by BETH KERY
“Why did you call them here?” Gia demanded under her breath. God, what if the studio took steps to break her contract? She wouldn’t put it past them. Who wanted to deal with all the trouble, inconvenience and loss of time and money Gia was bound to bring them, embroiled in this trial as she was?
Charles Trew leaned forward, elbows on the table. “It’s too risky to keep you in L.A., Gia.”
“I can’t just pick up and leave,” she exclaimed.
“We’re not talking about anything permanent,” Madeline soothed. “But given the way things are escalating, everyone agrees that in the three weeks leading up to the trial, we need you out of this pressure cooker. Gone. Before something explodes in our faces.”
“Locked up in a hotel room somewhere? No. I’ve told you all, I hate confinement. I start to feel like I’m going crazy being penned inside for any more than a day or two. And what about the movie—”
“Joshua and Mr. Arden have kindly agreed to arrange things so that your scenes can be postponed,” Madeline said.
There. The bomb had been dropped. Her skin tingled in anxiety. She met Joshua’s stare.
“But you can’t do that,” she said softly, stunned. “It will cost the studio hundreds of thousands of dollars—”
“And a hell of a lot more inconvenience,” Arden interrupted succinctly, glowering at her. Gia clamped her mouth shut, mortified by the movie executive’s harsh chastisement. Madeline cleared her throat in the uncomfortable silence that followed and gave Charles a significant glance.
“The bottom line is, the studio understands the complexity of this situation and is willing to make allowances for it,” Charles smoothed.
“I’m so sorry,” Gia told Joshua. “I didn’t have any choice in any of this.”
Arden made a huffing sound and shifted restlessly in his chair. Gia was sure she knew what he was thinking. You could have said you weren’t certain it was Sterling McClarin you saw getting up off a bruised and stunned teenage girl. You could have said, “I just don’t recall” or “I can’t say for certain it was McClarin.”
You could have lied.
But she couldn’t. And therein lay the problem.
“Of course, you didn’t have any choice.”
She looked up into Joshua Cabot’s sympathetic face. She hoped he read the monumental gratefulness for his words in her gaze. He nodded slightly and gave her a small reassuring smile before he turned his attention to Charles Trew.
“How do you plan on making one of the most recognizable faces in the country disappear until the legal proceedings begin?”
Someone rapped firmly on the door. It opened and a Los Angeles County deputy stepped inside.
“Mr. Hightower is here,” the deputy said to Charles. Charles stood, a satisfied expression on his face.
“Ah, good. Hopefully, here is the man who can answer your question, Joshua.”
Surely fate had overserved its share of shock in the past twenty-four hours. Gia had been rattled around in her car and frantic with worry for her bruised driver, Jim. She’d suffered the unpleasant shock of seeing Joshua Cabot and Dan Arden sitting at the conference table.
It seemed, however, that fate wasn’t finished with her yet. She stared in ragged disbelief as Seth Hightower stalked into the conference room.
Four
Charles immediately began to make introductions as Seth approached the table. In the seconds that followed, everything became strangely surreal for Gia, both hazy and hyperfocused at once. She stared at Seth’s tall, rangy form as he shook hands with Madeline Harrington and greeted Charles familiarly. Charles introduced him to Alex Demonico. Seth hadn’t noticed Gia yet, or was his averted gaze intentional? Not understanding what the hell was happening only added to her disorientation. Joshua Cabot stood and grinned broadly as he shook hands with Seth.
“No need to introduce us,” Joshua assured Charles, shaking Seth’s hand heartily. “Dan and I are very familiar with Seth. It’s been too long, hasn’t it?” Joshua asked Seth enthusiastically.
“Since our days on Maritime,” Seth agreed, referring to the blockbuster multiple–Oscar-Award-winning film. His quiet, gruff baritone set Gia’s nerves to prickling. She’d forgotten his voice. Or she hadn’t, really. How could she? The intervening years had made her think she’d imagined the tangible impact of it on her body though. She rubbed her forearms anxiously, willing away the goose bumps that had arisen.
