Pleasure &
Pain

Kim built the life she was supposed to want. Chris shows her everything she was never supposed to want.

At thirty she's the youngest CIO in the history of one of Virginia's largest financial institutions. Parents who still call every Sunday, a best friend who'd bury a body for her, and a corner office with a view of nothing she wants.

Then Chris finds her. Eleven years after one night cost him his NFL dreams and ended their friendship. He's steadier, softer, and honest about everything except one thing.

When Kim finally learns what Chris has been carrying, she doesn't walk away. She stays. And staying is what brings Jalen into her life.

Travon Nancy was a top-three draft pick before he ever played a college game. Katrina Monroe had been beside him since sophomore year of high school.

Sharp, funny, halfway to a mechanical engineering degree. And, according to everyone with an opinion, not the kind of woman a man like him ends up with. Lose weight. Study less. Pay attention. Be easier to photograph.

One week before March Madness, he made her the ex-girlfriend. Then he won a national championship, went number one, and married Veronica Riddendale, the university president's daughter. She was raised her whole life to be exactly what Travon believed he'd earned.

Veronica keeps his schedule. She keeps his image. She keeps a tracker on his phone and a policy on his life.

It takes a restraining order for Travon to understand what the word trophy actually means. By then Veronica has stopped wanting him home and started wanting him gone. He goes looking for Katrina anyway.