Chapter 1

The coffee was cold, left untouched for minutes, maybe hours—I couldn't grasp onto such a trivial task as keeping track of the time--or forcing coffee down my trembling lips. I could barely even see Gio standing in front of me through the tears that threatened to fall. It was all just too much.

"He left me. He finally did it for good this time." I murmured. The tears fell and I was beginning to taste the salt on my lips. He never even said goodbye.

"Eva-" I could no longer see Gio, but I could hear the strain in his voice. My shoulders collapsed and his arms took hold of me. I could feel his pain too. "The only reason he arranged you leaving for Europe was because he loved you- I believe that with every bone in my body."

I had no answer worthy of speaking aloud.

Gio knelt on one knee beside me, his deep Scottish brogue cracking slightly. I never knew how such bright, blue eyes could look so sad. "It's time for you to come home, Eva. Everything that was his is now yours."

I shook my head. "My life is here." I stated coldly. I looked toward Mrs. McDowell who immediately sought Mr. McDowell's hand for comfort. This whole time neither of them said a word. Those were good people who cared about me, unlike my father. He was never there for me. But at least while he was alive I had the hope that one day maybe he would be. Maybe he would fly out here to LA and tell me he wanted me to come home with him. But he never did, and now he never would.

"You're a strong woman, Eva. Your father knew it was the right time. You need to prove him right." I loved Gio like a brother, but there was no way he could expect me to leave my life here. I was barely out of college, let alone settled at my first job. The grief I felt churned to anger-- anger at my father for being a foolish man and dying in a car accident of all things. He shouldn't have driven alone in the dead of night, and he was probably drunk at that— he would have had to been in order to speed fast enough to drive off a cliff and into the ocean. He was wealthy enough to hire a driver if he had been drinking, so why didn't he? Or did that selfish man decide to commit suicide knowing he was going to leave me to pick up his pieces? I felt a stabbing pain shoot through my chest and I shook my head to get rid of these poisonous thoughts.

"You have nothing to be afraid of." Gio said calmly as he took my cold hands into the warmth of his. "You know that you'll always have me by your side." Somehow Gio's reassurance warmed me out of the cold, dark room my soul had been residing in for the last few minutes.

"Eva-" Mrs. McDowell walked over to me in her silk robe. Her hair was still in curlers. "You know Jerry and I love you, but we all knew this situation was temporary. You have a wonderful and fulfilling life that awaits you in the years ahead." A kind smile spread on her wrinkled cheeks. "The only thing we could ask is that you come to visit us from time to time." Whatever emotional defenses she had to hold back the tears were working well, but her admirable strength was making me feel  foolish for blubbering like a child.

I let out a breath and began to clean my mess of a face with the packet of tissues Mr. McDowell handed me. This was no time to let my emotions get the better of me. After all, I needed to make a life-changing decision in an impossibly short amount of time: do I stay here in LA where I was happy and felt safe, or do I go to Europe where I could spend the rest of my days being strangled by the very business that took my Father away from me?

"I-I need time to think. I need a few days." I managed to choke out amid the swelling feelings of dread.

Gio bit his lip and immediately averted his eyes. Something was wrong.

"Oh boy I was dreading this bit." He heaved a heavy sigh. "Eva, there's something else I need to tell you." He glanced over at Mr. and Mrs. McDowell. They took the hint that he needed to be alone with me and exited the room quietly.

"What is it?" My face must have looked red and puffy and it was starting to throb uncomfortably. All I wanted now was just to leave the room and go someplace where I could think properly-- or cry without shame.

"You know that I would do anything to keep you safe.." Gio began tentatively

"Yes." He had been loyal to my family for years. I trusted no one more. Besides my security detail Charles, who I hadn't even seen in days.

"And you know that I would tell you about anything that I thought would be a danger to you."

"Y—es." I hesitated. What was he trying to say? He leaned in close, his voice cracked and turning into a husky whisper.

"I think you need to leave this place as quickly as possible. The McDowels, LA, everything." I could feel the pressure from his hand around my arm. "The information I'm about to tell you is from your Father and must be kept confidential- yes, even from the McDowells."

My heart rate spiked. What's this about Father?