“Seth,” Dan Arden greeted, extending a hand.
“The best special effects–makeup artist in the business,” Joshua told Madeline, as if he were bragging about one of his daughters. “He won the Academy Award for his work on Maritime.”
“One of many Maritime won,” Seth said dryly under his breath, and it all came rushing back to Gia: his compelling, handsome face, the way he waved aside praise, the easy, graceful movement of his big male body, his vibrant, powerful presence, the way his golden brown eyes pierced straight through her . . .
“Have you had the opportunity to work with Gia yet?” Joshua asked when Seth turned and pinned her with his stare. Gia’s lungs locked. His face was a mask. Oh my God. He didn’t even recognize her. They’d spent a night of wild, abandoned, intense passion together two years ago, and he stared at her like she was a stranger.
Why should she be surprised? She had given him her number.
A number he’d never once put to use.
“I’ve never had the pleasure, no,” Seth said. He extended his hand. Gia’s stunned brain screamed at her to move.
“Hello,” she managed, lifting her arm. His large hand enclosed hers and something flickered in his eyes: there and gone.
He hadn’t forgotten. Her sudden certainty of that only made this bizarre situation worse.
“Do you mind?” Seth asked, pointing at the empty chair next to her.
“No, of course not,” she lied. He rolled back the chair and started to sit. She saw her purse at the last second and reached for it. As she snatched the purse away, the back of her hand brushed against his jean-covered ass cheek and the top of a rock-hard thigh. Embarrassment flooded her.
“Sorry,” she mumbled as he finished sitting, her gaze flickering anxiously to his face. His expression didn’t give much away—just as she recalled—but beneath the impassive surface, she sensed his amusement.
Annoyed at his smugness while she was reeling in shock, she shoved the cursed purse into her lap and slouched in her chair. Charles launched into his reason for inviting Seth Hightower—of all people—into these proceedings. As curious as she was, she was having trouble attending to his explanation. Her brain was zipping with wild thoughts and out-of-control speculations. She stared at Charles, but her consciousness was attuned to Seth’s nearby presence, like iron to a powerful magnet. Still, she was so curious about how the hell Charles Trew knew Seth and why he was being called in to consult on her case, she barely managed to get the gist of things.
“That’s your plan?” Gia asked disbelievingly after a minute. “Disguise me as another person and whisk me off into the mountains for three weeks?”
“You’ve insisted that you can’t abide being confined, Gia. After what happened yesterday, there’s no doubt we have to get you out of L.A. You have a very recognizable face, so no matter where we send you, we need Seth. We have the added advantage that because of his background in military intelligence, Seth is very familiar with security and safety issues. He’s helped us out in sticky situations in the past.”
Gia stared at Seth. You never told me you were in military intelligence, she accused him in the privacy of her mind. His poker face and ability to look straight through a person suddenly made more sense.
“And you agreed to this?” she asked Seth, her voice flat with shock.
“Not yet.”
Gia blinked at his rapid, quiet reply.
“I said I�
�d come for this meeting. That’s all I agreed to with Charles,” he finished, glancing away from her. He looked grim.
Madeline addressed Joshua, who looked a little bemused by Seth’s appearance and how the meeting was proceeding.
“Seth has worked for us before,” Madeline told Joshua with a sly grin. “He’s worked with some of Alex’s associates at the FBI too. I’ll bet you didn’t realize the intersection between our worlds until tonight.”
“It makes sense, now that I think of it,” Joshua said slowly, studying Seth. “Seth has told me a little about his background in Army intelligence. And I’ve seen him transform the most familiar faces in the world into a person I’d never recognize in a million years. If anyone can make Gia drop off the map, it’s him.”
“Excuse me,” Gia said sharply, anxiety simmering in her stomach that was about to escalate to a boil. “We’re talking about my life here. You’re all planning it as if I’m not even relevant. I haven’t agreed to any of this, and yet you’ve already altered film production—something I completely disagree about doing—and are making plans for me to go into hiding when I specifically told you I wouldn’t do it,” she said directly to Madeline. Madeline opened her lips to reply but someone else spoke first.
