“More than what I’m already doing? Pretty soon, hiring my services is what’s going to make you go bankrupt.”

“No shit. It’s about Chiara. Forrester fired me, as I knew he would, but he also said Chiara will be expelled.”

“Ah, and let me guess. You want to fight that.”

“Damn straight I do. I was the one in the wrong, not her. It’s unfair to penalize her.”

“Have you discussed this with Chiara? Do you know if that’s what she wants?”

“I don’t follow.”

“Have you stopped to consider that maybe Chiara doesn’t want to stay at DuBose after the scandal?”

“That’s beside the point. They have no right to penalize her for something I did. I was the authority figure. I’m the one who has to suffer the consequences. If she decides she doesn’t want to return, that’s fine, but at least she should have the option.”

“Okay, okay. Monica and Tessa are on the school board. Talk to them. If they pressure Forrester, he’ll listen to them. Money and power talk.”

I rub my face. “Fuck, I can’t believe I didn’t think of that.”

Enzo shakes his head, then pulls a bottle of the finest whiskey and two glasses from the cabinet behind his desk. “I swear to God, Alistair, when it comes to this girl, you’re as clueless as a fifteen-year-old, acne-faced virgin.”

“That’s fucking ironic considering I’m eight years older than her.”

“And should naturally be wiser?” Enzo raises an eyebrow.

I take a large sip of the whiskey. “Yep.”

“Well, you sure like your love life dramatic. I can’t believe Nadine brought the hounds after Chiara.”

I narrow my eyes. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

“Ah, shit. You don’t know? Nadine showed up on campus with a cameraman. She threw insults at your girlfriend and then ended the show with a slap on the face.”

“She did what? That, that…. I’m gonna kill her.”

I make a move to burst out of Enzo’s office, but he grabs my arm, stopping me. I didn’t even see him jump off his chair.

“Calm the fuck down. That’s exactly what Nadine wants. Don’t worry. Caio’s nephew was with Chiara, so it’s not like she didn’t have support.”

Fuck, and I left my damn phone in my car. I need to call her to make sure she’s okay.

“Anyway, I know it sucks that Chiara got to experience the Tasmanian-devil Nadine, but it’ll only serve your cause.”

“Can you please just get to the point? I need to go check on Chiara.”

“Nadine posted the video of her slapping Chiara. That’s an assault charge right there. I’ve already downloaded the video in case Nadine’s lawyer tells her to pull it down. I can use it as leverage to make her sign the damn divorce papers.”

“Great. You get on with that.”

I walk out, not waiting for Enzo’s reply. If I could fly out the window to get to my car faster, I would.

When I finally reach my car and grab my phone, I see I have a missed call from Chiara and a text message. She asks me to call her back as soon as possible. When I get her voice message, I feel like throwing the fucking phone against my windshield.

Damn it. I’m unraveling, and I don’t know how to stop it.

43

Chiara

Max and I barely make it to the airport in time to catch our flight. I check my phone several times to see if Alistair called, but so far, nothing. It’s not until my bag with my phone inside is going through the X-ray machine that I hear it ring.

Fucking great.

As soon as I have access to my stuff again, I reach for my phone. In my desperation to see if I missed a call from him, I fumble the device, letting it drop to the floor. The screen shatters, which wouldn’t be so problematic if the phone wasn’t also dead.

I killed my phone. You’ve got to be kidding me.

And the worst part is I don’t know Alistair’s phone number by heart.

“Shit, Chibi. How did you manage that?” Max asks.

“Shut up. How am I going to tell Alistair I’m headed to Milan?”

“Wait. What? Alistair, as in the dude you brought to Paola’s wedding?”

Ah hell.

“Yes, him. We’ve reconnected, and, well, we’re together now.”

I don’t want to tell Max the whole story in the middle of the airport. There will be plenty of time during the long flight.

“Wow, small world.”

“Yeah.”

“Hmm, can’t you message him on Facebook?”

“He doesn’t have an account.”

“Okay. Email, then. You do have his email, right?”

Yeah, I do, but only his work email and most likely Alistair has been sacked.

God, what a nightmare.

“I’ll message Robbie and Phillip on Facebook and ask them to find Alistair for me.”

“You know I have no clue who those two are, right?”