“It is serious. Do you know anybody who could pull medical records from a hospital here in Manhattan?”
“I might.”
“Awesome. One more question. If someone has one and a half drinks, could they crash a car?”
“What the fuck did you do? Did you have an accident? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Nobody had an accident. Just answer the question.”
“Depends. But for an average-sized person, one and a half drinks would be below the 0.08 percent legal intoxication level, like half of that. However, if the person isn’t used to drinking, it could still affect their motor skills and lucidity, which means yes, they could crash. If it’s a partier like you, someone who’s used to drinking, it’s highly unlikely they were even affected.”
“Thanks. Thank you so much! When will you send me your contact details?”
“Will you send me your cute Aussie boss’s details?”
“Mattia!”
“Fine, dickhead. I’ll text it to you now.”
CHAPTER47
Gabriella
I wasn’t surprised when I didn’t find Fabio home in the morning or when he didn’t show up to work. He had every right to leave. I’d be stupid to expect anything else.
He did the right thing. He should find another woman to love him. A good one, not a liar or a fraud or a killer, young and beautiful and wasn’t washed over by guilt and sin.
What did surprise me was having Fletcher in my office at nine in the morning. Nobody knew Fabio and I had broken up last night. What, did he smell I was single?
I glanced outside to call for Zoey. How did she let this asshole in my office? But she wasn’t at her desk. Since Fabio was no longer going to be here, I should invest in security personnel.
Fletcher was going to close the door, but I warned him not to and told him he wasn’t welcome here.
“Trust me. You want to listen to what I have to say, and you want to do it as privately as possible,” he said.
Trust and Fletcher couldn’t meet in one sentence. I looked for something heavy close by just in case. My purse was far on the hanger. I had some books and a stapler on the desk, though. My heels were close enough as well. They would make excellent eye poking weapons.
“I’m not interested in any new deals you might have come up with to steal Brighton. We’re doing great on our own. Authors turn down deals from houses like yours even if they have twenty percent more in advance and double the advertising budget and choose us because we care.”
Rina had told me the details of the deal he’d offered her. I’d always wondered how he knew exactly how much we were offering her. I even scoured the office for bugs, suspecting he might have planted some in, but I didn’t find anything. He was obviously good with numbers, making an accurate guess of our budget based on market data analysis. He had a whole department doing that for him.
“I don’t need tostealanything.” He sat across from me, his calm, irritating smile on his face. I didn’t see him smiling at the party when Fabio was verbally fucking him in the ass. “Because you’re going to give it to me, and you’re going to leave that scumbag bitch and marry me.”
A loud snort burst out of me. What kind of pot had he smoked? “Just like that?”
“Just like that. Because I always win, Gabrielle. Nobody takes what’s mine.”
“Get out, Fletcher.”
“Not before you listen to this.” He brought out his phone and played a recording, his smile turning into a wolfish grin.
My voice streamed in.He wasn’t driving. I was. I should have called a ride even if I’d just had one drink. It was I who killed my son.
CHAPTER48
Fabio
No one was at the reception when I came in. The office had a weird emptiness to it I hadn’t felt before. Gabi’s door was open. She was standing facing the window, her back to me. “Sorry, I’m late. How are you doing now, amore?”
