Home to the most acclaimed films in the cinematographic world, the city of angels was more an environment of pretense and performance than of pleasure. The venues, as luxurious and elegant as they were, didn't exude money like Vegas. And neither should they. For Los Angeles, Hollywood's legacy was enough.

The events were also an appropriate time to reaffirm ties of influence and show the world that, in addition to money, guests had contacts. It was a confidential agreement between the American stars; be at the top and help those who were at the top to stay.

In the back of the limousine, Jean, Drake and Blair waited outside the Roosevelt. One of the most famous hotels among the stars of the red carpet. At first, it would just be a dinner among the cast that made up the film, but it ended up becoming the reason for a small gathering of photographers.

- “You're quite famous” Drake smiled at Jean.

- "It seems so" the older man looked out, seeing all those people worshiping his name.

In contrast to her happiness, Blair felt her stomach lurch. The past was far away, but the memories would always be close by. Her father could forget what he'd done and move on like an angel, in the city of angels, but it wouldn't be so easy for her. The woman knew that a new life was all Jean needed to purge her sins.

She pushed all thoughts away, focusing on her role in Spencer's investigation. This wasn't about his family matters, it was about a case to be solved.

After walking through the hotel entrance, ignoring the various questions and heading inside the building, Blair grabbed Drake's hand and didn't let go until she felt less suffocated. She wanted to drop the whole charade and go back to what she considered normal, but it didn't seem fair. After all, the least she could do was accept that life, for Drake's sake.

The hall had been reserved for the occasion, with tables around the room positioned overlooking the stage. They would certainly have some attractions during the meal. The place was clean, adorned with pearly white decor.

Across the room, Banks and Carter were guided by one of the event organizers to their respective seats. The tables were rounded, with pearly tablecloths and bows. A small vase of orchids sat on the table as a decorative item.

Joseph looked around the room, taking in all the people who pretended to love being there. The truth was, money coordinated their lives, where and when they were supposed to be. For this reason, they looked rather golden in the eyes of society.

- "I had forgotten how thin people like to be in this part of the country" Joseph commented, analyzing one of the guests as she walked by the place.

- "In this part and in all others" Ethan corrected, but didn't bother to take his eyes to the mentioned model.

- “Where I come from, women prefer to have a little more meat. You know, so they don't die anemic."

- “You are far from Italy, Carter”

Everything in the film world was insignificant to Ethan, but he lived up to his commitments. If he had been invited and accepted, then he would certainly attend. Yet, looking at these rich people, drinking expensive drinks and socializing, he felt out of place.

The men were in suits or tuxedos, and the women wore heels that felt like an extension of their bodies, just like the silicone on their breasts.

- “I don't follow the news, but the rumors reached me. They always come.” Joseph looked at Ethan with a light but serious expression.

- “They are what they are; rumors” Banks didn't usually care what people said. As long as his truth remained intact, he didn't believe rumors.

- “They are talking about a woman. I haven't heard much, but it sounds like she's not something you can compare. It made me…curious.”

- “First, no woman should be compared. And second, is she a woman or a goddess? ”

Joseph chuckled at the marked irony in his friend's tone. He knew that Ethan was a realist, and that he wasn't easily impressed by female beauty. A woman would need to have something really unique about her to catch his eye.

Meanwhile, greeting a few acquaintances on the way, Jean led her daughter to a table in front of the stage.

The eyes turned to Blair, as they always had. It was inevitable to look at the naturally sensual sway of her waist, to be mesmerized by her body draped in the red fabric. Imagining how soft your hair would be was like a religion. She looked too expensive for even the richest of men here, and not just in terms of money.

The dress juxtaposed against her curvy body felt like a perfect extension of herself. Blair attracted attention for her flaming strands, her beautiful angelic face, her accentuated body and, often, her sexy dresses. That night was no different. She got masculine looks, because men wanted her, and she got feminine looks, because women wanted to be her.

Across the room, Joseph couldn't help but notice Blair as she walked over to their respective table. It was impossible not to look at the redhead and wonder if she, in fact, could be so beautiful. Her sensuality spell was compatible with anyone, anywhere.

- "Just looking at the way she walks, I can bet what you want that she is a goddess" Joseph answered the rhetorical question that Ethan asked, minutes before.

Ethan, at first, had a confused reaction, and even frowned. However, as he turned and looked in the direction Carter was looking, he understood why his friend was drooling. She was there, in all her absurd and unparalleled beauty.

