Page 95 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

Hi Olivia, I just wanted to let you know I think you’re the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen and I’m so happy that you’re dating Joshua. He’s my favorite actor in the whole world and I think it’s amazing he’s with such a nice girl. Good luck! Sally.

“Aww,” Sam said as she read over my shoulder. “That’s so nice.”

It kind of was. But it was unexpected. Picking up another, I ripped it open and pulled out the note.

Dear Olivia. I cried when I saw the pictures of you with Joshua. He’s the most perfect guy in the world, and it makes me sad to know I’ll never get to be the one he’s pictured with. I hate to say it, but you look really nice, so I’d rather he be with you than someone like Hannah Bryant. If you break up, can you PLEASE give him my number??? I love him so much! Tracy.

I dropped the letter in my lap and looked up at Sam. “Whoa.”

Sam nodded. “I’ll say.”

Looking over the rest of the pile, I shook my head. I couldn’t believe so many people wanted to let me know what they thought of me dating Josh. It was insane. Picking up a pink envelope, I turned it over and pulled the top open.

LEAVE JOSHUA ALONE YOU ATTENTION SEEKING WHORE! HE’S WAY TOO GOOD FOR YOU. YOU ARE NOTHING BUT AN UGLY SLUT! YOU’RE A NOBODY AND YOU’RE ONLY TRYING TO USE HIM, SO JUST GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM AND DIE! HIS FANS ARE THE MOST LOYAL ON THE PLANET AND WE WILL DO ANYTHING TO PROTECT HIM FROM GREEDY BITCHES LIKE YOU!!!

Gasping, I dropped the letter like it’d burned me and sat back. My pulse jumped into a sprint as nausea punched me in the stomach.

“What the fuck?” Sam said, picking the offensive thing up off the floor. “What kind of deranged person does things like this?”

I swallowed, trying to convince myself I wasn’t going to be sick. My hands were seriously shaking. “I—” I shook my head. “I can’t open any more. Take them away, Sam. Throw them in the trash or something.”

She nodded. “Go and have a shower and I’ll take care of them.”

Dazed, I stood, making my feet carry me toward the bathroom. The ferocity in that letter had completely unhinged me. I mean, the girl told me to go die. Who said that kind of thing to a total stranger? It was crazy.

Stripping, I turned on the water spray and tried to focus on my breathing, but I couldn’t stop the threatening words of the letter from echoing inside my head. In a way, I was angry at myself for not seeing it coming. I mean, I’d thought about his fame in the context of how recognizable he was and the vast number of paparazzi that hounded him wherever he went, but I hadn’t thought for a minute about the level of love his fans had for him, and just how far they would be willing to go to claim ownership of him. I wasn’t even sure Josh knew that.

Accepting that this was a part of dating Josh was a hard pill to swallow. Up until this point, everything had been well and truly worth it, but I wasn’t so sure this was. I’d previously joked about how scary things had been when it came to integrating into his public life, but this was beyond smoothing over with a laugh. This was genuinely terrifying.

Distractedly, I shut off the water and stepped out to dry myself. I knew I just needed to give myself some time to let it all sink in, to wait until I was calmer so I could see it from a slightly different perspective, but right now, it kind of felt like the beginning of the end. And my body was already starting to feel the effects of the pain it would bring.

Once I was dressed for work, I took a deep breath and said a few affirmations that would hopefully get me through the day, before making my way out to the living room again. The pile of letters was gone, but sitting on the couch, arms crossed and gaze firm, was Gardner.

“You need to move,” he said, his voice lacking emotion. “This apartment isn’t safe.”

I frowned. Did I miss something, or was he referring to the threatening letter? “Uh, this is where I live, Gardner. I can’t just move. It isn’t that easy.”

“It’s not safe,” he said again. “There are no security measures here at all. Anyone can just walk straight up here to your door. It’s dangerous.”

Nausea rolled through my stomach. Of course, I knew that, but I’d been trying not to think about it because it was something I couldn’t do anything about. This apartment was all I could afford. “As much as I agree with you, Gardner, I don’t have much of a choice. I’m committed to half the expenses here with Sam, and it’s all I can afford, so I’m just going to have to do the best I can with the situation I’m in.”

His jaw tightened as he watched me. Then, with one swift nod, he uncrossed his arms, pushed himself up to stand, and walked from the apartment. Two seconds later my cell phone rang. I didn’t even need to look at the screen to know it was Josh, and for the first time since I’d met him, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to talk to him.

Chapter 58

Josh

Stepping from the car, I was thrust into a scene not too dissimilar to that of a media circus. Daniel and Corey pushed the surging bodies back, trying to make a path for me, as Cain and Lance pushed in behind. People screamed and cameras clicked, all trying to get whatever piece of me they could.

Keeping my head bent low, I went with the movement the guys created, tensing as the crowd pushed in harder.

“Move!” Daniel ordered, shoving at a bunch of paps, who were attempting to duck under his arms. I heard Lance grunt and a scuffle of pushing behind me, but I continued to move, Cain pushing me forward with Corey.

Someone grabbed at the sleeve of my sweater, gripping it tight and pulling it hard enough to rip. Yanking it back out of their grip, I moved with the swell, pushing my way forward until we were through the doors and traveling up the stairs. When we reached the top of the first flight, I came face-to-face with a hulk of a man I assumed was Gardner.

He gave me a dry look and quirked an eyebrow. “Welcome to hell.”

He wasn’t fucking wrong. He’d warned me the week after Liv had come to see me in Florida that she couldn’t be any more exposed or vulnerable to threat if she tried. And it was only a couple of days after that when I found out about the letters she’d been getting.

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