Janine Mcbride sat in the makeup chair of her trailer, holding the phone to her ear with one hand and fingering the emerald locket with the other.

"Did I see the headlines?" she crowed. "'The Billionaire and the Beauty: Reunited.' I'm trending, darling."

On the other end of the line, her agent sighed. "Just make sure you don't lose that necklace, Janine. It looks antique. If Koch asks for it back..."

"He won't," Janine said, admiring herself in the mirror. "He thinks he gave it to me. He was so out of it last night, he probably thinks he proposed."

Miles away, in a cramped office in the garment district, Aislinn watched the live stream of Janine's interview on her laptop. She took a screenshot of the necklace, zooming in to confirm the clasp was still intact.

"Enjoy it while you can," she whispered.

She closed the laptop and stood up. It was time to get into character.

She went to the back of the studio, to a dusty box marked "Donations." She pulled out a grey oversized cardigan that smelled faintly of mothballs and a pair of orthotic shoes with thick rubber soles. She went to the bathroom and pulled her hair back into a severe, tight bun that pulled at her scalp. She put on a pair of fake, non-prescription glasses with thick frames that magnified her eyes in an unflattering way.

She slouched. Immediately, five inches of height disappeared. The confident, sensual woman from The Vault was gone. In her place was Aislinn Reese, the invisible assistant.

"You look like a librarian who just got laid off," Declan said, leaning against the doorframe. He looked pale. Gambling debts did that to a man.

"Good," Aislinn said, her voice raspy again. "That's the point. Eric Koch doesn't see people like this. He looks right through them."

"He's here," Declan warned. "The motorcade just pulled up."

Aislinn's stomach flipped, but she forced herself to grab a stack of invoices. "I'm just the intern. I take notes. I fetch coffee. I don't speak."

"He wants Rose, Aislinn. What do I tell him?"

"Tell him the truth. Rose is a recluse. She works remotely. She hates people."

The elevator doors pinged. The air in the studio changed instantly. It became heavier, charged with electricity.

Eric Koch walked in. He was flanked by Gavin and two security guards, but he didn't need them. His presence alone commanded the room. He was wearing a navy suit that cost more than the entire building. His eyes, dark and assessing, swept over the open-plan office.

Every employee froze.

Eric's gaze landed on Aislinn for a split second. She kept her head down, clutching the invoices to her chest like a shield.

He looked away immediately. No recognition. Nothing. Just a flicker of mild distaste for her attire.

"Mr. Koch," Declan stepped forward, sweating. "Welcome to S.W. Studios."

"Cut the pleasantries," Eric said. His voice was smooth, deep, and terrifyingly calm. "Where is she?"

"She?"

"Rose. The only asset in this purchase I actually care about. I bought the studio to get the brand. I expect the creator to be present."

"Ah," Declan wiped his forehead. "About that. Rose... she isn't here."

Eric stopped walking. The silence in the room was deafening. "Explain."

"She's... eccentric," Declan stammered. "Very private. She sends her designs via encrypted server. We've actually never met her in person. The trust handles everything."

Eric laughed, a dry, humorless sound. "You expect me to believe that? I just bought a company for eight figures, and you're telling me the key talent is a ghost?"

"It's in her contract," Declan pleaded. "Total anonymity."

"I don't care about contracts I didn't write," Eric said. "Tell her she shows up tomorrow, or I void the deal and sue you for fraud."

Declan looked like he was going to faint.

Aislinn knew she had to intervene. If the deal fell through, the studio would close, and her cover would be blown. She had to save the deal without revealing herself.

"She won't come," a voice croaked from the back of the room.

Eric turned slowly. He looked at the grey lump of a woman standing near the photocopier.

"Excuse me?" he said, raising an eyebrow.

Aislinn didn't look up. She kept her eyes fixed on his polished shoes. "Rose. She said if anyone tries to force her into the light, she'll burn the sketchbooks. She'd rather destroy the brand than be a celebrity."

The room gasped. Nobody spoke to Eric Koch like that.

