Page 48 of Unexpected Prejudice

“I’ll think about it,” I muttered when he hooked his thumb under my chin and forced me to look at him.

“I’m saying this again: it was only an idea. You can say no, Babydoll, I’ll understand. I’ll never bring it up again if you refuse, okay?”

I nodded.

“I just think it could be fun, that’s all.”

And I think it might kill me.

Jordan

Shay-Lee’s house was the craziest place I’d ever been in. To call it a house felt wrong, considering it was the size of a small town. I wasn’t even joking. It took us about ten minutes of driving in the woods to get from their gate to his front door.

Their house was on a cliff, surrounded by trees and overlooking the ocean. If it weren’t for the shore spread in front of it, I would have thought we’d left LA. The place looked more like a location from one of those dark romance movies my mom loved watching.

“Holy fuck, man. What does your dad do again?” I asked, looking around the garage—or museum—Shay-Lee parked his car in. The spacious room had a waterfall inside—an actual waterfall. I mean, I knew Christian W. Rogers was a billionaire, but seeing such wealth from up close made you wonder how one man could get so rich. And that was coming from someone who grew up surrounded by rich people.

“Rules his dynasty,” Shay-Lee said coldly as he got out of his car and started to walk toward a large black door, which I assumed led to the house.

I followed him, checking out the car collection they had. Models I didn’t even know existed stood there, shiny and glamorous, just waiting to be taken out for a drive.

I knew he was rich, almost everyone on BH was, but this was a whole new level of money.

“Is that a Bugatti Centodieci?” I asked, amazed, as I checked out the red beauty. I’d never seen one like this in person.

“Yeah.”

“Shit, man.” I bit my fist and gave the lady another look. “That car costs millions. That’s sick.” If I had one, I could have paid my father’s debt and bought my mom a house.

“You know your way around cars?”

“Yeah,” I answered, out of breath. This place was heaven for a motor freak like me. “I still miss my baby. I had a BMW M4 that we had to sell, which sucked.” I moved my hand over my short hair.

“Sorry, you had to do that.” Shay-Lee sent a smile my way then climbed the few steps that led to the door.

The inside of the house was even more impressive. The architecture paid attention to the smallest details, from the wooden frames that decorated the doors to the walls carved in black stone. The whole vibe of the place felt surreal. I was checking out a floor-to-ceiling window with a panoramic view of the forest in their backyard when a small, black-haired woman dressed in a gray uniform came to greet us. More likely, she came to greet Shay-Lee while checking me out suspiciously.

“Niño, weren’t you supposed to be in New York with your father?” the lady asked in a thick accent as she studied me. “And you brought a friend?”

“Hey, Rosa.” Shay-Lee’s voice was sweet and genuine. I’d never heard this tone coming from him, except maybe with Miles.

Ugh, Miles.

“I told him I wasn’t coming, and yes, I brought a friend. This is Jordan.” He turned and put his arm on my back. “Jordan, this is Rosa, my number one lady.” He winked at her, and she rolled her brown eyes.

“Oh, enough.” She pretended to be mad, but her smile slipped. “Jordan, it is nice to meet you.”

I offered an awkward smile. “Nice to meet you, too.”

“I cooked dinner, so let me go and heat it for you, niños.” She was about to leave when Shay-Lee reached for her arm.

“Actually, we already ate. In fact, why don’t you take the night off?”

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow, one arm rested on her hip. “Shay-Lee—”

“It’s okay.” He smiled at her. “I’ll be good. I promise.”

Rosa then looked my way and gave me a once-over before her eyes returned to Shay-Lee, and she sighed deeply. “You never do when a boy this pretty is around. But okay, I will keep my nose out of it.”