But she doesn’t. All I get is her voice on the recording, calm and professional, telling me to leave a message. I’ve left six, each one more desperate than the last.
I scrape a hand down the front of my face and scroll to her assistant’s contact information. I stab the call button, and Jayne picks up on the second ring.
“Mr. Molloy?”
“Have you heard from Adriana? Is she at the office?” I say, white knuckling the phone.
“No. She doesn’t have anything on her calendar until this afternoon. I confirmed her meetings yesterday. Is everything?—?”
“If she contacts you, tell her to call me. It’s urgent,” I say, cutting her off.
I hang up before she can ask questions I don’t have answers to.
I keep pacing, fisting the sides of my hair. Think. Where the hell would she go?
Her mother’s. Before she left, she said she was going to her mother’s or Luna’s. Back to the people who’ve always been there for her, unlike the husband who’s been lying to her face for weeks.
I grab my keys, stab the elevator button, and dart inside once the door opens. My temples throb as it slowly creeps down to the ground floor, images of her stricken face looping through my mind.
I jump into my car and tear out of the private lot, tires squealing on the concrete. Gritting my teeth, I stare straight ahead, but instead of the cars in front of me, I can only see the look on her face when she realized what I’d done. The way she flinched when I reached for her, like my touch was poison.
All because I kept my mouth shut about the night of the gala. I let the attack happen and never owned up to knowing about it afterward.
And now she’s out there somewhere, alone, believing I’m the enemy and that everything between us was a lie.
It wasn’t. It isn’t. I’m crazy about her. But she’ll never believe that now. I deceived her, and it was the one thing she asked me to never do. I violated her trust, broke her heart, and lost the best thing that’s ever happened to me.
When I finally pull into the driveway of her parents’ house, I run up the front steps and lean on the doorbell.
Luna answers the door, and the look on her face could strip paint.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” she asks.
“I’m trying to find Adriana. Is she here?”
“She doesn’t want to see you.” Luna starts to shut the door. I shove my hand against it, holding it open.
“Just tell me she’s here. Tell me she’s okay.”
“Okay?” Luna lets out a sharp, humorless laugh. “You want to talk about okay? After what you did to her?”
“Luna, I know I fucked up?—”
“Fucked up?” she says, her voice rising. “You knew about the gala attack before it happened and you kept that secret from my sister after you saw my dad get shot. You kept it from all of us, knowing we might all be at risk. That’s not fucking up. That’s a complete betrayal of trust.”
Luna’s eyes harden. “You said nothing to her afterward, never even admitted you heard something was coming that night. Your scumbag father told you things that you never spoke about. And all Adriana asked you for was honesty.”
My shoulders slump, a deep sigh heaving my chest. “You’re right. And it was so fucking wrong. But I need to find her so I can make her understand how sorry I am. I never wanted to hurt her. I’d give my life for her.”
Luna just stares at me like I’m a cockroach crawling toward her. “Those are just words. They don’t mean anything. Come on, Lochlan. You’re pretty, but not dumb enough to believe that words alone will make this better.”
“Who is it?” Another voice calls out behind Luna.
Maria appears in the doorway, her face stony.
“Lochlan.” She says my name like it tastes like shit on her lips.
“Mrs. DiMicheli, please. I need to talk to Adriana?—”
