If I’d thought security was strict before, once I returned to Paris I felt more like a member of the royal family than a Hollywood actress. Marc flew over to continue the investigation and the production team was fully briefed on the situation, so I was under watch at all times.

I knew Marc hadn’t found any real evidence of Malcolm being the stalker, but I couldn’t help but keep my distance from him. The director made me uncomfortable at the best of times, and now he was being unnecessarily nice to me it creeped me out further. If I were a normal human being, Malcolm’s sudden sweetness would make complete sense. I’d almost lost my brother, I’d been through an awkward breakup with my boyfriend that involved my closest friend (sort of), and I had a crazy stalker. What boss wouldn’t be sympathetic?

“I don’t know how to act when he’s nice,” Faith whispered in my ear between takes. “It makes me want to be a bitch to provoke him.”

“Aren’t you already being a bitch?”

She grinned and nudged me with her shoulder. “I like it when you’re feisty.”

“Assertive, not feisty.”

“Well, it suits you.”

“Are you sure about drinks tonight?” I asked.

Faith shrugged. “Yeah, why not? Safety in numbers and all that.”

That wasn’t what I had meant. Gypsy Hour had played their final Paris show the night before and the guys were having drinks in the penthouse suite this evening before they flew to Germany to perform. Johnnie had invited Faith via me. Getting Viktor to agree to go was more difficult. I was sick of hearing words like ‘too dangerous’ and had to enlist Marc to convince him it would be alright, which of course he couldn’t guarantee. At which point Viktor insisted Marc come as well. I was pretty sure Marc’s presence was the only reason I was attending tonight and I owed Lena’s boyfriend big time.

“Do you like him?” I asked, not able to hide my interest.

“Who? Rock Boy? He’s interesting.”

Interesting was definitely an appropriate description of Johnnie Walsh, but I wasn’t sure Faith had meant it in that way.

“Really?” I said.

“What? You think he’s too young for me?”

“No, I didn’t say that.” I suppose now I thought about it, Johnnie was around ten years younger than Faith.

Faith shrugged. “He’s fun.”

“Oh, right. I get it. Fun.”

Faith grinned at me. “You never would have joked about that before, you know.”

Huh. I supposed she was right. A lot had changed in the weeks since my birthday. Losing my virginity had been a major change, but it was more than that. Since I’d turned twenty-one, I’d learned how to stand up for myself both on-set and at home with my mother.

I returned her grin. “So come and have some fun.”

Faith draped an arm around my shoulders. “I think I just might.”

*

OH BOY. SO ROCK-STAR drinks and regular drinks were two very different things. I wasn’t sure what I’d been expecting, but this wasn’t it. The penthouse at the Paris hotel the band was staying at was packed with people. I recognized a few of the roadies, dressed casually in jeans and T-shirts, throwing back beers. The slicker, more styled guests had to be from Gypsy Hour’s management. But the women. Where had all the women come from?

“Jesus,” Faith said when we walked in. “Groupies anyone?”

Viktor simmered silently beside me. He was definitely not happy to be there. There were too many people and people equalled risk.

“We should go,” he said in my ear.

I shot a desperate glance at Marc, who was standing beside him. Nothing ever seemed to ruffle him.

“We’re here now,” Marc said. “We’ll be keeping a close eye on you, Chloe. If you intend to leave the premises, you let us know first.”

“Of course.” In my mind I imagined jumping in the air and giving him a high-five. For all his ‘tough guy’ outer shell, Marc understood this was the last chance I’d have to see Gabe for weeks before they continued the European leg of their tour.

“I don’t like it,” Viktor murmured, and Marc put a hand on his shoulder.

“Nor do I, but if you don’t let her live, whoever it is wins.”

I gave Marc another grateful look and then let Faith tug me through the crowd. When the other attendees saw who we were a few of them gaped and people gave us room.

The members of the band were gathered around one of the open French doors that led to the balcony. When he saw us, Johnnie came forward and slipped a hand around Faith’s waist then gave her a polite kiss on the cheek.

“I see your reputation precedes you,” he said.

Faith blinked at his chaste greeting. Perhaps she’d been expecting Johnnie to stick his tongue down her throat. Either way, I was going to leave her to decide what she preferred.

