Annelise

Chapter One

PIERCE DAWSON was a sharp man, if he did say so himself. Compared to the friends who flocked around his table like birds to a particularly rare seed, he was swimming in self-made affluence—but that did not mean he was willing to brag about it. As a twenty-five-year-old American male, he was well-versed in the social graces of modern society. Which meant that Pierce was perfectly content with keeping all of his sly thoughts and beliefs locked up in the recesses of his mind.

His attention drew away from his own stream of consciousness as Emilia Whitley, a colleague from Columbia University (of which they both graduated from nearly two years ago), directed her next question at him.

"That girl," she said, her lip curling in disgust as she glanced at the subject of her attention across the road. "I can't believe she's already out on the streets, preying on people at this time in the afternoon."

Adam Watts, Emilia's fiancé, nodded his head fervently in agreement. "She doesn't even go by a real name. Will Mersey told me that her name is Anna, but she told me her name is Elise."

Emilia shot daggers at him with her dark Asian eyes. "You talked to her?"

Pierce took a sip of his cappuccino and averted his gaze. Uh-oh.

Adam stumbled over his words as his tried to make up a viable excuse. "Um, I mean. She came onto me. I didn't do anything, I swear!" He raised his hands up in surrender.

Pierce continued drinking his cappuccino, uninterested in the woman they were talking about. How boring, he thought. It was getting tedious hanging out with his two "friends". For some reason, Emilia insisted on keeping in contact even after they graduated. Adam was just a plus-one; the sugar with the coffee, the salad with the steak. Not entirely necessary, but sometimes had to be there.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Pierce rolled his bright blue eyes.

"Didn't you go to school with her?" Emilia pressed, her ardent eyes on him. He was honestly getting tired of how much she tried to get to know him. He was not interested in talking about himself, and he certainly was not interested in telling her, of all people. For a brief moment, he actually pitied Adam, who, as her fiancé, was required to put up with all of Emilia's nonsense.

"Diable si je le savais." He shrugged, and then immediately regretted speaking in his mother-tongue.

He could practically see the hearts pouring out of Emilia's eyes. "Oh, wow. I love it when you speak French," she sighed as she clasped her hands over her chest.

And when Pierce did finally look at the woman across the street, it was when Emilia gasped and pointed in her direction. "Pierce, isn't that Lila?!"

Upon hearing her exclamation, Pierce whirled around, shock reflected in his gaze. Indeed, it was. He stood up abruptly and threw a random note of currency on the table. "Excuse me," he said gruffly, before gliding out of the café.

He grew increasingly alarmed as the woman crouched over to talk to Lila, face to face. Even with her back to him, he could tell it was Lila by her soft dark ringlets and pink backpack. The pair stood in front of a convenience store, which was centered right between Chuck E. Cheese's and Lila's preschool.

Lila smiled up at the stranger, completely unaware what kind of person she was associating herself with. When Pierce gently grasped her arm, Lila turned to face him with that same sweet smile. But before she could open her mouth to speak, he swiftly interjected.

"Lila, what did I tell you about talking to strangers?" he scolded her sternly.

The stranger in question straightened up and smiled at Pierce with embarrassment. "I'm sorry, she came up to me and asked me if I could escort her across the road to the café. Is she your niece?"