Eric took a step toward her. He narrowed his eyes, studying her. "And who are you? Her gatekeeper?"

"I'm just an assistant," Aislinn mumbled. "I was hired last month to manage the digital filing. I manage her... correspondence."

Eric stared at her. There was something about her defiance that annoyed him, but also... intrigued him. Most people cowered. This frumpy little thing was trembling, yes, but she was still speaking.

"You have guts," Eric said softly. "Or you're stupid. I haven't decided which."

He turned back to Declan. "Fine. She keeps her anonymity. For now. But this..." he pointed a finger at Aislinn without looking at her, "...this assistant is now her official liaison. Every design, every memo, goes through her. And she reports directly to me."

Aislinn's head snapped up. Directly to him? That was the opposite of hiding.

"Sir," Gavin interjected. "You want the junior assistant to report to the CEO's office?"

"If she's the only one Rose talks to, then yes," Eric said. He looked at Aislinn one last time. "Don't make me regret this. What is your name?"

"Aislinn," she whispered.

"Speak up."

"Aislinn," she said louder.

Eric paused. The name seemed to trigger a faint memory, a nuisance he couldn't quite place. Then he shrugged. "Have the Q4 portfolio on my desk by Monday, Aislinn."

He turned on his heel and walked out.

As the elevator doors closed, Aislinn slumped against the photocopier, her legs turning to jelly. She had survived. But she had just walked straight into the lion's den.

By 6:00 PM, Aislinn felt like she was going to explode.

Her inbox was flooded with demands from Gavin. Declan was hyperventilating in his office. And every time she closed her eyes, she saw Eric's face-not the cold CEO face, but the face of the man who had held her in the dark.

She needed to hit something. Or drive.

She grabbed the keys to Harper's car from her desk. Harper had left the 1967 Ford Mustang at the studio specifically because she knew Aislinn sometimes needed a "therapy session." The car was a beast-matte black, souped-up engine, illegal tint. It was the antithesis of Aislinn Reese.

She changed in the bathroom. Off went the grey cardigan. On went a leather jacket, a baseball cap pulled low, and aviator sunglasses.

She roared out of the parking garage, the engine growling like a caged animal.

Traffic on the FDR Drive was heavy, but moving. Aislinn wove through the cars, the vibration of the steering wheel soothing the anxiety in her fingertips.

Up ahead, she saw a convoy of three black SUVs taking up two lanes, moving at a steady, arrogant pace. They were blocking traffic, forcing everyone to slow down.

Koch Security. She recognized the formation.

Flashbacks of her marriage-of being told where to sit, when to speak, how to breathe-flooded her mind. The arrogance of those black cars represented everything she hated about Eric's world.

"Move," she muttered, gripping the wheel.

She downshifted. The Mustang screamed. She saw a gap between the lead SUV and the concrete median. It was tight. Dangerous.

Perfect.

She floored it. The Mustang shot forward like a bullet.

Inside the rear SUV, Eric was reviewing a digital file of Rose's designs on his tablet. He was mesmerized by the sketches. They were bold, chaotic, yet structurally perfect.

Suddenly, a roar drowned out the quiet hum of the AC.

"What was that?" Eric asked, looking up.

"Crazy driver, sir," the security lead said from the front seat. "Coming up on the left."

Eric turned his head just in time to see a black blur shoot past his window. The car was inches from the metal guardrail. It was a maneuver that required surgical precision and a total lack of fear.

As the Mustang pulled ahead, the driver's hand shot out the window. A single finger extended in a crisp, defiant salute.

Eric blinked. Then, a slow grin spread across his face.

"Did I just get flipped off?" he asked, sounding delighted.

"I'll call it in, sir. Get the plate."

"No," Eric said, watching the taillights weave through traffic. "Let them go. That was... impressive."

He hadn't felt a spark of genuine amusement in months.

Ten minutes later, traffic stalled at a red light near the exit for the Brooklyn Bridge. The convoy pulled up next to the black Mustang.

