‘Hey, Holly! Getting much action with Mr Action Hero?’
‘Give us a flash of your boobs!’ another yells.
My shaky hands finally slip the key into the lock. Camera flashes illuminate the twilight sky, but I don’t look round.
ChapterThirty-Four
NATE
‘Looks like you’ve been busted, son.’ Mam lugs in the mountain of Christmas presents she exchanged with her family, her eyes clouding over wistfully.
It goes without saying I can’t stay here another night. We’d never make it to Christmas Day without fans bursting through the door. Even with extra security on their way.
Mam drops to her knees, arranging the gifts into neat little piles beneath the tree. ‘Where’s Holly?’ Her bobbed head tilts to the side as her silvery eyebrows knit together.
‘I don’t know. She went Christmas shopping. The last time I heard from her, she was going for a few drinks with her girlfriends.’ My eyes dart down to my phone, like it might have miraculously rung without me noticing. ‘That was hours ago.’
Something’s not right.
I’m reluctant to interrupt her girl-time. I know her ex hated her being out with them, but I’m genuinely beginning to worry about her safety. The evening is drawing in. I check my phone for the millionth time, but there’s nothing.
Where the hell is she?
A tiny sliver niggles inside me, tormenting me. Screaming at me that Holly’s simply running at the first sign of trouble, like Sally did.
If I could push a button and have us tucked away in my Beverly Hills mansion, with thousands of miles between us and this shitshow, I would do it in a heartbeat.
For now, I’ll have to settle for a countryside Airbnb. Jayden’s PA is currently trying to find one for us. This close to Christmas, there’s not a lot of availability and it’s not as if we can just check into a hotel. Within three minutes of arriving, we’d be swamped with press.
Getting mauled and hounded is the one part of my job I hate. It’s the colossal drawback to being famous. People think they know me. Own me. That they have some sort of right to me.
And I hate that it’s affecting Holly. Hate that they’re dragging up everything about her. All because of me. The shame. The humiliation. All the unresolved tension with her family will be heightened the day before her brother’s wedding. My insides twist at the thought of her having to go through the same embarrassment we worked so hard to quash. And it’s all my fault.
‘What do you mean, you don’t know?’ Mam stands, dusting her hands together.
‘I can’t get hold of her. I’ve called her fourteen times with no response.’
‘Have you seen the shit the press is spouting about her, son? They’re saying she’s not right for you. The hashtag trending on Twitter is “Not right for Nate”. And a link to that stupid meme.’ Mam crosses the room and takes my hand.
‘No, I deliberately avoid social media.’ I know first-hand how damaging it can be. It’s a rabbit hole. Yes, it can be gratifying to receive messages from genuine fans, but the negative comments from the haters far outweigh the warm and fuzzies. If the movie I’m starring in gets fifty thousand five-star ratings and fifty one-star ratings, it’s the fifty that play on my mind when I’m trying to fall asleep at night. Comments like ‘has been’ and ‘time to retire, grandad’ really grab me by the throat and choke me sometimes. Probably because they’re a little too close to my own fears and insecurities.
Shit. Clarity dawns like a fucking rainbow. What’s trending about Holly is a little too close to her own insecurities.
‘Son, you need to find her. The chances are she’s utterly devastated. She probably believes the shit they’re spouting about her.’
Holly’s never been out of contact this long. The shame of her past is probably eating her alive and there’s not a damn thing I can do about it. ‘Fuck.’ My thumbs knead my temples.
‘You know how she felt about those videos,’ Mam reminds me. ‘The poor girl was victimised, and now she’s being attacked again by an army of faceless women on social media who are probably just jealous that she’s nabbed a Hollywood actor. People can be so cruel.’
It makes sense.
Realisation slices through my chest like a dagger.
Holly isn’t too busy with Savannah and Ashley to take my calls. She’s ignoring them.
She’s probably slipped into that what’s-a-man-like-you-doing-with-a-woman-like-me bullshit again.
I pace the hallway, raking my fingers through my hair. I will not allow the media attention on the woman I love ruin another relationship for me.
