THE BILLIONAIRE'S PROBLEM

Not yet. Everyone kept talking like she was on a moving walkway she hadn't stepped on. Like this had momentum independent of her choices.

Tamsin's phone buzzed. She checked it, then looked to the window. "They've identified your tote. Your building's tagged on a neighborhood forum. You have about twenty minutes before the first freelancer tests your buzzer."

Lily swore softly.

Stacy's stomach dropped. "How do we stop it?"

"We don't," Tamsin said. "We get ahead of it. We control angles. We limit oxygen."

Stacy stared at the edge of the coffee table to keep from spiraling. "And Axel... Mr. Kings... what is he doing?"

"Working," Tamsin said. "Calling favors. Threatening ad pulls. Feeding a different story to three outlets so they cannibalize each other. The usual."

"The usual," Stacy repeated, as if repetition could make it reasonable.

Tamsin pocketed her phone. "I'll be in the car out back. Lock your door. Curtains closed. If you need me, call. If you don't, still call in three hours so I know you're breathing."

She moved to the door, then paused. "And Stacy? Ignore the comments. Even the good ones. Especially the good ones."

The door clicked shut.

Stacy locked it. Drew the curtains. Sat down and pressed her palms over her eyes until she saw sparks.

Her phone ... the unmarked one ... buzzed.

AK:

You okay?

She stared at the letters for a long time. A small, sharp reality cut through the rest: she was relieved he'd asked.

STACY:

No. But I'm managing.

Three dots. Then:

AK:

Good. Eat something. I'm sending...

STACY:

No deliveries. No favors. Just... keep them off her. And me.

A longer pause.

AK:

Done.

She set the phone down and let the word settle. It felt too easy. It felt like stepping onto that moving walkway.

Across the room, Lily watched her with a look that understood more than Stacy wished she did. "He's not going to disappear, is he?"

Stacy shook her head. "People like him don't disappear. They expand."

Lily chewed her toast, then said, very quietly, "He looked at you like he already knew how this ends."

Stacy met her sister's eyes. "Then he's wrong."

A buzz at the intercom cut the moment in half. A male voice crackled through, bright with fake cheer. "Stacy? Hey! Sam from the building management. Quick note about your... uh... window unit?"

Stacy didn't move. The unit had been rattling for two summers and management ha

Another buzz. "Stacy? You there?"

She picked up the receiver, thumb hovering over the talk button. Then she set it down again and stepped back.

The unmarked phone vibrated.

TAMSIN:

Do not answer. He's press. Stay off the line.

The intercom buzzed three more times and went mercifully quiet.

Stacy exhaled and looked at Lily, who was staring at the ceiling like it might offer a hint.

"You still think I should quit?" Stacy asked, because the question was a raft and she needed something to hold.

Lily considered. "No. I think you should survive today."

A beat.

"Then figure out the rest tomorrow."

Stacy nodded, though tomorrow felt like a rumor.

She sat on the floor again, same spot as last night, back against the coffee table, facing the door. Two phones on the wood beside her. Two names on two cards. The city outside sharpening its teeth.

Her personal phone buzzed one more time. A notification preview lit the screen ... a new post from a gossip account she didn't follow.

KINGS' CROSSING: Who's the brunette with Axel? Our money's on a makeup girl with a sharp tongue and sharper cheekbones. Developing...

Her face wasn't shown. Her name wasn't there. But it felt like being seen anyway.

Stacy locked the screen and pressed her fingers to the pulse in her neck until it slowed.

"Axel Kings," she said under her breath, testing the sound the way he'd tested hers. A name like a headline. A name with teeth.

She looked at Lily, then at the door.

"Okay," she said to the room, to the noise, to the man whose gravity was already rearranging her orbit. "Let's see how bad this gets."

And she waited, listening to the building hold its breath.