The panel beeps and turns green. Thank God. I step inside my condo.

The spectacular early summer view of the city greets me. My white Steinway baby grand in the sunken living room floor gleams under the sun. I sit down and play a few scales. It always helps anchor my thoughts.

Charles wants to win. So he’s going to do everything in his power to ensure I can’t get a job. In fact, he’s probably already done it. By now, I’ll be lucky to find employment scrubbing public toilets for the city. But I’m not going to give in and marry someone he picks from the dossiers. Nor am I going to pick one out myself so he can feel good about giving me a “choice.”

Basically, I need to go to someplace beyond his reach and influence. That means out of the country. And I’d better do it before he can stop me. All he has to do is make a call to somebody in the Ministry of Justice and have my passport flagged for a travel ban. Too many politicians owe him favors, and I won’t even be able to sue because they’ll all laugh like we’re buddies and say, “No hard feelings, just a misunderstanding.”

I stop mid-scale and pull out my phone. Fortunately, the service is on a separate contract under my name. I text Ivy and Tony, hoping one of them is awake, since it’s almost eleven p.m. in Los Angeles. They might not be. Ivy’s hugely pregnant and often exhausted. And Tony likes to go to bed with her and rub her back and feet.

Me: Hey. Can you get me a ticket to L.A.?

I tap my fingers on the Steinway, waiting. Then stand up abruptly because I shouldn’t be wasting time like this. I need to start packing.

My phone rings. It’s Ivy.

I answer instantly, putting her on the speaker so I can pack and talk at the same time. “Hey, girl.”

“What’s going on?” she asks. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” I pull out a huge suitcase and start throwing in my dresses and purses. “I just need to get out of here. Don’t need a round-trip ticket,” I add, since most ticketing agents will want to have a return date.

“Oh no…” Ivy sighs. “This doesn’t sound good.”

“It isn’t the best situation.” The understatement of the month. But I don’t want to go into detail. It’s too much for an international phone call, plus it’s late in L.A.

“When are you coming?”

“As soon as possible.” Before it occurs to Charles to make that phone call to the Ministry of Justice. “Like, now. Immediately.”

The suitcase is full. I pull out another and start stuffing it with shoes and accessories. Must have shoes and accessories to go with the clothes and purses I already packed.

“Are you in trouble?”

“No, nothing like that,” I say, not wanting her to worry. Stress is bad for pregnant women. My honorary nephew and niece deserve only the best. “It’s just my brother being a jerk. A long story. I’ll tell you everything when I get there.”

“Okay. What do I need to get you a ticket? I have your name, but don’t I need your passport number and stuff, too?”

“Probably. Let me text you a picture of my passport. Give me a sec.” I rummage through dresser drawers until I find my passport. I take a photo of the page with all my details. “Sending it now.”

There’s a pause. “Okay, got it. I’ll send you the ticket info soon. How about something that leaves in the next three hours? I see one here.”

I think for a second. It shouldn’t take that long to pack, and it’s about fifty minutes to the airport. Since I have no clue how to catch an airport bus, I’ll just have a taxi come pick me up.

“That’s fine. Thanks, Ivy!”

“My pleasure. Can’t wait to see you,” she says, still sounding a little worried.

This is all Charles's fault.

I finish shoving everything I need into two suitcases, but I still want the rest of my stuff. I stop to think for a moment. Who is someone Charles can’t screw with?

I call Mr. Patrick, my dad’s chief executive assistant.

“Ms. Ben,” he answers immediately, his tone professional. “The chairman’s in a meeting.”

“Hello, Mr. Patrick. I’m not calling to talk to my dad. I need to ask you for a small favor.”

“Anything.”

“I’m going to Los Angeles and can only take two suitcases. Can you pack up the rest of my things and overnight them to Ivy Blackwood’s home address? It should be on file.” My family maintains the addresses of everyone we associate with.

“Certainly. Anything else?”

“No, that’s it. Thank you. You’re a gem.” I smile although he can’t see it. I don’t ask him to keep it from Dad because it wouldn’t be right to test his loyalty that way. But he isn’t the type to gossip, and he won’t tell Dad what I wanted unless asked.

“My pleasure. Have a lovely trip.”

“Oh, I will.”

I hang up, feeling smugly triumphant. So Charles hasn’t been able to turn absolutely everybody against me. But then, he knows better than anyone how much Dad indulges me. We grew up together, after all.

