By some miracle, Silver's intense gaze broke away from me once she reached the bottom of the stairs. A guest extended his hand to guide her down safely—she was wearing super high heels—and she bowed to the roaring applause, her cheeks lightly touched by a rose hue.

She was adorably flustered, and it only made me want her more. Care for her more.

"Uh oh," I said to myself, my glass of wine near my lips to block any sound.

Silver made a few rounds before coming up to me, still beaming. "It's amazing, isn't it?"

I nodded, smiling, though the corners of my lips didn't quite reach upward. "It's packed."

"I told you," she said, as I handed her my glass for her to take a quick sip.

"I'll go get you a drink," I said, taking my glass back, glancing around to ensure no one had seen her drink from my beverage. Friends did that, sure, but I was her employee. I shouldn't have shared my wine.

She hardly had time to request a Chardonnay from me before she was engulfed with attention from fans and peers.

I flurried over to one of the bars and requested the beverage of her choice, chilled. When the bartender eyed me, I flinched, froze; would he, like yesterday's bartender, mistake me for a rich snob mingling with other rich snobs?

He said nothing, but I caught the wrinkle of his nose and that deep, assessing look that signified he was judging me.

Why would he judge me? How did he not see that we were the same?

I cringed as I took Silver's drink. In truth, I wasn't quite the same. Luxury wasn't that unfamiliar to me, though I refused to discuss it with anyone. Few of my friends knew that I'd in fact been raised in wealth.

But I'd long ago suppressed the memory. My family's riches were poisoned gifts that I'd denied. These riches, this life, with Silver; it wasn't the same. This opulence was surface-level, and for the most part, innocent.

These people weren't criminals like my family. And while they weren't genuine—they couldn't disguise those fake smiles no matter how much matte lipstick they put on—they weren't going to hurt me.

Neither was Silver.

Silver.

I watched her buzzing from guest to guest, shaking hands, accepting congratulations, once or twice allowing a hug. I saw her discomfort with all the proximity, yet at the same time, she radiated pride and pleasure. She was in her element, receiving praise from those whose approval mattered most to her.

I clutched her drink, preparing to approach her, but a face in the crowd caught my attention, stilling me.

A face I recognized all too well. Curtained by dark hair, with tanned skin, a thin nose, and eyebrows carved to give him a constantly analytic look.

I shuddered at the flamboyant wave of his hand as he unleashed his signature nasally laugh, carrying across the room. A laugh I'd listened to only days ago, while sipping flavored coffee and gossiping.

Nico.

This was bad.

He'd recognize me in a heartbeat, if he saw me. The NDA I'd signed would be forfeit, my anonymity as Silver's assistant would be gone.

"Shit," I said, swiftly sliding behind a tall man to conceal myself. "Shit, shit, shit."

The man in question whirled around, frowning at me. "Can I help you?" One eyebrow raised as he gazed at my face, my outfit, and his expression softened. "Miss?"

"Just...let me stand behind you for a second? Please?" Heat spread from my neck to my temples and my stomach unsettled.

He shrugged, returning to his conversation with two beautifully dressed models.

Nico?

It was him, no doubt. I knew that laugh, that face. The face of a friend, of someone who knew me, and who had no clue I was here—as far as I could tell. As far as I hoped.

But what was he doing here?

As a journalist, he might attend events like this, but I had no idea he was following Silver's journey. He'd never spoken about the clothing line, never implied he was interested in it.

Nor did I recall seeing his name on the guest-list, and I'd triple-checked it.

The tall man I was hiding behind moved, so I moved with him. I wouldn't risk being seen. So far, I'd been lucky; had Nico spotted me, he'd have hurried over and demanded to know why I was there.

"Fuck," I hissed, navigating backwards, finding a safe space to retreat, to watch from afar.

Nico stood in a mixed group of individuals. One man in a suit, either an investor or a businessman. A few women with jewels sparkling on their necks who giggled at everything Nico said, not knowing he wasn't interested in them in the slightest.

Silver was a few groups away from him, and would likely make her way to him, since she was doing the rounds.

"Fuck," I said, wondering how to signal to Silver that she needed to avoid Nico's group. If I strolled towards her, he'd discover me. It was a shocker he hadn't yet, with my glaringly gold gown that caught the light wherever I walked.

