She leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. She was quiet for so long that I was beginning to think she had decided the interview was over. But then...

"Sundial364," she said. "At yahoo, or one of those servers. Gmail, maybe."

The guard walked over then, announced that our time was up. I stood, backing up from the table slowly, as though afraid the guard would go all Orange is the New Black on me or something. Peggy grinned again.

"You think I'm scary," she said, "you don't know nothing. I'm Little Orphan Annie compared to this guy."

And then she laughed again.

I had never been happier to fall into Conrad's warm, supportive arms than I was the moment I stepped through those locked gates.

Madison "I don't understand," I said as I watched Conrad and Rawn pace restlessly around Rawn's office. "Why would he lie to his people and tell them they kidnapped the wrong woman? What purpose is there in that?"

"Maybe he thought it would distract the police from his real purpose if his people were arrested," Mellissa offered.

"Or he wanted to mislead us," Rawn said. "Maybe he didn't want us to know this was personal."

"Why?" I asked. "He obviously has a problem with you. Why wouldn't he want you to know that it was personal?"

We all kind of stared at each other for a few minutes, none of us coming up with a reasonable explanation-until Conrad suggested that maybe it had something to do with Cepheus.

"Maybe he was trying to protect Cepheus from any backlash. Maybe he wanted this all to be handled internally."

"But it's not. It's causing the potential for all kinds of bad publicity that could hurt Cepheus," I said. "We had an inventor try to back out of a meeting just yesterday because he'd heard something had gone badly at a photoshoot for one of our products."

"Yeah, but Logan wasn't supposed to be the target of the drugged water bottles, remember?" Mellissa asked. "My guess is Rawn was supposed to get high and act odd enough that a video slipped to the CEO would cause her to question his ability to run the department. It would have all been handled internally if it had gone the way it was supposed to."

That made sense.

"That's why he wants you to resign. To get rid of you without causing a public spectacle."

Rawn nodded. "But if I call his bluff, it could mean a great deal of trouble for Cepheus."

"Then, he probably won't go through with his threats," Conrad said.

And that made sense, too.

"But we don't know that." Rawn shook his head. "And I can't take that chance."

"None of it makes sense," I said. "Why go to all the trouble of having me kidnapped? If all he wanted was for the truth of our relationship to be made public, why not record us at a restaurant, or use a webcam to catch us here, in your office?" I blushed a little as I thought of all the times we'd indulged in less than appropriate behavior in this room. "Wouldn't that have worked better?"

"Maybe there was more to it than Peggy knew," Mellissa said.

"Or he had a grudge with you, too," Conrad suggested.

Rawn shook his head. "Madison had only been here a few months when all of this happened. She wasn't here long enough to annoy anyone but maybe Aurora."

"Or Russell," Mellissa suggested.

Mellissa and I exchanged a glance, both of us smiling at that ridiculous idea. Russell was a lot of things: annoying, detail-oriented, bossy. But he wasn't the type to orchestrate a kidnapping.

But none of this speculation was getting us anywhere.

"We could threaten to go to the FDA ourselves," Conrad suggested. Again.

I sat back on Rawn's couch, tucking my feet underneath my ass. Mellissa did the same, but she managed to make it look much more comfortable.

"I don't see how it would hurt," I said. "If he's going to release the blueprints, there's probably nothing we can do to stop him."

"I could resign."

"And he might release the blueprints anyway."

Rawn glanced at me, and I could see that that exact thought had already crossed his mind. He leaned back against the front of his desk and stared down at the floor.

"The only other option I see is that we go to the CEO with everything we know and get her to support a conversation with the police."

Conrad shook his head. "That would only piss the guy off." He paced a little, his eyes jumping to Mellissa every time he turned in her direction. She watched him, concern etched in her fine features. It almost hurt me to see how much love there already was between the two of them.

Then, Conrad stopped. "What if we went to the press?" When Rawn opened his mouth to object, Conrad held up his hand to stop him. "We could tell them about Madison's kidnapping, about its potential connection to you. We could suggest that we're looking for tips for the identity of the man behind it. Put pressure on him, make it look like we're working with the cops to find out who he is."

