I rush out of my building and head straight to Josephine’s, praying she’s arrived already.
I nearly collapse with relief when I see her.
“Do you have a charger I can borrow?”
“Jazmina, what’s going on? You look shaken.”
“Because I’ve never killed anyone before. This must be how murderers feel right before their first victim.”
She relaxes instantly, thinking I’m joking.
I’m not. I will kill Rodrick if Linda is telling the truth.
My friend hands me her charger, since I don’t know his number by heart to call from hers. “Tell me what happened.”
“You know that boat trip I invited you on and you said you couldn’t go?”
“How could I forget? My luck is truly awful. A trip like that and I miss it because I have to work.”
“I wasn’t even that excited to go, to be honest.”
“Wasn’t?Past tense? What happened?”
“Rodrick happened.”
“What did the gorgeous duke do this time? Honestly, I think there’s something wrong with me, because every time I’m near an alpha male, my heart goes crazy.”
For a moment, I forget why I came and actually smile. “Like Vicenzzo, for example?”
“Hey, don’t put words in my mouth. I said alpha male, not arrogant alpha male with fifteen surnames.” She tries to pretend, but she’s not fooling me. Something is definitely going on there.
“Well.” I refocus on my crisis. “Linda said everything was confirmed for the trip, but this morning when I got to class and tried to check, she told me to stay away. Said Rodrick threatened her brother, the owner of the boat, withdeath.”
Josephine bursts out laughing, but I don’t find it funny at all.
“It’s not funny. He’s going way beyond his role, Jo. If he had something against Linda’s brother, he should’ve called me and talked to me. Treated me like an adult.”
“Jealousy isn’t rational, Jazmina.”
“He’s not jealous of me! Did you forget his two potential fiancées were at the launch party in Livorno?”
“But he went after you in the cabin. It was your mouth he kissed, not theirs.”
“Right, so romantic. A real fairy tale. Except for one tiny detail: his thirty-seventh birthday is coming, and he’ll have to choose one of them. And until then, what? He’s going to keep kissing me? He can dream if he wants, but this mouth is not tasting him again.”
“Five percent battery,” she says, pointing at my phone. “Think that’s enough for a call?”
“Yes. I won’t take long. I just need to tell him what I think about this ridiculous control issue of his.”
But as soon as my phone turns on, a message pops up.
Duke:Forget the boat trip, princess. Go to the museum on Saturday instead.
I haven’t thrown a tantrum in years, but to keep myself from screaming a very explicit curse word, I stomp both feet on the floor, imagining it’s his head.
“Jazmina, what’s wrong?”
I hand her my phone. She snorts but manages to hold in her laughter.