The trio, Jean, Drake and Blair, sat at a table along with a couple. The woman, in her early forties, wore a classic black and white combination in her dress. Her husband, an older man, looked great in a tuxedo. After warm introductions from people happy to meet Blair Collins, they struck up a subtle and pleasant conversation.

- “I don't know if I can talk about this right now, but the anxiety is killing me” Drake muttered low, just for her friend to hear.

At the rounded table , the older couple sat side by side. Jean was on the left side of the man, Mr. Clark. Blair and Drake were in front of the couple.

- "Speak before this anxiety gets here" she replied in the same whispered tone.

Conversation at the table flowed smoothly, and musicians on stage played an exquisite melody. Blair supposed they wouldn't be the focus, not at the moment.

- “I just read an article about you in a gossip tabloid”

Drake tipped his cell phone under the table so Blair could see that while he was pretending to be interested in the conversation with Mr and Mrs Clark, Drake was reading gossip.

- "What it says?"

Her heart raced and her breathing was compromised. She felt alienated. All he wanted was to exclude his father from his life, and in that moment, he had become a little star next to him.

- “The lady in red shows herself to the world after years of speculation. Daughter of Jean Collins, Blair emerges like a phoenix. Some say she'll be in the director's next film, but her best position would be on the cover of magazines…” Drake paused in his reading when Jean asked him a question. He replied politely before continuing.

- “His name became recurrent among the stars. Some are betting that she will return to anonymity, but surely, after her appearance in the scarlet dress, the world will not forget her in one night.”

Blair took a deep breath of air. It wasn't the end of the world, she knew that, but it did mean that her relationship with her father had been exposed. Before that, she'd been avoiding the phone calls and denying Jean's advances. I didn't want to be your daughter. She thought accepting a rapprochement was indifferent. In that instant, his life had changed. The redhead couldn't hide again, seeking refuge in the depths of unknowing.

- "Excuse me" she asked before getting up.

Afterwards, the redhead walked gracefully away from the table, avoiding any lifting they might make. It didn't take him long to find the toilet, and he made that place his momentary hiding place. As well as the salon, the atmosphere was exquisite.

A few events, expensive clothes, a millionaire life for a few months. That's what Blair wanted temporarily, just long enough, until Spencer's investigation was over, then she'd arrange it another way. Staying by her father's side had never been an option.

She had the choice to send the world to hell and ignore her father, as she had for most of her life. But there would always be one or the other commenting, chasing her and investigating in depth until discovering the reason for the family disagreement. With each film that Jean directed, with each success, there would be speculation about her angry daughter. Blair didn't know which option was worse; lying about a stable relationship or dealing with the consequences of the truth.

She leaned back against the marble sink and closed her eyes. His mind turned to the best moment of his life for many months to come. The elevator. Ethan Banks. The blue-green eyes.

Blair didn't want to think about him, but it was impossible to avoid. That brief encounter had become their point of peace and chaos. For a moment, closing her eyes tightly and concentrating her breathing, she could have sworn she could still smell the man. It wasn't just the strong, woody, clearly imported scent. It was the scent of power that stirred up what was most intense in her.

And then she felt his presence. Instantly, I knew this wasn't just a memory. Ethan was there. Standing a few feet into the toilet, wearing a black suit and his hands in his pants pockets. The fallen angel was watching her, analyzing her reaction as she opened her eyes and let the truth reach her.

Blair parted her lips to calm the breathing that was starting to quicken. It was the first time I had seen him in full, without masks. His face managed to be even more beautiful in person, devoid of imperfections considered normal. That man maintained an unattainable standard of beauty.

And for him, seeing the redhead for the second time was like a blessing. Illuminated by the dim lamps, it seemed to have a light of its own around it; a fire ready to burn you.

- "The lady in red" the man muttered. His voice was low and smooth, but it reverberated like a boom.

The mask gave him the dark look he gave off, but only the black suit was capable of doing the same thing. The woman's gaze dropped to the man's hands, hoping she didn't seem to miss the tightness around her throat. But he did, he always did.

And when their eyes met, from one shade of blue to the other, it was like an implosion. The woman wondered how she had lived twenty-three years without experiencing that sensation. She felt bound without strings, silenced with words on her lips, resurrected by death. It was as if whatever was dark in him gave her light.

It took a lot of effort for Blair to manage to hide the roots of fear seeping into her body. If that man really was who Spencer said, she shouldn't approach him that way, that intensity.