If Nico saw me, then met Silver, he'd know. How would he not recognize her from that night at the bar? She was stunning, impossible to forget, no matter how much he'd had to drink. No matter that his preferences tended towards men. He remembered details.

He'd put two and two together. He'd go as far as thinking I'd slept with Silver to get this job. Knowing him, he wouldn't judge that too harshly, but he'd be pissed that I hadn't told him.

According to Nico, people climbed ladders by offering sexual favors. He was convinced of it, and swore he did tons of research on it. And while he wasn't entirely wrong, I hadn't done that.

If he spotted me, spotted Silver—he'd assume I did.

I didn't want Nico to think that way of me. People did what they had to do, but that wasn't my style. I'd ran away from the ladder-climbing folk and was happier for it.

I loved Nico, but he could be a judgmental jerk. He'd question me, then spill it all to our other friends. He'd expose us, put my contract, my job, in jeopardy. Sophia wouldn't say a word, but others wouldn't be so nice. And Nico?

Nico was a problem. Nico loved to spread rumors, and he wouldn't hesitate to spread this one. "I know who Eden is working for, and you'll never guess how she got the position!"

I needed air, needed a break. My heart fluttered too fast in my chest and my vision began to blur.

The only way to save myself at this point was to hide.

I sighted the stairs to my left, up to the secluded second floor, and figured that'd be my best option. The lights were still dimmed in that area, meaning I might be able to creep up without being seen. No one was guarding it, so it wasn't off-limits. Everyone remained on the ground floor, enveloped by all the glitz and glamour.

I dashed over and took a few steps up, then twisted around to confirm no one was watching. To my relief, all were still soaking in conversations, making connections, or trying to speak with Silver.

I rushed up the remaining steps and vaulted towards the farthest wall, out of view, out of reach.

My breaths hitched as I rested against the facade, fanning my face.

How could this have gone from not great to worse? Not only did I have to resist Silver and her perfection, but now I had to hide?

And how was Nico here? How had he not seen me?

"Hey," came a voice from the stairs; thankfully, not Nico's.

But unfortunately, it was Silver's. The most in-demand person of the night, whose absence would go noticed within seconds.

"Hi," I said, setting a hand to my chest, forcing my heart to steady. With Silver nearby, of course, it only beat faster.

"Why'd you run off?" Her gaze lingered on my hand holding her glass. It hadn't spilled. "Is that for me?"

"Oh." I blew out a breath and extended my arm, offering the drink. "Yeah. Sorry."

"You knew I wasn't up here, didn't you?" She cocked her head, studying me as she took the glass and brought it to her lips for a gulp. "Why are you hiding?"

I scoffed, the sound a bit too exaggerated to be legitimate. "Who says I'm hiding?"

Silver scoffed right back, more convincing. "Uh, you raced up the steps and kept checking over your shoulder like a bank robber fleeing the scene, so I say you're hiding."

"You saw me?" I whispered, then gulped. "Well...someone I know is here."

"Someone you—" Silver stood ramrod straight, her grasp on her cup tightening. "Shit. Someone who's not supposed to know you're working for me, you mean?"

"A friend." I sucked in my lips, then puckered them out as I glanced at the floor. "A close friend."

"One of those you met up with for coffee the other day?" Silver's eyes narrowed, her energy cold, shocking through me, keeping me glued in place.

"One of—" I grimaced. "How did you know where I went?"

She waved my comment off. "That doesn't matter." Her heels clicked on the tiled floor as she approached. Everything about her demeanor was slow and calculated and screamed shield yourself. "Answer me."

"Yes." I pulled my shoulders back. "One of those friends."

"Swell." She stopped her approach, tipping her glass to her mouth, finishing the liquid within.

"And..." I winced, hating to add more, but knowing she needed to be informed. "He was there that night, too."

"That night?" She arched an eyebrow, poking one hip out, the glass dangling from her hands as if she were about to drop it, let it shatter on the ground.

"That night." I joined my hands, begging them to quit shaking. I wasn't on trial, yet it felt like she was about to sentence me. "The one-night-stand. The bar."

"Ah." Her face lost all its color, her eyes drained of any remaining warmth.

