Josh stepped into his office on Monday after teaching his Cervantes class, mentally chastising himself for not bringing something for lunch. Now he’d have to grab a quick sandwich from the campus cafeteria before his next class, which was never his first choice.

His phone dinged an incoming text message. It was from Lily.

You might want to check on Kate. She’d attached a link to a celebrity gossip blog.

He clicked on it and found himself reading an article about an argument Kate had had with her mother in the Midtown Café yesterday. An embedded video began to play, grainy and unstable like a cell phone video. In it, Kate’s voice shook, her cheeks stained a deep pink. Josh had never seen her so angry. Her voice was too low to make out what she was saying, but Doreen’s response came through loud and clear, “How was I supposed to react when you slept with my boyfriend and then cried rape?”

Kate recoiled as if she’d been slapped. The next second, she was on her feet and the table between them had gone flying. There was a crash of breaking china, and the person recording seemed to drop their cell phone.

Josh put his phone down as something hard and tight fisted in his stomach. In his experience, women rarely “cried rape.” The Kate he knew would never make a claim like that to gain attention for herself. On the contrary, she went to all lengths to keep her pain private, even from him. He remembered the haunted look in her eyes when she’d told him about playing a rape victim in this movie. The way she’d reacted as if he meant to choke her while he was doing acupressure to relieve her migraine. The terror in her eyes had haunted him ever since.

Oh, Kate, what did that man do to you?

A second news article—this one sent by Gabe—contained an interview with Doreen from this morning in which she defended herself after yesterday’s argument, describing how Kate had tried to hurt her by sleeping with Doreen’s boyfriend and then running off to Hollywood, where she’d continued to sleep her way to the top.

The comments section was a total trash fire, with people calling Kate every unsavory name in the book. And Josh saw red. He pounded a fist into his desk chair so hard that it screeched backward over the floor and slammed into the wall. It was a good thing he didn’t know where Doreen lived, because…

But Doreen didn’t deserve his attention right now. He blew out a long, slow breath as pain choked his throat. Oh God, Kate.

He canceled his one o’clock class and headed for the movie set. She’d given him a badge that allowed full access, and he would wait for her at her trailer.

He had to see her, and it couldn’t wait.

As it happened, she crossed the lot ahead of him, wrapped in a heavy black coat over ripped fishnet stockings, entering her trailer not thirty seconds before he knocked.

Her brows knitted in confusion as she opened the door. “This is a surprise. Aren’t you supposed to be teaching?”

“I am…good God, Kate.” He stopped short at the sight of her.

She was so pale, her skin had taken on a grayish tint. Purple stains pooled beneath her eyes in painful contrast to her pallid complexion. Dark bruises ringed her neck as if someone had tried to choke the life out of her. Her black dress was torn, ripped up the side to reveal more bruises on her left thigh. A trickle of blood oozed down her right arm.

His mouth fell open.

She smirked as she closed the door behind him. “You should see your face. This is a movie set, remember? I’m a corpse today.”

“What?”

“We’re shooting the scene where they find Janet’s body. I’ve been lying in a dumpster all morning.” She shivered as she reached up to finger the bruises on her neck.

“That’s disturbingly realistic.” It was especially disturbing given the subject matter he’d come to discuss.

She flexed her hands like claws and gave him her best zombie face, then laughed. “It’s makeup. So what’s up?” She turned away to retrieve an insulated cup from Olive’s on the coffee table behind her. Her hands were blue from cold, or maybe that was makeup too.

“Have you seen the headlines today?”

She shook her head. “I’ve been here since five.” She paused with the cup halfway to her mouth as his words hit home.

He held up his phone so that she could see the article Lily had sent him. The cup slipped through her fingers and landed with a splash on the floor between them. Hot coffee sprayed everywhere, splattering his pants and Kate’s bare legs.

His stomach plummeted. Her reaction confirmed his worst fear.

Oh, Kate.

“We need to talk,” he said.

She crossed her arms over her chest and backed away. “Of course. There’s no need to explain. Thank you for everything, really. You’ve been a great friend.”