I make a mental note to ask Dad to give Mr. Patrick a fat bonus. Or the fully comped use of one of our resorts. That should make him and his wife happy.

My phone pings.

Ivy: Got the ticket. Emailed it to you just now. You need to leave soon to catch the flight, though.

I check my email to make sure. First class to LAX. I smile.

Me: You’re the best!

I call the concierge in the lobby and ask them to arrange for a taxi pickup for the airport, then roll my suitcases out into the living room. I stop and put a hand over my fluttering belly. I’ve never done anything like this before. It feels like cutting ties, making my desires known, insisting on them, in fact…and hoping for the best. I’ve never not had the support of my family, and now here I am, not even telling them I’m leaving.

But I know that if I do, they’ll try to stop me.

My parents love me to pieces. Unfortunately, that means they can be a bit overprotective at times.

But I can’t let them run my life. They don’t have to sleep with my future husband and have his babies. I’m not having sex with a guy I feel nothing for.

I blow a kiss at the baby grand. “I’m going to miss you, sweetheart.”

Nothing calms my anxiety like playing the piano. If I could, I’d take it with me. But I can wait until I get to Ivy’s place. She has a Bösendorfer concert grand I can use.

Inhaling deeply, I grab my bags and head downstairs to go to the airport.

Davidson's [POV]

I step off the flight from Italy to France and smooth the minor wrinkles in my shirt. My mood could best be described as extremely irritated, because the flight was five hours late. Which, of course, means I've missed my connection to LAX.

Just how difficult is it for the airline to maintain its fleet properly and operate on time?

Delays due to mechanical issues just mean the airline is terrible at its primary function. And I hurried through everything in Italy to make the damned flight for nothing.

I pull out my phone and turn off airplane mode. Texts and alerts fill my screen. Some of them are from the airline about the damn flight, like I wouldn't know I've been hugely inconvenienced without their idiotic alerts.

A mountain of to-dos are waiting for me in L.A. I don't have time to waste here, even if this airport is spectacularly spacious and nice.

One new email in particular is near the top of my inbox. Despite the fact that it's in French, I check it first because it's going to be more effective than meds for bringing down my blood pressure.

Sure enough...

The email contains pictures of old golden retrievers. They look adorable and happy. I smile. Only a sociopath could stay angry seeing those panting doggy grins. And just look at those cute, bright eyes. The dogs are lovable. No other word for it.

This is exactly what I wanted when I started sponsoring a "retirement center" for old seeing eye dogs in France. I never knew what happened to those dogs. Actually, I never gave much thought to them at all, since I've never known anybody who needed one.

But three years ago on a long trans-Pacific flight, I watched a documentary about what the French people did with their animals once they grew too old to serve. Since they can't be seeing eye dogs anymore, they're sent to a kind of retirement center where they live out the rest of their lives. Their owners visit them if they live nearby. But it has to be painful for the dogs to be away from someone they've known and loved for so long.

Toward the end, the film featured a sick dog named Nana. That poor thing was old and suffering from an unspecified illness. A center worker said they were waiting for a vet to come in, while rubbing Nana to comfort her.

The slow way Nana blinked...and how unfocused her eyes were... It just gutted me. The film wasn't trying to solicit donations. But I found out where the center was located, hired a translator, and flew out there.

Nana had already died, so there was nothing I could do for her. But I got to see the other dogs at the center. How intelligent and gentle they were, how happy they were to have a visitor, tails wagging and noses questing to meet this new person.

They've spent all their lives in training and service to humans. Now that they're retired, they could use some pampering beyond what the center's budget can give. Every single one of the dogs there deserves steak and biscuits. They deserve dignity.

I set up an annual donation on the spot.

Everyone was thrilled about the decision except my accountant. He advised me to choose a different organization to give money to, saying I couldn't write it off my taxes. Apparently, a foreign entity that isn't registered with the IRS doesn't entitle me to a deduction. It's my accountant's job to worry about stuff like that, but I ignored his advice. It's my money. I'll give it to whoever I deem worthy, not who the IRS considers acceptable.

And I say those dogs deserve to be treated like royalty.

So every month, the center sends me updates and pictures...sometimes videos. I can't read the updates because they're in French Google Translate helps to sort of parse it out but opening the updates is always a happy moment.

Finally I close the email, then send a quick text to my best friend Aiden.

–Me: Can't make it for drinks like we planned. Got delayed.

–Aiden: That sucks. Some other time, then.

