Chapter 18
Claude immediately booked the fastest night, didn’t pack anything, and raced to the airport.
In ten hours, he would see Aaliyah again.
On the plane, Claude was a nervous wreck. Through some targeted digging, he finally found out what Aaliyah was up to-she’d gone to a studio in Paris and gotten back into design work.
That was fine. As long as she came back, Claude could set up a whole studio for her to play around with. Hell, he could get the Preston family to invest in it. As long as she was happy, it was just design work-he could deal with that.
As for Aaliyah’s coworkers… he didn’t love the idea of her getting too close to other people, but if Aaliyah was happy, he could arrange for them to come back to the States too. With the Preston family’s backing, they’d definitely have better opportunities here than abroad.
Most importantly-would Aaliyah forgive him?
For ten hours straight, Claude never closed his eyes. He’d already worked it all out-if Aaliyah wouldn’t forgive him, then he’d prove to her that his love for her was worth more than his life. As long as she’d give him another chance, this time he’d be the one doing the begging.
Whatever it took, he could handle it.
Nervous as hell, Claude got off the plane and headed to the studio where Aaliyah was working.
Just open this door, and he’d see her.
Claude’s heart was pounding, not knowing how Aaliyah would react to seeing him. Did she miss him like he missed her, or did she hate his guts?
After a few minutes of psyching himself up, he knocked. Soon, the door opened to reveal a woman he’d never seen before.
“Hi, can I help you?”
Claude smiled. “I’m looking for Aaliyah Rhodes. Is she in?”
“Oh, you’re looking for Aaliyah? She’s not here right now. Aaliyah’s on a date today, so if you need her to design something, you’ll have to come back tomorrow.’
The woman said it so casually, but it felt like a punch to Claude’s gut.
They’d just gotten divorced-how long had it been?-and Aaliyah was already dating someone else?
Jealousy and rage twisted in his chest, and he suddenly remembered what his buddy had mentioned at the bar-someone had beaten him to finding Aaliyah and was trying to win her over.
His fists clenched so tight his knuckles went white. All he wanted was to find Aaliyah right now and tell everyone she belonged to him. Even if they were divorced, they’d get remarried and be together again-no way in hell was he letting some other guy move in.
He fought the urge to demand where exactly Aaliyah had gone and who the fuck she was with, clenched his jaw, and left. He stood outside for a while, then went to Aaliyah’s apartment. She wasn’t home, so he’d wait until she got back.
He could prove to Aaliyah how serious he was.
The Paris day was brutal, with no shade anywhere near the door. Claude stood there getting baked by the sun. He waited all day, until sunset, but Aaliyah never showed up. When night fell, it started pouring rain, with thunder crashing across the sky. In weather like this, you could seriously hurt yourself if you didn’t get inside, but Claude didn’t budge, letting himself get completely soaked.
But for a day and a night, Aaliyah never came home.
Claude waited until he was seeing double. He hadn’t slept for days, and after getting drenched in this downpour, it was a miracle he was still on his feet.
His breathing got ragged, and before long, he hit the pavement.