Eric lowered his window. He wanted to see who was driving. A reckless teenager? A drunk?

The driver of the Mustang was leaning one arm on the door frame, tapping fingers against the roof to the beat of a song Eric couldn't hear.

The driver turned.

Through the tint and the sunglasses, Eric couldn't see eyes. But he saw the jawline. The curve of the neck. The way a stray lock of dark hair fell from under the cap.

For a second, the world stopped.

He knew that neck. He knew the angle of that chin. It triggered a sensory memory from the night before-the taste of skin, the pulse under his lips.

The driver seemed to freeze, staring back at him.

Aislinn.

Her heart hammered against her ribs. He was right there. Five feet away. If she took off the glasses, it was over. If she spoke, it was over.

She slowly raised her hand to the brim of her cap and pulled it down, obscuring her face completely.

The light turned green.

Aislinn didn't hesitate. She slammed on the gas, peeling out with a screech of tires that left the smell of burnt rubber in the air.

"Sir?" Gavin asked. "Did you know him?"

"Her," Eric corrected, staring at the empty road. "It was a woman."

He pulled out his phone. "Get me the registration on a black '67 Mustang. New York plate: QX-998."

"Right away."

Five minutes later, the text came through.

Owner: Harper Yates.

Eric frowned. Harper. His ex-wife's loud, obnoxious best friend. The socialite who spent more time in nightclubs than at home.

"Of course," he muttered, disappointed. "Birds of a feather."

He assumed Harper was driving, or perhaps she had lent the car to one of her many boyfriends. He thought briefly of Aislinn, the grey mouse from the office, but the thought was laughable. That timid creature couldn't handle a stick shift, let alone drive with that kind of aggression. The idea that Aislinn Reese could be behind the wheel of a muscle car was as absurd as a nun robbing a bank.

But the image of that chin, that neck... it stayed with him. It was bothering him. It was a puzzle piece that didn't fit.

Back at her apartment, Aislinn parked the car and rested her forehead against the steering wheel. Her hands were shaking.

Too close.

She needed that necklace back. As long as Janine had it, she was tethered to that night. And as long as she was working for Eric, she was walking a tightrope over a pit of fire.

She pulled out her laptop and opened a backdoor program she had installed on Eric's home network years ago-back when she was trying to find out what his favorite meal was so she could cook it.

She scanned his calendar.

Tomorrow: 7:00 PM. Charity Auction. Koch HQ Atrium.

Janine would be there. She would be wearing the necklace to show it off.

Aislinn smiled, a sharp, dangerous curve of her lips.

"Time to go to work."

The Koch Headquarters Atrium was a glass cathedral dedicated to capitalism. Tonight, it was transformed into a gala space, filled with white roses, champagne towers, and people who spent more on shoes than most people earned in a year.

Aislinn entered through the service elevators in the back. She wasn't dressed for the party. She was wearing a blue jumpsuit slightly too large for her, a face mask, and a cap with the logo of the building's cleaning service.

She pushed a cart filled with cleaning supplies. Her heart was beating a steady rhythm of adrenaline.

Earlier that day, she had dealt with Deann Padilla, the newly appointed Head of Design for the acquired studio. Deann was a shark with lipstick-ruthless, untalented, and cruel. She had ordered Aislinn to fetch coffee for the entire team, explicitly forbidding her from attending the gala setup.

Aislinn had fetched the coffee. She had also added a generous dose of a natural laxative herb she grew on her balcony to Deann's soy latte. Deann was currently indisposed in the third-floor restroom and would be for the foreseeable future.

Aislinn pushed her cart into the hallway behind the main stage. She could hear the murmur of the crowd and the drone of the auctioneer.

"...and sold! To Mr. Eric Koch for two million dollars."

Applause rippled.

Aislinn peeked through the velvet curtains. Eric stood near the front, looking bored. Clinging to his arm was Janine. The emerald necklace was around her neck, blazing green under the spotlights.

Janine whispered something in Eric's ear. He pulled away slightly, checking his watch.

