A couple perks of dating Fedez Gigante include hearing childhood stories featuring Sofia and brushing up on my Italian. The most rewarding perk doesn't stem from his sister's connections, but the time he worked for the Bohous Brothers.

Despite the hostility instilled by Marquilla back in the day, Fedez and Nils managed to become friends (after Nils dumped Marquilla, of course). Who knew their friendship would be so useful after all this time?

"Have you always had his number?" I ask as he pulls into his garage. We just dropped the twins off at school. "You worked for them, but I wasn't sure if you were close to the boys."

"Don't you feel guilty about dragging Reli into your exposing life?" he teases with a cheeky smile. "You know that means I also have Josh's number."

"Sei proprio uno stronzo. Ti odio!" (You're such an asshole. I hate you!)

"Aww, Linds. Sai chemi ami," he pouts, giving me a peck on the cheek. "Perché stai parlando Italiano?" (You know you love me. Why are you speaking Italian?)

"Pourquoi pas? Tu le comprends." (Why not? You understand it.)

"Okay, now you're just being ridiculous speaking Italian AND French. You wanna talk to Nils or not?"

"Fine~" I defeatedly huff, blowing hair out of m face at the same time. "Allons-y!" (Let's go!)

As I follow Fedez out of the vehicle and walk towards the front door, I grow slightly anxious. Since we rekindled our romance, he has never invited me to his Parisian abode, opting to meet at the Courtois manor or elsewhere in the city. I've never even received this privilege when we were in college!

"Hey, you okay?" he questions, concern knitted in his browns. "You're fidgety."

"I'm fine. I really am. It's jus—I've never been to your house before," I shyly confess, lowering my gaze as I fiddle with my blouse sleeve. "It's a huge deal for me, Fedez."

"I held it off for too long," he whispers, making the back of my hairs stand from his warm breath on my neck. He wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me closer. "Siamo completamente soli. No Lorraine. No twins. È solo io e te." (We're completely alone. It's just you and me.)

I'm an easy target when he speaks Italian purely because I don't hear the language often. He knows what it does to me, especially when we're this close, but I refuse to do anything. I agreed to come here for one reason, and that DOES NOT involve jumping into his bed.

"Easy there! We have a Bohous Brother to call regarding a certain Vanilla Queen. I'm on a mission here, Fedez. I can't deal with distractions."

"So I'm a distraction now? Is that what I am to you, Lindsay?" he presses, his touch nearly making me grow weak at the knees.

"YES!" I answer, wriggling out of his arms before my hormones can react and sternly looking him dead in the eye. "Now can you please open the door? We can't stall when time is of the essence. DI Hardy doesn't stall when he's working on a case, and neither should I."

Fedez rolls his eyes and sighs, but nevertheless complies to my demand. One step inside, and I nearly lose it. As he ushers me through the main corridor to the living room, my eyes wander, drinking in my surroundings.

I've known Fedez since my junior year of college, and he always seemed like the type of guy to live in a swanky bachelor pad. With the money he's making as a sound engineer at Studio Lendit and Sofia's brother, he can afford it. I imagined silver walls and loads of flashy items, but the earthy color scheme and clay pieces are surprisingly nice.

"This is...not what I expected," I voice as I take a seat on the sofa, which beautifully compliments the ambiance reflected by the rest of the room. "I thought I'd walk into something more—"

"Bro-like? Something you'd see in a frat house?"

I nod my head and he chuckles. He advises me to make myself at home and he disappears to fetch refreshments. Following his orders, I sink into the sofa and pull my laptop from my bag. I need something to distract me , and social media always does the trick.

As I pull up Marquilla's Twitter, the beautiful golden locket around my neck catches my eye. Light from the screen shines off the metal, giving it a slight sparkle despite the actual lights in the room being dim. I set my laptop down and unlatch the chain; the locket falls into my left hand.

It's not your average locket—it's not even heart shaped. Made of plated gold, this piece of jewelry resembles a closed book. To anyone standing at a distance, it just looks like a square. A careful examination suggests otherwise, as binding and minuscule letters create the front cover of the book.

