Chapter 1:

Double Life

The soft glow of my ring light still lingered in my vision even after I’d turned it off. I stood in the middle of my apartment’s converted bedroom studio, stretching my arms overhead until my shoulders popped. Another shoot wrapped. Another paycheck secured. I glanced at the clock barely past nine in the evening and let out a long breath that carried equal parts satisfaction and exhaustion.

My stage name, “Lara Velvet,” stared back at me from the open laptop on the vanity. The thumbnail for the video we’d just finished uploading was tasteful enough for the preview: me in black lace, lips parted, eyes half-lidded...