Fallen Foe

ALSO BY L.J. SHEN Sinners of Saint Series Vicious Defy Ruckus Scandalous Bane All Saints High Series Pretty Reckless Broken Knight Angry God Boston Belles Series The Hunter The Villain The Monster The Rake Cruel Castaways Series Ruthless Rival Stand-Alones Tyed Sparrow Blood to Dust Midnight Blue Dirty Headlines The Kiss Thief In the Unlikely Event Playing with Fire The Devil Wears Black Bad Cruz Beautiful Graves Thorne Princess This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Otherwise, any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Text copyright © 2023 by L.J. Shen All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Published by Montlake, Seattle www.apub.com Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Montlake are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. ISBN-13: 9781542036351 (paperback) ISBN-13: 9781542036344 (digital) Cover design by Caroline Teagle Johnson Cover image: © Mark Fearon / ArcAngel; © MirageC / Getty; © Christophe Lehenaff / Getty; © Brownie Harris / Getty; © Mark Poprocki / Shutterstock To P and A. I told you we were going to run out of people to dedicate our books to. We need to start seeing other people. CONTENTS START READING PART ONE CHAPTER ONE ARSÈNE CHAPTER TWO ARSÈNE CHAPTER THREE ARSÈNE CHAPTER FOUR ARSÈNE CHAPTER FIVE ARSÈNE, FIFTEEN CHAPTER SIX ARSÈNE CHAPTER SEVEN ARSÈNE CHAPTER EIGHT ARSÈNE CHAPTER NINE ARSÈNE, SEVENTEEN CHAPTER TEN ARSÈNE PART TWO CHAPTER ELEVEN WINNIE CHAPTER TWELVE WINNIE CHAPTER THIRTEEN ARSÈNE CHAPTER FOURTEEN WINNIE CHAPTER FIFTEEN ARSÈNE CHAPTER SIXTEEN WINNIE CHAPTER SEVENTEEN WINNIE CHAPTER EIGHTEEN WINNIE CHAPTER NINETEEN ARSÈNE CHAPTER TWENTY WINNIE CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE WINNIE CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO ARSÈNE CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE WINNIE CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ARSÈNE CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE WINNIE CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX ARSÈNE CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN WINNIE CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT ARSÈNE CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE WINNIE CHAPTER THIRTY ARSÈNE CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE WINNIE CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO WINNIE CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE ARSÈNE EPILOGUE WINNIE ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Excerpt: The Kiss Thief: PROLOGUE ABOUT THE AUTHOR I understand that in our work, doesn’t matter whether it’s acting or writing, what’s important isn’t fame or glamour, none of the things I used to dream about. It’s the ability to endure. —Anton Chekhov, The Seagull PART ONE CHAPTER ONE ARSÈNE The roofs are different in Portofino. Flatter, wider, older. The pastel-colored buildings sprout from the ground, so tightly cramped together you couldn’t slide a toothpick between them if you tried. The yachts in the harbor are docked neatly and equally spaced from each other. The Mediterranean Sea glitters under the last persistent sunrays as dusk begins to fall. I lounge on the balcony of my hotel suite overlooking the Italian Riviera, watching a ladybug spinning backward on its axis, like Venus, on the marble banister. I flip the ladybug, helping it find its footing, then take a sip of my white wine. Tonight’s menu is perched in my lap. The wild boar ragù appears to be the most expensive option, which means I’m bound to order it, just to watch the idiots from accounting sweating into their risotto plates when they realize this conference is going to cost them much more than they planned to spend. Corporate events are where good ideas go to die. It is a well-known fact any trade secret worth whispering will not be aired during a formal company event. Valuable market information, like a weapon, is traded in the back alleys of the industry. It isn’t my workplace that brought us here. In fact, I have no workplace to speak of. I am a lone wolf. A quantitative trading consultant paid by the hour by hedge fund companies to help them sort through the conglomerate of potential investments. What to invest in, how much, and how to keep up with the annualized returns their clients expect of them. My friends often say I’m like Chandler from Friends. That no one has any idea what I actually do. But my job is pretty straightforward—I help rich people get even richer. “Just trying on this new dress,” a feminine voice purrs from behind the balcony door. “Shouldn’t be more than ten minutes. Don’t drink too much. You’re barely civilized for those tux-wearing cookie cutters while sober.” After frisbeeing the menu to a nearby table, I pick up the book next to me and flip to the next page. Brief Answers to the Big Questions, by Hawking. Since we are located on the top floor of the resort, I have a direct view to virtually all the other south-facing balconies overlooking the harbor. This is how I notice them at first. A couple, two terraces down from us. They are the only ones out, soaking in the last rays of the setting sun. Their blond heads bob together. His hair is corn yellow. Hers is titian, a mixture of gold and red, like scorched desert sand. He is wearing a sharp suit. She, a burgundy dress. Something simple, cheap looking, almost tarty. A call girl? Nah. Wall Street hedge fund tycoons invest in expensive-looking dates. The type with a built-in designer wardrobe, red-soled heels, and private school manners. Pretty Women only exist in fairy tales and Julia Roberts movies. Not a soul in Manhattan values charm, honesty, and quirkiness in women. No. This is a country bumpkin. Perhaps an ambitious local who found her way into his bed in hopes of earning a large tip. The couple is sharing a peach and sticky, juicy kisses. The nectar seeps down their lips as he feeds her the fruit. She grins as she nibbles on the fruit’s flesh, her gaze holding his. He kisses her hungrily, and she bites on his lower lip—hard—before his mouth rips from hers to murmur something into her ear. The girl throws her head back and laughs, exposing the pale, long column of her neck. I shift in my