Page 99 of Dream (Fighting Fate)

Daniel’s words replayed inside my head, over and over again, as we sped through downtown LA on our way to Liv’s apartment. The details still weren’t clear, but it didn’t matter. All that mattered was that I get to her now.

As expected, the crowd waiting outside her apartment was fucking bedlam. If I wasn’t careful, I was going to end this day with an assault charge, for sure.

The second Lance pulled the car up to the curb, Daniel, Corey, and Cain all piled out, pushing the crowd back enough for me to climb from the car without being dragged to the pavement. Nerves tingled in my gut. This almost had to have been the worst I’d ever seen a crowd before. It was insane, and I was genuinely concerned we weren’t actually going to make it to the building without being torn apart.

But then three large figures appeared from the building, shoving at the crowd, parting the way for us to get inside, and as soon as the doors closed behind us, one of the guys barricaded it with an iron bar.

I didn’t wait for introductions. That would have to wait until later. I just needed to get to Liv and see if she was all right.

Dashing for the stairs, I burst through the door to her apartment, and jerked to a halt, almost running into Gardner and Liv’s roomy, whom I hadn’t officially met yet.

“Where’s Liv?”

Sam’s eyes widened before she stuck her thumb over her shoulder. “Room.”

Meeting Gardner’s gaze, I paused. “What the fuck happened?”

He exhaled heavily, his hands curling into fists. “She wanted to go for a jog, so I planned a route that would be safe for us both to take. We were heading through Delano Park when a girl jumped out from behind a tree and coat-hangered her. She was winded pretty badly, making it difficult for me to tell if she’d sustained any other injuries, so I thought it would be best to make a recovery call.”

My jaw clenched. “Did you get the girl?”

He nodded. “I had my crew following at a distance. They apprehended her and called the police. Apparently, she’s a Hannah Bryant fan and thought she was helping.”

“Jesus.” Fuck this. I didn’t give a shit if she was some fan or not. If anyone tried to touch my girl, I would proceed with the full arm of the law. And then some.

Leaving them, I made my way to Liv’s room, not bothering to knock as I pushed inside. She looked up from her perch on the bed with surprise as I closed the door behind me.

“Josh—”

“I want the truth,” I said, striding forward. “How badly are you hurt?”

Her features softened. “Not badly. I was mostly winded,” she said, folding her hands in her lap. “I have a little bit of bruising on my back, but it’s not too awful.”

I stared at her for a long time, trying to reason with myself, but it was useless. “I can’t do it, Liv,” I said. “I can’t sit back and watch this shit happen to you while you wait for some invisible line to be drawn. Do you know how lucky you were that it wasn’t anything worse than that? And I fucking hate having to say that. I hate that you have to make these kind of decisions so early in our relationship, but you know what?” I said, my blood pumping so hard my ears were starting to ring. “I’m not giving you a choice anymore. I’m not taking no for an answer, Liv. I love you too much to just sit back and wait for something worse to happen to you.”

My hands clenched and unclenched at my sides, and my chest was rising and falling like I’d just run up a flight of stairs, but Liv just sat there staring at me, her mouth curving up into a soft little smile. “You just said you loved me.”

I replayed my words in my head before I drew in a deep breath. “Well, I just figured it out,” I said quietly.

Her smile grew a little more.

Moving to sit on the edge of the bed, I took her face in my hands and kissed her gently. “I need you to be safe, Liv. Please. I know this isn’t something you’re going to like, but I bought an apartment

you can stay in. You and Sam can pay me whatever you feel you can afford. I don’t care. All the payment I need is to know you’re safe.”

Locking her hands around my wrists, she searched my eyes. “Okay.”

The breath stuck in my lungs. “Okay? You’ll move?”

Leaning into me, she brushed her lips over mine. “Yes.”

Lifting my face to the ceiling, I released a heavy breath. “Fucking hallelujah!”

Liv slapped my arm, but she giggled. “I promised I’d move, but I still get a say in some things. Like, Sam’s coming with me, and we’d prefer to find something for a similar price, but we can probably afford to pay a little bit more if we have to. I don’t know how much you want for yours, but we could probably work something out.”

She was rambling, and it was fucking adorable. I was just about to shut her up with a kiss, but there was a knock on the door before I could.

Liv laughed at my unhappy face. “Come in!”

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