Sienna Rivers was eleven when both her hopes for a normal childhood and her father’s career as a serial killer came to an abrupt end.

The night began innocently enough as Sienna packed for her first sleepover. She’d never been invited to even visit anyone’s house before, and deep down she knew it was because she wasn’t anything like the other girls. She’d witnessed them during enough lunch periods to understand being forced to adhere to a strict diet rich in vegetables and protein was abnormal. She listened in on enough conversations to doubt any of them were made to run three miles on the treadmill every morning, or religiously care for their hair like it was a separate living entity. She noticed a few of them had started experimenting with basic makeup, like mascara and eyeshadow. Sienna shuddered at the idea of someone seeing her freckles in public.

The invitation to Rowan Holloway’s birthday party had been a spur-of-the-moment decision that occurred shortly after Stewy Rogers had called Sienna a “freak of nature” when she’d thanked the lunch lady for a generous helping of broccoli. With the exception of Rowan, everyone in the line around them had cackled with malice. Sienna, having been groomed to remain poised in public, held her composure until after she’d finished her lunch and could lock herself in a bathroom stall. Rowan had been in the restroom and overheard Sienna crying. She’d offered kind words to calm Sienna before the offer to attend the sleepover was made.

Sienna’s family was as wealthy, if not more wealthy than the other families that attended the private elementary school in Brooklyn, yet her classmates had treated her like an outcast for as long as she could remember. She didn’t believe it was because she was a reigning beauty queen, because she was certain almost none of them actually cared. She was also certain it wasn’t because she was smart, or because she maintained the best manners of anyone in her school.

Whatever the reason, it only added to her complex as someone who was taught to project nothing less than perfection. She longed to be accepted. She wanted to be surrounded by as many friends as Rowan Holloway. She wished boys would notice her for reasons other than her abnormalities. She yearned to snack on candy bars while drinking a can of soda like Rowan and her friends often did over the lunch hour. While she’d been presented with countless opportunities to try what her mom would deem “junk food” at school, she was certain her mother would notice if she packed on so much as a single pound. “If you don’t control your weight, it will control you,” her mother was constantly reminding her. “Discipline and determination are what make you beautiful, Sienna. Not genetics.”

While carefully folding her pajamas, Sienna’s gaze skipped around the contents of her bedroom. What would Rowan think of her room, she wondered. The abundance of large pageant trophies and awards lining a wall of shelves would undoubtedly overwhelm someone unfamiliar with a lifetime of competitions. Aside from those, she wanted to believe it was a typical room for a girl her age, complete with a 4-poster bed and dainty nightstands. Knickknacks from her younger years filled a shadow box, mostly memorabilia from the cities she’d visited during competitions. In the windowsill overlooking their condominium’s meticulous courtyard, a collection of shells and sand she’d personally harvested while visiting her aunt filled mason jars. Years prior, the bedroom walls had been painted the same soft lilac color as the dainty flowers in her duvet. At the same time, contractors had installed built-ins that now overflowed with countless books.

Reading was one of the few leisurely activities encouraged by her mother, and she’d amassed an impressive collection of paperbacks. She didn’t favor any certain genre—women falling in love, dogs on adventures, aliens invading earth, pirates sailing the high seas—everything was fair game. Each evening after homework, exercise, and her daily beauty regimen were complete, she’d lose herself in a new adventure. Most recently, she’d discovered a tale about a boy living under a stairway who learned he was a wizard, and she was unable to put it down. She connected with the boy on a level she couldn’t explain.

She’d admittedly outgrown the poster of baby kittens wearing little hats that hung over the cluster of pretty pillows on her bed, but her father had won the poster by throwing baseballs at bottles the only time he’d ever taken her to Coney Island. She refused to take it down as that trip had marked one of the last happy memories involving her father before his absence became the norm.

Sienna’s father put in grueling hours as one of Manhattan’s most successful financial advisors, and travelled often on business—or so Sienna’s mother was made to believe. Sienna longed for the days when she’d been able to make him laugh in his deep voice. On the rare nights he was home before her bedtime, he’d sometimes allow her to watch his favorite television shows even though they were for grown-ups and the actors said bad words. Whenever he’d read her stories in animated voices, she’d giggle until her stomach hurt. She believed he was a good man with a big heart, like the time he showed up late to her kindergarten choir concert, and had apologized afterwards with a stunning bouquet of red spider lilies wrapped in a thick white ribbon. They were the coolest flowers she’d ever seen. Little did she know, the sight of spider lilies would one day chill her down to her core.

