"Sera, will you come down to Xavier's office, please?"

"Sure, Ella, I'm on my way." Sera hung up and stared at the phone on her desk. What the fuck was up now? Was Jason somehow taking credit for the rest of her ideas? He'd wisely avoided her the rest of the day yesterday. But at some point they'd need to work together. There was still a ton of work to do.

She grabbed her notebook and that made her way down to Xavier's office. He had a corner spot naturally, which took up the space of three offices. But then, he owned the place, so it was one of the perks of doing business.

When she reached his office, she knocked lightly and was irritated to find Jason was already there.

"Sera, come on in. Jason and I were just discussing the campaign for Girl Interrupted."

She gritted her teeth and forced a smile on her face. Nice of you guys to include me. "Oh, that's great. I’ve been working on the ideas that Jason and I originally discussed." There, that didn't sound bitchy, right? She hoped not. Because what she really meant was, I've been working to differentiate myself from the work-stealing asshole. But she couldn't say that.

Xavier leaned back in his chair. "Oh, that's great to hear. I'm sure you’ve got lots of great ideas. Let's hear them."

Sera hesitated for a moment. On the bright side, he couldn't give Jason all the credit for her work this time. And it was an opportunity to shine. "Well, moving on the idea of real women, real girls, I was thinking the event could include women that these girls look up to. Actors, models, musicians showing that these women are relatable and they're real. That just because they're famous, and or on TV, doesn't mean they don't have the same insecurities. The only issue is timing. We have relationships with many of the agencies in L.A., but with only four weeks, that's not a lot of time."

Xavier's long fingers created a steeple as he nodded. "That's actually a great idea. I can lend my weight and call in some favors."

Sera sat straighter. That would be huge help and if she could actually pull that off; the event would be amazing. All those girls would get to see their idols being worshiped as real people. "Yeah, that would be great. We don't need a lot, it would be ideal to get some big hitters, but with our timeline maybe not possible. But at this point if we can move forward with it we'll take what we can get."

Jason chimed in. "Sera, that's great. I can also reach out to, you know, CEOs, and see if they would also be willing to donate or participate."

She nodded slowly as she thought it through. "That would be great—they should hear from women who are also captains of industry if you will, but you have to remember these are teenage girls. They're more interested in someone who's cool than someone who they think is super smart. There's a cachet to being famous with these kids."

"Maybe, but isn't that the point? These are at-risk girls and we want them to make something of their lives. And not all of them are going to be superstar singers or dancers."

He was missing the point. She knew these girls. Some CEO giving them a great speech about how she went to some Ivy League school and had a great idea and pulled together marketing was going to lose them. "Jason, I think that's great, but I think you have to remember the audience. I think a CEO of perhaps a beauty brand or even better someone who's gone completely indie or fought against the establishment is a better bet and may be good as our closing. But these girls, I know them. They get bombarded with these images of these perfect, beautiful women and then they think they're not good enough. I think it's better that they hear from these women in their own words."

Jason sat back and frowned then slid his gaze towards Xavier. Her boss eyed her steadily. "I think Sera is right on this one. And I think I owe Sera an apology. Jason told me that this original idea was yours. I was so excited my nephew was taking such a keen interest in this client that I gave him all the credit, and I should have been recognizing your efforts since you seem so tapped in."

Well, that was unexpected. Sera drew in a deep breath. "Thank you, Xavier. We both came up with the concept that Saturday. It's nice to be recognized."

Her boss nodded, then turned to his Jason. "Follow Sera's lead on this. Sera, let me know what you need and who you think our speakers should be. And I'll make it happen."

Just like that? This was actually happening. She wavered between elation and pure terror. Well, you came up with the idea, now you just have to pull it off. A little worried that Jason was irritated, she slid him a surreptitious glance, but he was nodding and taking notes. And then it hit her: he'd done this.

Once Xavier dismissed them, she turned to him in the hallway. "You know, you didn't have to do that."

Jason shook his head. "Yes, I did. Look, I know what everyone says about me. Even though I changed my name to Braiburn, it’s not exactly a secret that Xavier is my uncle. I might want to prove myself and stand out, but I want to do it on my own terms. I'm not going to steal someone's work to do it."

"I'm sorry I said that."

He nodded his acceptance. "It's fine. I would have flipped out too. Now, what do you say we actually get to work and make this shit awesome? I have some ideas for a few venues if you want to take the rest of the morning and check a couple of them out."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, we can get some pictures and send them…" Her voice trailed off. If she left the building, that meant Dylan was coming with her. The venue would set the whole tone for the event, so she wasn't staying behind. She'd just have to shake him. He'd be furious if she left, but that wasn't her problem. The real question was how had he followed her on Saturday? She glanced down at her phone and scowled. She hated to be without it, but if it meant getting some work done without Dylan breathing down her neck, then fine.

"I'll grab some notes, meet you in the lobby in ten?"

If she wanted to ditch Dylan, going out the front door was not the way to do it. "Actually, there’s a ton of traffic on Broadway this morning. Let's head out the back and grab an Uber."

"Good idea."

"See you in ten," she said. A sliver of trepidation snaked down her spine, but she shook it off. He'd be pissed. But after that bullshit at lunch two days ago, she didn't care.

