Voice to Raise: Road to Rocktoberfest 2025 by Gabbi Grey

Author:Gabbi Grey [Grey, Gabbi]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: anonymous
Published: 2025-10-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

Spencer

If not for Malik’s dark complexion, I would’ve said all the color drained from his face. He definitely took on a stillness that I didn’t associate with him. Yes, we’d sat down and shared two meals today. Both times, though, he’d appeared restless. Almost like a caged tiger, ready to bolt when the cage door opened. I didn’t like to think of him as caged, or even restrained. He’s probably doing it for you. So you don’t freak out and accuse him of not thinking things through. Of not being aware of consequences. Still, he remained motionless. “I mean, you don’t have to tell me. No big deal. Here I am, running off at the mouth. You might be living in someone’s basement, or couch surfing, or—I don’t know—living in your SUV.” Although I probably would’ve noticed. “Truly, it’s none of my—”

“I live in a seven-bedroom, six bathroom, five-thousand-square-foot mansion on extensive grounds in Arbutus Ridge. Worth eight figures, no less.” He rubbed his forehead. “My bandmates know where it is because there’s a recording studio in the basement. My parents’ life insurance paid off the house, and gives me an annuity to pay the taxes on the place every year. For spending money—like to feed myself and keep the lights on—I have to work. Which was, undoubtedly, my father’s plan. He thought I’d stay with the orchestra until I retired. Ha. More fool him. I should just sell the place—” He rubbed his face. “But my mother loved it. She decorated it to her tastes.” His voice caught. “As long as I leave it as it is, then a part of her still lives on. I never go into the primary bedroom. I never enter her library or my father’s den. Those places are—” He placed his hands over his face.

Unbidden, I moved to crouch before him. “Sacred spaces. I get it. I really do. It’s not the same, but I feel that way in This Land is Ours’s offices. Like Maude built this place and I have a legacy to maintain it. I know it’s not the same—”

He pulled his hands away from his face and wiped at the tears. “It is the same. I get it. I live in a shrine and I don’t have the courage to change it. Hell, I don’t know if I want to. I’ve never lived anywhere else. Until I quit the orchestra, I’d never considered doing anything else. Somewhere along the way, I rebelled against my dad. But only after he was gone. And not in a malicious way. I mean…he was a tyrant. Always knew what was best. Insisted on being right all the time. I was terrified by and respected him at the same time.”

“But you wanted something different.”

“Yeah. The orchestra was great…but I needed a way to express myself, and that wasn’t the right venue.”

“And Razor Made is.” I ensured the words came out as a statement—not a question. He loved his band. That came through in the music, the videos, and the way he smiled when he mentioned them.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.