I’d been mentioned in a review of a film I’d starred in that had recently premiered. According to the review, my performance had been the only thing holding a lackluster plot together. My lips twitched. I’d have to pass that comment on to Gray, since he’d written the screenplay and it would no doubt amuse him.

I opened my private messages and scrolled through. It looked to be mostly notes from fans. I replied to a couple, but I decided to leave the rest until later. I needed a good sleep or my head was going to explode.

But then something caught my eye. A message from a user with a generic name followed by a bunch of numbers. There was a video attached. Dread formed a hard pit in my stomach as I clicked onto it. The clip was only a few seconds long, but that was all it took to make me gag as a stranger jerked off over a photograph of me. The photo looked to have been taken at the airport, shortly before I’d boarded a flight to come here.

I dropped the phone and ran to the bathroom, emptying the contents of my gut into the toilet. I wretched again, then wiped my mouth, slammed the lid down, and flushed. I rinsed my mouth at the vanity, then sank against the wall and buried my face in my palms.

It was him.

That photograph hadn’t been in any tabloids. As far as I was aware, nobody other than my trusted friends, family, and former employees even knew I’d left the country, which meant he’d been following me. Watching me.

A shudder ran through me, and my stomach threatened another purge. I rose onto shaky legs and went to the kitchen for a glass of water.

It wasn’t the first time he’d sent a video like this, but it was the first one I’d seen. My assistant had found the others and flagged them with security before I’d known they even existed. If he’d held true to form, it would be the kind of recording that self-deleted as soon as it had been viewed once.

Regardless, I finished my water and went back to my phone to let the company who managed my security know. They replied that they’d see if they could trace it, but I doubted they’d find anything. They never did.

Chapter Four

LIAM

I saw you in a magazine today, and it sucked. Please stop putting your face where I can see it. - Unsent text message from Liam to Kennedy

“Please tell me you’re not thinking about Kennedy.”

I glanced up from where I was ensconced in one of the armchairs at the Fire Station to find Asher standing over me. “Of course not.”

He sighed and sank onto another chair. “Liar.”