Chapter 32 Where had she gone? I stood on the top step, my fisted hands on my hips as I surveyed the open expanse of grass and sidewalks. The tall brick buildings on either side of mine offered the student a reprieve, and I had no idea where to start looking. It wasn't like I could start shouting her name and hope she emerged from the shadows. Shit. I'd really messed things up this time. I trotted down the steps and checked the narrow alley between the buildings that bookended mine. Not a soul in sight. Even the quad had emptied since my last class ended. Staci Callahan. Did I know her well enough to remember what class she had next? No. I didn't know any of my students' schedules except for Harmony. I had to go back in there and tell Harmony I'd failed. My head lowered, and I took a deep breath while climbing the steps and opening the door. The cool air brushed over my skin but did nothing to ease the flood of failure heating my face. I'd never failed a woman before. For it to happen now, with Harmony, was the worst kind of torture. I paused at the doorway to my classroom and took in her defeated posture as she sat slumped over the desk. My fault. All my fault. "Harmony." I took a step and her head snapped up. An instant later, she was on her feet, her gaze sweeping past me to the door and back again. "You didn't find her." A shiver ran along her body, causing her hands to shake until she wrapped them around the strap of her ever-present messenger bag. "Shit. This is bad." Not a question, but I shook my head. "No. But you don't have to worry." I took stock of the panic flaring in her eyes and rushed to reassure her. "I'll talk to her after our next class." I longed to hold her, needing to do anything I could to make up for my mistake. When I stepped forward, Harmony stepped back, one hand raised in a stop motion. "No. It doesn't matter anymore. I've made up my mind, Roberto," she whispered my name in that low cadence she used at night in bed. "I'm leaving." The instant gut punch rocked me on my heels. I thought I'd convinced her to stay. I never should have done that, I guess. It went against our promise that we would stand by Harmony's decisions. "I wish you'd stay." It was the best I could do to hold back the pleas that she stay. "I wish I knew why you're leaving." That bothered me more than I cared to admit. What had changed in the last three days to drive her away? She still wanted me. That was clear in the way she reacted to my kiss, the way she kept me at a distance now as though she feared she'd change her mind if I held her again. "I'm sorry." The light in her eyes dimmed, and that cut me to the bone. "It's the right thing to do, and none of you can stop me." Fingers so tight around the strap that her knuckles whitened, she stepped around me. "Goodbye, Roberto." My hand lifted of its own accord, begging her to stop, to stay, to give me any reason for her sudden change of heart. Harmony averted her gaze, her jaw locking tight as she strode past me. I stood there, stunned senseless with my broken heart bleeding out with every heavy thud. The main door opened and closed with a bang, and all the air rushed out of me. I staggered forward to catch myself on the edge of my desk. One hand held on while I massaged my heart with the other. How was I going to survive this pain? I understood Stephen better now, and I fucking hated every single second of agony that turned my body into a useless lump. The door opened again, and my body tensed of its own accord. I peered over my shoulder, almost desperate to see Harmony walk through. Stephen, followed by Matthew, stormed into my room wearing matching looks of dismay and confusion. "What happened?" Matthew barked out. He rushed toward me. "You look awful." "Harmony." I choked on her name. Damn, it was hard to admit the truth. "She's leaving." Matthew nodded with a gusty sigh that I echoed. "It's worse than that. One of her classmates flat-out accused her of sleeping with me to get the lead role. Harmony didn't deny it, even though she can't possibly think it's true." "She does." Stephen was the only one standing upright without the slightest give to his body. He reminded me of a puppet held up by strings and sheer will. If he gave in to the pressure, he'd crumple to the floor and never stand again. The agony I felt reflected in his eyes. "I had a visit from one of her friends." He stared past me and gave a rundown of his conversation with a girl named Delilah. "She said Harmony didn't want anything to do with us." "Bullshit." I stabbed a finger into the air. "That's absolute bullshit. I saw her, held her. Whatever reason she has for leaving us, it's not that." "I'm with Roberto. She's been cagey since she left the house. Did either of you wake up when she left?" Matthew took off his glasses and polished them on his shirt. "I remember feeling her move off the bed, but I didn't really wake up. I thought she'd come back, but when I woke the next morning, all I found was a note saying she had to get back to the sorority house." It wasn't like her to leave without saying goodbye. Now that Matthew mentioned it, she had been acting odd since that night. She'd been different since I showed up at the sorority house. Fuck. What if I'd started all this? I filled