“I’m sorry to hear that. But surely your family would never leak your whereabouts to the media, not after all you’ve been through.” He sounded sympathetic and cautiously hopeful at the same time. “That’s a line most families would never cross.”

Tia wanted to agree with him. But her family wasn’t like most. She knew he’d be shocked to learn how just how different her childhood had been. Deep in her heart she could see her mother doing almost anything to force her back home. If her scarred face appeared on magazines at every checkout counter in the country, where else could she hide? And she could see her sister doing it because misery loved company. Rachel was jealous that Tia had managed to break away, and even more jealous that she’d dared to chase her dream. “I don’t want to think it could be my family, either,” she said, especially because the media didn’t know about them. No one did. If this had come from her family, her family would have to have reached out to the media—not the other way around. “But I would suspect my sister before Barbie.”

He shook his head but finally started to eat in earnest. “Well, now that you know Kouretas is looking for you, you’ll have to be more careful when you talk to Barbie. Your family, too—in case they’re gabbing to others. Word has to be getting out somehow.”

She toyed with what was left of her burrito. “Maybe I should leave Silver Springs.”

Seth looked up. “And go where?”

“Home to Iowa, I guess.”

“I don’t think you should go back to your family,” he said. “You’re too fragile to land in the middle of a situation that sounds as toxic as the one you describe. And I don’t want you spending Christmas locked up alone in LA.”

She supposed it should’ve bothered her that he would presume to have such a strong opinion when they barely knew each other. But it felt good to have someone care enough to be protective. “I can’t stay here. It’s only a matter of time before—”

“Being spotted and photographed will be a threat no matter where you go,” he broke in.

“It’ll be much less of a threat in Iowa.”

“You don’t think this guy could hop on a flight as easily as you can?”

That wasn’t likely, but only she knew why, and she wasn’t about to say. “The more they need to spend, the less likely that will be,” she said to deflect the question. “Most of them live day-to-day.”

“If this guy believes there’s enough money in it, who knows what he’ll do? I think you should stay right here. I’ll make sure, even if Kouretas figures out where you are, that he doesn’t get onto the property.”