Amy couldn’t wait to execute her plan. She’d been disappointed with Shin Lu’s rejection of her second appointment with Camden, but she was only deterred, and not even for very long. Camden had given her his name, and she knew he was an actor, so it wasn’t too hard to track him down online.

From there, getting his address was even easier.

Amy couldn’t resist the thrill she was getting from tracking Camden down, almost like she was stalking him. She knew that he’d felt the same mutual attraction that she felt, and she was determined to find out if they had a future together, regardless of what anybody at Longshadows had to say about it.

That nagging voice in the back of Amy’s head was continuously warning her against it, with every reasonable and logical argument. Just because he came up with some dumb love quote doesn’t mean he wasn’t just acting. That was dialogue, it wasn’t real! He might have a girlfriend, no good can come of interloping into his private world!

But it didn’t stop her. Amy countered every argument with a justification, an excuse. It was a compromise of her integrity just a bit, she knew that, but she felt compelled to act beyond reason. It wasn’t about thinking, it was about feeling, it was about acting.

It was about living and loving and nothing less.

And the nervous excitement that was streaming through Amy’s body and blood was more than she could ignore. She knew what she had planned for Camden, and it was perfectly safe and was going to be amazingly fun. But Amy could also savor that tinge of mischief, that wickedness that came from planning, researching. Amy was on the prowl, getting nearer and nearer to her target, thrilled more and more as she prepared to pounce.

She’d spent days driving around the area of Studio City in the San Fernando Valley, where he shared an apartment. The directory on the security intercom had Camden’s last name, Walsh.

Could that be his girlfriend, Amy wondered, or just a roommate? If he’s a struggling actor, he probably can’t afford to rent in Los Angeles, much less the Valley.

Amy sat in the driver’s seat of her BMW, smartphone to her ear, eyes fixed on the big front door of the apartment complex.

“I tell ya,” Isla said, “I think something’s up, something bad.”

“How do you mean?”

“Your brothers were really suspicious, Amy. They know something is going on.”

“But you shook ‘em.” Amy said, “and they’re not still popping by, are they?”

“No, but that means they're doing something else. I really don’t think they just gave up.”

But Amy was keeping a sharp eye out, and at that moment her sharp eye found Camden stepping out of the apartment complex and down the steps to the sidewalk. “Gotta go, Isla.”

“Good luck, Amy.”

Amy set the phone down and grabbed the plastic gun she bought and then wrapped it in a scarf so that only the plastic red tip was showing.

Her heart was pounding as she got out of the car and walked around it, quickly and with her head down so he wouldn’t see her coming. Amy walked up behind Camden as he took his first few steps down the street. She stuck the plastic gun into his back and said, “Don’t move.”

Camden flinched, nearly spinning in a defensive move that Amy knew instantly could have been terrible and even tragic. But it was too late; Amy was committed and she’d come too far to turn back.

And Camden did freeze in his tracks, hands raising up slowly to the side. He said nothing.

So Amy went on, “This way, into the Beamer.”

Camden followed her gesture, pointing that plastic gun into his back to direct him toward her car. “What’s all this about?”

Amy got him to the car and pulled the unlocked passenger door open. “Get in.” Camden climbed into the car, arms raised at his sides. “No tricks.”

“No, no tricks,” Camden said, settling into the passenger seat before Amy slammed the door shut. She ran around the car and climbed in, locking the doors and jamming the keys into the ignition.

Clearly going along for the ride, even though he had every choice to the contrary, Camden said, “Where are you taking me?”

Amy smiled. “You’ll see.” After a sexy little minute, she added, “Don’t struggle, it’ll be easier.”

They drove on in silence, the noontime sun hot despite the autumnal time of year. Camden looked at Amy several times, eyes tracing her body as his mind clearly searched for something to say. Amy didn’t mind. The silence was powerful, and that power was hers to wield, as it had been Camden’s to wield before.

Everything was changing.

Finally, Camden said, “Look, if this is about money, I can get you as much want. My father can call his bank, you’ll be a millionaire by nightfall.”

Amy chuckled, enjoying the traces of meanness in her own tone, chiding, merciless. “That and your family fortune couldn’t get you a cup of coffee at Starbucks,” Amy said. “But it’s not money that I’m after.”

“No?”

Amy just looked at him, letting his imagination follow her own. She saw what he was doing, and she liked it.

She loved it.

Camden said, “You know I’ll never tell you what the code is.”

The code, Amy silently repeated to herself, that’s brilliant! Okay, let’s have some fun!

So Amy answered, “What makes you think I don’t already know the code?”

“Because if you did, I’d already be dead.”

Amy broke out in a wicked chuckle, nodding and glancing into the rearview mirror. “I think we’ll have much to discuss, Mr. Kalan. But first, I propose a little … recreation.”

“Recreation?”

“An amusement,” Amy said with a smile, feeling more and more the villainess with every word. “Of course, what amuses the scorpion hardly amuses the frog, eh?” She let a long, devious laugh pour up and out as she drove west, toward the beach.