them in on what happened with me and Harmony, halfway hoping they had an answer for the situation. "What a day." Matthew dropped into my chair and leaned forward. "One catastrophe after another." "We have to try and talk to her again." Stephen released his tense posture enough to swipe a hand through his hair. I hadn't seen him like this in years. "Everything that's happened is centered around Harmony. Now she's saying she's taking the semester off. It just doesn't feel right." "Agreed." Matthew stood. "Let's see if we can talk to her." We had to either make things right or at least understand what had gone wrong. My cell phone rang, followed by Matthew's. I slid mine from my pocket and grimaced at the number. "It's the dean." "Same." Matthew answered with a brisk, "Hello?" I joined the call while glancing at Stephen. He shook his head. "Forgot my phone this morning." I grunted as Dean Carpenter's voice reverberated in my ear. "Matthew, I want you, Roberto, and Stephen in my office. Now." He ended the call with a jangle that meant he'd slammed the receiver down on his landline. Stephen grimaced. "That doesn't sound good." "No." Matthew agreed. "We'd better go see what he wants. We can look for Harmony afterward. I've already sent her a text message, but she's not responding." The three of us shuffled from my room and hurried across campus to the main administrative building. Students greeted us as we walked past, but none of us stopped for a chat. The last of the classes had dismissed for the day while we talked, and the areas between the buildings were packed with kids. I ducked when a frisbee flew overhead and tried to smile when the kid who'd tossed it shouted an apology. None of that mattered. The route from my building to the dean's took us behind the science building and around a crisp lawn that led to the employee entrances. We rarely had cause to enter Dean Carpenter's domain, and this didn't feel like the best time to be in the man's office. We had bigger problems than whatever the dean had going on. He hadn't given us a choice, and I understood why the instant his secretary ushered us into the man's office. The white walls and blue carpet were meant to be welcoming, but the sight of Harmony sitting off to the side in an uncomfortable looking plastic chair stopped my heart. Dean Carpenter, a sixty-seven-year-old veteran of the BAI, glowered at us from behind his walnut desk. "Sit." He pointed a thick finger at the trio of chairs in front of him. The setup put Harmony close but out of sight. "What's this I hear about the three of you having sexual relations with one of your students?" His cold accusation landed square in my gut and twisted. I almost turned to ask Harmony why she'd felt the need to tell the dean, but he cut me off with a stare. "I had a student come in here an hour ago, telling me how they'd seen you kissing her in your classroom." That pointing finger landed in my direction. "And before that, I had a written complaint dropped in my email from a student in your class." He shifted to point at Matthew. "That one states that you offered Miss Vogel the lead in the musical." "I did. Because she has the talent and the previous lead is struggling with the part." Matthew sounded far too at ease for the situation. My pulse beat a rapid tempo that I felt all the way into my fingertips. We'd faced a few accusations before, but not like this. "Be that as it may, the email also stated that you've been having sex with Miss Vogel." Dean Carpenter's cheeks reddened. He was a by-the-books kind of man who appreciated honesty. He would not understand how we'd managed to let this happen. "I'm trying to figure out the truth." Dean Carpenter eyed each of us in turn but avoided Harmony. As the student, she was not the one to blame. We were. I'd understood that from the beginning. We had to take responsibility. Harmony stood. "It's my fault, sir. I tried to seduce them to improve my grades. I was failing my classes with Professor Harding and Professor Rossi. And I wanted the lead role in Les Misérables." "Miss Vogel." Dean Carpenter dropped his hands to his lap and shook his head. The head of gray hair was supposed to show his wisdom, but all I saw when I looked at him was our doom. Deep lines creased his cheeks, and his shirt and tie bunched beneath a thick neck. "I'm disappointed in this entire situation, but I'm more prone to believe these three did the seducing." "No, sir." She walked close enough to stand beside him. "This is my fault, and I take full responsibility." "Do you understand the repercussions of this situation?" Dean Carpenter asked. Harmony nodded. "Yes. All I ask is that you let them keep their jobs. I'll be withdrawing from the institute. Effective immediately. The rumors will die down, and everything can go back to how it was. You shouldn't have to lose three of your best professors because of me." Dumbfounded, I watched her take the fall for us. Fuck that. No way I'd let her fall on the knife for this. It wasn't a mistake, and I wouldn't apologize or treat it like one. A single mother returns to the city she left seven years ago after breaking up with her ex to seek treatment for her son’s leukemia. Upon learning of her return, the ex immediately searches for the lo...