I slipped past them and straight into Gabe’s arms.

After a very long, heated kiss, he eased back.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” I replied, my head spinning. “What’s with all the women?”

“What women? The only woman I need is right here.”

“Levi needs a woman,” I heard Johnnie say from behind me.

“There’s more than one here,” I pointed out.

“And the problem is?” Johnnie shot back.

Gabe gave me a wry grin and rolled his eyes. It seemed as though he’d finally forgiven Johnnie for the birthday kiss video.

“You’re not angry at him anymore?” I asked quietly.

“That would be too much effort. For all his bravado, he’s easily misled and mostly harmless.”

“Mostly,” I agreed.

We kissed again and then I rested my head against his chest. “I’m going to miss you.”

“Me too. But we’ve still got tonight.” He looked down at me meaningfully.

I inhaled a tight breath. Oh, those eyes of his were doing naughty things to me.

He leaned in and his lips brushed my ear. “How long before we can slip away?”

I bit my lip. Now, I wanted to go now, but I’d have to find Marc and Viktor and tell them where I was going. I sighed and told Gabe as much.

His mouth curled in amusement. “So they can stand guard outside the door while we—”

“Stop! I don’t want to think about it,” I moaned, which is exactly what I wanted to do while I was naked with Gabe inside of me. The thought of doing that while Viktor was nearby was beyond cringeworthy. Even if I could keep quiet, he’d still know what we were up to. “I think I’m going to be sick.”

Gabe chuckled. “So let’s just slip away then.”

“I can’t. Can you imagine if they can’t find me?”

“So tell them you’re going to the bathroom.”

My life really had reached new lows when I had to tell my bodyguard I wanted to go to the bathroom.

Gabe read my dismay. “Go to the bathroom in my room and I’ll meet you there.”

“Oh.”

“Oh.” Gabe’s eyes told me exactly what that meant.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“I’m sure if I’m not alone with you in the next two minutes I’m going to be arrested.”

I swallowed. I liked the sound of that way too much. “I’ll meet you there.”

“Deal.”

*

TEN MINUTES LATER I left the bathroom alone, trying to pretend I wasn’t unsteady on my feet. We hadn’t been long, but Gabe had proved expertly efficient. I’d left him inside and he would meet me at the bar in a couple of minutes.

I smiled innocently at Viktor as I came out and headed for the bar. Oh boy. Did I need a drink. Who knew bathrooms could be so much fun?

At the bar I saw Levi sitting talking to the guy serving drinks. Levi raised his hand and patted the stool next to him. I smiled and joined him.

“You know you’ve reached new heights as a rock star when this is the mini bar,” he joked.

“I’ll say.”

I ordered a glass of champagne and turned back to Levi. “So apparently all these women are for you?”

He flushed, looking uncomfortable. “Is that what Johnnie told you?”

“What do you think?”

“He’s always trying to set me up,” he said.

I thanked the bartender and sipped my drink, the sparkling liquid tingling as it went down. “Is that a bad thing?”

“If it was the right woman, yeah, but tell me you think any of those girls is the right woman.”

I twisted on the stool and observed the party. ‘Those girls’ were a dizzying array of pretty young things wearing very little clothing.

“I’m sure you could take your pick.”

Levi grimaced. “I’m not Johnnie.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Maybe.”

For the first time since I’d joined him I looked at Levi properly. His elbows rested on the glass countertop and a half-drunk beer sat in front of him. It was the absence of the usual twinkle in his eye that struck me.

I put a hand on his arm. “Is everything OK?”

Levi went stiff. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

“I don’t know. You just seem  . . . not yourself.”

Levi’s light blue eyes met mine. “I’m surprised you noticed.”

Gosh, what was with him tonight? I’d never seen him like this. Levi was usually the happy-go-lucky, get-along-with-everyone guy. Something must be seriously wrong to make him feel this way.

“I noticed. Anything you want to talk about?” Maybe there was a woman his band members didn’t know about and having all these groupies here was making him feel worse.

“So there’s this girl,” he said.

Bingo. I hoped whoever it was hadn’t broken his heart. Levi was such a decent guy.

“I didn’t know you had a girlfriend,” I told him.

“I don’t.” He stared sullenly into his glass. “She doesn’t know I’m alive.”