“Your movie will still get made eventually. Maybe you should get your priorities straight. Not even one of Joshua’s movies is worth sacrificing your safety. Neither is all the free publicity,” Seth said.
Gia turned to him, gaping in astonishment. The trace of dark sarcasm in his quiet voice had struck her like a lash.
“I don’t know why I’m defending myself to you,” she grated out between clenched teeth. “But Madeline and Charles both agree that McClarin is too smart to do anything as stupid as trying to have me hurt or killed so that I can’t testify. The reason I don’t want to hide out is because I have obligations, professional and otherwise. It’s not because I’m wild about the idea of having my private life completely robbed from me, being constantly ambushed by photographers or being run into the ditch and having my driver injured.”
Seth shrugged. She knew he was wearing his hair shorter now in comparison to that night two years ago. A while back, she’d watched her television in subdued fascination as he won an Oscar for Maritime. His hair was still longish, though, silky in texture and artlessly sexy. In the back, it brushed his collar. The style emphasized the stark, masculine angles of his face and remarkable eyes.
His heavy-lidded stare and bland expression as he studied her now didn’t fascinate her, though. Instead, it swelled her anger and sense of helplessness.
“You may not have planned for any of that to happen, but who could have?” Seth said quietly. “Surely you must see things are getting out of hand. It’d be unwise to dig your heels in because you weren’t the one to orchestrate all the details of this particular part of your life, Gia.”
Even her ears turned hot. She could feel the tips of them burning, just like the rest of her. He had no idea what she’d been going through for the past five months. But what was worse, her lungs had frozen at the sound of him saying her name in that familiar, quiet caress. For a few strained seconds, she remained locked in his gaze.
Panther eyes.
The charged thought was followed almost immediately by another unwelcome one.
Why didn’t you call me, you bastard?
Something gave slightly in his rigid features. Gia wondered if her thought had been so blistering, he’d caught the bitter gist of it. Besides, she had a pretty good idea why he hadn’t called. It was stupid to dwell on one misguided night of wild sex. She needed to move on. She had moved on.
“And what about when I come out of hiding?” she asked levelly, facing the others. “It’s going to be a zoo all over again. Nothing will have changed.”
“We’re not going to be able to alter what happens during the trial. We can do something about right now,” Charles said. “The smart thing to do now is to get you out of the fire, Gia.”
Dan Arden checked his watch. “I have to be going. Madeline, will you please get my secretary the trial schedule you promised you’d give me tonight? We’ll need that to coordinate all these changes with as little cost and hassle to the studio as possible.”
Madeline gave him a long-suffering smile. “I’m sorry I couldn’t give it to you tonight, Dan. Judge Halloran has about a thousand different factors he has to take into consideration before setting a date. I’ll get you a tentative agenda as soon as I can, but like I said, courtroom proceedings are not fixed in stone. We might need Gia at a moment’s notice, and she’ll have to be available.”
The studio executive grimaced. Gia knew he was usually in the position of telling others they’d have to wait and be ready at a moment’s notice, according to his demands. Arden grunted farewell to Joshua Cabot and left the conference room, slamming the door behind him. What a jackass. Irritated by the studio executive’s pout over circumstances she couldn’t control, Gia suppressed her pang of guilt much easier this time around.
Madeline didn’t bother to hide a sound of mixed disgust and relief when Arden vacated the room. Joshua Cabot gave her a knowing grin.
“You should consider yourself lucky, Maddie. You don’t have to deal with him 24-7.” He sighed and checked his watch. “I should probably get going as well.”
“Thank you for coming, Joshua . . . and for everything,” Gia said sincerely as he walked around the table toward her.
“Don’t thank me,” Joshua said, leaning down to kiss her cheek. “And don’t worry about the movie. Seth is right. It’ll get made. If Dan didn’t have such high hopes for it—and for you in the role—he wouldn’t have agreed to any of this,” Joshua assured her with a droll grin. “In the meantime, look at it this way: You’ve been granted an unexpected vacation. Try to use it to your advantage and relax a little. You look exhausted.”
