Page 120 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Saturday

I hurried out of Isabella’s bedroom. The light in the hallway was blinding. My stomach churned again and the pain behind my eyes grew tenfold. What the fuck had Isabella slipped into my drink last night?

My hand paused on the railing at the top of the stairs.

The pounding on the door downstairs grew louder.

My phone buzzing in my pocket was never-ending.

I wanted to run out of this hellish house.

But I’d come here for a reason. And that reason was standing at the bottom of the stairs staring at me.

Isabella’s father. It had been a long time since I’d seen him.

But he looked the same as I remembered. The same evil glint in his eyes as Isabella’s.

“James,” Mr. Pruitt said.

“Mr. Pruitt,” I replied. I walked down the stairs, trying to look composed even though I knew I was anything but. He was the key to getting me out of this sham of a marriage.

“I was surprised to hear that you spent the night,” he said. “When you called last night, I was under the impression that your intentions with my daughter were different.”

I could barely focus on his words. The pounding in my head intensified. Or maybe it was the pounding on the door.

“Aren’t you going to answer that?” I asked.

“I figured it was best to keep your lap dog outside.”

“Don’t call Ian that.”

Mr. Pruitt raised his eyebrows at me. “I’ll call him whatever I please in my own home.”

I’d come here last night to have a reasonable conversation with him.

Even though I hadn’t said why I needed to speak with him on the phone, he knew I was here about the divorce.

Why else would I have come by? And he’d set me up.

He’d told Isabella I’d be here. He never had any intention of speaking to me.

But he was here right now. This was my chance at freedom.

But this was not a good start. Sneaking down from his daughter’s room.

Telling him to shut up. I ran my hand down my face.

Breathe. What had I planned to say last night?

My headache seemed to grow by the second.

I’d just cut to the chase. “I need Isabella to sign the papers.”

“Are you sure about that?” His eyes wandered back up the stairs.

Isabella had followed me out. She made a show of pulling her robe over her ridiculously short nightgown and running her fingers through her hair. Sex hair. I was definitely going to throw up.

“Daddy!” She hurried down the stairs. “James and I have decided to give it another go. Haven’t we, darling?”

I shook my head. “No. She…”

“I what? I did what ?” she said.

She was right. No one would ever believe that she’d taken advantage of me. It was her word against mine. And I didn’t even know what had happened. If anything.

I glanced into the dining room at the Pruitt family mural.

One person was noticeably missing. Isabella used to have a sister.

She’d passed away in high school. Where Isabella was cruel, her sister was sweet.

Innocent. I’d had a crush on her, I think because of that.

Because she never belonged in our world.

And even though she was never mine, I really wished I could have married her instead of Isabella.

I’d thought about that a lot over the years. How different my life would have been.

And they’d just erased her from existence.

Some days I thought I was the only one who still missed her.

What would she think of how my life turned out?

I didn’t need to dwell on it. I knew the answer.

She’d be furious with me for marrying Isabella.

And I was done being manipulated by this toxic family.

Isabella could mess with my head all she wanted.

But I wouldn’t let her ruin my life again.

“We’re not giving it another go,” I said. “Sign the papers, Isabella. And if there’s a problem with them, I’ll alter whatever you’d like. Just call me with any changes, Mr. Pruitt.”

Mr. Pruitt lowered his eyebrows as he looked at me.

“That’s not the deal,” Isabella said. “Come home or I’ll tell everyone, James. I’m being serious.”

“You’re right, that’s not the deal. I’ll be adding a new clause too. If you say one word about Penny to anyone, you won’t get a cent from me.”

“Daddy!” Isabella yelled. “He can’t do that. He’s cheating on me with that teenage slut.”

God, I wanted to hit her for calling Penny that. Instead, I clenched my hand into a fist and kept it by my side. Breathe.

Mr. Pruitt wasn’t an idiot. He knew the truth as well as I did.

Isabella was the cheat, not me. And I’d said my piece.

“Not a cent,” I said. I knew the Pruitts didn’t need the money.

But the fact that Isabella wouldn’t get to stay in our apartment would hurt her public image enough.

It was the only threat I needed. Isabella only cared about how she looked.