“I find that hard to believe.” Seriously, Levi was the lead guitarist of one of the biggest rock bands in the world. The woman would have to be blind not to notice him.

He shrugged. “She’s taken.”

Oh wow. Poor guy. I struggled for the right words and settled on being honest. “That really sucks. I’m sorry. You and Emilio are both having a tough time right now.”

Levi’s eyes widened. “What’s Emilio got to do with anything?”

“He’s still got feelings for his ex?” Oh crap. Surely that was public knowledge within the band and I hadn’t just put my foot in it again.

Levi gave an uncharacteristic sneer. “This is nothing like Emilio.”

“OK.” I took another sip of my champagne and looked around for Gabe. I hoped he got here soon because this was getting awkward.

“Want to know why?” Levi said.

“I’m sorry?” I’d been so distracted searching for Gabe that I’d missed his question.

“Why this is nothing like Emilio. This girl is the sort of girl you fight for,” Levi said. “Emilio let his partner go. I’d never do that.”

It didn’t surprise me Levi was the loyal type. It was such a shame the girl he liked wasn’t available.

“I know you wouldn’t,” I assured him. “But perhaps she’s not right for you. Perhaps—”

“No!” Levi shoved his beer away and some of it sloshed onto the counter.

The bartender and I shared a look. Levi had obviously had one too many tonight.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

He held his head in his hands. “But you do. You do upset me, Chloe. So much.”

I stared at him. “I’m sorry, Levi,” I said again. I had no idea what I’d done, but given his current mood, apologizing seemed like the best thing to do. I pushed the stool away with my legs and stood up. “I’d better go—”

“No!” His arm shot out and grabbed my wrist. “Stay, Chloe. Please stay. I didn’t mean to scare you. I’m just . . . sad right now.”

I cast a glance over my shoulder. Still no Gabe. Viktor caught my eye instead. He was standing against the wall several feet away and he raised an eyebrow at me.

I mouthed ‘OK’ and reluctantly sat down again.

“That’s rough, Levi, real rough. Is there anything I can do?”

He was still gripping my wrist. “Tell me why.”

I looked at his hand and wondered if I could pull my arm away without upsetting him. “Why? I wish I could, but life isn’t always fair.”

I bit back a yelp of surprise as his fingers dug into me.

“You don’t get it, do you?” he said, his voice so quiet I could barely hear him above the noise of the party. “Even now you don’t see it.”

I stood up again and attempted to wrench my arm from his grip, but he held me fast. “OK, Levi, you’re upsetting me. Please let me go and I’ll go and get Gabe to come and see if you’re alright.”

“No!” He let me go and his fist slammed down on the counter making me jolt. “Why him, Chloe? Why Gabe?”

I backed away, not fully understanding what I was hearing, but his tortured expression told me more than I wanted to know.

“Levi, you’re not making sense. I’ll get Gabe—”

“Fuck, Gabe! Fuck you! You hear me? Fuck you, Chloe Kemp, you clueless bitch! It’s you. It’s always been you.”

There were gasps and cries of surprise from around us, but nothing came out of my mouth. I wanted to back away further, but I couldn’t move because my head was too busy spinning.

“No,” I whispered.

“Yes,” said Levi. He eased himself up from the stool slowly, as if he was worried I would flee like a frightened animal, but I was frozen to the spot, disbelief coursing through my veins.

“Do you see it now, Chloe?” He put a hand to his chest. “Do you see me?”

I felt dizzy. It couldn’t be, but even in my fear I understood. “No,” I said again, louder this time.

“Yes.” Levi crept toward me. “I’d fight for you. I’d do anything for you, Chloe. Don’t you see? I love you.”

I covered my mouth, nausea rising in my throat. I shook my head, and kept shaking it, because I didn’t want this to be real and because everything was wrong, so very wrong.

Levi held out a hand. “Don’t be scared. I won’t hurt you. I’d never hurt you. I’ve been watching you and—”

“No!”

It was his last words that got through to me. I jumped forward and shoved Levi so hard the force of it sent me flying backward so that I hit the solid chest of guy standing behind me. As I fell, he caught me in his arms.

“Please get him away from me!” I cried. “He’s been stalking me!”