"I need to powder my nose," Janine announced loudly, ensuring the photographers heard her.

She detached herself from Eric and headed toward the private VIP restrooms in the back corridor.

Aislinn moved.

She parked her cart in front of the men's room to block it and slipped into the women's restroom just as the door was closing behind Janine.

Janine was at the mirror, applying another layer of lip gloss. She saw Aislinn's reflection-a cleaner in a mask-and dismissed her instantly.

"Don't clean in here while I'm using it," Janine snapped. "Wait outside."

Aislinn locked the main door. Click.

Then she hung a "Out of Order" sign on the handle.

She turned to Janine. "We need to talk."

Janine spun around. "Excuse me? Do you know who I am?"

Aislinn pulled out her phone. She hit play on a file she had spent the afternoon synthesizing using AI voice modulation software.

Janine's voice filled the tiled room: "God, Eric is such a bore. And his fans are disgusting little pigs. I just need the press for the movie, then I'm dumping him."

Janine's face went white. "That's... that's fake! I never said that!"

"It sounds real enough for TMZ," Aislinn said, disguising her voice to be deeper, rougher. "Take off the necklace."

"What? No! This is robbery!"

"It's a trade. The necklace for the recording."

Janine clutched the emerald. "Eric gave this to me!"

"We both know that's a lie," Aislinn stepped closer. "He doesn't even like you. Give it to me."

Janine lunged. She wasn't a fighter, but she had long nails. She swiped at Aislinn's face, trying to rip off the mask.

Aislinn caught her wrist in mid-air. With a swift, fluid motion she had learned from Master Hancock, she twisted Janine's arm behind her back and pinned her against the marble vanity. It wasn't brute force; it was leverage.

" Ow! My arm! You're breaking my arm!"

"The necklace," Aislinn ordered.

Janine, sobbing with pain and fear, reached up with her free hand and unclasped the locket. It slid onto the counter.

Aislinn released her and grabbed the jewelry. She shoved it deep into her pocket.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

Fists pounded on the door.

"Janine? Are you in there?" It was Eric. His voice was low and dangerous. "Open this door."

Aislinn froze. There was no back exit.

"Help! Eric! Help me!" Janine screamed. "She's got a knife! She's crazy!"

Aislinn looked around frantically. The only way out was the window. They were on the 20th floor.

She ran to the window and unlatched it. The wind howled outside. Below, the city lights looked like distant stars.

But ten feet to the right, swinging slightly in the wind, was a window washer's rig. It had been left there for the night shift.

"Janine, move away from the door!" Eric shouted. A heavy thud followed-he was kicking it in.

Aislinn climbed onto the sill. She didn't look down. She looked at the rig.

Jump.

She launched herself into the void.

For a second, she was flying. Then her hands caught the metal railing of the rig. The impact wrenched her shoulders, but she held on. She swung wildly, her feet scrambling for purchase on the metal grate.

Inside the bathroom, the door splintered open. Eric burst in, security guards behind him.

He saw Janine huddled on the floor. He saw the open window.

He ran to the ledge and looked out.

He saw a figure in a blue jumpsuit rappelling down the side of the building using the rig's emergency cables, moving with the speed and agility of a special forces operative.

The figure paused, looked up for a split second-masked, unidentifiable-and then vanished onto a lower terrace.

Eric gripped the windowsill, his knuckles white.

"Who the hell is that?" he whispered.

The movement. The fearlessness. It reminded him of the Mustang driver. It reminded him of the woman in the penthouse.

"She stole my necklace!" Janine wailed. "The one you gave me!"

Eric turned to look at her. His eyes were cold. "I didn't give you a necklace, Janine. And whoever that was... she just earned my respect."

Aislinn reached the terrace, stripped off the jumpsuit to reveal a black cocktail dress underneath, and merged into the crowd leaving a nearby theater.

Her hand closed around the locket in her pocket. It was warm.

She was safe. But she knew Eric had seen her. The net was tightening.