Book excerpt: From the New York Times–bestselling author, an electrifying romantic suspense novel of passion, betrayal—and revenge. Twelve years ago, Alyssa Rossi fled Louisiana under a cloud of scandal and criminal accusations. But her self-imposed exile in Italy comes to an abrupt end when she has to return to New Orleans for the sale of her jewelry company to an international conglomerate. There, she comes face-to-face with Clay Duvall, the duplicitous lover who betrayed her. TriTech CEO Jake Williams has no inkling that the employee behind his company’s acquisition of Rossi Designs is a man obsessed with its owner. Then Jake meets Alyssa. Tall, smart, and gorgeous, she’s a dead ringer for Clay Duvall’s wife, Phoebe, Alyssa’s first cousin and the woman for whom Clay left her. Jake finds himself falling hard for Alyssa—despite her position at the center of a storm of gossip and controversy that has raged for more than a decade. And now a murder shockingly close to home raises the stakes as a fiendishly orchestrated plot could cast suspicion on Alyssa again—or make her a killer’s final victim. Award-winning author Meryl Sawyer’s sexy and thrilling romantic suspense novels will “keep you turning pages with lightning speed” (Kristin Hannah).