Page 3 of The Billionaire and His Forever

“It’d be hard not to. It’s all over the news.” He doesn’t sound very compassionate, which shouldn’t surprise me, but it still stings. “You know what I can’t stop thinking? Is that if you’d just gotten married to him before this, you’d have the perfect excuse to file for divorce now and walk away with all his money. We’d be sitting pretty. But you didn’t listen to me, did you? You wanted the fairy tale. You fucked up the plan. Again.”

I clench my jaw, ice in my veins. “Fuck you too, Dad.”

With that, I hang up.

Staring down at the phone, I fight back the tears that I’ve been battling all morning. How can my father blame me for this? How can any of this be my fault? Graham was with me the night Natasha overdosed. We were together theentire night. He never even went near Natasha. But he also refused to tell the police where he was, because he wanted to protect me—so he has no alibi. I don’t know how he’s going to convince everyone of his innocence.

My hands are shaking so hard, it takes me three tries to hit Amanda’s name in my contacts list. Closing my eyes, I press the phone to my ear and listen to the ringing on the line, desperate for her to pick up. None of the staff know about Graham and me, but Amanda does. She’ll know what a big deal this is. She’ll comfort me. Help me figure out what to do.

“Where are you? How are you? What can I do?” Amanda asks instead of saying hello. “I’ve seen all the coverage.”

“They took him away in handcuffs. It was horrible.” My voice trembles as I sniff back tears. “I’m at the estate with Jude but I’m fucking falling apart—”

“I cannot believe you’ve been banging a murderer. This is so freaky.”

“What?” I blink back the hurt that’s bubbling to the top. “Amanda.He didn’t do it. He was with me that night, remember?”

“The whole time? No breaks?” Amanda asks skeptically. “You were literally awake the whole night?”

“I mean, we slept a little, but he couldn’t have—”

“Honey.” Amanda’s voice is kind, but very firm. “Have you asked yourself who stands to benefit from this? It’s you. And it’shim. And you definitely didn’t do it, right?”

“No. Neither of us did it!”

“Can you prove it, though?”

I swallow hard and close my eyes again, but I’m still swimming through the gray. I whisper, “Amanda, please. I just need your support.”

“You have it. But I’m just saying. You need to prepare yourself for the worst.”

“The worst has already happened!” I all but yell into the phone. I glance up at Jude, but she’s trotting around the ring on Desi and she doesn’t look my way. Dropping my voice back down to a whisper, I say, “Look, I just need to figure out my next steps. I need a plan.”

“I think you already know your next steps, Abbie. You need to get the hell out of there.”

“I’m not leaving Jude,” I hiss. “And he didn’t do it. Why is that so hard to believe?”

“I believe that you believe it,” she says.

Jesus Christ. Even my best friend has turned against me. “I have to go.”

“Abbie. I get why you’re in denial. I know you love him. And I’m not saying he doesn’t love you, too, in his way. But you can’t stay there anymore. You have to face the facts—”

“I said I have to go.”

I hang up and let the tears fall, feeling more alone than I ever have.

Chapter Two

Abbie

Sittingaround brooding and panicking isn’t going to get Graham out of jail. I need to do something. Anything.

I weigh my options as I walk Jude to her Spanish lessons in the library, and once she’s settled in with her tutor, I go up to my room and lock the door.

It’s time to call the police. I’m not naïve enough to think they’ll agree to release Graham at my request or anything like that, but maybe I can at least find out when he’ll be able to leave the station. I’ve seen enough crime news on TV to know that people who get arrested—even in high-profile cases—are usually released on bond. And since Graham has more money than a small island, I’m sure he’ll be able to make bail.

Unfortunately, the cops aren’t much help. I’m not sure which precinct has him, so I have to call several. By the time I find the right one, I’m already agitated and they are decidedly unhelpful.

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