Assuming we can agree on a date. We both keep busy schedules. He's an attorney and lives to protect his clients and destroy their enemies. I'm one of his clients too, and I love having an asshole on my team. Comes in handy at times.

–Aiden: Lemme know when you get back.

–Me: Ok. I'll have Benedict check my calendar next week.

–Aiden: Too special to hang out with me this weekend?

I snort. Because of my trip, I suggested meeting for drinks on Saturday rather than Friday, but he told me he was busy.

–Me: Like you have any free time.

–Aiden: Yeah, true. TTYLater gator.

That done, I contact my assistant Benedict.

–Me: I just landed. Call me.

I see another security checkpoint. Shit. But at least the lines are moving.

–Me: Wait. Call me after I clear security. Ten minutes.

After I go through a metal detector and have my carry-on scanned by a woman who tries to maintain eye contact a little longer than is really necessary, I walk along the wide and curving main corridor of Charles de Gaulle Airport, past a string of brightly lit duty-free stores, phone in hand. I also note an indoor garden that must be new. I don't remember seeing it last time I came to Seoul. Panels on the high ceiling above show soothing patterns of blue and orange. I squint. Are those fish on the screens...?

And when is Benedict going to call? I said ten minutes, not eleven—

My phone rings. "Tell me you put me on the next flight out of here," I say.

"Sorry. The airline put you on the one after."

"Why?" The gall of the airline. "Don't they know they've wasted enough of my time?"

"I made that clear, but they were worried that you might not clear the second security check after getting off the flight from Singapore. But they assured me that was the fastest they could arrange. Even said it was with their partner airline."

Oh for God's sake. "Well, I've already cleared it. So can they put me on the next flight?"

"Probably not. Unless it's been delayed, it's already boarding. Or about to."

Fuck. Me.

"But according to the schedule, you should be home in the next fourteen hours for sure."

That fails to improve my mood. I should be halfway over the Pacific by now, damn it. But there's nothing to be done, so I latch on to something that I can do something about. "Fine. Update me on anything I should know."

"No emergencies. Your agent sent five more scripts since you left for your little getaway in Phuket. How's your tan, by the way?"

"Good enough." I grunt with half annoyance and half pleasure.

I don't regret adding the three-day detour to Thailand to my trip to Japan, where I was filming a few whiskey commercials for a local brewery.

I'd never been to Thailand, and a producer told me the beaches in Phuket are fantastic. But I resent the hell out of the fact that the airlines fucked up my return trip home.

"Also, FYI, you have fourteen calls from Jessica Martins," Benedict says, to distinguish her from another Jessica, a photographer I used to work with some years ago.

Davidson's [POV]

Something bitter and sour coats my tongue. An ex-girlfriend. An annoying, clingy ex-girlfriend. If I'd realized she'd turn out to be this pathetic and irritating, I would've tossed her overboard the moment she said hello at that yacht party four months ago.

"You didn't actually take any of them, did you?" I already told Benedict not to, and he's excellent at following instructions.

"Of course not. She left quite a few messages and texts, though."

"Delete them, unread. I'm not paying you to waste time with that trash."

"Already done. But I thought you should know she's not giving up."

Of course she isn't. But it's to her benefit to look for the next sugar daddy elsewhere...and as soon as possible. Every second she grows older, the less desirable she becomes as a trophy. "I already blocked her on my phone."

"I warned security," Benedict says.

"Good." This is why Benedict is my right-hand man.

"And Ella called."

"Ha. Not just once, I'll wager."

"Twenty-six times."

My teeth grind together. My half-sister always calls when she needs something. And it's almost always money. Until she got engaged, she also asked me to introduce her to rich men in my circle. She refuses to understand I wouldn't wish her on my worst enemy. Not because my enemies deserve better, but because I don't want her to get to live her dream of being a rich man's wife.

"What did she want?" I ask impatiently.

"The usual. Money. Fifty K."

I nearly choke. Fifty thousand dollars? She still hasn't figured out that I'm not giving her anything? "For what? Plastic surgery?"

Benedict lets out a small, muffled laugh. He knows how much I hate my half-sibling. "No."

"Good, because it wouldn't help."

She's not ugly, per se, but her features are off. Unbalanced. Every single one of them. And living in L.A. makes it a hundred times worse, since the city's full of gorgeous women. Every small town's prettiest girl makes the journey and dreams of becoming a movie star.

"It's for her wedding." Benedict manages a calm, non-laughing tone.

