Landen Vacheron, heir to a fortune built on oil and ambition, has lived his life as a wealthy playboy, the world bowing to his every whim, thanks to the empire his billionaire father, Colton Vacheron, forged. But as his older brother Vance steps into the role of CEO, Landen begins to see that the true cost of power and privilege is far greater than he ever imagined. Avara Du Pont is a devoted daughter who set aside her own dreams to bolster her father’s political aspirations. Unaware of his dark secrets. When it comes to light, Colton Vacheron offers him a proposition he cannot refuse; a marriage alliance between Avara and Vance, as a way for him to garner more political influence. And Mayor Du Pont will receive a king’s ransom as payment to stave off the shadows spilling into his life. Avara agrees to the fake relationship in order to protect her family from her father's criminal ties.
Simon POV
"This… can't be possible."
I check my phone for the fourth time. Avara did me a favor by sending me her father's number because now I can track him whenever I want. Even to places he has been, including the restaurant that Avara followed him to that… doesn't exist. It's gone. The doors are locked with a chain, metal shutters are sealed over every window like no one was ever here, like there wasn't a fully operating restaurant just under twenty-four hours ago.
I call Avara. After a while, she picks up.
"Not a good time."
"It's gone."
"What is?"
"The restaurant where your dad went into… it's gone. No one and nothing is here."
"That's impossible." Disbelief lathering her tone. "That place was filled with dining customers, a sketchy cooking crew, but it was packed in there. There is no way they could've shut everything down in less than a day?"