Chapter 1: The Sunday Lie
The air in the sanctuary was thick with the scent of old wood and incense, but all I could smell was the faint, ozone tang of my laptop cooling fan.I sat in the front pew, my hands folded neatly over a floral-print Bible. To my parents, I was the picture of devotion—Lima, their perfect, silent daughter. But beneath the lace hem of my white Sunday dress, a burner phone was taped to my thigh, and it was vibrating with a rhythm that meant someone was trying to break through my firewall.I didn’t blink. I didn’t move. I just kept my eyes on the altar, playing the part.“Amen,” the congregation whispered.I whispered it too, but my mind was miles away, deep in the encrypted servers of a billionaire I was currently robbing. Being a "Finder" meant I saw the world in code. While everyone else saw stained glass and heard hymns, I saw backdoors and vulnerabilities.The service ended, and the heat of the midday sun hit me as we stepped onto the church porch. That’s when I saw him.He was leaning against a matte-black Ducati, looking like a sin dropped into the middle of a Sunday afternoon. Leather jacket, boots that had seen too many miles, and eyes that didn't belong in a small town like this. He wasn't looking at the church. He was looking at me."Lima, dear, are you coming?" my mother asked, her hand resting on my shoulder."In a second, Mom. I think I dropped my earring," I lied smoothly. I was a master at it.I waited for them to walk to the car before I turned toward the stranger. As I passed him, the vibration on my thigh stopped. My phone screen flickered in my pocket. A proximity alert."You're late, Saint," he said. His voice was a low growl that sent a shiver straight down my spine—not the kind of shiver that comes from fear, but the kind that comes from recognizing a predator.I didn't stop. I didn't even look back. "And you're loud, Damon. Some of us have a reputation to keep.""Your reputation is a mask," he called out, his tone dripping with a dark, knowing amusement. "And I’ve always preferred what’s underneath."I got into my parents' car, my heart hammering against my ribs. He knew. I didn't know how, and I didn't know why, but Damon had seen through the Sunday best to the girl who lived in the dark.And for the first time in my life, I wasn't sure if I wanted to hide.