Mr. Pruitt cleared his throat. “Princess, I think it’s best if we take another look at the papers.”

“But, Daddy!”

It was really gross that she still called him Daddy. She was a grown woman. Even if she was currently acting like a deranged toddler.

I ignored Isabella’s protests as I walked over to the front door and opened it. Ian practically fell into the apartment.

“What the fuck, man,” Ian said. But his anger quickly turned to confusion as he looked at Isabela and then back at me. Specifically, he was looking down at my shirt.

I followed his gaze. I’d put my t-shirt on inside out. Damn it. I closed the Pruitt’s door before Ian had a chance to say anything else.

“Are you kidding me right now? I called you a hundred times. I thought you’d be twenty minutes tops.”

I ignored him. Each step farther away from Isabella felt better.

“You really spent the night with her?”

I stepped onto the elevator and tried my best not to dry heave again. I would have let the doors close in Ian’s face, but he stepped on next to me before they slid shut.

“What about Penny?” Ian asked.

I shook my head. Just hearing her name made my heart start racing. I’d fucked it all up. There was no coming back from this.

“You said you were in love with her, and then you pull this shit because of one dumb argument?”

I ignored him.

“I can’t believe you slept with Isabella. What were you thinking?”

The doors slid open and I stepped out.

“Really, what were you thinking, man?”

I walked outside into the stale city air. I’d figure everything out when I got home. Back to Delaware. Where the air was cleaner. Where Penny was. I climbed into the car and slammed the door shut.

Ian got into the driver’s seat but didn’t start the car. “I’m not driving until you tell me why the hell you’d sleep with Isabella when you’re trying to start over with…”

“I didn’t fucking sleep with her!”

“I’m not blind, James.”

“I didn’t! She…I…”

Ian just stared at me.

“She drugged me.”

He kept staring at me.

“I woke up naked next to her. But I think she stripped me after I passed out and just slept beside me.”

“You think?”

“Or maybe we fucked. I don’t know!”

“You don’t remember sleeping with her?”

“No. I wouldn’t have done that. I wouldn’t have…” my voice trailed off.

Now it was Ian’s turn to give me the silent treatment.

“Can we please just go home?”

“I think maybe we should go to the police,” he said.

I exhaled and looked up at the roof of the car. I hadn’t even wanted to tell him. I didn’t want to tell anyone. But he kept pushing it.

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It was nothing.”

“It wasn’t nothing…”

“I’m not going to the police.” What the hell would I even say? No one would ever believe my side. Penny would never believe my side. I felt like I was going to be sick. “It’s Isabella’s word against mine. And I don’t exactly have a glowing record when it comes to law enforcement.”

“James.”

“All I need is a doctor’s appointment to make sure I didn’t catch whatever disgusting STDs she has.”

“If that’s what you want to do.” Ian finally started the car and pulled onto the busy city street.

We were both quiet as the scenery slowly changed from tall skyscrapers to green trees.

Last night I’d finally had hope again. Hope that I might actually deserve Penny.

But today? Isabella had made sure I lost all of it.

I couldn’t look Penny in the eye after last night.

I expected to feel better when Ian pulled onto Main Street. To feel lighter somehow at being closer to Penny. But I didn’t feel closer to her. I felt farther away than ever.

I’d wanted to win her back. That’s what I’d been trying to do. And I’d fucked it all up just like I fucked up everything in my life.

What was I supposed to do now? Try to win her back by telling her that I maybe cheated on her? That I’d been too shit-faced to even remember?

And I didn’t even really have a choice. It didn’t matter if I told Penny what actually happened.

Or…what I remembered. Isabella had said she’d tell Penny that I’d cheated on her.

She probably took pictures of the condom that I wasn’t even sure was mine.

Hell, she might even have pictures on her phone that were even worse. I had no idea.

I’d told Isabella she wouldn’t get a cent from me if she talked about Penny to anyone. And yes, Isabella cared about her own image. But it was possible she cared more about destroying Penny’s image. And I wouldn’t risk anything when it came to Penny. My hands were tied.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t remember.

It didn’t matter that I didn’t know the truth.

Ian parked the car under my apartment complex. And we both just sat there.

“What are you going to tell her?” he asked.

