Chapter 2

The necklace the bandits tore off my neck got sold into the black market. From there, it changed hands again and again, traveling halfway around the world.

I followed its pull back to Manhattan. Through the same familiar door, I floated into Bastien's penthouse.

A party was in full swing. Champagne, oysters, a cellist in the corner, a room full of people dressed to the nines.

At the center of it all stood Bastien, in a black tux, glass in hand, looking at Posey beside him.

Posey wore a white strapless gown. Around her neck was my mother's sapphire necklace—the one that had still been sitting in my jewelry box before I was dumped in the desert.

"Thank you all for coming tonight to celebrate Posey's twenty-fourth birthday." Bastien raised his glass. "It's also our engagement party."

Applause. Cheering.

I drifted above the crowd and caught two women whispering in the corner.

"Sable was still Bastien's fiancée three months ago. Now they can't even wait for her to come back before throwing an engagement party."

"I heard Sable's shares in Merritt Geological got frozen too. Posey's voting on her behalf now."

"Did you see Posey redid her whole office already?"

So it wasn't just the necklace.

Gage stood closest to the couple, gazing at Posey like she hung the moon, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Posey is the pride of the Merritt family. She deserves this a lot more than someone who's only ever been jealous and destructive."

The day they left me behind, I'd asked Gage for a sip of water. He handed his canteen to Posey instead—her lips were barely even dry—then turned to me and said, "Posey's weak. Don't fight her over it."

While Bastien stepped away to work the room, Posey walked over to the hallway mirror. She reached up and touched the sapphire at her throat.

A waiter passed with a tray. She stopped him, voice low. "I told you already. Take down every photo of her in the study. This house doesn't need any trace of her left in it."

The waiter nodded and walked off. Posey pressed her lips together, looking at her own reflection. Her eyes went red. Then she turned and hurried back to Bastien's side, all smiles.

Now here they were, drinking champagne to celebrate.

And my body was still lying in the Sahara, getting picked apart by vultures.

"Bastien... Sable still isn't back?" Posey lowered her eyes, her voice going soft and trembling. "It's exactly three months today. She's out there alone in the desert. What if something happened to her? Maybe we should send someone to check on her."

The warmth drained out of Bastien's face instantly.

"Don't bring up that woman. There's plenty of water and food at that outpost. She's not going to die. She still won't admit what she did, so let her sit there. The day she's learned her lesson and knows how to apologize to you, we'll let her crawl back."

Gage backed him up. "Posey, you're too soft-hearted. Sable's the type who never learns unless she suffers for it. Forget about her. Tonight's about you. Don't let someone who has nothing to do with this ruin it."

Someone who has nothing to do with this.

I watched them clink their glasses together.

There was a time when one frown from Bastien could keep me up half the night. A time when Gage scraping his knee on a survey would have me in tears.

Now they were toasting right above my head, and I felt nothing at all.

"Sir." The butler cut through the crowd, leaning in close to whisper in Bastien's ear. "There's a consular officer from the U.S. Embassy downstairs. Says it's urgent—something about Miss Sable. He needs to see you right away."

Bastien's brow creased.

"Send him in. Let's see what game Sable's trying to play this time."