Josie's POV
The hive was a local bar in Newark and an hour away from our home in Milpitas. It catered mostly to blue collar clientele. I've only been there once before with Grayson. Well, not with exactly.
The thing was, Gray's dad was a construction worker, not the owner, just a regular employee and his mum was the daughter of a congressman. Many people -mostly his mum's parents- had been against their relationship because of the huge difference in their social class. Unfortunately, theirs was not a love that could withstand the derision from society. On more than one occasion, my mother had referred to Grayson's dad as 'that bum that's leeching off Louise'. Let's just say that my mum was one of the few people who put their condescending thoughts delicately, others were as blunt as a sledgehammer and uncaring if he was within hearing distance. By the time Grayson was four, Mr Callahan couldn't take it anymore, especially when he lost his job and Mrs Callahan wanted to move into the house her daddy bought for them. So he packed his belongings into a rucksack, filed for a divorce and moved to Newark.
His mum kept him after the divorce -thats how we met actually. We were next door neighbors. Life only went down hill for me Callahan and it turned him into a drunkard. On one particular night when Grayson was over at our house - he was seventeen and I was fourteen- when he received a distressing call from his father who was out of it and mumbling about ending it all. He'd panicked and ran out of the house, and naturally I'd followed him all the way to a tiny dice called 'the hive'.
The car hit a pothole and I yelped. Glancing around wildly, I realized that the road the driver was taking was completely unfamiliar to me. "Where are you taking me?"
"To the hive ma'am." He replied shortly.
"But this is not the way there." At least I didn't remember taking this route when I'd been trailing Grayson ten years ago.
"There's construction work happening on the usual route, so we got's take a detour." He explained in a monotone.
Feeling a bit calmer now that I knew he wasn't a serial killer in disguise, I hummed in agreement but paid more attention to the passing scenery. I spotted it's neon colours a short while later, and something else that literally made ny heart skip a beat.Thanks to the detour, we approached the hive from the East rather than the west, which meant the car had to go through one more junction before we got to the bar. Standing next to his car at this junction was Grayson.We were stopped at a red light so I had a bird eye's view when a black, sleek Tesla pulled up next to him and a guy in a white tank top and jean got out. They exchanged a bro hug, then Grayson took out his phone and showed him something on his phone. Dude in white nodded in comprehension and they exchanged car keys. They got in the other's car and drove in opposite directions, the dude now driving the truck heading towards the hive.I gasped as it all clicked. Trickery!
Of course he knew that I would follow him and he had made a plan to deceive me. Well, not today Gray. I was going to find out what he's going to great lengths to hide.
"Follow that black car." I ordered my driver.
Immediately, he did as I ordered and for the next hour, we kept following his car. We drove for so long, we left the city and ended up in a heavily wooded area. I was getting spooked by the time he drove up a well traveled road that ended with a stone Manor house that seemingly appeared out of nowhere. I was pretty damn sure I wouldn't be able to find my back here.
Talk about a haunted house. I waited until Grayson left his car and went up to the house before alighting. On second thought,
"Stay here until I come back."
"Sure. I don't think I can find my way out of this jungle." The driver replied in a small voice.
I walked up to the creepy Victorian style house with trepidation. The door was blood red and didn't have any handle or pull, so I did the only thing I can do. I knocked.
A smartly dressed man opened the door and stared me down coldly. I would have assumed he was a butler even though he had their haughtiness down pat and was the palest being I'd ever met, like, it didn't seem as though he had any blood in his veins at all.
"Welcome to the house of Pulé. Your colours?"
What the heck? "Um, green?" I mumbled.
"Whose your sponsor?"
Were we still speaking English? " Grayson?"
"After you." He stepped aside and let me in.
I didn't know what i was expecting, but it certainly wasn't a normal living room with an actual fireplace! A woman clad in green dress and stilettos walked toward me with a smile that most definitely didn't reach her eyes.
"Afternoon. I'm Ivy. You must be new here."
Where's here?
"Yes, I am."
Before I could ask any questions, a man dressed casually walked in. That wasn't what had me tripping though. This man held a leash but on the end of that leash instead of a dog was a woman wearing puffy dog ears and something only a generous person would call clothes. What the hell was this place and why is Grayson here?
"Master Audrey, it's a pleasure to have you back with us.""It's a pleasure to be back Ivy." He replied affectionately."Would you like me to book you in for a section?"
"Yes. We'll be using the gold room today."
