Page 97 of Twisted Truth

Michael sets a letter onto my desk so everyone can see it. As I scan over it, I don’t know whether to take it seriously or whether it’s a joke. It looks exactly like a stereotypical stalker or serial killer letter, with the entire thing comprised of different letters cut out from magazines and newspapers.

AsherLangford isMYhusband

STAYaway Fromhim, youwhore

Below the messageis a picture of me with my eyes cut out, blackx’sdrawn over the holes, and red marker scribbled like blood over my throat. My stomach drops.

Fucking hell.

I guess it’s not a joke.

Emily snatches the letter and its envelope off the desk and marches out of the conference room. I hurry after her as she heads for Asher’s office. My stomach is in knots. Asher is going to freak. But I’m also freaking out. What kind of psycho thinks she’s married to Asher? I assume it’s a woman, anyway, but I could be wrong. And what does that mean for me?

Emily knocks, and it takes a moment for Asher to answer.

“Ladies?” he says, moving aside for us to enter his office. “What can I do for you?”

“Ella has received quite a bit of fan mail,” Emily says, taking a seat in front of Asher’s desk. I sit down next to her. “Most of it was fine, the stuff we would typically expect, but we got one letter that was concerning.”

She tosses the letter down onto his desk. He picks it up, and his jaw ticks.

“When did this come?”

Emily checks the date stamp on the front of the envelope. “Yesterday.” She tosses the envelope down onto his desk. He picks it up and scans over it. There is no name or return address.

“I’ll send this to my forensics team and see if it matches any others we have.”

“You’ve received letters like this before?” I ask.

Asher lets out a long breath. “Unfortunately, there are a few women around the world who are under the delusion that they are married to me. I get letters from them from time to time. Thank you for bringing this to me, Emily. I’d like to speak to Ella alone, now.”

Emily nods and leaves the office.

Asher runs his hand along his tense jaw. “I want to be able to tell you that this threat isn’t something to worry about, but I can’t. While it is unlikely that anything will come of this, we still have to treat it like a credible threat.”

“Does this change anything going forward?”

“Yes and no. But things like this are the reason I insisted on you moving into my penthouse and having a security detail. This is the one aspect I hate most about an existence like mine. I know that public attention comes with the territory, and I can accept that, but it’s the crazies and the people with real malicious intent that make it so difficult.”

“So you really have women who think they’re married to you?”

He pinches the bridge of his nose. “Yes.”

“That’s so creepy.”

“It is. And I think it’s probably best to get you some self-defense classes. I’ll have Robert teach you on the weekends. And you will carry both a taser and pepper spray on you at all times outside of the penthouse.”

I groan. The list of things I need to do keeps growing.

He picks up his phone and texts for a moment before slamming the phone back down on his desk.

“Please don’t let this derail you,” I plead, noticing the beginnings of him unraveling. It’s just like the night of the gala. “I know you have issues with safety, and this is upsetting for you; it’s upsetting for me. But we have the movie premiere tonight, and I don’t want to be humiliated again.”

Asher’s jaw ticks again, and he rolls his eyes. “Humiliated is a bit of a strong word.”

Irritation flashes through me. “Don’t be dismissive like that. The media had a field day tearing into me, and itwashumiliating.”

“I know what it’s like to be torn apart by the press.”