Peter shakes his head. “Nathan Lucas Smith, born to Adeline Pike and Augustus Smith on March fourth—”
“What do you want?”
“When you didn’t attend the meeting, I assumed it was because your letter failed to reach you. Upon his death, two copies of this letter were dispersed at your father’s request.” Peter’s voice is kind, patient. “One was addressed to my father and the other was addressed to you. You should read it.” He hands the envelope to Nathan and steps away.
Nathan's father died? If there are still meetings going on about it, it must have happened recently. Empathy slithers up my throat and lodges itself midway up, making it hard to swallow. I wonder if that’s the reason he wasn’t in class at the start of term. I wonder if that’s why he acted so weird when I first met him. Was it that recent? Are Nathan’s wounds still raw? I find myself looking across the room, watching Nathan stare at the papers in his hands. When he glances up at me, I see fear flash on his face then vanish. Swallowing hard, he opens the letter, his dark blue eyes sweeping over each line. Before he gets to the second page, he starts shaking his head, saying, “No. This isn’t true. It can’t be.”
Peter hangs back, but his soft answer drips with pity, “I’m afraid it is. My father confirms it.”
Nathan’s hands tremble slightly as his eyes widen and he stares at nothing. He remains frozen for a moment, then his hands move frantically, lifting the letter and tearing it into pieces before shoving it into Peter’s chest. He holds his hand there until the other man takes the remnants of the note. “These are lies. Don’t ever come here again. I don’t care how much money your family has or what they can give to the university—you have no right to make such accusations.” Nathan storms past Peter and disappears down the hall.
Chapter 2
I’m left in the classroom, alone with Peter Ferro. I know things with Nathan were supposed to be hot, heavy, and unattached, but I want to throw a fist in Peter’s face for making Nathan that upset. I usually try to choose my battles carefully, but this impulse stems from emotion instead of logic. I start spewing words before I have time to consider what I’m doing. “That was cruel. Just because your family owns everything in sight doesn’t mean you have th
e right to crush people. Nathan is a good guy, and he didn’t deserve that!”
Peter doesn’t reply right away. Instead, he watches me fume, listens to me curse a little bit, then tips his head to the side and says, “Are you done?”
“NO!” Yes. I ran out of words and for some reason, I’m huffing like I ran a race. I don’t even like Nathan. Why am I fighting a Ferro for him? My shoulders hunch up around my ears, and my fingers spread wide ready to claw his face off.
He treats me to an incredibly familiar lopsided smile. It must be because of the newspapers. Everyone loves Peter and hates Sean. The youngest Ferro—Jon, I think?—is a party boy, but recently the paps photograph him with the same woman over and over again. People speculate he might finally be settling down. Not that I read the celebrity news rags. It’s just common knowledge. There’s no way NOT to know what the Ferros are doing. They’re the Ferro family.
Peter clears his throat and leans his narrow hips against a desk as he forces the shredded letter back into his pocket. “I’m not here to hurt Nathan. He needed to know.”
“Know what? What’s important and horrible enough to cause a reaction like that?” I point down the now empty hallway. Nathan is long gone.
“His father’s final wish," Peter says, his eyes boring into mine with an unnerving intensity. "I don’t know what happened to his letter, but I think you'll agree this was the first time he's read its contents.” Peter suddenly closes his mouth and places his hands on his thighs. He glances around the classroom and then back at me. “What’s your relationship with him?”
I bristle, mainly because I don’t know. It’s not what it should have been, and it’s not what I thought it was, which means it’s a total clusterfuck. “I met you five minutes ago, so I’m going to go with it's none of your business.”
Peter smiles, nods, and pushes off the desk. “It was worth a try. From what I know of Nathan, he’s completely alone. His mother passed when he was young, and his father raised him alone. He has no aunts or uncles. No one attended the funeral besides Nathan.”
My stomach twists and I feel sick for a moment. “That’s horrible.”
He nods. “I agree. When Nathan didn’t show yesterday, I was worried about him. I have an idea of what he’s going through,” Peter's voice tightens as he speaks, but he doesn’t pause, “still, some secrets are meant to be exposed. Now that he knows the truth, I'd suspect he needs a friend. If you know anyone who might be able to offer a shoulder or drive him to a bar, please call them.”
I’m quiet. I don’t know his friends. As far as I know, he doesn’t have any. I’ve never seen him bullshitting with anyone. In fact, he only seems to talk to his students, Jax, and me. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose as a headache threatens to rip my face open. “As far as I know, he doesn’t have friends. I’m not worthy of the title either. I don’t even know where he lives.” My eyes have gone glassy and sting.
When I glance up at Peter, he holds out his phone. A map is glowing softly with a pin stuck in the middle of a street. “I do. And I suspect he’d rather see you than me. You better head out before he does something stupid. That news was hard to hear.”
“What was it?” I know I shouldn’t ask, but I have no idea what we’re dealing with. I’d assume it has something to do with his father’s will or his estate. Still, I’m not sure why that would involve the Ferro family. Maybe a long-forgotten loan gives them a claim to his stuff? I doubt that warrants the reaction I just witnessed.
Peter shakes his head. “I just met you, and it’s not my secret to tell. My job was to make sure Nathan knows. Now it’s up to you to help him through it.”
“It’s not like that.”
“Really? From what I saw, it is.”
My eye scrunches up, and I look up into his face. “How long were you standing there?”
“Long enough. True friends are rare. Despite what events might transpire due to employment or status, it won’t change your loyalty, will it?”
I shake my head and look away. I wrap my arms around my middle and turn toward the darkened hall, wondering if I should go to Nathan’s house. Will he let me in or slam the door in my face? Everything changed in a matter of seconds. When he said he was the professor for this class, I nearly died. I can’t help but wonder why. Why am I pulled so hard toward this man? It’s like there’s a prefab connection there, and every time I see him it ignites. What causes that? Is it friendship? I sense something more between us than a good time.
I find my voice. “Text me the address. I’ll find him.”
Chapter 3