The chain dangles as I cup it in my hands. I deeply exhale before opening it up, revealing a small Italian inscription: la luche della mia vita. (the light of my life)

This locket is a reminder of how much my life has changed since Fedez and I met. Last year would be so different if it weren't for him. He knew working for Marquilla would increase Exposing MG's credibility, and he knew I could handle her insanity. Other than that, he couldn't have predicted the outcome. He didn't know I'd befriend his sister or Jason. Neither of us can be blamed for last year's end result.

"And you say I'm a distraction!" Fedez scoffs, breaking my thoughts. "Shiny objects are your kryptonite, Linds."

He places a bowl of pretzels and peanut butter cookies on the wooden coffee table before me, as well as two glasses of milk. Despite the dig at my attention span, I beam as our eyes lock for a split second. Shiny objects may distract me, but this particular piece of jewelry never cease to warm my heart.

"Are you sure you're alright?" he asks.

The disheartened look on his face breaks me. I scoot closer and snuggle into his arms to answer his question. I grab a cookie and stuff it into my mouth, taking no time to savor the explosion of peanut butter sending my taste buds to a sugary bliss.

"It's nothing. It's everything that happened last year," I mutter once I've swallowed the cookie. "I don't know how I thought about where I was last year when this locket sh—"

"Should have made you think about us?"

"Yeah."

I reach for my glass of milk and down it. At least it's just milk. I can't imagine what would happen if he served me alcohol. I'd probably be refilling my glass right now! I hastily wipe off my milk mustache and pound a fist on the table as frustration builds.

"Do you know how different things would be had I refused to be Marquilla's PA?" I wildly demand. "Jason wouldn't be hiding out in my room, exiling himself from the world. Lorraine wouldn't be in constant danger from Skylar's team. Audrey wouldn't be playing into Marq—"

"It's not completely your fault! You couldn't predict this," Fedez kindly reminds me as he wipes a tear away. He takes my hand and gently kisses my knuckles. "You moved here to escape the drama, but you can't blame yourself for it. Marquilla's coke problems, Jason's depression, every other event that unraveled...not your fault, Lindsay. None of it is.

"Look on the bright side of your new life. You've made friends with Reli, Jason, my sister..."

"And somehow, that brought us back together," I whisper as I gaze into those chocolate eyes I love so dearly."

"That's a major positive," he breathes as he leans in.

The intimacy ruins its magic once someone's phone rings. Fedez groans and lowers his head, irritated about the spell breaking. Our lips were nanometers apart before the interruption.

I grab his phone from the coffee table and give him a gentle nudge after reading the name on the screen.

"It's Nils!" I exclaim.

Fedez snaps out of his anger spell and regains normalcy. As he looks at me, mentally requesting to hand his phone over, I notice the determination in his eyes to set the record straight. He wants this mess to end so I can stop blaming myself for being the root of Jason's demise.

Once Nils appears, tension dissipates and Fedez's game face I present. Nils' short, curly brown locks and the dimples on his cheeks as he smiles would be enough to melt any Bohous fangirl to putty. I don't understand how Marquilla could play him so dirty when he's a feast for the eyes and according to Reli, one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet.

"Hey!" Nils greets us with a warm smile. "Good to see you, bro! It's been a while."

"Yeah," Fedez agrees. "So what's up with you? I hear you're doing Broadway this year."

"Yeah, I um—I am! I'm on break from rehearsal at the moment, so my time's limited. Reli sai you and your girlfriend need to speak to me about something important. Didn't know she worked for Marquilla!"

"Lindsay Goodrem," I chime in. "It's nice to meet you. Well, not really meet since this is a phone call, but you know what I mean. I was wondering if you could tell me about Josh and Skylar's relationship prior to the split."

Nils questioningly eyes me as expected. I worked for Marquilla, therefore I shouldn't be trusted with precious information concerning the past. For all he knows, I could be her spy and under her clutches. I'd be wary too if I were him.

"I just need to understand the situation better because Sky—"

"Skylar still might like Josh," Fedez completes my thought. "Skylar said something to Lindsay on the phone that reminded her of Josh."

"It was before Fedez and I got back together," I explain. "She told me to give him a second chance because, and I quote, 'you really don't appreciate what you have until it's gone.' Then she abruptly hung up on me when I mentioned Josh."

"You think Skylar still has feelings for Josh?" Nils wonders.

"Yup," I confirm. I sigh and run a hand through my hair as I ponder how to proceed. "Look, I know Marquilla is why they split. I know the truth about what happened, Nils. I'm on your side. I know she tried to force him to—you know. I also know that's why you broke up with her for good."

