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sweet and innocent. Hey, if you two are on the rocks again—’
    ‘We’re not on the rocks. I should call him. I promised I’d let him know that I arrived safely.’ I take out my mobile, but before I can make the call, Leo reaches forwards and snatches the phone.
    ‘Leo!’ I shout . ‘Give that back.’
    ‘Oh no. I’m not having you checking it every five minutes to see if Prince Charming has called. I’ll hang on to this until we’ve finished rehearsals.’
    ‘Leo, I promised him —’
    ‘ I mean it, Sophia. I’m not going to practise with someone who’s getting distracted all the time.’
    ‘God!’ I shake my head, exasperated. I’ve never had a little brother, but I’m beginning to understand what having one must be like. ‘Leo, give me my phone. I promised Marc I’d call. He’ll worry.’
    ‘ He should. If you’re with me.’
    ‘Give me the phone Leo.’ I try to snatch it from him, but he holds it up high. That does it. I climb up on the stage and wrestle his knees until he falls onto the floor.
    We end up in a pile together, me on top of Leo trying to claw the phone out of his hand.
    ‘Okay, okay,’ Leo laughs, holding up his long arm so the phone is out of my reach again. ‘I’ll do you a deal. You can have your phone back so you can call your over-protective boyfriend. But after that, I take the phone for the rest of rehearsals, okay? I don’t want you checking your phone all the time. It’s distracting.’
    ‘Okay, deal ,’ I say, trying to catch my breath.
    Leo hands me the phone. ‘Here. I’ll help you up.’ He wraps his arm around me and sits up, throwing me into his lap in the process.
    For a m oment our faces are inches apart, and I feel the hard muscles of his arms and his toned chest.
    ‘Why Miss Rose, you’re blushing,’ says Leo.
    I extract myse lf from his lap, embarrassed that there actually is a blush creeping up my neck and over my cheeks. Then I turn my back on Leo and call Marc, still out of breath from our wrestle.
    ‘Sophia.’ Marc answers straight away.
    ‘I’m here,’ I tell him. ‘I made it to the theatre.’ I glance over my shoulder. ‘I’m with Leo.’
    ‘I know,’ Marc says quietly, his tone for eboding.
    ‘You do?’
    ‘I’m having you monitored at all times. For your safety.’
    ‘Oh.’ I swallow, thinking about that little scene with Leo and praying Marc didn’t somehow see it through CCTV cameras or something. ‘Then ... why did you ask me to call?’
    ‘I like to play safe where you’re concerned,’ Marc says. ‘Make double sure.’
    ‘Are you going to tell me what’s going on yet?’ I ask.
    ‘Sophia, it could be nothing at all. I don’t want to worry you. But while I’m looking into things, it’s better that you’re not at the townhouse. That’s all I can say right now.’
    Silence. I want to tell him I love him and miss him. That I can’t wait for him to touch me again. That I can’t bear us being apart. But I’m so frightened by his sudden anger and coldness. So instead, all that comes out is, ‘When will I see you again?’
    ‘S oon, I promise.’
    There’s a click, and the line goes dead.
    ‘Now you can give me the phone,’ says Leo, bounding to his feet. ‘We had a deal, remember?’
    I sigh . ‘Fine.’ Reluctantly I hand it to him.
    Leo clamps his fingers around the phone. ‘I’m going to store this somewhere you can’t get hold of it. And then you can focus on me and me alone.’

13
    Leo and I spend the day rehearsing, drinking coffee and hot chocolate, ordering in fresh ham sandwiches and sponge cake from a Soho deli and just talking about all sorts of things that don’t matter.
    At dinner time, we head out to China Town and eat crispy duck pancakes, egg-fried rice and beef in black bean sauce.
    Two security guards follow us and wait outside the restaurant while we eat. But still, we have fun.
    Leo tells me about his journey from nobody to famous movie star – how he did all sorts of jobs on