“She’s in rehab at present, so the New York thing is fine, and you can work on the book while you work with her.”

“Con, I don’t want to work with Chase London. Frankly, I’m not sure I can help her.” Chase seemed to have the exact same problems Allie had. Olivia’s ego had led her astray with Allie. She wasn’t shoving herself off that cliff again.

A pause on the phone made her wonder if he’d hung up. Con had a temper and, as a highly creative person, wasn’t beyond a snit. Finally, he sighed. “You owe me, Livy.”

“Yeah, I do. But not with taking on a ten-car pileup like Chase London. She’s . . . she’s not . . . what I’m saying is that I don’t work this way. I help those who are ready to be helped. The first step in my program is not convincing someone to change their life. They have to already be there. You are calling me. Not her. Not even her mother or agent. And that tells me a lot.”

“Please, Livy. Chase is lost, and we lose too many like her. She’s worth saving. If you can’t do it for me, do it for Marley. Do it for the girls who never had a chance.”

Her heart cracked, but she ignored it. “Chase has had multiple chances. She wasted them.”

“The same way Marley did?”

He might as well have punched her in the face. Olivia closed her eyes tight, screwing up her face at her sister’s name on Conrad’s lips. Damn him. “I can’t. Don’t use Marley against me. That’s not fair.”

“Life ain’t fair. We know that, right?”

Another lengthy silence. Olivia stared at her planner, wishing she had more on it to prevent her from even considering Conrad’s request. But she’d cleared her schedule because of the book. Her publisher wanted a follow-up to Two Steps Backward: How to Unlearn Your Past, and she’d promised to have Two Steps Forward: Adulting for a New Generation in before the end of the year. So she’d blocked out a big chunk of time over the next few months.

But she’d also been itchy lately, dissatisfied, complacent even. Still, this sort of challenge felt like too much, especially since it not only involved an unknown entity in Chase London, but it would include Conrad, and he always made her feel . . . too many things. That’s why she’d steered clear of him beyond Christmas cards or birthday wishes.

Still, a voice inside her whispered what she didn’t want to admit. You’ve been running from him and from your past for too long.

And beneath that voice was another one, faint but still present. You can be near him again. Maybe . . . just maybe . . . you could take back a piece of what you once had.

“If I do this, it’s going to cost more than the normal fee,” she said.

“Fine. Done.”

“Damn it.”