"Your Father was trying to communicate to you the night he died to warn you about a certain business deal at his company that went rouge. You are in great danger if you stay here."

*********

I bit down on the pen in my hand a little harder, only releasing it when I realized the terrifying marks I had left on its previously smooth surface.

Since when did my life become so complicated? Why couldn't it be more like that of my friend, Holly Spencer? Holly had a close relationship with her parents, a job she loved where she just recently celebrated a big promotion, and she could go pretty much anywhere she wanted without having her every step monitored by an annoying bodyguard, unlike my situation. My father, who was never there for me, didn't even exist anymore, and, to top it all off, his assistant thinks that some mad hatter who had a "bad business dealing" with him is now after me for whatever reason. Because of this, I now am being forced to leave the US and abandon the pieces of a life I had managed to assemble together. The thought terrified me more than I wanted to say.

After my chat with Gio I hadn't said a word. I had just marched out of the room silently. As I left him standing there I could hear the sound of glass shattering to pieces—my life shattering to pieces.

"Eva, I hope you're nearly finished with Evan's project." I jumped, realizing I was biting into the pen again.

"Y-yeah, five more minutes." He eyed me carefully, his face etched  with concern. There was no escaping Mr. Jeffries' gaze of steel, a trait no doubt earned from his days as a criminal defense lawyer.

"Something wrong?" It seemed like more of a statement than a question.

"What? No. It's just that--" No, I couldn't say what I was thinking. He didn't know that I had a mysterious background in a foreign country. He didn't even know about the bodyguard that had followed me around since I was a child. Well—there that last office party at the beginning of the summer where Charles had thought someone (who had been innocently flirting with me) had put roofies in my cup and proceeded to knock it out of my hand, spilling its contents on the floor and onto Mr. Jeffries' newly tailored suit. Thankfully, I believed that suspicion was avoided. Regardless, I couldn't say a word to him about my complicatedly secret life now. Plus, as Gio said, I needed to be careful about who I voiced my opinions to.

"It's... just that I'm sad to see this internship come to an end." He lingered his intimidating gaze on me for a moment more before he visibly relaxed. Whew, close shave.

"Oh yes, about that." He smirked. Crap, where was this leading? He folded his hands in his lap and leaned back behind his desk, looking every bit the confident man he was. A few more strips of silver/grey entwined within in his short dark hair than when the Summer began, but he still looked ageless in my opinion.

"You have done an amazing job with us here at KBLA, and I must say that I am very proud of you, Eva." I held my breath, knowing what he was going to say next.

"On behalf of the management staff, I would like to hire you as a marketing assistant. You made it, congratulations!" He boisterously announced with a proud chuckle. Double crap. Every part of me wanted to cry and scream at how unfair this was. I knew this was coming after all the hard work I had put in here after the past year, but I was not at all prepared on how to deal with it given this unexpected development to my situation. I wanted to give Gio a good punch in the gut for not helping come up with a solution. What should I say? I was speechless.

"Wow, I don't know what to say!" So original, Ev—

"Well, say yes!"

I bit my lip as regret flooded through my system. His smile disappeared.

"What's wrong, Eva? Can't you accept?" My head was swimming, the only thing that seemed logical at this point was a very limited version of the truth.

"I am so very sorry, Mr. Jeffries. I just recently found out that my Father has passed away and I'm going to have to go to Europe for a while to sort a few things of his out." I averted my eyes downward and prayed fervently that he wouldn't press the issue further.

"Oh, Eva, I'm very sorry, I had no clue." He looked about as confused as I felt. "I thought your parents lived here in LA."

"They did...err, they do, but they aren't my biological parents." There. Just put it out there once and for all. I couldn't stand to disappoint Mr. Jeffries, but Gio has never, and I mean never, been wrong about anything when it came to his instincts and something told me I needed to trust him on this.

"I see. Well, what about when you come back?" A realization hit me harder than I had ever known. I swallowed so hard that it felt like a sharp stone had passed through my throat and into my stomach. "I know what I said before about being gone for a 'while', but the truth is I'm not sure when and if I will be coming back at all. At the moment--" I stalled, "I mean, at least until I get all of this sorted out, there's nothing more I can tell you right now. I'm sorry."

