail into the coffin of this war between them.
Her mother once said whatever was in the box would answer her questions. Now she had even more questions.
Sweat formed on her forehead. The blasted city never cooled down. If Dad hadn’t set her up, Kate would have been off playing music in a traveling orchestra. Now Kate Sparrow had a new reputation: for outlandish selfishness. Well, she’d use that to get what she needed.
Her freedom beckoned.
No one better dare get in her way.