Nils stares at me, flabbergasted by my knowledge. I know way too much for someone who wasn't associated with their crowd back then. Perks of being half of the girls behind the blog.

"How does sh—"

"She learned while she worked for Marquilla," Fedez smoothly interjects. "You know how she can be. Lindsay's hung around Skylar enough now to sense anxiety or fear."

"Will you tell me?" I request, my voice squeaking a hair. "I understand if you don't. It's ultimately your call, Nils."

Nils is definitely trying to determine whether or not I'm trustworthy. But I'm Reli's friend and Fedez's girlfriend. Surely those outweigh my former occupation! I just want to help Skylar by hearing what I need from Nils.

"I won't dive into details because I'm short on time and you seem to know the backstory," he bargains. "But I will say that dumping Skylar was the hardest thing Josh has ever done. He's dated other girls. Deep down, there was always her. She was everywhere when Currently Speaking was released, and the songs and other guys hurt him."

"He still has a thing for her, doesn't he?" I press. "And given the opportunity, in a Marquilla-free environment, he'd want to talk to her. Right?"

"If it weren't for her no drug policy, sure."

"She'd understand if he explains. If she knew Marquilla was the catalyst..."

"How do you know it'd work for sure, Linds? How do you know Skylar will forgive him?" Fedez butts into the conversation.

Nils and Fedez regard me with the same look of anticipation, eyes alight as they await my next words. It's strange to have this hold on two really attractive guys.

"If there's one thing I learned about Skylar Rose, it's her similarity to Jason," I note. I grab some pretzels and swiftly eat them before elaborating that thought. "She's still the same girl Josh met and fell for, guys. For business, she's a cutthroat bitch stuck in high school. Otherwise, Skylar is a decent person. Sometimes her compliments can be condescending, but I know she means well."

"I can try to talk to Josh, but I don't know if he'd be up for anything," Nils comments. "If it's just Skylar and him, they'd be suspicious."

"What if we make it a group thing?" I suggest. "We'll have the whole gang to relieve the tension—you, me, Reli, Josh, and Skylar. I think Sofia and Fedez should be there too to clear their names. This way, there's no bias and we can diplomatically sort this out."

"Fine!" Nils grumbles. "Reli will be glad to see you and Sofia again, but I don't know about my brother. Fedez, you have your work cut out for you. She's persistent!"

"I like my girls ambitious," Fedez laughs as he paces an arm around my shoulders. "We'll let you get back to work. Talk later, Nils. When Lindsay hatches a plan, she's all in until it's ready for flight."

"Gotcha! It was nice meeting you, Lindsay. Talk later, man."

Once the line disconnects, I set Fedez's phone on the coffee table and reach for another cookie. The hands slowly tracing my sides down to my hips paralyzes me, forcing the cookie to drop. I close my eyes and breathe in the familiar ocean air scent Fedez always seems to wear as his head rests on my shoulder.

"Let's pick up where we left off," he suggests, leaving light kisses on my neck. "You got your plan. Business is done. I really want to show you my room, Linds."

"I don't know," I protest. "I should probably head back to the Courtois'. I need to brainstorm for the next post since the AMAs are tonight.

I do want to stay, but I have time management issue whenever I'm with Fedez. It simply doesn't exist because we tend to become lost in each other's company. If I stay and comply, who knows when I'll leave? I need to get as much done before the twins are done with school.

"Si pregga di venire a letto con me," he pleads. (Come to bed with me)

Damn him and his perfect Italian!

My phone buzzes. I can either ignore it, or I could shoot Fedez down. He lustfully watches on as I reach for my phone. That awkward moment when it's his sister.

"It's Sofia," I announce. "I should take this. It could be important."

Fedez grumbles and grabs a cookie in defeat, stuffing it into his mouth. I told him I can't be distracted from business, and Sofia most likely has something I can use for a post, anyways.

"Hey Sofi!" I cheerily greet her once the line connects. Fedez rolls his eyes at his sister's name and I scoff at his childishness. "So what's the sitch?"

A/N:

When your famous baby sister is a cock block...

Lindsay has a plan, and she's not afraid to use it! Thoughts? Predictions for what'll happen in the future? The next chapter is an EXPOSED post, so get ready for some tea!