Page 147 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 10

Monday

As we walked out of the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater Penny was still laughing. I just wanted to keep hearing the sound over and over again. No more tears. No more fighting. Just this.

"That's so cool that Amy Poehler used to do improv here,” she said.

I smiled down at her. "So you liked your choice?"

"Yes. Today was perfect." She looked up at the sky, like she was searching for an answer to something. "It's weird not being able to see the stars."

"Pros and cons."

We walked slowly back toward the hotel. It was nice walking through the street holding hands. We'd never be able to do this on Main Street. But we could do this every night if we moved here. If we started over.

I took a deep breath. I just hoped to God that I could handle starting over again.

Because I was really tired of fresh starts.

I wasn’t sure if we had much of a choice though.

She liked this just as much as I did. How much longer could we keep our relationship a secret?

Maybe disclosing our relationship to Dean Vespelli would be for the best.

I heard music playing in the distance. I smiled, the song pulling me out of my thoughts. “Come with me." We jogged through Central Park until we came to a guitarist. He was strumming his guitar and singing.

Penny laughed as I twirled her around in the middle of the sidewalk and then pulled her in close.

My hand lingered on the small of her back. It reminded me of when I’d first walked her home in the rain. I’d told myself to stop. I should have known I’d never be able to. And I wouldn’t change a damn thing. I smiled. Really, not one damn thing. Because this moment couldn’t be more perfect.

The wind blew, sending her red hair in a million different directions. I pushed it away from her face.

She laughed as she stared into my eyes. "Do you know this song?"

"I believe it's called Hands Down." I twirled her again and placed both of my hands on her waist.

"Every day I spend with you I fall harder and harder."

Me too, baby. I leaned down and kissed her. When the song ended I didn't pull away. We kept swaying to the loud sounds of the city. I didn’t want this moment to end. But I knew I needed to get her back home. I knew all our moments like these had to be limited for now. "I should get you home."

"Does that mean going home with you? Or are you sending me back to my dorm?"

I laughed. "I'd like to bring you home with me." Always. I didn’t want to go to bed unless she was next to me.

"I don't want tonight to end." She slid her hands into my hair and pulled me back down to meet her lips.

I could kiss her all night. I could stand in the middle of Central Park for the rest of my days and die a happy man.

She deepened the kiss.

I groaned and slowly pulled back. "I love you, Penny."

"I love you, James."

***

I yawned and reached out, but my fingers came up empty in the sheets. I slowly opened my eyes. Penny wasn’t in bed next to me.

But I heard her muffled voice in the other room. She must be on the phone with Melissa or something. I closed my eyes for another second. But then I heard another voice. Who was Penny talking to? Maybe she was on speaker phone?

I grabbed my phone to see what time it was. I had a dozen missed calls and messages from Ian and… Shit. Half of them were from Isabella. What the fuck?

I clicked on one of them. “Real mature, James. You’re forgetting the fact that all the cards are in my hands. You should be begging me on your knees, not having me followed around. I never took you for a stalker.”

How the hell did she know I hired Max?

Penny kept talking and then I realized that I knew the other voice. It was a little hard to forget it when it had been screaming at me for the past few years.

No. No, no, no. I pushed the sheets off of me just as I heard Isabella call my name from the other room.

God Damnit.

"James, get the hell up!" Isabella yelled.

It only took me a second to burst out of my room.

I stared at Penny, scanning her from head to toe.

I didn’t actually think Isabella would hurt her.

But I just needed to make sure. She was wearing one of my t-shirts, and she looked perfectly fine.

Minus the fact that there were tears pooling in the corners of her eyes.

What the fuck had the two of them been talking about? I glared at Isabella. Her cold, calculating smile spread across her face as her eyes wandered down my body.

Screw me. I should have thrown a shirt on. I really needed to stop getting into these situations with her. Just thinking about it made a lump form in my throat.

"How did you get in here?" I gritted out. Seriously, where the fuck was Ian? He was here to prevent exactly this situation from happening. And no, I hadn’t really believed that Isabella would hurt me or Penny. But there was something off about the way she was staring at me. I couldn’t really pinpoint it. But she was definitely off her meds.

I walked over to Penny and stepped in front of her.

"Don't be so cold James. I'm your wife, after all."

I ran my fingers through my hair. "Get out of my apartment." You fucking psycho.

Isabella ignored me. "I see that you aren't being very discreet with your new girlfriend . She's a little young for you, don't you think?" She looked at Penny. "And really not your type at all."

Oh, fuck off. As if my type is you?

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. I’d told Penny the lies Isabella wanted me to. But I was done playing whatever sick game she wanted me to play. I wasn’t taking any part in it. This ended now. Hopefully with her getting dragged out of here screaming. "Get out or I'll call the cops, Isabella."

"Hmm, so now we can add threatening to the list?" She grabbed a manila envelope off the table behind her. She slowly undid the tabs and pulled out some photographs. She tossed them on the table. "On top of blackmailing?"

You blackmailed me first, you fucking bitch. I took a deep breath. I really didn’t want Penny to be a part of this. "Isabella..." I said and started toward her.

"I'm glad the girl that you're currently fucking is here." She said it in a disgusted way.

Isabella wished that’s all it was. But I was pretty sure she was here because she knew differently.

"Now she can know what kind of man you really are."

I grabbed the photographs and turned them face down on the table. I didn’t need to see what they were. I knew how much Isabella loved spreading her legs. And Penny certainly didn’t need to see that shit.