"Wouldn't he see through that?" I asked. "The police think that Peggy was the mastermind. They're not looking for anyone but the three or four guys who got away when the police raided that house."

"I don't think he would," Conrad said. "Unless he has someone inside the police department, he couldn't know exactly what their investigation entails. Besides, I think we should involve the police, let them know what Peggy told Mellissa today. Maybe by the time the information went to press, it would be true."

"The blowback on Cepheus could be a problem," Rawn said slowly.

"We could control the story if we were the ones to release it," Conrad argued. "We could imply that the kidnapping had nothing to do with Madison's connection to Cepheus and more to do with her relationship with you."

"But that," I said quietly, "would make our relationship public."

"It already is, isn't it?" Mellissa asked.

Rawn shrugged, but he didn't really meet my eye.

It really depended on how you defined public. The CEO knew about us and seemed to have no problem with us working together as long as we kept our hands to ourselves during company hours. Most of the people we worked with-mostly Rawn's underlings-knew about us. His pilot and flight steward knew, as did the waiters at our favorite Italian restaurant.

But Rawn had yet to introduce me to his parents. Or any friends, other than Conrad and Mellissa. And my parents knew about him, but they hadn't met him yet, either.

That didn't seem all that public to me.

"Do you really think that would make a difference?" Rawn asked Conrad.

"I don't see where it would make anything worse. We could talk to the CEO first, give her a heads up, and find out if there's any additional steps we need to take to protect Cepheus from the press. And I could hand pick the reporters and their publications. We would control everything."

"And you really think," Mellissa asked, "that this would put enough pressure on this guy to make him back off?"

"It would, at the very least, make him think twice about releasing that blueprint."

"It's our only option," Rawn said softly.

"What about the email?" I asked. "Couldn't we try to contact him through that, try to convince him to back off?"

"We could try," Conrad said. "But there's no guarantee that it's even good anymore."

I got up and walked to Rawn's computer, gesturing for him to log in when I saw that it was locked. He hesitated, but not long. He knew when I was determined to do something, there was little he could do to talk me out of it.

"What was the email?"

"Sundial364," Mellissa said. "But Peggy couldn't remember if it was yahoo or Gmail."

I glanced at her, something about that combination of words and numbers bothering me. But then...it didn't really matter right now, did it?

"We'll try both."

I typed in the email addresses and writing: Dear Sir, Every good businessman knows that you can't get anywhere without good negotiation skills. I am writing this in hopes of convincing you to enter into negotiations with me. I understand that the blueprints you have could be potentially life altering for myself, my father, and Cepheus. I don't believe you want to hurt Cepheus, but that your goal is to ruin me. While I don't understand why this is, I would like to counter your ultimatum with one of my own. If I don't hear from you by tomorrow evening, Conrad Goldstein will release a story to the press outlining your role in the kidnapping of Madison Miller and we will go to the police with all the information Peggy Duprey offered to Mellissa Anderson during their visit this afternoon.

"Should I just sign it with your name?" I asked Rawn, slipping out of the way so that he could read the note.

He looked up at Conrad and gestured for him to look at it, too. Conrad smiled after he'd read it through. "Perfect," he said.

"It'll be interesting to see if he responds," Rawn said, as he wrote his own name and clicked send.

They didn't have to wait long.

You have a lot of balls trying to negotiate with me. If I released this blueprint to the press, you wouldn't be able to get a job at a Wal-Mart. I don't think you really want to push your luck with me...especially since your father's reputation is on the line right next to yours.

But you're right, a good businessman knows how to negotiate. So how about this: you back off of your threat and I promise I won't hurt anyone else you love. As we both know, I'm capable of touching everyone close to you, especially Miss Madison.

I'll even give you an extra five days to make up your mind. But I do expect your resignation by Christmas Eve.

There was no signature.

"What now?"

No one had anything to say.

Chapter 7.

