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"Your father called"

"Oh" I looked at her warily "He didn’t take the neell"

"No, he didn’t" As she linked her ar with it He wasn’t quite ready to let you go"

"Because I reot away He still loved her, even after more than two decades apart

"Nonsense, Eva There’s a rese"

That startled a laugh frohtly,her stumble over his own feet "Of course He’s a connoisseur of woeous as you are, it would taketo a halt by the revolving doors, I let y heat hitan instant mist of perspiration to et used to the hu in the city I loved sohad been beautiful and I knew fall would be, too The perfect time of year to renew my voith theGod for air-conditioning when I spotted Stanton’s head of security waiting by a black car at the curb

Benjareeted me with an easy, confident nod His deratitude for hi him

Gideon had killed Nathan to protect me Clancy had made sure Gideon would never pay for it

"Hey, you," I said to hi my sood to see you"

"I was just thinking the same about you"

He didn’t smile outwardly; it wasn’t his way But I could feel it nonetheless

My mom slid in first, and then I joined her in the backseat Before Clancy even rounded the trunk of the car, she was shifting to facefor ot that quick Latin te All he really wants is to ently "I know But I really, really want Dad and Gideon to get along"

"They’re two very headstrongto clash occasionally"

She wasn’t wrong I wanted to drea over sports or cars, with all the playful ribbing and backslapping that usually acco But I had to ith reality, whatever that turned out to be

"You’re right," I conceded "They’re both big boys They’ll figure it out" Hopefully

"Of course they will"

With a sigh, I glanced out the"I think I’ve come up with a solution for Corinne Giroux"

There was a pause "Eva, you have got to put that woht at all, you’re giving her power she doesn’t deserve"

"We allowed her to beco so secretive" I looked back at s Gideon He’s gorgeous, rich, sexy, and brilliant People want to know everything about hiree that they know next to nothing That’s given Corinne this opening to write her biography about her tiave , I pulled out a small tablet "We needher the ie of Gideon and me that had been taken just hours before as we’d stood in front of the Crossfire The ripped me by the nape was both tender and possessive, while the way my face tilted up to him revealed my love and adoration It made my stomach turn to see such a private et over it I had to give the," I explained "We need to be seen We spend too much time shut in The public wants the billionaire playboy who’s finally beco They want fairy tales, Moive people the story they want and by doing so, I’ to make Corinne and her book look pathetic"

My mother’s shoulders went back "That’s a horrible idea"

"No, it’s not"

"It’s terrible, Eva! You don’t trade hard-earned privacy for anything If you feed that public hunger, it will just get larger For God’s sake, you don’t want to become a tabloid fixture!"