What? Did she think he was running away? He placed his hands on her shoulders, felt her shaking. She looked at him with eyes as flat and lifeless as marbles. Coupled with the makeup, it was an eerie sight, one that made his blood run cold.

“No, Kate, I want to talk about the things your mother said…about what happened when you were a teenager.”

She lifted her chin. “Did it surprise you to hear those things about me?”

He saw the challenge in her eyes, heard the pain behind her words. “Yes, it did, and I don’t believe a word of it. For months now, I’ve been trying to figure out who hurt you, but I don’t have to wonder anymore, do I?”

She stilled beneath his fingers. Even her breathing seemed to stop.

A lump grew in his throat, his voice reduced to a whisper. “Kate, did he rape you?”

A shudder racked her body. She pulled loose from his grasp and walked to the window, her back to him.

He accepted her silence as the answer she couldn’t speak. He went to her, took her hands, and drew her against him as tears burned his eyes. “Dammit, I’m so sorry.”

Her fingers were like icicles in his, her eyes still alarmingly empty.

“Talk to me.” He squeezed her hands gently.

“There’s nothing to say.” Her voice cracked, and his heart broke.

He wrapped his arms around her. “You’re right. You don’t have to say a word. Goddammit, I am so, so sorry.” A tear rolled down his face.

She reached out and wiped it from his cheek before looking away.

“Tell me he went to jail.”

She shook her head, just a fraction of an inch. If he hadn’t been watching her so closely, he might have missed it.

His chest burned. He wanted to kill the bastard who had hurt her. And Doreen? Naturally the asshole claimed it was consensual, and Kate’s own mother hadn’t believed her. The double betrayal would have been devastating. His arms tightened around her.

Her stony facade was starting to crumble. Her bottom lip shook, and she bit down on it so hard, a crimson droplet of blood bloomed against her pale skin. She dabbed it with her tongue, then fell to her knees, her stomach heaving.

Josh dropped down beside her. He rubbed her back, felt the tremors racking her body.

She jerked away from his touch and lurched to her feet, her hands out in front of her as if warding off danger. “It’s fine…I’m fine.”

“It’s not, and you’re not.”

“Really, I’m…” Her voice drifted off as if she couldn’t force the lie past her lips a second time.

He took a mental step back. “Look, when you’re ready to talk, I’ll be here to listen, okay? Nothing you tell me could ever change the way I feel about you.”

She shook her head, her eyes wide pools of pain. “You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know enough.”

“What if I told you it happened like she said? I hated her so much that I slept with the man she loved just to hurt her?” She lifted her chin, challenging him.

“I wouldn’t care. But that’s not what happened, is it?”

She looked away. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It matters to me. I understand if it’s too painful to talk about, but just know that I’m here for you. Anything, Kate, anything at all.”

If it was possible, her face had gone even paler. Combined with the bruises painted onto her skin, she looked like an aberration from a horror movie. “Look, I’m due back on set in a few minutes, and I really need to freshen up first. I’ll catch up later, okay?”

“You can’t go back out there right now. Let me take you home.”

She drew herself up tall, arms folded over her chest. “I have to work. I need to work.”

There was something fragile in her tone. This was how she coped with pain, how they both coped. He blew out a breath. “Okay, but I’m coming over tonight.”

“No, I—”

He pressed his lips to hers, wrapping her in his embrace. “I’m not leaving you alone tonight, and that’s all there is to it. I’ll sleep on the couch if that’s where you want me, but I’m here for you, Kate. You don’t have to do this on your own, not anymore.”

---

Kate stood in the middle of the set, numb to the action around her. Josh’s words echoed in her head. How could he possibly believe in her when she hadn’t been brave enough to trust him with the truth? How had he seen through her mother’s lies? It was incomprehensible. If she allowed herself to really think about it, she might completely fall apart. As it was, she felt as if a stiff breeze could blow her to pieces.

