Page 41 of Now Their Starlet

“Show us,” Everett commands, standing straight.

Ezra opens ‌his phone and pulls up a video, handing Everett the phone.

The rest of us crowd around the small screen as Everett hits play. Andi appears in frame holding the camera herself.

“Damn, I look like shit,” she mutters.

It’s such an Andi-like statement it has me biting back a bark of laughter. She’s being held captive, and that’s what she chooses to focus on?

But she’s right.

She does look like shit.

Her cheekbones are even more sunken in than before, and that strange pallor to her skin that was hidden by the spray tan and foundation she had on in the photos of that charity gala are nowhere to be seen.

“Hi everyone, I just saw Beck’s music video. It was—gosh, I don’t even know what to say. It was really good, Beck. You killed it. And—and I saw my dad and Cameron worked on it? It looked amazing. I was so happy I got a chance to watch it. If those lyric changes are supposed to be a message to me, man am I glad to hear it.”

Her full lips quirk up into the hint of a smile. There’s a heaviness around her eyes with the expression, like she hasn’t been doing any smiling at all while she’s been stuck there. That would make sense, but it still makes something twist in my chest. When she was with us, she was always smiling easily, especially when she was around Beck and Leo.

At first, I pissed her the hell off—understandably so—so when she did look at me; it was usually in irritation. But I could still bask in the warmth of her smiles, even if they were directed at the others.

“I really—I really miss you guys,” she says, pursing her lips. “Seriously. I was worried... that you’d forgotten me or something. Stupid, I know. But I’ve been driving myself crazy over here, so it’s not my fault my brain went there. I don’t know what you guys are planning, or if you’re planning anything, but I want to help somehow. I hope Ezra gets ‌this video to you somehow. I’m pretty sure he’s down to help.”

Her gaze flicks off-camera, presumably to look at Ezra.

“Yeah, I am,” Ezra’s voice grunts.

“Great,” Andi says, her shoulders slumping forward in relief. “So if he does his job, this should get to you. He’s the only one who’s on my side at all since I’m pretty sure Gina wants us back together or whatever, so if you want to get something to me, I think he’s probably the only way to do it. Miss you guys. Hopefully, I’ll get to see you guys soon.”

She offers the camera a little wave before the video freezes on a blurry frame of her face.

“What in the world are they doing to her?” Beck murmurs, his brows drawn down in concern.

“Starving her,” Ezra grunts. “I’ve brought up the meals they’re feeding her a couple of times. She calls it rabbit food ‘cause that’s what it is. It’s literally a bowl of kale or arugula. Maybe a little balsamic vinaigrette for flavor. She’s only being fed twice a day.”

“That’s basically nothing,” Leo bites out.

“Yeah.” Ezra runs a hand through his hair, wincing. It’s not clear to me whether he’s wincing because of the split lip and bloody nose or the thought of what Gina’s doing to Andi.

“What are her living conditions like?” Cameron asks, resting his fist against his chin, his foot tapping against the floor of the green room.

This is information we’ve been itching to know for weeks. It’s the kind of stuff that would be incredibly useful in the case we’re building to get Andi’s conservatorship control away from Gina.

“She’s locked in her room all day unless there’s some sort of event going on. She’s only been to the one with me last week. That gala. Only clothes she has available are all two sizes too small for her which must be why they are practically starving her, and she’s told me the pillows are like sleeping on brick and that her comforter is scratchy and irritating to her skin. I’m not an omega, but I’ve felt them and they’re uncomfortable as shit. She’s basically being kept in solitary confinement with zero access to phones or the internet. I’m really the only person who’s actually talked to her.”

“That’s—that’s basically torture,” Beck gasps, his eyes wide.

“It is torture for an omega,” Cameron says, his voice pitched low. The nervous energy he radiated only moments before has solidified into something dark. Makes sense the guy would be worked up about this, considering his job as a journalist has been spent reporting on cases of omega abuse.

“We can use this; we just need it documented,” Everett adds, handing Ezra back his phone. “Is there any way you can get proof of some sort?”

“What, like pictures and videos?”

“Yes.”

“I can try, but I don’t know when they’ll allow me back with her. I’ve only gotten to see her three times.”

“We need to figure out a way to contact her before the hearing in a week and a half.” Everett scrubs a hand down his face.