"Of course." His mouth twisted in both understanding and disappointment. He rose to shake hands with me.

"If you ever need anything at all, Eva. You're a good employee and I hate to see you go, but please remember you have people here who care about you and are here to help."

I fought the sting of tears yet again for the hundredth time over the past whirlwind 24 or so hours.

"Always. Thank you, Mr. Jeffries."

"Please Eva." He said. "Call me Neil."

*********

"Did you tell him?" I heard Gio's familiar accent over the receiver.

"Yeah, no thanks to you." Breaking up with a boss had to be like breaking up with a boyfriend-- not that I knew what that was like. Every love interest I ever had ran away like a skittish cat when they found out I had a bodyguard. Come to think of it, I wondered why I hadn't seen much of said bodyguard lately. What was that annoying mountain of a man up to?

"I know this is hard, Eva. But remember, your life isn't different--"

"--It's special." I finished the saying Gio had taught me since I was five.

"Thatta girl. Look, the plane arrives in 24 hours. I'm sorry, but you're going to need to start packing up tonight." Crap, that means I only have this evening to say my goodbyes to my best friends since high-school, Holly and Jay. I bid farewell to Gio and quickly headed out in my Toyota, being careful to watch that I wasn't being followed. I may have thought Gio was a bit over-excessive when it came to my safety, but I wasn't taking any chances. I had to admit that the thought of me finally figuring out more about my Father and the multi-million corporation he ran excited me. For so long I had been kept in the dark and this was my chance to finally break through.

After I met up with Jay for our usual Tuesday lunch, I had left him even more concerned and confused than my boss. I pitied him a bit, but hopefully if-- no, whenI get this mess sorted out, I could tell him about everything properly. I couldn't think about those trusting familiar eyes that looked at me across the table with the slightest bit of betrayal. Both Holly and Jay new about my special situation. They had even met Charles, Gio and Holly had met my Father briefly before. They were the only ones who understood which if why they stayed my closest friends. A familiar ringtone on my cellphone told me that Holly was calling. I closed my eyes and braced myself as I hovered it by my ear.

"What do you mean you're leaving for Europe?!" Unlike Mr. Jeffries and Jay, Holly knew that my real Father lived in Europe.

"Well, thanks for saying hello." I replied sarcastically. I felt a sudden pang of sadness as I realized how much I was going to miss our close friendship.

"Seriously, Eva, if you don't tell me what the hell is going on, I'm going to call the police!" Shit, Jay must have told her what I had told him. Jay knew me better than my boss and he knew something was up, so kept pressuring me until I let slip that I was in a rather "sticky" situation regarding my Father's business.

"Don't you dare, Holly! It's just temporarily until I figure out what's going on."

"I knew your Father was a drug dealer." Her voice was accusatory and cold—like it was my fault I had no idea what profession my Father was in.

"No!" Good Lord, I certainly hoped not... Gio had blatantly refused to tell me what my Father's "business dealings" were, only that it was a multi-million dollar corporation selling to many businesses across the world—And that it's hard to please everyone. I glared at nothing in particular. He was going to have feed me more information, especially since he was the one who expected me to run halfway across the globe in this wild goose chase.

She ignored me and continued her speculation, "Hmm... your Father owns a huge business, you're in some kind of danger, and now you're being sent away to live in Europe! Don't tell me something's not fishy with that." I could almost see her wagging her finger at me through the receiver. I sighed in exasperation.

"Tell you what. If you can just drop the subject for now, I'll fly you and Jay to Europe once I know that the 'coast is clear', alright?"

"What? You mean it?!" She squealed so loud I had to take the phone away from my ear. "Okay, but now that you're a miss fancy-pants rich person, I demand first-class seats!"

"Alright, alright, fine. First-class it is, silly." I rolled my eyes at her diva-ish behavior. At least we were finally off the subject of my elusive Father, and whatever lay ahead for me.

There was an air of child-like laughter around us as we both tried to avoid the elephant in the room and I felt like we were kids again. My mind flashed back to all of the times we had been there for each other in the past and I felt my smile begin to fade. I didn't want what we had to end, more than anything in the world.