While she dug through her walk-in closet in search of her favorite sandals, shoving her collection of outgrown pageantry dresses aside, she shook her butt when Ric Ocasek commanded her to “shake it up.” Her aunt Taylor had given her a stereo two Christmases prior, and was constantly sending Sienna a vast array of music burned onto CDs. Although dancing in her closet seemed a silly thing to do, and most definitely something her mother would frown upon, the anticipation of the sleepover shimmered through her veins.

“What on earth do you think you’re doing?”

The sound of her mother’s stern voice from the doorway made her snap to attention with the precision of a soldier reporting to his commanding officer.As she turned away from her closet, she prayed the nervous quiver in her lips was undetectable.

Vanessa Rivers was a petite, strikingly beautiful brunette with piercing hazel eyes and flawlessly propionate features that were normally only achieved with the help of a plastic surgeon. As the wife of a wealthy man, whatever time wasn’t devoted to Sienna was usually spent attending elegant luncheons and charity events. She wore designer labels, carried herself with the poise of a royal, and ensured she never had so much as a single strand of hair out of place. As she stood before Sienna in a pink cocktail dress, hair fashioned into a tight bun, several carats worth of diamonds dripping from her slender neck and delicate earlobes, she possessed all the favorable traits of a beauty queen.

Because her mother’s childhood had always remained a mystery, for all Sienna knew, she’d participated in pageants too. Sienna had never seen a single picture of either of her parents taken before their wedding, and she’d never met either sets of her grandparents. When she’d once asked why her parents never wanted to visit their families in California, and why they’d never taken her there, her mother had simply stated family wasn’t of importance to them.

With trembling hands, Sienna smoothed the creases on her white ruffled shirt. “I’m sorry, mother. I thought I was alone. I’m just listening to one of the CDs aunt T sent—”

“I’m not referring to your insolent behavior.” Lips tight, one of her mother’s french tipped nails gestured to the overnight bag on Sienna’s bed. “I’m asking about that. Where exactly do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to Rowan Holloway’s house for a sleepover,” Sienna replied with a confident lift of her chin. Deep down, her nerves shook like maracas. “She invited me to her birthday party.”

Vanessa’s classically shaped eyebrows shot upward. “Is that so?”

Sienna nodded and flashed the pageant-winning smile she’d spent hundreds of hours perfecting in the mirror. “Yes, ma’am.”

“And what kind of activities do you expect to partake in while at this sleepover?” Her mother’s voice was becoming sharper by the minute. “Do you have any idea what the other girls your age do in their spare time?”

“I…uh—”

“Do not stutter, young lady. It’s almost as unflattering as that stupefied look on your face.” With a huff of annoyance, Vanessa breezed past her daughter into the room. “I’ll tell you what goes on at these sleepovers. They stuff their faces with junk food high in sugar content and stay up well past their bedtime while gossiping about boys—things unfitting for a young woman.”

Panic swelled inside Sienna’s throat. She was unaware of what really went on at such parties, but decided it sounded like more fun than she’d imagined. She had to convince her mother that she’d behave so she wouldn’t miss out. “I’ll watch what I eat, and I’ll go to bed at the usual time. I promise.”

Vanessa released a sharp laugh. “You will not be attending this party.”

“Please, mother. The next pageant isn’t for a few months. If I happen to slip up—”

“You won’t, because you’re not going.” Her mother’s lips pulled into a sneer. “My decision is final.”

Sienna’s excitement deflated with the precision of a needle on a balloon. “Why can’t you trust me this one time?”

“Trust you?” Vanessa folded her arms tightly, glaring down the slim bridge of her nose. “Your father and I have invested thousands of dollars into transforming you into the beauty queen you’ve become. If you start attending these reckless parties, you may as well be throwing everything away. Those girls don’t know what it takes to be a winner, and they’ll only lead you down a menacing path.” Eyes darkening, her body coiled. She’d never struck her daughter before, but Sienna wasn’t so sure she’d hold back this time. It was like witnessing a cobra ready to strike. “Don’t you appreciate all we’ve done for you?”

“I know you’ve spent a lot of money and made sacrifices, but have you ever stopped to think maybe I’m tired of competing?” Irritation rumbled through Sienna’s insides, making her fists ball and her teeth chatter. She was afraid of what her mother might do in that moment. She was also fed up with the restrictions set on her for as far back as she could remember. “I’ll be a teenager before long, and I don’t have any friends. I want to attend sleepovers like the other kids! I want to watch scary movies and talk about boys!” Frustrated tears burned behind her eyes. She wanted to scream from the rooftop, or maybe even break one of her precious trophies. But the consequences would’ve been far too bleak. “I’m tired of watching what I eat and minding my manners! The kids at school think I’m a freak! If you don’t let me go to Rowan’s, it’s just going to become worse!”