"You didn't give me a choice,” I said as calmly as I could. Now that I was closer to her, I knew I was right. There was definitely something off about her eyes. But hopefully she could still have a conversation about this. Because I couldn’t be married to her for one more fucking day.

She’d dragged this thing out long enough.

And breaking into my apartment and saying God knows what to Penny?

This ended now. “Why do you have to make everything impossible? Do you enjoy torturing me?"

"Yes." Her voice was cold.

For Christ’s sake. "I just need you to sign the papers."

"What, so that you can be with her?" she scoffed. "You must be joking."

"What I do now is none of your business. Sign the papers," I said firmly.

"This is ridiculous. She doesn't even know you."

"Neither do you."

"And whose fault is that?"

"You can't blame this on me."

She laughed. "You know, the press is going to have a field day when they hear about how my husband cheated on me with a student. It's so cliché, don't you think? They'll love it. The university probably won't love it as much, though."

If she had such a problem with cheating, maybe she shouldn’t have cheated on me. Not that I was upset about that. I was grateful that she’d done it. Because it had led me here. And I was not letting her ruin my new life. Or Penny’s life. "I'll leak the photos."

"No you won't. How do photos of me screwing another man help you in any way? All it shows is that you can't satisfy your own wife."

"No. It shows that you have a history of infidelity that makes your claim to anything that's mine invalid."

"And she doesn't do the same for you?" she pointed at Penny.

I really hated that Penny was here witnessing this shit show. But I didn’t know what else to do. I’d tried everything to get Isabella to sign the papers. This was my last option.

Breathe. "I don't want anything that's yours," I said. "Sign the papers now and you get half. Wait and get nothing."

She pulled out some more papers from the envelope. "I already did, you egotistical asshole." She threw them at me.

I stepped to the side and let them flutter to the ground.

Had she really signed them? I leaned over and picked one of the pages up.

Her signature was there. As clear as day.

And it felt like this weight was lifted off my shoulders.

Like I was free. Like it was finally okay for me to live my fucking life.

"You signed them?" Penny said from behind us.

I turned around to look at her. She looked so…small. And frightened. And hurt. I’m so fucking sorry, Penny. How many times was I going to make her feel this way?

Isabella stared at Penny. "He's all yours. Good luck. You're going to need it. He's fickle.”

Each word out of her mouth made my blood boil even more.

“He gets bored easily. He's going to eat you alive."

"Isabella! Enough!" She’d signed the papers. I didn’t need to even try to pretend to be civil with her anymore.

"What, are you afraid I'm going to let something slip that you haven't told her?”

Fuck, is that what they’d been talking about?

“Stop running, James. Stop throwing yourself into new things. Get some help. She's not the answer and you know it." Isabella walked over to the elevator and pressed the button.

The doors opened and closed and she was gone. The apartment was eerily quiet after her screeching voice stopped. I looked down at the paper in my hands again. She’d signed it. She’d really signed it. I set it down on the table and turned to Penny.

I wasn’t sure what to do. I didn’t know what they’d been talking about before I woke up.

And I knew I didn’t love anything Penny had just witnessed.

I wanted to close the distance between us, but I didn’t know how.

Because a part of me knew that Isabella was right.

Penny didn’t know me. Not really. Hell, Dr. Clark had been trying to get me to tell Penny the truth for weeks.

But I was scared of what the truth would do to us.

Because I needed her. Yes, fucking needed .

And all the power was in Penny’s hands. I felt…

out of control. I felt lost. And I knew it was partially because seeing Isabella made me think about blacking out again.

I didn’t know how to acknowledge what may have happened when I blacked out the last time I saw her.

And Penny was the only one who ever made me feel better. The only fucking thing. But there might as well have been a canyon between us.

"What am I not the answer to?" she asked.

"What did she say to you while I was in bed?"

"James."

I swallowed hard.

"You're hiding something from me. Tell me."

"You need to get to class,” I said.

"James." Her voice cracked. "Why won't you tell me?"

"We can discuss it tonight." Tonight. That gave me time to figure out what the hell I could say to her to make her stay. A few hours, at least. My heart felt like it was ricocheting around my chest. I’d been so focused on getting Isabella to sign the papers. I thought I’d be happy.

But instead, I felt like I was seconds away from another panic attack.

It was like Penny could tell how much I needed her. She closed the distance between us and wrapped her arms around me.

I immediately relaxed. If she was still here…

whatever Isabella had said to her in private wasn’t so terrible.

Right? I hugged her back. I felt calmer with Penny in my arms. With her cherry perfume invading my senses.

And I realized I wasn’t just rattled from what had happened with Isabella.

I was rattled because of what could have happened.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"I'm okay." Penny kissed the scruff beneath my chin.

This should have been a happy moment. I was divorced. We could be together without Penny feeling bad. But I only felt panic wrapping around my chest.

"I need you,” I said. She could make me feel better. I just needed to know that we were okay.

"I need you too."

"No. I mean, I need you. Right now." I grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her hard. I needed her exhales. I needed her body beneath mine. I needed all of her. Because I was guilty of exactly what Isabella said. Penny was my fucking vice.

I moved my hands to her ass and lifted her legs around me. I carried her back into my bedroom.

Penny always gave me what I needed. And maybe that was part of the problem. I could never stop because she kept offering me more and more of her. And I was greedy for all of it.

I was relying on her to make me whole. And that wasn’t fair. She’d never agreed to fix me. Because she didn’t realize how broken I was. Yet.