36. Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

Sage

" H ow's it going for you ? Are you all settled?" Vincent takes a sip of his tea, and I glance at the view behind him, still unable to believe I'm here. I've been to Italy before, but I'm here for him.

"Yes! I'm doing great, thank you so much again for everything." I knew I would have accommodations, but Vincent got me a personal driver for the entirety of my stay, and I was able to choose between a house or a hotel. I chose a hotel since I wanted to be in the city, and they had a spa plus a ton of other things I couldn't pass up.

He goes through everything we have planned for just this week, and I try not to let it overwhelm me.

My entire team gets here tomorrow, so Vincent's crew will be doing my hair and makeup for today. I'm glad Angie was able to fly with me, though. The flight was nearly fourteen hours long, and I slept for a lot of it, but I don't like flying alone.

"And then today will just be the first interview with our publicist. I emailed you and Angelica the details, but she's going to be writing about your first week here, so you'll meet with her every day for the first week."

"That sounds great. I forgot to ask, but I'm sure you know I vlog on Famoura, and I was just wondering what I can and can't post?"

He lets me know what are no-go's, and I write them down in case I forget, then ask him to also email them to Angie so she can be on top of my posts.

"That should be everything for this week." He closes his laptop and folder. "My crew is waiting for you at the headquarters."

I get up to hug him goodbye and thank him for breakfast, although I barely touched my food. My stomach just feels… off.

Marco, my chauffeur, opens the door for me, and I thank him before climbing in and texting Angie to let her know I'm on my way to Moore headquarters. A few minutes after I hit send, my phone starts ringing, and when I notice it's Moon, I feel myself smiling, but it falls when I realize a possibility as to why he's calling.

I don't know how things with Liam will turn out or if I'll even speak to him again, but maybe a month here will help me forget him.

When the call ends, Moon calls back, and I start to feel bad because he's still my friend, so I answer. "Hey, Moon pie." I muster up a smile, but it turns more genuine when I see how happy he is that I answered.

"Sunshine!"

I laugh softly, and Jordan peaks his head into the frame.

"Hey, Sunshine."

"Hi, Jordan."

Moon backs the phone a bit so they're both in the frame, and I realize they're in Liam's penthouse, but I keep my smile intact.

"Are the kittens there? I miss them so much." I haven't seen them in a while, and a video of Mars scaring Liam, along with a picture of them eating, was the last thing I saw, but I'm probably not going to see them for a while or ever. They turn the camera to face them, and I get a few pictures of them.

Someone clears their throat before Moon mumbles something, and then the camera is switched to face him. "So…" He smiles too innocently. "How's Italy?"

"It's good. I've only been here a few hours, but I love it." I've been practicing my Italian, so getting around hasn't been that bad, but a lot of people here speak English, and Marco is also nice enough to translate a lot for me.

"That's nice…" Moon looks over at Jordan, who smiles weirdly. "So…"

What is going on…

"It must be so beautiful over there. What part of Italy are you in?" That's what this is about. I shake my head at them and almost laugh at their non-subtlety.

"Who wants to know?" I turn my head with a smile, and they both laugh, but it's clearly forced.

" We asked, duh! We miss you. We were thinking of visiting."

"Mhm." I keep my eyes on them. "Is it just going to be you two who will visit?" When they look back at each other, I shake my head before letting out a soft sigh.

"Look, you guys, I think it's cute that you're trying to help your friend, but we're broken up, and I honestly don't want to see him. If you genuinely want to see me, then I'll tell you what hotel I'm in, and you can visit next week when I'm really settled here, but I don't want to see Liam."

I force my voice to stay steady and act like I at least mean that but in reality… I don't. Of course, I want to see him, and I hate that I do since I was the one who sent him away, but I really want to see him.

Moon and Jordan give me a sympathetic look, but I smile a bit bigger.

"I really do want to see you, Sage." Moon sounds sincere, and I tell him I'll send him my hotel information next week, just in case Liam finds a way to get it out of them. While a part of me wants to see him, the other part just can't.

Liam

"Alright, I'll talk to you later then, Sunshine."

I watch through the phone as Moon waves goodbye, and Jordan says bye next.

"Later!"

My chest aches at the sound of her voice, and when I hear the call end, I sink further into my seat. I didn't think you could miss someone who's alive this much, but I do.

My bones ache, and I don't know if it's for her or because I sat uncomfortably on this jet for twelve hours. I just landed in Rome, and I didn't even know she was leaving for Italy today until Moon mentioned it. I literally dropped everything and had my pilot do the same to get me here. I haven't slept since Sage broke up with me. I can't think. I can't eat. I clearly can't sleep. I can barely fucking breathe, and I just want her .

Sage said she doesn't want me to speak to her until I change, and I'll obey that wish. I won't speak to her, but I need to be closer to her, even if we sit in silence. I signed up for anger management therapy the minute I left her house because I knew she was right. I had my first meeting this morning, and my therapist does not agree with my choice to come here, but I do not care.

I landed in Rome twenty minutes ago when I realized there are over two hundred cities in Italy. She might not even be here, and I might lose my mind before I search every city and find her, but at this rate, I'm ready to lose my mind.

"We tried…" Moon looks over at me through Jordan's phone, but I toss my phone in front of me and I bury my face in my hands.

"I'm sure you can narrow down where she is…"

"How, Jordan? Please tell me."

He's silent for a while as I search my brain for a possible solution. "Maybe I can track her phone." She stopped sharing her location with me, but I have a friend who can find her for me. This is the same friend I'm paying to keep the mean comments and DM's out of Sage's account, I'm sure he can find her for me.

"That's an invasion of her privacy," Moon starts. "She's going to be more upset if she finds out."

Jordan agrees, but I don't admit that he's right. As I get another idea, I sit up and grab my phone. She's here for that designer, which means she'll be wherever he is.

After making the guys check her social media because I can't remember the designer's name. After a few minutes, they get his name. He lives in Venice, Italy, which narrows it down a lot. I tell the pilot we need to get on the move, and before we even take off, I find his headquarters in a town in Venice. Perfect.

This place is still huge, but I have better luck searching one town than searching the entire damn country. I'm on the plane for another hour, and I should've researched first, but I told my pilot to just fly to Italy, and when he asked me where I told him I didn't fucking care. I just needed to be closer to her.

I can never sleep on flights, but I certainly can't sleep on this one. I don't know how many times I pace the plane, but my feet hurt by the time we land. I was smart enough to bring my bike, so the minute I'm off my plane, I ride into the city.

It's already five by the time I make it to his headquarters, and I was expecting something similar to Magic Model's office, but Sage wasn't joking when she said this Vincent guy was a big deal.

His headquarters look like a fucking town. It's gated on all sides, and as I drive around, I know I won't be getting in here even if I paid someone or offered them my jet… I know because I just tried that.

"No bribes! Partire !"

I don't speak fucking Italian, but I take the hint and slip my helmet back on. After moving my bike, I stand a safe distance away and wait for her, but cars come in and out, and I have no clue what she's driving or if she's even here and the sun is starting to set.

"Fuck." I speed off and search for nearby hotels instead. After maybe another hour, thunder sounds through the air, and after a few bolts of lightning crash through the angry skies, it starts to pour. I really should not be riding my bike in this weather, but I'm still fucking desperate, so I only slow down a bit as I search every hotel in town and bribe anyone with ears to tell me where the hell my girl is.