Page 84 of Now Their Starlet

“Ms. Sterling! You’ve never spoken publicly about your father; how does it feel for him to be in control of your conservatorship?”

Eli, as usual, is leading the charge as the others surround Andi and me. I don’t let go of my grip her hand for a single second.

“Andromeda! You’ve been photographed with your ex-boyfriend Ezra throughout the past month, but here you are with Beckham! What’s going on there?”

I offer her a reassuring squeeze when I feel her pulling her hand from mine. She shouldn’t let those stupid questions get into her head.

Easier said than done, I know. But still. The last thing I want is her withdrawing from me or the rest of us because she cares about the public’s perception of us.

As evil as it sounds, that can very easily be manipulated. As demonstrated by Gina’s whole crazy plan to basically legally kidnap Andi.

“No comments or questions today!” Eli yells. “Get out of the way!”

The intensity of his glare and his intimidating presence manages to clear a path towards the waiting black SUV with tinted windows.

Everett makes his way to the driver’s seat with Cameron taking shotgun as Eli holds the door open for Leo, Andi and I. The three of us make our way to the back row.

“Damn, that was crazy,” I say with a small huff.

Eli slams the door behind him as he throws himself into one of the seats in the middle row.

“You can say that again. I had to shove a few people out of the way.”

“This is a high-profile case,” Cameron comments from the front. “Makes sense they’d want to be the first to get the scoop. Though, a lot of media outlets are doing this circle-jerk thing where they’re commenting on each other outlets’ articles and videos in order to have something to say.”

“Well, they can go jerk themselves off in a corner together then,” Andi huffs beside me, leaning into my side.

I burst out laughing. A real laugh. One that makes my sides cramp as Everett pulls away from the curb.

It’s the kind of laugh that makes everyone else around me laugh too, including Andi. She laughs until the laughter changes into sobs. The kind that wrack her body as she clings to me.

“I—I’m sorry,” she sniffles.

“You’ve got nothing to apologize for, Starlight.”

“Let it out,” Leo murmurs, rubbing her back softly.

And she does.

“You’re safe now, Starlight. We’re not going to let anything else happen to you. Promise.”

CHAPTER 18

Andi

“Do—do I look like shit?” I sniffle as Everett pulls into the driveway of Edison’s house.

I think the chaos of today is making me hyperfixate on my appearance. Normally, how I look is the one thing I’m in control of when the world is falling apart around me, but that hasn’t been the case recently.

Hell, even this pantsuit—as wonderful as it is—is something I didn’t really have control over.

“No, of course not,” Leo murmurs softly, offering me that sweet, reassuring smile of his.

He says it so earnestly I almost believe him. Almost being the key word.

I hate my brain, sometimes. I get stuck in these thought death spirals of doom and despair, hyper-fixating on something that shouldn’t matter as much as it does.

“But it definitely looks like I’ve been crying, right? Will—will my dad think I’m crazy?”