Katherine set her phone on her lap and leaned her head against the back of her car seat as she watched the high-rises of New York fly by her window. She was on her way to the theater for a benefit concert. She had attended them many times but had never been part of one before.

It was a well-known Stevens family event, which meant the likelihood that she would see Alistair Stevens was strong. She hadn't seen him in over a year. Katherine couldn't suppress the little shiver that chased up her spine as she remembered their last meeting.

Their meetings were always intense and short. Whether it was a few nights in New York, London, or Paris, their nights together were always chance meetings and never planned. They ran in similar circles, so they met a few times every year. And every time they met, Katherine was determined to be strong and walk away, but it was an impossibility once she was near him.

Alistair was the only man who could make her melt with a look, and she was still confused about why he always chose her over so many other beautiful women. Their first meeting had been at a family birthday party eight years earlier. Katherine had seen him enter the party and had lost her heart then and there, but she had never lost her head.

At the time, she had just started her career, and she wasn't ready to settle into a relationship that might make her dependent on any man. Her mother had always been dependent on her father, and in making herself dependent, she had made all her daughters dependent. It had been a difficult road to escape, and Katherine didn't want to go back.

The phone in Katherine's lap vibrated again, and she looked at the message.

She would have to put her career on hold and go home. Her mother was sick, and her father asked her to come and nurse her. Katherine knew it was a ploy to force her back into the fold, but it was her mother. Her mother had done everything for her, protected her, and helped her escape when the time came. She couldn't abandon her now.

Katherine also knew her time at the top of runway modeling was almost over. At thirty-three, her career had lasted longer than most, and there was a strong chance that she would get to revive her television hosting gig in London after her leave of absence, but it wasn't guaranteed. She was no fool, and she realized that she was easily replaceable.

Her look was unique but not beautiful. In fact, she had believed that she was odd looking until Alistair's cousin, Beth, had told her she could model. It had offered her the escape she needed, and she had been independent for the last nine years.

The car stopped in front of the theater side entrance, and Katherine took a deep breath while waiting for the driver to come around and open her door. She reached for her dress and cosmetic case, then threw her long legs out of the car as she rose gracefully to her height of six feet.

She thanked the driver and ignored the flashbulbs as she entered the theater's busy backstage corridors while her phone vibrated in her pocket again. Ignoring it, she slowly walked down the long hall looking for the dressing room door that would have her name on it.

When Katherine found it, she took a steadying breath. She was sharing with Mave and Cassandra Stevens. Talk about leaping from the fire and into the frying pan. Cassandra was Alistair's aunt, and Mave was his cousin and Beth's fraternal twin.

The Stevenses were always kind to her, and if any of them suspected what was between her and Alistair, none of them showed it, not even her good friend, Beth.

Taking a moment to collect her thoughts and compartmentalize her personal issues, she put on her professional persona and opened the door with a genuine smile.

"Ladies," she greeted in her soft, pleasant voice.

"Katherine!" Beth greeted as she stood from the couch in the room to hug her. "I haven't seen you in over a year!"

"Has it been that long?" Katherine laughed as she hugged her back. "I can't believe it. I guess what they say about time speeding up as you get older is true."

"I can promise you it does," Cassandra assured her from where she sat in front of one of the dressing tables putting on lipstick.

She was still a beautiful woman. Her vibrant red hair had faded, but her skin was as lovely and unlined as it always had been, and her brown eyes were soft and welcoming.

"How are you, Mave?" Katherine asked as she took the table on the end, which placed Mave between her and Cassandra.

Mave gave one of her signature grins. "I'm great, Katherine, and yourself?"

"I'm well, thanks for asking," Katherine replied as she hung her dress on the peg attached to the side of the mirror and opened her makeup case.

Mave was always pleasant, but Katherine didn't feel she knew her well. She felt it was hard for anyone to really know Mave Stevens because her entire life was an act. However, Katherine couldn't judge her for it because her entire life was also an act.

"How's Wyatt and the girls?" Katherine asked Beth as she started to unpack her case.

"They're fine. Wyatt stayed home with them so I could come and keep you all company." Beth watched the women as they applied their stage makeup.

Katherine's mother and Wyatt Ramsey's stepmother had hoped that she and Wyatt would one day marry. Her mother had always been fond of Wyatt and knew he would care for her, and it would have been a way to get Katherine from under her father's thumb. However, Katherine and Wyatt had never felt anything close to romance. They got along well, and it was easy for them to attend events together, but it had never been more than that.

When Beth burst onto the scene, Katherine had watched her and Wyatt fall for each other and felt a little jealous, wanting to feel something similar. Then she met Alistair and felt the same kind of love, realizing it scared her to death.

While it took Beth and Wyatt a year to figure it out and get past the fear Wyatt felt, Katherine seemed unable to do the same where Alistair was concerned. Alistair had told her he loved her, but if he felt fear, he hid it well.  She knew she was hurting Alistair and didn't want to, but if she gave him what he wanted to keep from hurting him, she knew it would only hurt him more in the long run.

"So, how was Paris?" Mave asked.

Katherine had just finished her runway shows for one of Paris's fashion weeks, and it had been bittersweet because she knew it was a strong chance that it was her last one. Katherine had never taken to photographic modeling. She had tried it earlier in her career, but she hated how she looked, so she preferred the runway. She wore clothes well, and the constant movement was better for her nerves.

"Paris was lovely." Katherine smiled. "I was surprised I didn't see any Stevens there."

The women were silent, and the vibe in the room changed from relaxed and friendly to overwhelmingly sad.

Katherine looked over her shoulder at Beth.

"We lost Uncle Brian a few weeks ago. It was sudden, an embolism." Beth gave a sad smile as she did her best to push back tears.

Katherine felt herself tear up as well. She had only met him a few times at parties, but she knew how much he meant to them all.

"I'm so very sad to hear that. How is Lizzy doing?" Katherine asked, thinking of the woman who always seemed to be meddling in someone's business, according to Beth.

"She's in Texas at the ranch taking it one day at a time." Mave blotted her lips and smiled in the mirror. "How do I look?" She stood up, twirling in her lovely baby blue dress that matched her eyes perfectly.

"Lovely as usual," Cassandra smiled.

"I'm guessing Cassandra is singing, and I know I'm hosting, but what role were you given, Mave?" Katherine asked as she started on her eye makeup.

"I'm narrating a mime." Mave gave a cheeky smile.

"Who's the mime?" Katherine asked.

Mave named an actor she supposedly dated until he got caught cheating on her. It had been all over the papers six months previously.

"Yes, the poor man didn't realize he would be teamed up with Mave until he arrived this evening." Beth was doing her best to hide her supportive grin.

"Mmm, yes, Mason was always good at helping you girls get even with those that dared to cross you. It's probably because he's such a girl himself." Cassandra sat back and looked at her handiwork.

"Did he tell you my part is unscripted?" Mave leaned into the mirror and tweaked her hair.

Katherine looked at Beth, who was shaking her head with concern.

"Don't cross a Stevens," she informed Katherine. "If you cross one of us, you cross us all." Beth meant it as a joke, but there was truth to it, and it only supported her theory that she had done right to walk away from Alistair early on in their affair. The last thing her career needed was the Stevens family's wrath.