Free Only for You by Beth Kery

didn’t want to see Gia Harris again.
    He
did
. Too much. Which is precisely why he
shouldn’t.
    But dammit, this meeting with Charles had started alarms blaring in his head. Yes, he’d rather avoid Gia.
    But he didn’t want to see her hurt or blackmailed either.
    Or dead.
    How responsible and guilty would he feel if he learned something had happened to her and he could have helped prevent it?
    He frowned and stood. “I have a really bad feeling I’m going to regret this,” he informed Charles pointedly as he shoved the card into his jeans.
    *   *   *
    Gia gave a little sigh of relief when the deputy du jour stopped following her ten feet away from the conference room door. She was starting to feel like she’d acquired a permanent shadow. It was damn disconcerting.
    God curse narcissistic wack jobs for interfering with my life.
    The bitter thought and a dozen similar ones flew through Gia’s head as she walked across the threshold of the conference room attached to Madeline’s office. She thought she’d become accustomed to facing off with lawyers and judges and the formidable Los Angeles County district attorney. But there were two men sitting at the oval conference table tonight that sent a shock through her.
    Shit.
    “Joshua.” She said the director’s name numbly, pausing at the entry to the room. “Dan . . . uh, Mr. Arden,” she amended, blushing. She’d met the superpowerful movie producer and United Studio executive twice, but his silver-gray full head of hair and the aura of prestige, power and money that surrounded him seemed to discourage first-name usage.
    What were the director and executive producer of her next movie doing
here
, in Madeline’s offices? Was she in trouble for causing an increase in security, on and around the film set all this week?
    Joshua Cabot stood at her entrance, along with Arden, the assistant DA Charles Trew, and an FBI agent she’d met briefly, called Alex Demonico. Gia knew the FBI wasn’t officially involved in the state’s case against Sterling McClarin, but it had been made clear to her that a lot was riding on the success of the state’s prosecution for a potential future federal indictment.
    Madeline Harrington, the Los Angeles County DA, remained seated, although she gave Gia a warm smile. Gia had come to learn that Madeline stood up for no one but her presiding judge.
    “We thought it would be helpful to have Joshua and Dan here to discuss your future plans,” Charles Trew said enigmatically.
    “I don’t understand,” Gia said, putting her purse down in an empty chair and sitting at the same time everyone else did. She looked at Madeline Harrington bemusedly. She’d learned in the past months that Madeline was sharp as a honed knife and just as dangerous, should the occasion arise, but also surprisingly motherly and compassionate at times.
    “After what happened yesterday,” Madeline said gently, “you must realize things can’t go on like this. The media shitstorm is only going to get worse the closer we get to the trial.”
    “What do you mean
things can’t go on
?” Gia asked warily, glancing at a compassionate-looking Joshua Cabot and a stony-faced Dan Arden. “My life can’t go on? My job? I don’t understand. Why are you here, Joshua?”
    Joshua Cabot had a nice face. She’d thought so from the first time she’d met him. Yes, she’d been influenced by his brilliance and reputation as a director, but his warm, fond expression when he’d spoken about his four daughters had utterly convinced Gia that she would be working with a decent man. Dan Arden, in comparison to Joshua, looked far less compassionate. His expression had settled into one of resigned annoyance.
    “Maddie has a point, Gia,” Joshua said. Gia raised her eyebrows at the familiar usage of the district attorney’s name. She gave Madeline a pointed, disbelieving glance.
    “Joshua and I go way back,” Madeline admitted to Gia with a smile at the