Only a scandal could tear them apart. She is Annabel Jayquith. The only daughter of billionaire Hollings Jayquith. Just eighteen and stunningly beautiful, she feels the world is hers. He is Daniel Madison Ransom. The only son of the assassinated Senator Madison Ransom. Incredibly good-looking and famous, he's considered one of the country's sexiest young men. They meet at a high-society party, and are instantly drawn to each other by a love so strong it threatens to overwhelm them. Annabel knows only that she loves Daniel more than any man she's ever met. But Daniel knows more: that their families are linked by a dark and violent secret. A secret so terrible it makes their love . . . forbidden.