She nodded and they went in deeper into the house and no one batted an eye that the woman crawled after them on hands and knees.Another man was sitting next to the fireplace -I hadn't seen him earlier- and there was a man wearing a choker and leather pants kneeling on all fours next to him. When the man was done with his drink, he placed it on the man's back. He was using him as a footstool!
"Josie!" Grayson yelled from nowhere.
I turned and found him marching to me angrily. Uh oh.
"What are you doing here?" He whisper shouted at me, gripping my elbow roughly.
"Wrong question. What are YOU doing here?" I yelled back quietly.
"What I do with my time is none of your business!"
"So this is what you're into?" No wonder he'd never been interested in my advances. No one was going to make me play pretend on use me as a footstool.
"You know, when a person tells you to stay out of their business, it usually means they want you to STAY OUT OF THEIR BUSINESS."
"Gray" A short man in blue slacks who looked to be italian strolled towards us, effectively ending our argument.
"Yeah?"
"Who are you?" He turned light blue eyes on me.
"His guest."
"Okay." Grayson pushed him away from me and they spoke in hushed tones.
The only thing I heard clearly was, "I've spoken to Sedof's right hand man and he will be back in two weeks. Nothing can be done until then."
They spoke for a long time but then dispersed a while later, a fuming Grayson stalking back towards me.
"Let's go." He muttered, his rage barely repressed. He didn't wait for my reply before dragging me out of the house of iniquities.
"You can't keep doing shit like this Josie. When I tell you to stay out of something, it's for your own good. Do you have any idea the amount of danger you could have put yourself in just now?"
"Isn't it just a fetish house?" I've heard of those and this seemed like the perfect example. "What's the worst that can happen? They'll ban me for life?"
"You have no idea what you're stepping into. So please stop following me."
"Fine. What was that man saying about Sedof?" He glared at me and I raised my brows at him.
"That we gotta wait. He really isn't in the country and nothing can be done unless he comes back."
"Can't we just travel to the country he's at?"
"No. I've made contact with him and I can only see him when he decides to see me. Vladimir has to come to us. For the last time, Go home and let me do my job."
He stormed off and disappeared into an area behind the house. Damn, he was real pissed at me.
Walking back to the car, I focused on the information I'd gleaned. Vladimir would be back in two weeks. Problem was, I couldn't wait two weeks, so I would have to take Grayson's advice; I had to make Vladimir Sedof come to me.
Grayson could keep his secrets-for now. My focus lay solely on the enigma that was Vladimir Sedof, the man I was yet to meet but was already turning my life on its head. I snapped my phone out and scrolled to my 'stagram page, typing furiously. I had less than a thousand followers, but the good news was that, I had followers who had celebrities as friends, followers like my sister. Just last week, Anna was followed by Roger Simps, lead singer of direction. Not only has she caught the attention of a member of a popular boyband, this boyband have twenty million plus followers! All I needed was to get Anna to repost my 'stagram story and I will show Vladimir Sedof the power of social media.Finger poised on the post button, my immediate obstacle made itself known. Anna was a wuss. She was probably going to go straight to mother with it and then mum and Grayson were going to yell the heavens down on me. Mum and Grayson would be mad at me, there was no way to work around that, but i
I was about to call her back when I took note of Ru's last update which was three hours ago and stared at his picture.Gone were the makeup, earring and flashy scarfs. My friend the drag queen was gone, hidden beneath the simple denim blue shirt and plaid pants of a weekend manager -or newest intern at the limelight magazine, judging by his caption.He really is pretty, I thought distractedly. He always had been, but without the makeup and brazen attitude, he looked very beautiful, approachable....and very effeminate, the very reason his father had disowned and thrown him out into the streets.When he was not partying it up -even then- RuPaul lived on social media, the first with the breaking news and celebrity gossip. He had managed to gain quite a reputation for himself and I needed that popularity right now, but he had chosen that exact time to become an intern and ditch social media. I stomped my foot angrily and cursed my luck.Damn it, damn it, damn it. Wha
Putting the matter of my job firmly out of my mind, I sashayed back to my terrified driver. I was going to concentrate solely on what I could control and nothing else.Unfortunately, my job -if I haven't been fired yet- was not something I could control at the moment. Even if Mrs Lou were to give me my job back, I couldn't work until I'd ascertained that my father was just fine."To the Gran hotel, please." I murmured once I was back in the car. He nodded dully before making a u turn and driving away from the creepy house of mysterys. I made myself a promise to tip him generously, he had more than earned it.The drive back to the city would take over one hour and an extra one hour hour to get to the prestigious hotel, meaning the paparazzi would be waiting for at least half an hour, depending on how early or late they got to the hotel. I spent that time making a reservation online for a conference room at the hotel.I heard several disgruntled murmurings as I