Josh had blindsided her in more ways than one. Why hadn’t Harry or Jenn told her about Doreen’s latest headline first? No doubt they knew, but Harry had also known she would be isolated from the news on set and must have decided to tell her when filming wrapped for the day.

Work came first, of course.

She’d looked the article up on her phone after Josh left, seen the cell phone footage. The whole world had heard Doreen accuse her of crying rape. She’d read Doreen’s defense, seen the comments calling Kate a slut and a whore. And she couldn’t take it, not again.

Her head spun, and her eyes burned with unshed tears. She’d spent half an hour scrubbing herself of the death makeup, and still she could feel the bruises on her neck, the pain, the panic of his hands wrapped around her throat, squeezing the life out of her as he violated her body. The ground tipped beneath her feet. She fought the urge to claw against hands that weren’t really there.

Just makeup.

She had to hold it together until she got home. There was no other option. She gripped the railing beside her, sucking in deep breaths of the frigid December air.

Jenn walked up, took one look at her, and sighed. “You heard.”

Kate forced her spine straight. The pavement felt like marshmallows beneath her feet, soft and sticky. If she moved, it would send her sprawling. “A heads-up would have been nice.”

“Harry thought we should let you finish filming. I’m sorry.” She touched Kate’s arm.

Kate clenched her jaw, clinging desperately to her composure.

“Doreen will be on Marsha’s Latest tonight. It’s bad.” Jenn looked pained. “What she said about you…I just want you to know—”

Van Moorse’s booming voice interrupted her.

Kate shrugged out of her coat and handed it to Jenn. “I’m up.”

Pushing it all away, she walked out before the cameras.

---

Anton drove Kate into the parking garage beneath her building so that she could bypass the paparazzi waiting in front. It took all her strength to walk from the car to the elevator and punch the button for the eighth floor.

The doors slid shut with a ding, and her breath hitched. Tears pooled in her eyes. Just one more minute. She only had to make it into her condo, and then she could finally fall apart.

The doors opened. She huffed a breath and stepped into the hallway.

Josh waited by her door.

Without thinking, she walked straight into his arms. He folded her in his embrace and held her tight. She indulged in the luxury of leaning on him, just for a moment, before she took the weight of it all back onto her own two feet.

He followed her into the condo. “I’m staying here tonight.”

“No, you’re not. I’m fine.” She wasn’t. She was about thirty seconds away from total collapse. But having him here—trying to keep herself together for him—was more than she could handle.

“Have you eaten?” he asked quietly.

She shook her head.

He stepped past her into the kitchen and began to rummage in her cabinets. She held her breath, fighting back tears. What was he doing?

He knows. And he’s still here.

She trudged upstairs to her bedroom, where she stripped down and stepped into a hot shower. The scalding water beat down on her skin until it was bright pink, all traces of makeup a distant memory.

She could still feel Jim Porter’s fingers around her throat.

She dressed in pink fleece pajamas and a matching robe, stuffed her feet into red slippers, and walked downstairs. Josh was in the kitchen, and the air sizzled with the scent of peppers and onions.

He looked up with a smile. “Breakfast for dinner. Always works in a pinch.”

He scooped a bulging omelet onto a plate with a side of home fries and set it on the table.

She blinked. “You cook?”

“I live alone. I can whip up a few basics. Sit. Eat.” He motioned her toward the table.

She sat. And she ate. Or, she tried to, but her throat kept closing up…

Josh joined her with an omelet of his own. “You want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. Just thinking about it made her gag on her omelet. “Why are you doing this?”

“Because this is what people do when someone they care about is hurting, Kate.”

Was it? If so, he might be the first person in her life who truly cared about her, and she had absolutely no idea what to do about it…or him. God, she needed him so much. The intensity of it was overwhelming. Abandoning her dinner, she stood and walked into the living room. He’d turned on the fireplace, and she stood in front of it, staring into the flames.

Josh came up behind her and wrapped her in his arms. She was choking on her emotions, drowning in the memories, trapped inside a nightmare that wouldn’t end. And against all odds, Josh stood behind her. Nothing had ever felt as good as his arms, warm and strong as they held her together. Tonight, she needed him, and she wasn’t going to let herself think about the reasons or the implications.