Annie I stood in the middle of the guest bedroom with every stitch of clothing I brought with me to Los Angeles, trying to decide if any of it was appropriate to a big charity gala. I had a little black dress-I packed it with the thought that we might go out to dinner at some point-but that was the closest thing I had to fancy. And I didn't think it would work.

Why didn't I think of this sooner? I could have run to a store and bought something more appropriate. But I was so involved in hanging out with Logan at the studio that these things never crossed my mind. Besides, where would I have gotten the money to buy something that could be worn to this kind of event? Just because I was living the movie star life with Logan right now didn't mean I could afford it.

I was just going to have to tell him I couldn't go with him.

And that hurt. I had been looking forward to this since he mentioned it, dreaming of the red carpet, of dancing in Logan's arms, of just being at Logan's side in his world. It was a fantasy I had harbored for a long time, and it was about to come true.

It was exactly the way my life went, that something as simple as the wrong outfit choice could ruin my chances of experiencing a once in a lifetime event.

I sigh, pulling my bathrobe tighter around me as I approached the door. Before I could open it, however, there was a knock on the other side.

I pulled it open, and Logan stood there, a soft smile widening as his eyes fell on me.

"This just arrived for you," he said, holding up a rather large, but simple, white box.

"For me?"

Logan pushed past me, taking the box to the bed and setting it in the only bare spot-just below the lump of pillows-before turning.

"I thought you might need something to wear to this thing tonight. A friend in the costume department at the studio arranged for it."

Relief washed through me so quickly that my knees went weak. I smiled at Logan, not sure what to say. He studied me for a second and then cleared his throat, straightening his back, as though he had just realized where we were standing.

"I should let you get dressed. The car will be here in forty-five minutes."

"Okay."

He paused at the door, his back to me. "Thank you for doing this."

No, thank you...

That's what I wanted to say, but he was out the door before I could.

I tore open the box like a kid on Christmas morning. Under layers and layers of tissue was the most exquisite red dress I had ever seen. I pulled it out and held it up, amazed at the curves and angles of the expensive garment. I had seen dresses like this on television and in magazines often enough to recognize, if not the specific designer, the fact that it was made by a well-known and well-respected fashion designer.

As if that wasn't enough, also in the box was a pair of red pumps and a small jewelry box. I was almost afraid to touch. I left them where they were and went to stand before the full length mirror. I stripped out of my robe and slid the dress over my head. It was a perfect fit, as I had known it would be. I don't know how he knew my size...but...wow!

The dress was cut low both in the front and the back, a deliciously heart-shaped bodice cupping my breasts just perfectly to make them look fuller and perkier than they really were. The high waist took emphasis away from my slightly boyish curves, but made my hips look wider than they really were. The full skirt flowed like feathers over my legs, a long, seductive split hidden until I moved. There were jewels in the band around the waist and along the top of the bodice. I was pretty sure they were real and that made me nervous, afraid to even touch them. I stared at myself, suddenly wishing Madison was here to tell me I looked as beautiful as I felt.

Suddenly the messy, wildness of my hair seemed inappropriate to this amazing dress. I rushed into the bathroom and used every bobby pin I could find to put it up into my version of a French twist. The fine curls that fell down around my face despite my best efforts gave the style a sophisticated look that was so totally not me. With a touch of red lipstick, I felt like Grace Kelly.

I slid the shoes onto my feet and then sat perched on the edge of the bed, afraid of wrinkling the silky material of the dress. I held the jewelry box in my hands for a long minute, feeling more like Cinderella now than poor, doomed Grace. The whole thing seemed so surreal all of a sudden. I was afraid that if someone pinched me, I would wake up back at my tiny apartment where I'd passed out on the couch while watching a cheesy horror movie while eating too much junk food.

Slowly, I lifted the lid of the box and gasped.

Rubies winked back at me, surrounded by the most delicate diamonds. There were earrings, the rubies a teardrop shape that would dangle from my ears like tears of joy. The necklace was a simple affair, just a larger ruby with more diamonds hanging from a thin gold chain. So delicate...I was afraid to touch it.

I don't know how long I sat there, but it must have been a while. Logan tapped on the door again, letting himself in when I didn't answer.