I am greedy because I want all of you. Not some of you. Not a third of you. Not the good part of you, or the bad part of you. I want the lover, the friend, the part that will walk with me wherever I go, the part that will ride next to me, the part that will fight with me, for me, beside me.
I know you think I need more time. I don’t.
I know you think I was scarred. I wasn’t.
I know you think I need to heal still. Fuck no.
I’m good to go, so besides all the other gushy stuff in this letter, I want you to come over here.
I want you to take me, make me yours, because I already am.
I’m yours, Kash. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I love you.
So fucking give me you, okay?
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To my agent, holy crapola, Kimberly! Thank you!
To Monique! To everyone who worked on this book and helped get it where it is. To Macmillan.
To the ladies in Tijan’s Crew. To the group in Tijan’s Audiomen. Just, whoa, to everyone.
Every author dreams of going to a bookstore, walking in, and finding their book on the shelves. This has happened sporadically for me; I’ve mostly been an indie author until this publisher decided to take a chance on me.
I’m really truly hoping everyone loved Bailey and Kash as much as I loved writing them! I’m grateful and happy to have been able to bring this entire world and cast from The Insiders to life, and I hope you guys continue on with the next book in their series.
Bring on some graduate school!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
TIJAN is a New York Times bestselling author who writes suspenseful and unpredictable novels. Her characters are strong, intense, and gut-wrenchingly real with a little bit of sass on the side. Tijan began writing later in life and, once she started, she was hooked. She’s written multi-bestsellers including the Carter Reed series, the Fallen Crest series, and Ryan’s Bed, among others. She is currently writing to her heart’s content in northern Minnesota with an English cocker spaniel she adores. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two
Twenty-Three
Twenty-Four
Twenty-Five
Twenty-Six
Twenty-Seven
Twenty-Eight
Twenty-Nine
Thirty
Thirty-One
Thirty-Two
Thirty-Three
Thirty-Four
Thirty-Five
Thirty-Six
Thirty-Seven
Thirty-Eight
Thirty-Nine
Forty
Forty-One
Forty-Two
Forty-Three
Forty-Four
Forty-Five
Forty-Six
Forty-Seven
Forty-Eight
Forty-Nine
Fifty
Fifty-One
Fifty-Two
Fifty-Three
Fifty-Four
Fifty-Five
Fifty-Six
Fifty-Seven
Bonus
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
First published in the United States by St. Martin’s Griffin, an imprint of the St. Martin’s Publishing Group
THE INSIDERS. Copyright © 2021 by Tijan. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Publishing Group, 120 Broadway, New York, NY 10271.
Cover design by Ervin Serrano
Cover images: woman on left © Sofia Zhuravetc/Shutterstock.com; clothes and hair © Ada Summer/Getty Images; woman in middle © Holubenko Natalia/Getty Images; man in turtleneck © Kiselev Andrey Valerevich/Shutterstock.com
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Tijan, author.
Title: The insiders / Tijan.
Description: First edition. | New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2021. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2020056325 | ISBN 9781250210777 (trade paperback) | ISBN 9781250210784 (ebook)
Subjects: GSAFD: Romantic suspense fiction.
Classification: LCC PS3620.I49 I57 2021 | DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020056325
e-ISBN 9781250210784
Our ebooks may be purchased in bulk for promotional, educational, or business use. Please contact the Macmillan Corporate and Premium Sales Department at 1-800-221-7945, extension 5442, or by email at [email protected].
First Edition: 2021