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3
Riley
Nova Allen living at the estate is the last thing I need. The girl is a tabloid explosion and a threat to my whereabouts.
I’m here hiding from the world until I figure out my next move. Gigi’s compound has everything I need to do that—security, privacy, protection from the public eye. Ever since the Hollywood icon retired three decades ago, she’s lived a low-key life. No drama. No publicity or social media. And no paparazzi.
That’s why this was the perfect place for me—until now.
Fuck.I turn on the water in the shower and strip out of my shorts.
With Nova staying here, I’ll need to rethink my plan, try to quicken my move, and get things in order to make that happen. It won’t be easy, and I’ll be stuck here for at least another month, but staying is too risky.
I’ve avoided the world for a reason. I’m a threat and possible target. If a picture or news gets out about where I am, Gigi and everyone else here could be in danger. That was never the plan.
Maybe I should scrap everything and move back to Hawaii. I felt safe there, secluded, because I was. Living in a remote area on the Big Island has its benefits. Daily surfing. No neighbors. No one in your business, not that I had much privacy sharing a yurt with my half-sister, her husband, and their two-year-old daughter. But I’m grateful I got to meet and know them.
I didn’t even know Macy existed until my freshman year of college, when I overheard my drunk father talking to his friends. His slurred words reached me through the slight opening of the doors to his private library.
“Nothing kills a politician’s career faster than a one-night stand with a stripper who ends up pregnant. I buried that disaster with a check and a one-way ticket to the West Coast.”
I felt bad for the woman and child, even tried to find out who they were and where they ended up, but I had no luck.
My dad is great at concealing things. Hell, I trusted him to hide me after what happened the spring before I graduated from college—trusted him to remove me from witness protection and shield me from a psycho Mafia princess and her infamous family.
As the governor of North Carolina, my father has the means and security, but nothing is free when it comes to that man. In return, he wanted complete control over my life. So I did what any desperate son would do. I contacted my former FBI handler and asked for advice.
Agent Keller didn’t have to help me or care, but he did—still does. He told me to find a place to hide where no one would think to look for me. Enter Macy. After tracking down my secret half-sister, we devised a plan for me to meet her. To my luck and great relief, she was on board.
I smile at the memory of my time there and the beauty of the tropical paradise, until I recall the daily struggle I had connecting to the internet. That part sucked, and considering online day trading is essential for my next plan, returning to the island is a bust.
I sigh and notice steam covers the large bathroom mirror.
Shit.
I jump into the shower and let the hot water soothe my strained muscles. They’re tight from stress and pushing myself harder than usual this afternoon in the gym. My gut told me to, as if intuitively I knew something was about to change. Little did I know that change would be a bombshell.
I squeeze shampoo into my hand and lather it into my hair. It’s longer than I like but getting a haircut hasn’t been my priority. I have no doubt Gigi would bring in a hair stylist if I asked, but I’m not here to have her do me favors. Her letting me stay here, knowing why, is favor enough.
After rinsing my hair, I run soap over my body and stand under the water, appreciating the heat and steam—a luxury that isn’t reliable in Hawaii when you live in a yurt.
If I’m honest, staying with Gigi is a much better fit. She said the universe told her to contact me when she did. Not sure if I believe that, but the timing was uncanny. Macy was seven months pregnant with her second child, and even though she wanted me to stay, I knew it was time to go.
That very day, I got Gigi’s email. She sent it to an old personal account that I stopped using but still monitored.
She and I had stayed in touch after she and my father divorced. She’s caring in that way and grew to become like an aunt to me. During my last year of college, communication between us slowed and then stopped when all hell broke loose, and I was placed in witness protection.
The email she’d sent said she was thinking of me, wanted to make sure I was okay, and if I ever needed anything at all, not to hesitate to ask.
Moving in with her was my best option—a temporary one until I could carry out my newest plan of action.
I never imagined Nova would end up here, too. Hell, until now she’d been traveling the world with her pop-star boyfriend. Not that I follow her, but when you date someone as famous as Justice, you appear everywhere.
I never gave much attention to the pictures of her on social media other than a passing glance.
Did I think she was pretty?
Of course.