Acts of Atonement

The forbidden never tasted so sweet... 

Unattainable. That's what he is. 

Thirteen years my senior, my uncle's best friend, and my father's business partner. The man couldn't be any more unreachable if he lived on the moon itself. 

William Hawthorne has haunted my dreams for the better part of my teenage years. Coming in like a dark knight on the most tragic of days, he swooped in and quietly guided me back to sanity, offering me the support I so desperately needed. 

Over the years I've done my best to stay away, recognizing he is utterly off-limits. And avoiding him worked... until it didn't. 

A series of events have landed me on his doorstep. Literally. I'm both the nanny and his charge, making it practically impossible to stay away. 

I swallow thickly as I close the distance to my new home, silently reminding myself of what I know to be true. Life is cruel, and its penchant for torturing me hasn't changed. 

It seems the sins of my past have finally come to bite me in the ass, and keeping my secrets will be harder than ever. I have to bury my secrets and stay the course. Letting William see me, the real me-all battered and broken inside, pining after a love I cannot have-is not an option. 

As the front door swings open I give myself one last warning. But I have to wonder, will it be enough?