too quiet afte

r spine. The curtains were drawn shut, cutting out the light. Outside, the

ill sat in C

closed, unaware-was enough to make her stomach twist. It was a moment so private sh

abbing the remote and switching on the muted tele

suggest a breakdown or retreat from Hollywood's pressur

urned

had n

re complicated-and far more dangerous. He wasn't hiding from the wo

delicate collarbones, a body she had been taught to sell, shape, and

fractures only visible in silence. A

nd unscrewed the cap with shaking fingers. She downed it in one

. Somethin

reen w

te

number

No cameras.

ood ra

nd the States. Always penthouses. Always private

e message. Was this real? W

ed the deadbolt. Locked. T

message

cream. The w

eath h

The light above flickered once. She caught sight of the smoke detector

. she'd been

phone inside, and walked towar

y were playing a game

stand drawer, and pulled out the silver letter open

s on the button for the twelfth floor, but she hesitated. What if it was a tra

wasn't that alr

Her reflection in the mirrored walls looked ca

or

ights. No guests. The carpet muffled her steps. R

or was

around the letter o

t open with

t the glow from a small desk lamp revealed a man sitting in the

s voice was deep. C

art st

are

hurt you," he sai

't relax

e?" sh

by the angle. Late thirties, maybe early forties. Expen

you," he said.

closer. "Then wh

abou

ll

cou

do you

secrets," the man replied. "He built a lie a

in her ears. "You'

. But this isn'

ck, hand still

, just enough for the

eath c

een him

n

pre

um had deleted

Mad

ought had disappeared after scandal and silence swall

w here

a gh

a ru

tor wit

ck," she s

smi

pat

out of the

uld sc

l go back upstairs, wait for Callum, and tell h

hesi

foot

ile wi

nd out soo

ry curtain shut. She turned on the TV again, just for sound, t

was no time for that

Mad

n advantage of young talent, forged Callum's signature, destroyed their family's legacy. That Ca

t here

. Wat

lki

too

The messages. The fo

phone. One missed

k. And she had no idea how to

g was ce

re out

wasn't be

nding in t

il

low of every camera they t