Page 105 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

“Chicken,” he said, smirking at me. But then he walked up the steps and slipped his hands into his pockets and smiled.

“You can go up in thirty seconds,” the woman said beside me.

I turned, ready to argue, but the look on her face silenced me in less than a second.

Her gaze traveled down to the bruises on my neck. “You really should cover that up, you know. This is an awards night. People want to see happy things, not that.”

I blinked at her, stunned by her words. Anger bubbled under my skin. What the hell kind of crap was that to say to someone who had almost been strangled to death? I was ready to let her have it.

“Go,” she said. “You have thirty seconds. Make it count.”

I struggled with my indecision. I wanted to tell her to shove it, but I had to remind myself that I was here for Josh. Turning away from her, I swallowed down my irritation and joined him on the platform, the sight of him making it easy to turn on my smile again.

“Are you all right?” he asked as we made our way down to the red road again.

“Yeah,” I said, smiling out at the people as we walked past. “Just learning how shallow some people can be.”

As we stopped at some woman with a microphone, Josh gave me a subtle nod, murmuring a quiet, “Yep.”

Over the next fifteen minutes, I made myself the perfect escort. I smiled, watched Josh with interest as he talked about the awards, and answered the small fluff questions that were occasionally thrown my way.

We were near the end when Josh stopped at a petite blonde woman calling out his name. “Joshua, Cassie Muldoon, Entertainment Tonight. This is your fourth BAFTAs. Do you agree with tonight’s nominations for the award for excellence in film?”

Josh shifted on his feet. This was approximately the tenth time he’d heard this exact question. I wondered if he was sick of it yet. As he gave the same answer he’d given the rest, I dreamed of the moment we could walk inside and sit down.

It wasn’t until I heard my name that I realized I was no longer paying attention. Oops.

I looked up to meet the woman’s gaze, watching it flicker down to my neck. “It was reported last week that you were attacked in your own apartment. Can you tell me anything about that? Is the bruising around your neck a result of the attack?”

It wasn’t the first time someone had looked at my bruising tonight, but it was the first time someone had asked me about it. In fact, no one had asked me anything harder than how I was finding the spotlight with Josh. I wondered if they’d been told not to. As I thought about the possibility of that being the case, my irritation flared.

Josh pulled at my hand, ready to drag me away, but I resisted. I didn’t want to walk away from this question. I wanted to have my voice heard.

Leaning forward, I met her gaze. “Cassie, was it?” I asked, watching her nod, her gaze intent, yet slightly worried. “Hi, Cassie. That’s a good question. Actually, I think that’s the most important question I’ve heard all night. It’s true. Someone broke into my apartment in the middle of the day, and tried to strangle me. It was a really scary moment,” I said, tightening my hold on Josh’s hand. “But do you know what’s even scarier than that?” I asked, gauging Cassie’s reception to my sudden verbal spew. As her eyes flashed with excitement, I continued. “The response I’ve had from these bruises ever since. I’ve had people—even tonight—telling me I need to cover them up. To pretend they’re not there. And to me, that begs the question, why? Why do these people—these women—want me to pretend that the attack didn’t happen? It’s a clear indication of what’s wrong with our society today.”

Understanding shone in Cassie’s eyes, and she nodded her agreement. “So, what would you say to those people right now?”

Adrenaline pumped through my veins. “I’d say, whether you’re man or woman, each time you ask someone to cover their bruises, you’re covering for an abuser. Each time you turn and look the other way, you’re helping an abuser. If me not covering these bruises encourages even one woman to speak up—one woman to talk about any abuse she’s suffered at the hands of another

person, then I can say, with definite conviction, the looks of disdain you’ve given me was worth it.”

Cassie smiled triumphantly, and a second later Josh and I were being ushered inside.

As we stepped through the doors, I leaned in closer to Josh and exhaled. “I don’t think you should give me brandy ever again.”

Pulling me into his side, he gazed down at me and smiled. “God, I love you.”

Chapter 64

Josh

The week after the BAFTAs was crazy. It started with a personal plea to the judge to refuse bail to the psychotic girl who’d tried to kill Liv, followed by a demand to the studio to force Hannah into issuing a statement saying we were just good friends.

But all that was overshadowed by Liv’s rant on the red carpet. The amount of people talking about it had taken over from the awards themselves. I’d had both Neil and Ian calling me non-stop since it had been aired. Neil, taking it in his stride, happy to focus on the positives coming from the attention, and Ian, practically popping a vein in his temple, screaming at me that Liv was going to ruin my career.

But regardless of Ian’s view of the situation, and as controversial as her rant had been, the number of people coming out in support of her was insane.

I didn’t think I’d ever been so proud of someone in my entire life. Without even meaning to, she’d somehow become some sort of ambassador for violence against women, but, instead of cowering away from the unexpected attention, she’d simply taken it all in her stride.

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