PROLOGUE

New York, New York

1,304.3 miles away from her birthplace, the asshole-run town that held nothing but despair for her, Carissa Elliott stared out the big bay glass window into the Hudson River. Beyond was New Jersey. To her right, the George Washington Bridge with its framing lights and dominant steel columns, made her smile. She could not count the many times she sought solace in that imposing sight. It was synonymous with home and security.

And freedom.

Below the bridge and all around the island of Manhattan, the frigid waters of the Hudson reminded Carissa of her own life. During the day it was blue, bright and beautiful. At night bottomless, murky, and dangerous. Very few knew what lurked in the depths of those waters, like very few knew the demons that lurked in her life. Much like in the Hudson, there were buoys in her life that marked the places she’d been. New York had plenty of them and like every CEO, head of an organization or Boss…so did Carissa.

The landmarks of her life were very much like the ones of the city she now called her home. She had changed with her environment and all its evolutionary checkpoints.

From the day she was forced to bid farewell to the old Carissa, to her forced-rise along with her best friends, she could pinpoint it all to one event. To one meeting.

She thought of tomorrow with a mixture excitement and fear. She was going to face Alec McLean again, voluntarily this time. Hell, you invited him.

She took her boudoir chair, the gilt Queen Anne with French upholstery. It was her favorite piece in the room. Strategically placed in the higher part of the room, the elevation gave her a vantage point to her beloved view of the river and bridge.

The silk of her gown caressed her thighs as she crossed one leg over the other. She loved that feeling. She had long ago changed from a girl who wore cotton and polyester. Now she refused to let anything but the finest touch her body. Her mentality had shifted radically, like her life.

In the past two years, she had lost everything she knew and gained a whole new world. Hit rock bottom and rolled in the mud. Been lost and found. Rendered into a destitute and finally made into a Boss.