I immediately shook away the negative thoughts. "There are a lot of cute guys over in Europe, you know."

She gasped over the receiver. "Hey, then maybe you'll finally be able to find a boyfriend!" She snorted.

"Thanks, Holly." I replied sarcastically.

"I sure am going to miss you, Eva. Please promise we're going to see each other soon. I don't want you forgetting about me when you're the next Elon Musk with yachts and all that shit."

I laughed but then my voice turned more serious. I hoped she couldn't tell I was actually afraid. Afraid for the first time in my life of the unknown.

"I'm going to miss you more, Holly."

*********

At the request of Mrs. McDowell, I stopped by the local supermarket to pick up a big, juicy steak for dinner. As I made my way over to the meat market, I found my thoughts wandering to Mr. Jeffries, Holly, Jay, the McDowell's-- everyone who's lives are being affected by my abandoning them like this. I sighed deeply, noticing how alone I would feel in this whole situation if it wasn't for Gio. As much as I loved and cared for Gio like a brother, it was nice being alone and away from all of the drama for a bit. Well, I suppose I was not going to be completely alone. Charles had to be somewhere around here watching me. As a bodyguard, he was always elusive, to the point where neither I, nor anyone else could notice him following me, and we usually only talked when he was giving a report or checking in on me.

Just out of curiosity, I craned my neck around to see if I could find him.

"Which one did you say?" I turned my attention back to the man behind the meat counter.

"That one." I pointed to the largest slab of steak. That was going to taste amazing after the grill master Mr. McDowell, was through with it.

I smiled as I claimed my prize for the taking and stood in line at the checkout. Who says that even though my life could soon be crumbling apart, I can't enjoy my last dinner here in America with my family?

I was about to put my basket items on the moving belt, when I noticed a new row of sunglasses on display next to the magazines. I smiled seeing an exact replica of the of Ray Bans Holly had purchased the Summer we graduated High School. Those things went everywhere with her until she broke them.

After noting that the woman in front of me was taking a while to check-out (excessive coupon alert!), I decided to try on the glasses for size, giggling at my strikingly close resemblance to Holly, now that my hair was longer and dyed blond. As I turned in the mirror to see the side profile, I noticed a man in a grey trench-coat flipping through a magazine. The coat was wet as if he had just came in from the rain outside. I couldn't see his face in the shadow under the dark beret he wore, but I could see he was staring at me from behind.

Maybe I was just extra jumpy this week, especially after talking to Gio, but I tore off the glasses. I could feel my pulse in my ears. I turned around, throwing all caution of him noticing me out the window.

He was gone.

My heart began to stutter madly against my chest. If Gio was pulling some kind of prank— "Is everything okay, miss?" The woman behind the checkout counter was waiting for me.

"Um.. yes." Flustered, I pulled the cash out of my wallet and paid for the groceries, still looking around for the man. Had I just imagined him? Great, I'm not only grieving and confused, I'm crazy and paranoid too.I wanted to get in my car, fast.

A ping on my phone told me I had a message. It was from Gio.

Eva-I don't know where you are, but I need you to drop whatever you're doing and go someplace safe.NOW.

Holy shit. My heart was racing. I took the single bag of groceries and tried to remain calm as I rushed out of the store.

"Miss, you forgot your cash!" I ignored the clerk and looked briefly left and right before moving swiftly down the street to find my car. There was a flea market being held outside. Rain began to fall and people looked rushed to get indoors

I was about to get in my car when I heard a loud bang and a woman's scream rip through the silent air. Gunshot? I whipped my head towards the sound, where I noticed a panic-induced crowd beginning to gather on the sidewalk.

"He's been shot!"

My heart felt like it had stopped. I dropped the groceries and started sprinting towards the scene while frantically looking around for the attacker. Where was Charles? What the hell is happening?!

Authors Note

This chapter was a fun one to write. I love it when action starts happening early in a novel! Do some of you writers/readers out there have a hard time keeping on track with a book unless there is plenty of action?

Also, I'm editing and reading this book in September while watching the leaves turn beautiful colors outside. It's my favorite time of year to read and write! :)

More coming by next week!