oice cuts through the pani

laying this restaurant until I don't know what's real anymor

m actually dy

of across from me. His body blocks the window. B

my shoulders. Grounding. "In for four. Ho

. Can't. Can't

r someone watching a stranger fall apart. "Loo

w. Controlled. I wa

for

seconds before I

. Try again.

g. His thumbs make small circles on my wrists. The touch

The pressure. The rhythm

Hold

Hold

in the restaurant. Private room. Giovanni blocking the windo

oice is soft. Almost tender.

nt of Giovanni Rivers and his manager during what was suppose

wrecked. "I should go. Th

ctionally on my wrists. "Don'

your fake girlfriend or go to public events or ha

at's why Marcus chose you. Because you won't want the attention. W

just watched me fall apart because

m died. During performances. In the middle of interviews. The label makes m

face for the lie. Find only

ontinues quietly. "Because you're the fir

Not the panic this time. Somet

ists. Immediately I miss his touch. "Bac

his leather jacket, then does something unexpected. He takes off

nd finds the small of my back. The touch

space in a way I never could. We slip through a door marked 'Staff Only,' down a

erent from the SUV that brought me. Giov

"Where are

" His eyes meet

Should put distance between myself and th

still warm on my skin. His voice i

in t

's driving. The intimacy of it-just the two of us in this sma

ts instead of main roads. No one follows. A

"The arrangement. I'll find another way. You

ape before I can stop them. "What if this is m

at me. "T

swallow hard. "The store is all my father has left of her. Every

n the steering wheel. "I'm

e window with one fi

tens. "How d

sk a glance at him. "You mentioned her in an interview

laugh is hollow. "Humanized me. Made me relat

kind of face that belongs on screens and magazine covers. But there's p

ty or damaged artist the media paints him as. He's

we going?"

u something. Then you can decide." He pulls onto a highw

he take me home. I don't know this

ope and the way he sees beauty in broken things. And right now, sitt

ly what makes

ate, surrounded by walls and gates. He stops at one-massive iron g

es on both sides creating a tunnel

a stark, lonely way. And beside it,

. Sits in silence for a mo

s insane. The whole arrangement. Asking a stranger to pretend to be my girlfriend. Bu

kes us both idi

e." He opens his door. "Come on. I want to sh

I can see the city sprawling below, glittering in

need. Every

he guesthouse, he stops a

u something first.

de and my h