Page 2 of Heartless Sinner

I didn’t do it when the stage manager of the TV series I landed my first acting job on included it in her tips for success.

I didn’t do it when my life seemed to be at that pivotal point and it felt like my next step was to reach for the stars.

I did it when I accepted I’d hit rock bottom and the only way I was going to climb back up was believing I could.

It sounds so simple, yet I’ve seen so many people start with nothing and reach their dreams. Here’s hoping the same can happen for me. Even if it feels like I had my chance and blew it over a man I should never have known.

My mind drifts to Anton as I slow the car to take the corner. The mere thought of him has goose bumps covering my skin like a colony of flesh-eating ants.

It’s funny how I used to think it was sexy that he made me nervous. I realized way too late that it wasn’t the good kind of nerves you see in those feel-good movies or romantic comedies likeBridget JonesorLove Actually.

It was theotherkind of nerves. The sort you’d experience if you were shoved into a horror movie or trapped in a Stephen King novel.

But what else did I expect from a man with links to the Bratva—the Russian mafia.

Saying I should have known better is the understatement of the century.

I was twenty-two and fresh out of college when I met him. My twenty-two year old self was also impressed that he owned a night club in Phoenix and seemed to have the world at his beck and call.

I was young and dumb. But in all honesty I firmly believe that even the average young and dumb person would have known to stay away from a man like him.

It’s been a year since Anton and I broke up, but he still makes my soul tremble with terror.

The worst thing is knowing he would have kept trying to get me back if he weren’t under investigation by the FBI for murder and drug trafficking.

He went back to Russia, but he sent me a creepy note before he left, letting me know he’d be back for me soon.

Sometimes I feel like I’m being watched and I worry I’ll run into him.

I don’t even know what I’d do if that ever happened.

I’d never go back to him. That’s the one thing I know for certain.

Anton Chekhov is the most dangerous man I’ve ever met in my life. He’s the kind of man who’d make you disappear if you pissed him off.

No one would ever hear from you again. Or you’d turn up dead somewhere.

I’ve seen it happen before.

If he didn’tlove me—in his own crazy obsessive way—it would have happened to me too.

My phone rings out loud, piercing my thoughts, and I nearly jump out of my skin.

“Jesus.” I grab my chest, breathing hard, then I feel silly for scaring myself.

With an edgy laugh, I calm my breathing and glance at my phone on the passenger seat.

It’s Lucy. My best friend/agent. She’d never normally call me this late, but I told her to call me at whatever hour—day or night—if she heard back from the casting director.

This must be the call I’ve been waiting for.God, please let it be good news.

I quickly answer the phone. “Hey, Lucy.” I try to sound alive and not like my body isn’t begging for sleep. “Please tell me it’s good news.”

“Hi, Scarlett.” There’s a hesitation in her voice I don’t like. “I’m so sorry, girl. I really wish I could give you good new. But I can’t.”

Shit.I didn’t get the part.

My chest caves and I try like hell to hold on to hope, but it melts away from my heart like ice in the heat. “Oh no. They went with someone else?”

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