"Jo? Are you alright babe?" Rupaul asked some minutes later.We were both standing at the hotel bar, furtively looking out for the paparazzi we just ran from."No." I answered forthrightly. There was no point lying to RuPaul. He was one of my closest friends and confidante. Besides, he knew me better than I knew myself, he'd figure out the truth anyway and get mad at me for lying to him. I had enough of those waiting for me at home. Right on cue, I felt my phone vibrate and Anna's name flashed across my screen."Oh my poor baby." He hugged me to him and made soothing noises. "What can I do to help?""Let's go somewhere without people. I just want to pretend that everything is fine, for a few hours.""Sure thing love." He took me by the hand and we walked deeper into the hotel and took an escalator, before we emerged in an underground parking lot.** ** ** ** ** ** **"Have you lost your mind?! Eesh, I am certain that you never h
All eyes in the room swung to this new unexpected entry. He was tall, pale, huge and intimidating. Male virility oozed from his every pore. Where Grayson made me feel like making slow love, Vladimir put me in the mood for hard, sheet burning, bed breaking fvcking. I'd made a step toward him before I knew it, only mother's painful grip on my wrist stopped my momentum.What was wrong with me? "You're here? Oh, please do come in." Mother rambled fearfully, her words barely making any sense as she pushed herself into his line of sight, effectively hiding me behind her. "How are you here? You shouldn't be able to step foot on this property without permission." Grayson exclaimed, his eyes murderous. Okay, who was this man that raised Grayson's hackles just by being in his presence and simultaneously elicited such fear from my mother? Could he be.... Vladimir? Wasn't he supposed to be out of the country? "The maid let me in." He answered smoothly before t
Nails dug into my armpit as I was dragged roughly to my feet. I gazed into furious brown eyes and promptly shrunk from the anger in them. "Do you have no idea how epically you just fucked everything up?""St....stop." I stuttered out as my brain rattled from the force of his shaking.Grayson stared ar me in horror and pushed me away. I collapsed on the floor once more but this time, my shock at Grayson's rage paralysed me. I'd known Grayson majority of my life and not once have I seen him react so...... brutishly."How dare you lay your hands on my daughter?" Mum thundered."I don't know Mrs Braille, I thought if I shook her, she might regain some of her senses." He stated bitterly.Anna ran over and helped me back to my feet. Why is he so....angry? No, that word didn't qualify. Grayson was livid, his rage barely contained and God help me, I couldn't begin to comprehend why."What I'm I doing here Josie?" Grayson asked in a more controlled t
(Author's Note; The story is written in primarily Josie's point of view, but from time to time, we will see things from Grayson's and Vladimir's point of view. This is because a lot more things are in play here, most of which Josie is unaware of at this stage, but it's important that you my dear reader are aware of them so you can understand the book.) Grayson's POV Stupid. Egoistical, nosy and oh so fucking stupid. I kicked at a daffodil and I watched it snap back into place, only serving to irritate me further.I stepped into the lush garden and stepped on the flower, but still, it wouldn't stay down. I proceeded to stomp the living daylights out of that stupid, bright, flashy thing.I wanted to shake that girl's stupidity loose. Stay out of this. That was all I fucking asked. For her to stay out of the issue until I resolved it in a few days.Did she listen? Nooo. Not the mighty, smart, can d
Grayson POVTechno lights flashed across gyrating bodies as the speakers blared an upbeat tune. I waded through fun seekers having a good time, getting every inch of me groped by beautiful men and women alike. If it were any other day, I would have taken one of the eager beauties up on her offer, but no amount of f*cking was going to erase this tension. Not when the ticking bomb only ticked faster. Besides, there was a strong chance I wouldn't live beyond the next hour once I confessed how much I just fucked up my mission. I found him sitting with his back to the dancefloor. Stravos was wearing a plaid shirt and what appeared to be black slacks, looking like the poster child for serenity even though I knew he was feeling anything but. He might appear to be unaware of his surroundings but I knew for a fact that not a single movement went unnoticed by him. It was a trait I used to envy, until I knew how he came by it. He looked old, tired, and out