She ran to escape a stalker. He walked away from a career chasing danger. The only person who can keep her safe… is the one she’s afraid to trust.

Fleeing a stalker who turned her life upside down, beauty influencer Katrina Bowen heads south to a sleepy coastal town, hoping to disappear. She cuts ties with her old life, including her 200,000 followers, and tries to blend in. Falling for someone new is the last thing on her mind—especially when trust could cost her everything.

Benjamin “Ben” Wyatt left law enforcement to escape the ghosts of a case that went wrong. Now he finds peace in running his landscaping business and keeping his past buried. But when he meets Katrina, he recognizes the fear she tries to hide. She’s in danger and no matter how much he tries to resist getting involved, his instincts and his heart won’t let him walk away.

Chapter 1

Atlanta, Georgia Thursday, June 5 at 11:48 p.m.

Katrina Bowen stared at the stranger in the mirror. A tear formed in the corner of her eye and slowly slid down her face. Before she knew it, more tears flowed until her high cheekbones shined. She lifted her right hand to touch her hair.

What was left of it.

What have I done?

She ran her hand over the dark, short natural curls that remained.

He took everything from me!

Katrina turned away from the mirror and swiped at her face as if she could remove the memories of the past few months. Taking a deep breath, her eyes fell on the honey blonde locs strewn across the bathroom floor. Her signature look had earned her over two hundred thousand followers across her social media platforms.

@KatsGlowUp. That’s who she’d been. Who everyone knew her as on Instagram, YouTube and TikTok.

She’d spent countless hours recording and then editing short and long form videos. After years of posting black hair care and beauty product reviews, the sponsorship deals poured in. She’d met her goal of becoming a bona fide content creator. No more nine-to-five jobs for her. At twenty-seven, she’d been at the top of her game, establishing herself as a well-known influencer. Katrina had contemplated deleting it all. But why go to that extreme? Instead, she deactivated her accounts, hanging on to a thread of hope.

But she had to disappear. Now!

She swallowed hard as she gathered up the locs placing them into a plastic bag. Katrina had stripped down so much of her life the past few days. Last week, she’d paid the last four months on her apartment’s lease, telling her landlord she was moving for work. Katrina had loved that place so much she’d started another YouTube channel a year ago. Sharing her bargain store finds and DIY projects with her followers had brought immense joy.

She’d been living her dream.

Then he came into her life.

Julian Cross.

The thought of his name made her head throb. Tears welled up in her eyes again, but she had to pull it together. Now wasn’t the time to fall apart.

She had to get out of here. Before he knew she’d left Atlanta.

“Kat? Are you okay, honey?”

Startled, she turned around to find her aunt Lola standing in the hallway dressed in her white robe. Despite the late hour and being fifty-three, Aunt Lola still moved with the grace of a dancer. Her legacy made the Lola Davis Dance Academy the most prestigious training facility in the South.

“Your hair,” her aunt covered her mouth with her hand.

“It was time for a change.” Katrina forced lightness she didn’t feel into her voice.

Lola’s eyes narrowed. “You’ve been holed up in the guest room all week. Barely eating. And now this. What’s really going on?”

“Trying something new, Auntie. That’s all. You’ve worn your hair short for years.” Katrina had always loved how feminine her aunt kept her short, natural hair, now a salt and pepper mix of tight curls.

Lola shook her head. “No! It’s that man, isn’t it? When he came by the house on Monday, I knew something was wrong.”

Fear rose up in Katrina’s throat.

Because he’d tracked her here.

Still clutching the bag with her shorn locs, Katrina moved past her aunt toward the guest bedroom. She had condensed her entire life into a tote bag and two suitcases. The ring lights, the camera equipment, the packages that had once flooded her apartment, she’d donated or sold. She’d even gotten rid of shoes and clothes, only keeping apparel she couldn’t bear to give away.

“Katrina Noelle Bowen.” Her aunt followed her into the room. “Talk to me. What is going on?”

Katrina stuffed the bag into the small trash can by the door. Her stomach lurched, as if she’d thrown away something precious. “It’s better if you don’t know.” Her voice came out sharper than she intended. The less her aunt knew, the better.

Aunt Lola crossed her arms, her eyebrows raised. “You made Julian seem like such a nice young man. Did something change?”

Katrina’s jaw clenched. A year ago, the first time she’d met him at an influencer gala, Julian seemed nice. The charming tech entrepreneur had been featured in Forbes and given TED talks about innovation. She couldn’t believe the Julian Cross had been interested in her. He’d opened her world, introducing her to places and things that she never experienced.

