A TALE OF LOVE, ROMANCE, TREACHERY AND TREASON Alicia Elizabeth McAllister. Pretty but not beautiful, a freshly minted honors graduate of Township College. Alicia moves from rural Connecticut to Washington, D.C., to join James, her boyfriend of three years. Cruelly abandoned by him on the day she arrives, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger changes her life forever. Thirteen years her senior, Alexander Michael de Vris is handsome, charming, rich and brilliant - and maddeningly enigmatic. A war hero, a former CIA officer, and the head of Washington's most prestigious "think tank," he's also the President's most trusted advisor. Sympathetic - and impressed by her ability - Alex helps her win a position at the Center for Strategic Studies. But not all is well in Washington. Little by little, she slowly awakens to the fact that she's stumbled into the midst of a sinister conspiracy to assassinate the President, and that she'll join the growing list of victims if anyone realizes she's uncovered the plot. Who can she turn to? Who can she trust? Most importantly, is the mysterious Alexander de Vris loyal to the President? Or is he too a traitor? Her life, and her love, now hang in the balance.