“How dare you speak to me that way!” Vanessa spat, rushing forward. “Who have you been hanging around? Who taught you this way of disobedience?” The palm of her hand struck Sienna’s cheekbone. Both mother and daughter gasped.

“I’ll run away,” Sienna whispered, covering her stinging face. “I’ll go to Aunt T’s.”

Her “aunt” Taylor wasn’t actually a blood relative. The eclectic artist and her husband had lived in the same apartment building as Sienna’s parents when they’d first moved to Brooklyn, and Taylor had befriended Sienna’s mother on first sight. Taylor and Jason, a Brooklyn police officer, had inherited a cottage in the quaint coastal town of Blue Bay around the time Sienna was born—when the two women had become as close as sisters. The cottage’s renovation took place over the next several years, halting when Jason was killed in the line of duty while attempting to deescalate a call for domestic dispute. Heartbroken, Taylor finished the renovation on her own, and moved to Blue Bay alone. Although Vanessa and Taylor had grown apart, every summer Vanessa sent Sienna to visit Taylor for several weeks.

“What’s going on in here?” a deep voice rumbled, clipped with irritation.

Sienna’s heart soared with the sight of her father in her bedroom’s doorway. Jonathan Rivers was a man with an unmistakably large presence both in size and personality. He was an entire head taller than his wife and notably good looking, possessing the same shade of thick strawberry blond hair as Sienna’s, same dusting of freckles across his broad face and long limbs, same almost colorless gray eyes. Sienna didn’t miss the way other kids’ mothers would look at him with interest, or the way he’d respond with a wink and a charming smile. Although there was something different about the terse expression that crossed his face as he entered her room, she decided he was most handsome when dressed in a suit for work like the black one he wore that day.

With a genuine smile that pulled at her belly, Sienna crossed the room to snuggle inside his strong arms, mindful not to mess up her hair. Her father’s earthy, sandalwood scent warmed her body and made her feel safe. Not only had she desperately missed him in the four days he’d been gone, she knew he’d take her side. He wasn’t as passionate about the competitions as her mother, and was often telling his wife to let up on some of the rules. “I’m so glad you’re back, Daddy!”

Across the room, Vanessa’s slender fingers spread over her hips. She shot her husband an irritated look that reminded Sienna of a hornet buzzing around its nest. “I thought you weren’t coming home until tomorrow night.”

As Jonathan patted Sienna’s back, she felt every muscle in his body tense. “Something…unexpected came up.” His voice was gruffer than usual. Darker. “I have to grab a few things before heading out again.”

Vanessa released a cold, forced laugh. “Well, your timing is impeccable as always. Your daughter is displaying a taste of rebellion.”

Head tilted back, Sienna met her father’s confused expression. “I just want to go to a sleepover.”

“That doesn’t sound so rebellious,” he decided, tucking his daughter beneath one arm.

“You’re never here, Jonathan. You don’t know what it’s like with her.”

“How bad can it possibly be?” His voice hardened with irritation, vibrating through Sienna’s bones. “You’ve trained her to behave like a goddamn robot, Vanessa. I don’t see the harm in letting her attend a sleepover with her friends.”

“That’s because—” Eyes narrowed, Vanessa gestured to her husband’s arm on the opposite side of Sienna. “Jonathan, you’re bleeding!”

Sienna’s eyes tracked blood trickling from her father’s arm down to a small puddle at their feet. “Daddy, you’re hurt!”

“Everyone can calm the hell down,” he snarled, cradling his bleeding arm against his chest. “I nicked myself in the parking lot when leaving the office.”

“That’s an excessive amount of blood for a mere nick.” With a single shake of her head, Vanessa’s mouth pressed into a hard line. “What really happened? I’ve grown tired of your lies, Jonathan!”

“I caught my arm on a goddamn piece of metal, okay?” he barked, passing his wife a menacing scowl. The intensity of his words sent a deep, cold shiver through Sienna. She’d heard her parents argue plenty of times before, but she’d never heard the degree of anger reflected in her father’s current tone.

When he bent to kiss the top of Sienna’s head, she was unable to muster even the smallest of smiles. “Step back, pumpkin. I’ll be back in a jiffy to clean it up.” Then he threw his wife a callous look. “We’ll talk more about this sleepover after I’ve cleaned up.”

Sienna knew it was best to remain quiet as her father hurried from her room with her mother right on his heels. Something about this argument felt dangerously different.