* * *

Monday night had been a cold, silent affair. After work, they'd gone to pick up groceries, because the woman insisted on subsisting on yogurt, peanut butter, and the occasional dry cereal. She didn't even have milk. It hadn’t been easy to drag her with him but he hadn’t given her a choice. Nevertheless she'd spent the time on the phone answering emails with barely a grunt to show interest in the food he bought. Once home, she'd vanished into her room and he hadn’t seen her again.

Yesterday had been much the same. He'd held her hand on the way to the ferry, and the way to the office, but they hadn’t spoken a word, the tension and latent anger swirling around them. After a perfunctory kiss on the cheek, he released her immediately. He didn't do anything to linger.

If this was how they were going to go for the next several weeks, he could do it. But a part of him missed her smart mouth. It had only been a few days, but he'd gotten used to her sassy comebacks.

All morning he'd been focused on closing out the paperwork for one of his smaller cases. Sawyer was still working on locating his mother. He'd tried calling Derek back, but his brother hadn't answered. He hoped it was because he was working and not because he was pouting. The plan this afternoon was to comb through the rest of the security footage from Monday and the restaurant and from the day the letter to Sera had been intercepted. He didn't have enough resources and there was only so much he could do at a time.

Checking the screens, he frowned when he didn’t see her in her office. He scrolled through all of the other cameras he had access to in the office and his heart rate ticked up when she wasn't visible anywhere on screen. Obviously there were no cameras in the bathrooms, but that didn’t calm his racing mind.

He checked the GPS trackers and they showed she was on site. Relax, Donovan. She's in the building somewhere. But where? After a solid two minutes of being patient, he shoved his gun in his holster and donned his jacket. He might be overreacting, but it was better he overreact and find nothing than to have her be in trouble.

At the elevator, he impatiently punched the buttons as he called her. Every call he made went straight to voicemail. What the hell? His first stop was her office. He found Taj bopping to Beyoncé as she typed. "Hey, Taj."

She gave him a wide grin. "Delicious D. I've officially had my hot man quota for the day. Thank you."

He quirked his lips. "I doubt that. Have you seen Sera? I wanted to grab her for lunch."

"Sorry, darling. Maybe she'll be back a bit later. She and Jason left thirty minutes ago to go check out some venues for the Go Girl event."

There were only a few times Dylan could recall adrenaline-spiked terror injecting into his blood stream. Once as a teenager when he'd been driving his sister Brooklyn to Brownies and they'd been nearly T-boned. That night a year ago, when he'd shot that poor girl. And now. He worked hard to keep his voice even. "Do you know which venues they were checking out?"

"Sorry, babes. She didn't say. But I doubt she'll be gone long. She left her phone and her purse."

He swallowed hard. "Thanks, Taj."

He left her office, the anger now commingling with the terror. She'd deliberately given him the slip. When he got his hands on her, he was going to show her a whole knew meaning of protective custody.

* * *

Sera's shoes clicked on the ballroom floor as she followed the Westhorpe Hotel's VP of Events, Jaya Trudeaux Westhorpe, through the venue. Jason was busy taking pictures behind them. "Jaya, I think this is a great space. And you guys won't have a problem with us bringing our own crew to do set-up and take-down?"

Jaya turned. "Nope. Since this is for Girl Interrupted, it'll make more sense for you to bring your own guys in. It'll be cheaper. Do you want me to send you home with a copy of the standard contract for you to have your client look over?"

"Yeah, that would be great."

"Sure thing, this way. Nice shoes by the way." Jaya grinned at her.

"Thanks. Bloomingdale’s sample sale last year. Same to you."

"I may or may not have an obsession with stilettos."

Sera laughed. "I think you and I will get along great."

Jason joined them, holding up his camera. "I think I got what we need. Do you want to head back? I know we have the client call at three."

"Yeah, good idea." She was starting to get a little nervous about what Dylan was going to do to her when he realized she was gone. Somehow she was more worried about his reaction than she had been when she'd snuck out at seventeen to see Beyoncé in concert.

After they had their contract in hand, while Jason took a call, she had the front desk order them an Uber. She’d been in such a hurry to get out from under Dylan’s watchful gaze that she’d left her phone. Luckily she had her wallet though. This was a gorgeous hotel. If they worked quickly they might even be able to do some makeovers for the girls in attendance.

Someone bumped her from behind and she dropped her wallet and the clipboard Jaya had given her. "Shit."

When she bent to retrieve them, a familiar voice said, "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? No cracked phone, I hope."

All the air whooshed out of Sera's lungs and she didn’t dare turn around. The voice was too familiar. Too intimate. Her hands started to shake so badly she dropped her wallet again as her mind took her to the dark place. The one she avoided at all costs.

"Tsk, tsk, Sera. You really should be more careful."

No. It's not him, you're imagining it. Turn around, prove it to yourself. She turned slowly, only to wish she hadn’t. Dark eyes met hers and the man who lived in her nightmares smiled. She opened her mouth to scream, to tell him not to touch her. Something, anything. But she couldn't find her breath, let alone any words.

"I'll be seeing you around, Sera." With a grin, he walked across the marble floor and out the front door.

Time froze as she stood there in shock before Jason joined her. "Who was that you were talking to?" he asked.

Oh, just her nightmares come to life. She never should have ditched Dylan.