It was approaching ten, and she had another early call time tomorrow. She led the way upstairs, giving silent permission for him to stay. That was proof enough she’d lost her mind.

Josh stripped to his undershirt and boxers while she swallowed two sleeping pills from the bottle on her bedside table. It was her only hope of sleep, even with his arms to hold her.

“Tomorrow will be worse.” Her voice was hoarse from all the pain inside her.

He turned to face her. “If it is, we’ll get through it together.”

“They’ll want me to make a statement. The paparazzi will be a nightmare. And my mother…” Doreen would be on TV again, crying for the cameras.

Why are you doing this to me, Mom?

She choked back a sob.

Josh pulled her into his arms. She shook with the effort to hold it all inside, to keep it from swallowing her whole. He reached past her to turn out the light, then nestled her against him in the dark. His warmth and his scent, as familiar as her own, enveloped her.

“It may get worse before it gets better, but it will get better,” he murmured, brushing back a lock of her hair. “And remember, you don’t owe anybody anything. You do whatever you need to do to take care of yourself. The press and the fans and the paparazzi can wait.”

“I don’t know how to do that.” She could barely hear her own voice.

“Then let me help.”

She blinked back tears. “I’ll try.”

The soft glow of the New York skyline behind them illuminated his face. She pressed her lips to his, suddenly desperate for his touch, to know that he wanted her, even now.

Because Josh knows. He knows.

He returned her kiss but kept the space between them. His arms remained in place around her, his hands motionless on her back. Desperate, she pressed closer.

“Not tonight, Kate,” he whispered. “It wouldn’t be right.”

He rolled her over, positioning her against him so that her back was to his front. The perfect position for sleep. And as Josh’s breathing evened out behind her, she wept silently into her pillow.

---

Her scream woke him, shrill and terrified.

Josh bolted upright, his heart hammering against his ribs. Kate lay facing him, eyes closed, the sheets tangled around her like a complex origami creation. Her hands clawed at her throat.

He touched her shoulder to wake her from the dream. “Kate.”

“No, no, stop!” she shrieked, striking out at him with surprising force. She lurched away and tumbled onto the floor with a solid thump.

Josh scrambled after her. He found her sitting up, her eyes open.

“It’s okay. It was just a dream.” He reached for her, but she pulled away.

“Please go home,” she whispered, keeping her eyes averted from his gaze.

“Not a chance.” He helped her into bed and tucked her in against him.

She trembled from head to foot. Her ribs jerked beneath his touch as she attempted to control her breathing. He rubbed her back until the tremors in her body lessened and finally stopped.

Was this why she’d never let him spend the night?

Good God, did she go through this every night?

She’d been so damn stoic all day. How must it feel for her, to be betrayed in such a way by the very person who was supposed to protect her? He couldn’t even fathom. He thought of his own mother, who’d walk through fire for him or Lily, while Doreen was so eager to rip Kate to shreds for a few bucks, who hadn’t been there for her when she needed her most.

It was so wrong, he couldn’t even wrap his mind around it.

Kate lay awake the rest of the night. She pretended to sleep, but her back was stiff as a pole, her fists clenched into the sheets. He held her, providing what comfort he could until the alarm went off at four.

“Okay, you’re right, the movie star life is not as glamorous as it looks. This is seriously what time you get up in the morning?” he asked, his voice rough from lack of sleep.

She rolled to face him, her eyes bleary and shadowed with fatigue. “My call time is at five.”

“And what are you filming? Didn’t you die yesterday?”

“We don’t shoot in order. It depends on schedules, location, all kinds of things. Today we’re shooting a scene where I convince a couple of the other girls to testify.”

Josh watched her for a moment in silence. There were so many things he wanted to say. Instead, he merely asked, “So does he get what he deserves, you know, in the end?”

“It’s the movies. Of course he does.” She rolled out of bed and shut the door to the bathroom behind her.

If only real life were as well scripted as the movies.