"He'll know," I said, my voice trembling. "He'll suspect things."

Redness returned to her cheeks, deep and spreading. Her fingers twitched, as if about to crush the glass in her hands. "And will he talk?"

"Talk?" I blinked at her. "To my other friends? Probably. He's a blabbermouth and likes attention." I bit my tongue, regretting such harsh comments about him, but it was true. He'd admit the same if I said this in front of him.

"No, I mean, talk." She finally set the glass down on a nearby shelf before she lost control. "Will he leak this to the media? There are no photographs of me out there, for a reason. And that means there can be no photographs of you, either. Nothing tying us together."

I leaned back, my head pressing against the wall. "Huh?"

That escalated in a direction I hadn't anticipated. Sure, Nico would chat about us. He might use us as source material for an article, but there'd be no pictures, and I didn't know that he'd target us directly. I doubted he'd name names, though the publication he worked for was a fashion-loving tabloid. No one would take it too seriously.

The issue was more that he'd hate me for keeping the secret to myself, but that was my problem. I didn't want him to see me here for my own sake. Silver...

Silver was giving the impression his knowledge would put us in deeper trouble. Legal trouble. That he'd offer up this juicy gossip to bigger publications, places with more power, a larger following.

She took a deep breath, then stormed up to me, grabbed me by my shoulders. "Will he talk?" Her mint and wine breath brushed over me. "As in, will he tell the press that you went home with me, then became my personal assistant a few days later? Will he link us beyond our employment contract?"

I fidgeted in her grasp, but she was strong, pinning me to the wall with no way to break free. A part of me was turned on by the strength of her touch, but I knew better than to turn this into something sexual.

It was serious.

I'd been worried about Nico spilling shit to our friends, and potentially writing a story for his magazine about lying ladies and shady CEOs. But to pen a truly expositional article, to single Silver out, to print a picture of her and blast her all over the news?

That, I wasn't sure about.

"He's not that important, Silver, I swear. I just didn't want him to associate us, to realize I kept such a huge thing from him. But the media?" I shivered. "Why would he do that?"

Silver relaxed her grip but didn't let go. "You'd be surprised what some people will do," she said, voice low and strained. "Even those you thought you trusted. What some would do for success is...frightening."

I studied her face, her tight lips and slitted eyes. Her fingers held on to me with little pressure, and yet I knew that if I tried to get away again, she wouldn't let me go.

Nico being here was bad, but to the point of slamming me against a wall and freaking out about being exposed?

What had happened to her to make her project such a dreary outcome? If anything, Nico finding out about us would hurt me more. It'd hurt our friendship.

What was in Silver's mysterious past to bring on this kind of behavior?

She backed away, arms raised, chin dipped. "So," she said, looking up, taking a heavy breath. "Will he leak it?"

"I...don't know." I rubbed the back of my neck and stretched out my tense arms. "I don't know him as well as my other friends, but he's not...I mean, he wouldn't..."

"What does he do?" Silver tucked her hair behind her ears, gaze still averted.

"As in, for a living?" She nodded. "He's a...a journalist." I hissed as the words echoed in my head.

He's a journalist. Of course, she'd be threatened by that.

I should have lied to her.

Her chin whipped up and her eyes were on fire. "Then he's dangerous."

"But he won't—I mean, I really don't think he'd go that far..."

"Eden." She slithered close again, and took hold of my jaw, hard. "Trust me. Anyone would go that far for fame and glory. Even those you consider friends."

I didn't want to trust her, yet her words made sense. She made sense.

She hadn't led me astray so far.

"Go home," she said, releasing me, dragging a hand down her face. She might have erased all her gorgeous makeup, but somehow, her hand came back clean.

Thank goodness for waterproof mascara and setting spray.

"What?" I shook out my arms; they quaked too much to keep still.

"You've played your part tonight. Text Pete, and go home. We'll talk when I'm back." She gestured at a door off to the side. "That leads to a fire escape staircase. Pete will be parked downstairs, in the alley. Go."

She turned away from me, and descended the stairs, plunging into the ocean of guests who'd swallow her whole.

I'd narrowly escaped with my life. But would I hang on to it when she confronted me at home, where we were no longer surrounded, listened to, spied on?