He didn’t need to specify who. I knew he was talking about Penny. “I’m not going to tell her anything.”

“You can’t just not tell her.”

“Yes I can. Because Penny and I are done.”

“Are you serious right now?”

“She deserves better than someone like me.” I’d known it all along. I’d just been grasping at straws because I was obsessed with her. And that was part of the whole problem. My addiction. Isabella was right. I just wanted what I couldn’t have.

“So you’re just giving up on your fresh start?”

“I need a drink,” I said and climbed out of the car.

Ian got out of the car just as fast as me. “You don’t just get to walk away.”

“It’s what’s best for her.”

“Or is it just easier for you? To give up and drink your life away? Or…worse.”

“You’re right. I could be snorting cocaine off a hooker’s ass right now.”

Ian didn’t laugh, even though my joke was clearly hilarious.

“It’s just one drink.”

“You never stop at one drink, James.”

Fuck him. I could stop at one drink if I wanted to. I walked toward the exit and out onto Main Street. It had started drizzling. I didn’t have an umbrella or a jacket with a hood. But I didn’t even care.

I sighed and stared up at the clouds.

I didn’t want a drink.

I just wanted to sit here and drown in my sorrows.

I sat down on the closest bench as the rain picked up. I put my face in my hands.

I’d lost Penny. I’d fucking lost her. And Isabella made sure I could never get her back.

It had been torture seeing Penny in class the past week. Like what we had meant nothing. How was I supposed to keep going like that? How was I supposed to actually give her up?

I wasn’t sure there were rehab facilities for broken hearts. I lay down on the bench and let the rain fall on my face.

“Here,” Ian said. I opened my eyes and saw him handing me a beer. “It’s a better alternative than the cocaine thing.”

I laughed, even though it was forced. “I was just joking.”

“Well, I wasn’t sure.”

I sat up and grabbed the beer. Yeah, I wasn’t entirely sure either. I took a sip of the beer as we both sat there in the pouring rain.

It felt like life kept taking shots at me. Like I wasn’t supposed to win this game. I took another sip. “This is disgusting.”

“What? It’s the good stuff. Cheap college beer. It’s nostalgic.”

“It’s disgusting,” I said again, but I still took another swig.

“I think you should tell Penny the truth,” Ian said.

“I don’t know what the truth is.”

“Then tell her that.”

“It doesn’t matter what I tell her. Isabella said she’d tell Penny I slept with her.” Penny and I already had trust issues. She had a bad habit of believing tabloids instead of me. And if she was hearing directly from my ex instead of some article? I wouldn’t trust me either.

“Isabella’s the fucking worst,” Ian said.

“Cheers to that.” I tapped my can against his. “Penny really is better off without me,” I said.

“I don’t know about that.”

“You can’t seriously sit here and tell me I’m a catch.”

Ian laughed. “I wasn’t going to call you a catch, you weirdo. You’re a mess. But you’re a lot less of a mess when you’re with her. She makes you better.”

“It’s not really fair to put that pressure on her.”

“It’s also not really fair for you to cut her out for no reason.”

“She’s 19, Ian. She’s just a kid. And I’m a…”

“A monster? Yeah, Ellen told me you said that. I don’t think you’re a monster, James.”

“Because I pay you to not think of me that way.”

“Ellen also told me that you gave her the exact same lame reasoning.” He shook his head as he stared at me. “I saw monsters while I was overseas. Real ones. And you’re not like them.”

“She’s 19.”

“I’m the one that dug up the information about her. So I know her birthday is on Thursday. If you’re so caught up on the fact that she’s a teenager, that’ll change before the end of next week. So your excuse is moot.”

“It doesn’t matter. She probably won’t forgive me for kicking her out. And she definitely won’t forgive me for what I did last night.”

“You said you didn’t do anything. And I believe you. But regardless of what you choose to tell her, the worst that can happen is that she tells you to fuck off and leave her alone.”

“Which she should,” I said.

“But the best thing that can happen? She forgives you. For all your very many flaws.”

I laughed.

“And then you live happily ever after.”

I laughed again. Happily ever afters were meant for princes. Penny had said I made her feel like a Disney princess. But I was no prince. I was pretty sure that I was the villain.