But over the last few months, she’d discovered the real Julian Cross.

That version scared her.

“Auntie, please. I can’t talk about this right now. I appreciate you letting me crash here this week, but I need to go.”

“Go where?” Aunt Lola let her arms fall to her sides. “Well, will you at least let me know you’re okay once you get where you’re going?”

“Of course.” Katrina pulled the prepaid phone from her pocket, one of three she’d bought with cash at different stores across the city. “I’ll call you,” Katrina set the small, plain phone in her aunt’s hand. “On this phone only.”

Her aunt’s eyes widened at the unfamiliar phone. “Katrina, what did that man do to you?”

Katrina almost put her fingers to her lips as if to shush her aunt, but she didn’t want to alarm her aunt any further. The last thing Katrina wanted to do was to pass along the paranoia that had consumed her over the past few months. It was enough that Julian had been here, at her aunt’s house, looking for Katrina. She knew what he could do. The last thing she wanted was to get her aunt involved in the mess Katrina had gotten into.

“Auntie, I promise I’m handling it. This…” She pointed to the infamous burner phone. How often had she seen one of these on television or read about them in a book? “I can’t leave a digital trail. Nothing he can… track.”

Aunt Lola held her hands to her chest. “Track! I don’t understand any of this. Kat, you’re scaring me.”

Katrina grabbed her aunt’s hand. “I’m just being careful. That’s all. I’ll call in a few days to let you know I’m safe.”

Aunt Lola shook her head. “And what am I supposed to tell people when they ask about you? What happens to all the people who follow you on the internet? People at church?”

Katrina shrugged. She couldn’t be concerned with people right now. Her goal was to get away from one person. “Tell them I’m taking a break. Mental health and all that. Everyone will understand.”

Besides, her mental health had gone downhill, and she couldn’t take it anymore.

Her aunt studied her face for a long moment. “I don’t like this.”

“Believe me, I don’t either.” Katrina hugged her aunt.

The older woman who’d served as her surrogate mother wrapped her arms around her, hugging her so tight, Katrina almost couldn’t breathe.

“Auntie, I need to go.” She stepped back, reached down and grabbed the large tote bag, swinging it over her shoulders. Then she wheeled the two suitcases out into the hallway. Her aunt silently followed behind her toward the front door.

Katrina turned to face her aunt. Tears stung her eyes again at the sight of the woman who’d been her rock since Katrina lost her parents. Fifteen years old, scared and angry at the world, but this woman lifted her up, encouraged her, and even disciplined her.

In some ways, Katrina felt like she’d let her aunt down.

Let her parents down.

Somehow she’d missed something in all the training and advice, getting sucked in by a man who could destroy her.

Her aunt touched her shoulder. “Call me when you can. Even if it’s just for a minute. I will pray for you. I know God will watch over you.”

It was pitch black except for the light on Aunt Lola’s front porch. Katrina dragged the suitcases toward the used black Honda Civic she’d bought with cash three days ago. Nothing that would draw attention. Her silver Audi sat in the dealership lot. Might have even been sold by now.

She loved that car. Her first major purchase on her own.

Funny how the flowers delivered to her apartment after she’d blocked Julian’s number hadn’t done it. Nor the comments on her posts from fake accounts that knew too much about her daily routine. Not even the photos of her at the coffee shop or the gym, nor those of her walking to her car, clearly showing someone had been following her.

No, the last straw had been realizing Julian had known where she was every moment. Nowhere was safe. Every photo location, every tagged restaurant, every casual check-in. She’d built a map for anyone willing to follow, and Julian had been following. He’d turned her privacy into his personal challenge to penetrate. Even after she stopped actively sharing her location, somehow Julian knew.

Katrina’s eyes darted around as if expecting something or someone to jump out of the shrubbery that lined her aunt’s driveway. She quickly packed up the trunk and then slid into the driver’s seat, immediately locking the doors. The car still felt foreign to her. Even though she’d bought it with her own money, it didn’t feel like her car. She glanced over to see her aunt had closed her front door. Seeing the shut door, Katrina felt even more alone.

She took a deep breath and started the car’s engine. It was already well after midnight when she backed out of her aunt’s driveway.

Katrina checked her rearview mirror, constantly looking for signs of being followed. As Atlanta’s skyline disappeared, she tried not to think about what she was leaving behind. It wasn’t the apartment, the sponsorships, or the followers that bothered her. It was the version of herself she’d struggled to build after losing her parents over a decade ago.

Her identity had been stripped.

Because this all felt like she was starting all over again.

Now who am I?