"Didn't she already get fifty thousand from her mother?" I demand. Although it supposedly came from her mother, it's really my damned money. Father was many things, but he wasn't a font of cash.

"Eighty, actually. And yes, she did. But apparently she needs more."

"Tell her no. She's lucky I'm not praying for a tsunami for the wedding."

She plans to get married on a beach. With flower-festooned arches and rose petals in the air. The entire idea is ridiculous. The sea winds will sweep every petal away before the ceremony starts.

I wonder if fifty K could buy her a new and improved brain? She needs that more than a ludicrous wedding to a trust-fund moron. That way, their children won't end up with turkey-level IQs.

"I don't think the chances of a tidal wave are particularly high."

"Can't you sacrifice a goat or something? Appease Poseidon?"

"Sorry. Outside my work scope," Benedict says.

"What 'work scope'? Celebrity assistants do anything their bosses want them to do. It's not like I don't pay you enough." His salary and benefits are at least twenty percent above the usual pay for celebrity assistants. I make sure to compensate my people well. "Make it a virgin goat."

"I'm quite sure it's illegal to sacrifice an animal within the city limits."

"I'll bail you out if you get arrested."

"It won't look good if you have an assistant who gets arrested for caprinicide. Bad publicity."

"For what?"

"Caprinicide. Caprine is the adjective for goats. You know, like bovine for cows, ursine for bears, porcine for pigs..."

Benedict the aspiring writer. Of course he would know a word like that.

"Fine," I say grudgingly. My public image is important.

I run a hand along my jaw. I take after my mother one hundred percent, and that apparently means I'm too pretty for my own good. I suppose I'm good-looking, but it's hard to be impressed with something I see every time I glance in the mirror. They say familiarity breeds contempt. In my case, it's bred indifference.

But that doesn't mean I'm unaware of my good fortune. It's this face that's allowing me to make an amazing living as a model and actor. The two Netflix dramas I starred in did well, so offers for more acting roles are flooding in.

"Also, I'm going on vacation for two months starting next Monday," Benedict says. "Just a reminder, in case you decide to consult Aiden about the legal fine points of massacring goats, although I'm not sure if animal rights are his thing."

"What?" I say, stunned. "Vacation?"

"You approved it last month, remember?"

"I did? Was I sober?" He might've sprung it on me while I was drunk. Or exhausted from late-night filming or during some six-a.m. photoshoot. There's no way I said yes without a temp to replace him.

"Oh, quite. It was during your breakfast. You also had a cup of coffee before you approved, which I made for you and waited for you to finish because I didn't want you to claim I took advantage. I told you I needed two months off to finish my screenplay, and you said okay."

Hmm... I vaguely remember him saying something about wanting to win an Oscar for a screenplay. I guess that means he has to write one first. I just didn't realize it would be so soon!

"So who's going to be my assistant while you're gone?"

"You told me you'd figure something out."

"I did? I must've been high."

"Nobody gets high off one cup of coffee. Anyway... You don't have anybody in mind?"

"No." Fuck. There's no way I can live two months without an assistant who can act as a gatekeeper. And bring me coffee. And groceries and anything else that might pop into my head.

"Well, you still have today and the weekend." Benedict sounds singularly unsympathetic.

"I don't have any résumés. And I'm in Korea!"

"It's only for two months. You just need an ironclad NDA, which Aiden has already drafted for you."

"Oh yeah, that sounds super simple," I say. "You know what? You aren't going anywhere unless you get me a replacement."

"What?"

"It's only for two months, and you still have today and the weekend. And you happen to be in L.A."

"Come on!"

"Less complaining, more working."

Benedict sighs. "Fine. I'll find someone before I leave."

"Thank you. It wasn't that hard, was it?"

The second I hang up, a new flight ticket pops up on my phone. I check it and sigh. The gate is at the opposite end of the terminal. Of course. At least the lounge for first-class passengers is near the gate.

I turn around and start walking through the crowd, getting the usual looks. This airport is cavernous. Well, cavernous might not be the best word it is bright with sunlight. But holy mother of God, you could run a marathon in here.

At least the walk will give me the time to gather my thoughts. Why the hell didn't I remember this vacation? And how is Benedict going to find somebody decent?

Argh.

Although I told him to get a temp or else, I don't want to be that kind of jerk celebrity boss who makes him cancel his time off. I know an actress who called her assistant to get the poor woman to handle freakin' phone calls when her mom died, and the assistant quit, which the actress deserved. I don't want Benedict quitting on me. We work well together, and I like the guy.