For Ethan, the meeting of eyes had been worth more than any meeting of bodies. It was as if he were a book open to those eyes, being read piece by piece. The man came closer, tempted to swim in the fire that was exhaling from Blair. For a brief moment, Ethan believed his soul had found healing.

He touched her cheek first, and the metallic chill of the ring on his index finger sent goose bumps on her female skin. The things he wanted to do would defy hell, but Banks held back.

All she knew about him was vague information, but even if she knew everything she wanted, Blair couldn't prepare herself for his touch. With just a short distance away, Ethan's presence became tangible. He didn't touch her beyond the cheek, but Blair felt it like her heartbeat. The air was crackling around her, and the touch of her skin burned with life.

- "I want you" the man's words were like the roar of an engine. His fingers slid to the woman's full lips, and the desire he felt for them felt like an electrical charge.

He was used to being attracted to the beauties he knew, and he always got what he wanted from them. With Blair, however, he wanted so many things he could barely think of what to do first. And, he knew, she was delivered from the first moment. His control didn't fail, and that redhead was a territory marked several days ago.

From the moment he saw her open the bedroom door, interrupting his plans with the Norwegian model, then fleeing to the elevator… Ethan simply knew that Blair needed to be his. There were very few seconds between the moment he saw the glimpse of the red dress in the door and the moment he decided to check if that silhouette was as drawn as he had thought.

- "Tell me what you want" he murmured. The low tone of voice didn't fool her; it was an order.

The man was used to dealing with command, always being on top and dictating how things would go. As involved as he was, he wouldn't move forward until he heard what he wanted from his victim. This was his game; seduce his prey, give small sips of water to someone thirsty. And then, when they could no longer bear the desire within them, they begged for anything he offered.

The woman's gaze was one of lust, begging for all the most carnal that could be. Ethan was willing to make her beg, literally. However, her defiant eyes did not indicate submission. Her body asked for the man, but her head didn't follow the desire. She still wasn't in the game, not in the only way Ethan wanted; completely delivered.

Banks was used to women wanting to be given control of the situation. Some had already proved difficult, inaccessible, and he just needed to find the right approach to overcome the challenge. Deep down, watching him surpass expectations only to surrender was a kind of submission.

- “This will not work at your pace, Mr. Banks”

Blair regained her stance. She was so affected she didn't recognize herself. She remembered her purpose in this whole situation. Getting acquainted with the elite, meeting people, bonding, being by the father's side and smiling, surrendering to the world of fame. But never, under any circumstances, should she feel affected by the target of her work. Ethan was an investigator, not a potential lover.

- "I won't play your game" Ethan's fingers were still on her lips, feeling her hot breath as she pronounced the lines loaded with desire.

Blair tried to pull away, however, Ethan placed both hands on the sink counter, one on either side of the woman's body. He imprisoned her in the most subtle way he could. Her whole body wanted to accept Ethan's onslaught and end up in one of the cabins. But she knew the dark air wasn't just part of her sensuality, it was a real danger, and protecting herself would be her best weapon.

- "Don't play with me" the voice seemed to gain an extra hoarse tone, caused solely by the inflated excitement between the bodies.

- "I would joke, but I don't want to get lost" the softness in the woman's voice was contradicted by the words that, on her lips, seemed sensual.

- “Think about it, because there is no return”

Ethan's blue-green eyes were dark, revealing his less-than-decent intentions. He controlled himself not to use his powers of persuasion, for he knew he could convince the woman. But it wouldn't be enough. She should ask. To wish. To beg. get addicted.

Ethan carried with him a Herculean ability to break hearts. The man didn't use women, that would be little close to what his looks allowed him to do. He engaged their minds and, with minimal effort , won their hearts. Besides your panties. The intention was not to involve feelings, just bodies.

He made room for her to run away from his ministry. He was certain that, at one time or another, he would have her. Blair tossed her hair back before walking away. She knew she wouldn't resist. The attraction was too strong to be undone. It would only be a matter of time before they gave in and let the fire consume what it needed. But as long as she could keep her soul away from the fallen angel, she would.

- "You won't resist long before you're mine, Angel"

The woman paused for a second at her second name. Few people knew that in her name she kept the word "angel", and she usually didn't like the analogy. However, hearing that thick voice, even more hoarse with pent-up urges, Blair didn't care.

She sighed, feeling victorious for not throwing herself into Ethan's strong arms a second time. He liked the game, and she liked the player. It would be an interesting fight for control, but she swore she wouldn't give in as she didn't have that option in her catalog.