My husband’s family never knew I had once been an MMA champion. At my mother-in-law’s BBQ, my brother-in-law poured beer over my head. My husband stood up and told him to apologize to me. He laughed, shoved my husband, then punched him in the mouth. He told me to sit down because it didn’t concern me. Then he grabbed my wrist... and that’s when my sister-in-law started screaming.

Ten miles away, across the county line in the wealthy, manicured suburbs of Oakridge, the atmosphere inside Diane Sterling's vaulted living room was anything but peaceful.

Derek was sprawled across his mother’s imported cream sofa, clutching his heavily splinted right wrist against his chest. Sweat ran down his flushed, bloated face, soaking through his tailored polo shirt. A bowl of melting ice sat abandoned on the coffee table beside a half-empty tumbler of scotch.

"She broke it! Diane, look at me! She snapped my damn bone like a toothpick!" Derek roared, his voice cracking with humiliated rage. "I’m an executive at the firm! How the hell am I supposed to close deals on Monday with a cast running up to my elbow?"

Diane stood near the brick hearth, clutching her silk cardigan around her shoulders as if a draft had entered the room. Her pristine suburban composure had completely shattered.

"Keep your voice down, Derek," Diane hissed, looking frantically toward the foyer. "Chloe took the children into the den. We don't need them hearing this."

"I don't give a damn about Chloe or the kids!" Derek snarled, lurching forward. Pain spiked through his arm, forcing a sharp whimper through his teeth. "Your darling golden boy Ryan brought a violent lunatic into this family! She assaulted me! On your patio! In front of my family! I want the police here right now. I want her arrested, and I want Ryan disinherited by morning!"

Chloe, Derek’s wife, stepped cautiously out from the hallway, her face pale. She was clutching her phone to her chest. "Derek... maybe you shouldn't call the police."

"What did you say?" Derek glared at her like a rabid animal. "She put her hands on me, Chloe! Are you blind?"

"You poured a beer on her head, Derek," Chloe said quietly, her voice trembling but surprisingly firm. "You shoved Ryan into the deck chairs. You hit him in the mouth. I saw it. Mom saw it. The kids saw it through the sliding glass door."

"Shut your damn mouth!" Derek spat. "I was joking! It was a joke among brothers! And that street whore attacked me!"

"She didn't just attack you, Derek," Diane murmured, her voice hollow as she stared at the floor. The image of Elena’s eyes—the utter, terrifying absence of fear—was burned into her mind. "She took your watch. And she took Ryan."

"Yeah, and where do you think they went?" Derek sneered, a venomous grin curling his lips despite the pain. "They're running. They think they can hide. But Ryan doesn't know who Elena really is. He has no idea what kind of people she owes money to."

Diane snapped her head up, her eyes narrowing. "What are you talking about, Derek? What people?"

Derek leaned back against the sofa cushions, his eyes gleaming with malice. "Let’s just say Elena left a very messy trail back in Nevada four years ago. A very expensive trail. And when she broke my wrist, I didn't just call the urgent care clinic. I made a phone call to an old business contact in Reno. By midnight tonight, Elena won't be Ryan’s problem anymore. She won't be anyone's problem."