Page 242 of Fame & Chaos

Knowing Indi the way I do, she will already be packing.

Or worse…

She’ll already be gone.

I don’t waste another second.

I don’t care about my clothes or my luggage. None of it matters. The only thing that matters is getting to Indi before it’s too late. So, I walk straight out of the trashed hotel room and head for Dad’s suite, knocking hard enough that the sound echoes down the hallway.

“Dad!”

A few seconds later, the door swings open, and he fixes me with an irritated glare. “Caleb, keep your voice down. You’ll wake everyone.”

“I don’t give a fuck.” I turn away almost immediately. “I’m leaving. I just thought you should know.”

His hand closes around my arm before I’ve taken two steps. “What do you mean you’re leaving?”

I wrench free and face him again, every nerve in my body vibrating with panic. “Sasha came back and ruined everything. I have to get to Indi before it’s too late.”

He studies my face, the irritation disappearing almost instantly. “Okay,” he says calmly. “Take a breath and tell me what happened.”

I shake my head. “I don’t have time to take a breath,” I snap. “Sasha turned up at the after-party and took a photo of me before I even realized she was there. She sent it to Indi, and now she won’t answer my calls. Dad, I have to get back to London. I have to make her understand that I didn’t know Sasha was there, that I wasn’t with her.” The words tumble over one another as fast as I can force them out.

“I’ve spent four months away from Indi, and if I don’t get back now, she’ll leave. She’s a goddamn flight risk, you know she is. She’ll disappear before I even have the chance to explain myself, and I can’t let that happen!”

My chest tightens until I can barely breathe. “I can’t… no, won’t lose her again.” The frustration surges through me before I can stop it. My fist slams into the wall, punching a hole straight through the drywall.

Dad grabs my hand before I can do any more damage. “Caleb…”

“I strangled Sasha.” The words leave my mouth so quietly that they almost don’t sound real. Dad freezes. “She admitted everything,” I continue, my voice hollow. “There was never any sex. She set the whole thing up. She got me drunk, planted the condom, and made me believe I’d cheated on Indi.” His expression drains of color. “I nearly fucking killed her, Dad.” For several long seconds, neither of us speaks. “And the worst part?” I whisper, staring at the hole I just punched into the wall. “For a second, I didn’t want to stop.”

Dad’s grip tightens on my shoulder. “What are you talking about?”

“She’ll go to the police. Hell, she’ll probably be talking to the press already.”

“Where is she?”

“She got away.”

“Is she all right?”

I nod once. “She’ll live.”

He exhales heavily and glances up and down the hallway before pulling me into his room and quietly shutting the door behind us. “Keep your voice down.”

I rake both hands through my hair, unable to stand still while he watches me with a mixture of disbelief and concern. “Are you being serious?”

I nod again. “She was unconscious for a second. I let go before…” My voice catches. “Before it was too late.”

“Jesus Christ, Caleb.” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone.

“What are you doing?”

“Trying to get ahead of this before it gets any worse.”

I watch him type furiously while I pace the room, every muscle in my body wound so tightly I feel like I’m vibrating beneath my own skin.

“Caleb,” he says after sending the message. “You need to calm down.”