Page 1 of Echoes of Sin

Prologue

Brooke

Eight Years Ago

“Can you believe this?” My best friend Lara was so hyped she was practically bursting with excitement, and all because we were invited to the college party of the year. “We’re going to the Winter Valley University Holiday Bash!” She giggled as she leaned forward to get her eyeliner just right. “Aren’t you excited?”

“Not really, no.” I didn’t want to drag Lara down with my mood, but I really didn’t want to go to this party. I was only going because she was so excited about it. “It still doesn’t seem real.” I expected it to be yet another joke, another prank by the rich kids who looked down on us. But Ilya had invited me, and he wasn’t like the other students.

“It is real,” she screeched. “It’s real and Ilya invited you, Brooke. He wouldn’t have done that if he didn’t want you there.”

“I know, but that doesn’t make it feel real. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to relax, you know what that lot are like.” Ilya had promised me that no one would bully us. When I’d gotten a scholarship to Winter Valley University to study finance, I thought the days of high school bullying would be done with, but college opened up a whole new level of cliquey, in-crowd bullshit. Winter Valley was one of the more prestigious colleges in the state. Despite growing up in town, attending college here had been a pipe dream, but my high school principal had suggested I apply for a scholarship, and now I was here, working my way towards my dream of becoming an accountant.

If I’d thought that being a college freshman would remove any social dividers, I was mistaken, and Lara and I found ourselves as outsiders. Until somehow, I’d attracted the attention of Ilya Kuznetsov, the son of a Russian business magnate and the coolest guy in WVU. He had movie star looks, an accent that made my knees tremble, and was so much more sophisticated than us. There was zero chance that someone like that would ever look at me—except he had.

A few weeks ago, I’d been working on an assignment in the library, and a deep, accented voice asked if he could sit at my table. We’d got chatting and had been meeting for library dates twice a week since then. I say dates, because he was so much older and sophisticated, I thought he was just being friendly, until he’d asked me to the holiday party.

I turned and eyed my reflection in Lara’s mirrored doors. Even though I wasn’t excited about this party, I had taken extra care with my outfit. The green sweater dress highlighted my assets and hid my flaws, and the black over-the-knee cable tights were a nice and fashionable touch along with the ankle booties. “How do I look?”

“Amazing,” Lara gushed. “Your eyes look gorgeous in that dress. Just let me add a little something to make it pop.”

I stepped back and shook my head. I felt pretty and that was enough, anything more and I’d feel like a fraud. Well, more of a fraud than I already felt like rubbing elbows with the sons and daughters of senators, CEOs and even a few royals from around the world. They were the usual types who attended WVU, and not two smalltown girls from blue collar families.

“Oh please, you look so smokin’ hot, Ilya is definitely going to kiss you. Maybe even slide his hands under that dress.” Lara wiggled her eyebrows and I laughed.

“Can you imagine that? Him kissing me?” It was completely unthinkable that Ilya Kuznetsov, the hottest guy in college, wanted me.

“Um, damn right I can. Who better to have your first kiss as a college freshman with, than a sexy foreign Prince Charming with an accent that makes your knees go all wobbly?”

“Maybe a certain gorgeous linebacker?” I wiggled my brows at the secret on-again off-again relationship she had with Chad Manning, one of our college’s star football players.

Lara’s cheeks turned bright red, and she glared at me via the small vanity mirror. “It was a good enough kiss, but nothing like yours will be like.”

I shook my head because I didn’t want to think about it too much. I was already anxious about this party, and even more so because it was being held at Ilya’s parents’ house, a giant stone mansion on the hill that looked more like a castle. That was another thing that set him apart, he wasn’t staying in the dorm rooms like the rest of us. He had his own self-contained apartment above his parents’ garage. “Ready?”

Lara nodded and slipped on her knee-high, red Christmas boots, then checked herself out from all angles. “Do I look okay?”

“You look great,” I assured her, because she did. Lara was easily one of the prettiest girls at college. If not for the fact that her mother was an HR manager and her dad a loan officer, she’d be among the most popular girls. Those perfectly respectable careers were nothing, when other parents were part of the one percent.

The party was in full swing when we arrived, and I wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not. But we were able to slip inside without being noticed, and that was okay with me.

“Looking good, Lara. Really good.” Chad had spotted her right away and made his way over. “Dance with me.”

I was happy for my friend despite the way my shoulders slumped at her quick abandonment. Now I was vulnerable to the wolves. Before my nerves could carry my feet out of this mansion and back to town, I spotted Ilya, and he was all I could see.

He was so good looking in his cream sweater and black wool pants, more stylish and sophisticated than the other guys in chinos and jeans. His golden blond hair was perfectly styled with the little swoop in the front, and short on the sides. His pale blue eyes locked with mine as he made his way across the room, and I had to suppress a shiver that was now familiar whenever he was nearby. How was it possible he could be so beautiful? He already had a sharp jawline that I knew would be even more gorgeous in a few years.

“Brooke, you look very beautiful.”

My knees wobbled at both the compliment and his sexy accent. “Thank you, Ilya. You look good too, but you always do.”

He smiled. “I’m happy you’re here. I wasn’t sure if you would come.”

“Me either,” I admitted with a shy smile. “But I’m glad I’m here now. It’s a lovely house.”

He shrugged. “It is all right, a little too big. Want a tour?”

“Sure. Start with your favorite part.” I didn’t really care about the house. I’d spent last summer working with a cleaning service to save up money to pay for whatever my scholarship wouldn’t cover when I started college, and if you’ve seen one lifeless box, you’ve seen them all.

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