I was used to the ruthlessness. The lack of privacy. The invasive toxicity that came along with being a celebrity.
But even I was shocked by how hard they were coming at me. Every blind item seemed to be about me. Old pictures with women at parties were being blasted like they’d just occurred. Even the fake Kaya messages were making the rounds.
I had no clue who I’d pissed off or what I’d done, but it must’ve been bad.
I paced the lobby. “Did Atlas say how long he’d be?”
“No. Just that he was heading over.”
“Did he say what’s up?”
“It’s Atlas. He asked if I knew where you were since you weren’t answering your phone, and then said he was coming over. And he did it in far fewer words.”
Easton wasn’t exactly chatty, either, so that said something.
I kept walking in silence for a few beats. “You think you could get me out of my movie contract?”
“Probably. I’m a damn good lawyer. You think you want out?”
“I think I want Greer happy and safe, and I don’t know that she can be either with cameras up my ass.”
“Colonoscopy aside, you’d walk away from acting?”
We would have to downsize from the house that was just starting to feel like home, but that probably wasn’t a bad idea. My sloppysecurity had really come back to bite me in the ass. With what money I had invested and saved, though, we could still live a good life.
“If I have her? Without a second’s hesitation.”
“Think it over. Talk it over. But it’s doable.”
Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait much longer before Atlas walked into the building.
“What’s—” I started.
He shook his head before looking at Easton. “Maddie in your office?” At the way Easton instantly stiffened, Atlas added, “Just making sure it’s available.”
“She’s at home.”
“Let’s talk there.”
Once we were closed inside, I asked, “What’s going on? Is it Simone again?”
My old stalker seemed to have moved on, but before the court case, her obsession had reached freaky levels.
“She was the first person I checked out, but her socials all revolve around Chase Majors now.”
Good.
They deserve each other.
“Give me your phone,” Atlas said. When I unlocked it and passed it over, he moved to sit in one of the chairs near the glass coffee table. He set my phone down before unlocking his own to show a list of what looked like instructions.
“What’re you doing?” I asked.
“Checking for the malware that’s cloning your phone.”
“What?”
He ignored me as he continued tapping the screen. “And there it is.”