Madeline smiled broadly after Joshua left, seemingly more at ease with just the five of them left around the table. “I’ve seen your work before, Seth, and I know firsthand the miracles you can do. But do you really think you can make that look like an everyday woman on the street?” She glanced significantly at Gia.
Gia’s eyes widened. It was bad enough that Charles, Alex and Madeline were all staring at her like she was under a microscope. The worst part was the way Seth’s stare moved over her face dispassionately. His gaze flickered down to her breasts. Gia’s spine stiffened in mounting annoyance. She all but bared her teeth.
“I can do it,” Seth said definitively after a moment.
“And will you?” Madeline purred.
He arched his brows. “Will I?” he asked Gia.
She looked at the others, who were watching her expectantly. She made a sound of frustration. Every time she thought she was ultimately cornered and helpless, this situation got worse.
Then the image of Jeannie Salinger—McClarin’s victim—popped into her head. Gia would escape McClarin’s tentacles long before Jeannie ever would.
“Just the one time? A disguise to get me out of Los Angeles unnoticed?” Gia clarified.
“No,” Charles said, eyeing Seth warily. “You say you have a problem with confinement. Of course, we prefer that you stay in a secure place as much as possible. But if you do go out at all in the next three weeks, you’ll have to look like someone other than Gia Harris. This story is news nationwide. It’s even making headlines in Canada, Europe and South America. Seth? What do you say?”
Seth didn’t reply, his expression like stone.
“Wait,” Gia said, sensing the subtext to Charles and Seth’s exchange. “If I have to be disguised every time I step outside, then . . .” Gia trailed off, giving Seth an uneasy sideways glance.
“Seth will have to be with you the entire time, yes,” Alex Demonico said.
Gia blinked in surprise when the FBI agent suddenly spoke.
“I realiz
e I have no say in any of this,” Demonico said, “but we have a lot riding on your testimony for eventually bringing down McClarin and the influence of the New Temple. Charles thinks it’s a good idea. Plus, Seth is trained in security. After studying his file and hearing stellar reports about what he’s done with some of my colleagues,” Alex added, giving Seth a pointed glance, “I’ve agreed with Charles and Madeline’s plans.”
“Seth?” Charles asked tentatively. “I realize the length of time required was one detail I left out yesterday. But you could use a break after wrapping up on your latest movie, couldn’t you? You told me yesterday Joy is taking a vacation. Why don’t you? I know we’re asking a lot, and the compensatory consultant’s fee the DA’s office offers is practically nothing, but . . .”
“I haven’t helped out in the past because of the pay,” Seth said dryly when Charles faded off. Charles chuckled.
Gia looked at Seth, stunned. Surely he wouldn’t agree to this. It would save her having to say no to the whole thing if he would just refuse. He had his work and his life. And dammit, why would he sacrifice so much of his time and energy for a woman he didn’t even have an interest in calling following mind-blowing sex?
As usual, she had difficulty reading his face.
“I know of an ideal place where we could go,” Seth said.
Gia’s heart jumped. She hadn’t expected him to say that.
“It’s true that no place in the country will be completely uncontaminated by this news story,” Seth said slowly, “but I know of a place that will be more resistant than most. Much more,” Seth directed his attention to Charles and Alex. “It’s a secluded house in the Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois, near a little town called Vulture’s Canyon—it’s not even on most maps. I know about it through my niece and Everett Hughes as well as Everett’s sister, Katie, and her husband, Rill Pierce. The house I’m referring to has a state-of-the-art security system. I’m a friend of the owner—a man named John Corcoran. He’s blind, and he has several good reasons to be vigilant about security. One, years ago he was the victim of a break-in and vowed to keep his wife safe and protected at all costs. Two, his wife is Jennifer Turner, so he has excellent cause for making sure her privacy and security are kept intact.”