Falling for the Starlet

"We got him." Caleb's head of security, Marcus Rivera, stood in the executive suite doorway holding a tablet with security footage. Lucy and Tiana looked up from the couch where they'd been nervously scrolling through the fake posts about Theresa. "Show me," Caleb said grimly. Marcus tapped the screen, revealing a young man in a Sinclair Studios baseball cap hunched over his phone outside a coffee shop. "David Chen, twenty-four, works in our casting department as an assistant coordinator. He's been feeding information to someone named Amber Walsh for the past three weeks." Lucy frowned. "Walsh? Like Jennifer Walsh?" "Jennifer's younger sister. She was up for the Elena role before you came along. Apparently she didn't take the competition well." "So she's been trying to destroy my life over a movie role?" Lucy's voice cracked with disbelief. "People have done worse for less in this town," Marcus said. "We've got David on camera making the calls, screenshots of his payments from Amber, and phone records connecting them both to the fake social media posts about Miss Montenegro." Caleb felt a surge of protective fury that surprised him with its intensity. "Have them arrested. Both of them." "Already in progress, sir. LAPD is picking up David now, and they're coordinating with New York PD to get Amber." Twenty minutes later, Caleb watched through his office window as David Chen was led away in handcuffs, a crowd of studio employees gawking from the lobby. Justice felt good, but it didn't erase the damage already done. He returned to the executive suite to find Lucy pacing while Tiana tried to calm her down. "It's over," he announced. "They're both in custody." Lucy stopped pacing, relief flooding her face. "So I can go home now?" "No." The sharpness in his voice surprised all three of them. Caleb cleared his throat, trying to sound more reasonable. "The story is already out there. Photographers know where you live, where you work. Even with the real perpetrators caught, copycats might try to capitalize on the attention." "For how long?" Tiana asked suspiciously. "A few days. Maybe a week. Until things die down." Lucy wrapped her arms around herself. "I can't afford to miss work that long. I'll lose my job." "I'll handle it. Consider yourself on paid leave from the studio until this blows over." "But I don't work for the studio yet." "You do now. Congratulations, you got the part." The words hung in the air. Lucy stared at him in shock while Tiana let out a whoop of excitement. "I got it? Really?" Caleb nodded, not trusting himself to speak. Seeing her face light up with pure joy was doing things to his chest that had nothing to do with business decisions. "But where are we supposed to stay?" Tiana asked practically. "Hotels are expensive, and if paparazzi are still looking for Lucy..." Caleb had been hoping they wouldn't ask. "I have a secured apartment downtown. You can stay there." "We couldn't impose like that," Lucy protested. "It's not an imposition. The place sits empty most of the time anyway." That was a lie. The downtown apartment was his private retreat, the one place in the city where he could disappear from the pressures of running a studio. He'd never let anyone else stay there, had never even told Theresa about it. But the thought of Lucy being unsafe somewhere else was unbearable. An hour later, Caleb personally drove them through the underground garage of a sleek high-rise in downtown LA. He'd dismissed his driver and security detail, wanting to keep this as private as possible. "This is incredible," Tiana whispered as they rode the private elevator to the penthouse. The apartment was minimalist but luxurious, all floor-to-ceiling windows and expensive furniture. Lucy walked to the wall of glass overlooking the city, her reflection ghostlike in the evening light. "You really don't have to do this," she said softly. "I know." Caleb joined her at the window, close enough to smell her shampoo. "I want to." Lucy turned to face him, her brown eyes searching his face. "Your girlfriend..." "Is in New York, focused on her career. As always." The words came out more bitter than he'd intended. Lucy stepped closer, close enough that he could see the gold flecks in her eyes, close enough to make some very bad decisions. "Caleb," she whispered. His phone rang, shattering the moment. Theresa's name flashed on the screen. "I should take this," he said, stepping away reluctantly. "Baby, thank God," Theresa's voice was shaky. "Did you see what they posted about me? My publicist is going crazy trying to contain the damage." "It's handled. The people responsible are in custody." "But the photos, the fake messages about Marcus and me... people actually believe I'm having an affair. This could destroy my reputation." Caleb closed his eyes, guilt washing over him. While he'd been focused on protecting Lucy, Theresa was dealing with her own nightmare three thousand miles away. "I'm sorry. I should have called you first." "You should have prevented this entirely. How did some nobody actress become important enough to target me over?" The question hit like a slap. Caleb glanced at Lucy, who was pretending not to listen while helping Tiana explore the apartment. "It wasn't about her. It was about the role. Competition got ugly." "Well congratulations, your little discovery just cost me a magazine cover. Vogue doesn't want to be associated with affair rumors." Theresa hung up before he could respond, leaving Caleb staring at his phone and feeling like the worst kind of bastard. "Everything okay?" Lucy asked quietly. He looked at her, standing in his private sanctuary wearing yesterday's dress and offering comfort despite everything she'd been through. The urge to tell her everything, to close the distance between them and forget about consequences, was overwhelming. Instead, he grabbed his keys. "I should go. There's food in the kitchen, and building security knows you're here. You'll be safe." "Caleb, wait." He paused at the door, not trusting himself to turn around. "Thank you. For everything. I know this is complicated for you." If only she knew how complicated. Caleb left without another word, but as the elevator descended, he couldn't shake the feeling that he was falling toward something that would change everything. His phone buzzed with a text from Marcus: "Sir, we found something else in David Chen's apartment. You need to see this." The message included a photo that made Caleb's blood run cold. Dozens of pictures of Lucy plastered across David's bedroom wall, some taken with a telephoto lens from outside her apartment, others clearly shot inside the studio during her audition. But it was the red X's drawn over her face in every single photo that made him realize this was never just about a role. Someone had wanted Lucy Martinez gone permanently.