Page 19 of The Spotlight Effect

“We will see,” he says.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t believe it,” I know I should probably jump it, but I can’t. This is my thing. Music ismine. It’s everything to me; it’s how I cope, how I express myself, and now she’s getting into that too.

“Well, the proof will be shown when she records and shows her song,” he says, annoyed with me now. Yeah, she will have to sing, and then I’ll finally know, or I could look into myself, but I plan on finding out what is going on.

The limo pulls upin front of a mansion in Beverly Hills, which is known as the Archer Estate, that was shown in Vogue Magazine. Outside, tons of cars are parked, I think a party is happening. “Thanks, Ornan,” Grayson says and starts to get out, to which I follow, and he closes the door behind us.

“I’m taking you upstairs, and you need to stay there,” he says.

“Why do you need to hide me?” I ask.

“Because people are nosy and I haven’t been seen with a girl in over half a year and people will think something is going on. Plus, I like my privacy,” Grayson replies.

Did he just basically say he doesn’t want to be seen with me?

It’s been half a year since Jazzlyn? I still remember when Sweetie High and ET covered their mysterious breakup and then their public argument like two weeks later. That’s when everyone found out that she used him, but we still don’t know why.

Once we get to the front door, Grayson grabs my hand and quickly pulls me up the stairs and down a hall to the last door. “Okay… Stay here. I’ll be back,” Grayson says and pushes me in.

“Woof,” I sound.

“Did you just make a dog sound?” he asks as he turns his back to me.

“Well, you did command me like one.”

“You are insufferable.”

“Tell me something I don’t know,” I say. I get a last glimpse of his back and see he has a tattoo on the back of his right arm. It looks like a shooting star coming from the sun.

He closes the door, leaving me alone in his room, so I begin to look around. Of course his room is dark colored. It’s a giant room, one wall being a window with white curtains. The walls are gray except for one part of the walls that has his bed on it, and the lower part is black. To the right of the room is a sitting area and the left has an archway leading somewhere.

It screams expensive in here.

I sit my bag down on the bed and take my jacket off, getting comfortable.

I go through the archway to find it leads to his closet. The closet is divided into two sides and in the middle is a doorway leading to the bathroom. I go back into his room and catch a view of the city through the window.

I take my phone out and do a short video of the view before slipping my jacket back on and feeling the cool leather slide over my skin.

The door to the bedroom bursts open and Grayson storms in infuriated and grabs my arm. “Let’s go.” He pulls me out of the room, and I grab my bag as we’re leaving. “Ornan is downstairs, he’ll take you home,” he tells me as we get to the stairs.

“So, this is the whore!” a man yells.

Oh, Jesus. His dad. Oliver Archer is right in front of me, but he just called me a whore, so I run down the stairs and out the door.

I spot the limo and get inside. “Where am I taking you?” Ornan asks, I turn to the front to see Ornan looking at me through the rear-view mirror.

“108 Holmby Hills,” I answer. I hear yelling outside and turn to see Grayson being followed outside by Mr. Archer and a blonde little girl.

Grayson storms over to a car as Ornan pulls off and the little girl is pulled into the house by Mr. Archer.

I wonder what happened?

SEAFOOD BLUNTNESS

ALEXIA

Mornings are a brutal beginning to another day.

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