Page 1 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Tuesday

My heart was hammering against my ribcage. I didn’t know what Isabella had done. But I knew it was bad.

I looked down at the invitation in my hand. I’d thought it was from my friends. But…what if it wasn’t? What if it was some twisted game Isabella was playing?

She’d hurt people before. My crazy ex-wife had a penchant for ruining lives. I was pretty sure that was her vice. Hell, I’d even let her ruin mine for a few years.

My vices were usually alcohol and drugs. I thought about Penny lying naked in my bed. And sex. Definitely sex. But if Isabella had hurt one of my friends…I wasn’t letting this go. Maybe my new vice would be ruining Isabella’s life for a fucking change.

“Ian,” I said into my phone. “Just tell me what Isabella has done.”

“I tried everything to stop…”

“Tell me.”

Ian sighed. “She leaked the story to the press.”

I looked up from the invitation. “Wait. What?”

“Her version of events of what happened between you and Penny. It’s bad, James.”

It took me a second to process his words.

This wasn’t about my friends? I set the invitation down.

I’d been thinking about college, reminiscing with my therapist. I was thinking about trying to mend my relationships with my friends.

But Isabella didn’t know that. Isabella had no reason to lash out at Mason, Matt, or Rob.

She had no reason to lash out at me either. But…it was Isabella.

“So my friends are okay?” I asked.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Ian asked. “James, the story is being printed as we speak.”

I set the invitation down as the repercussion of what Isabella had done finally hit me. She’d gone to the press. With her version of what happened between us. Which meant she’d left out a lot of details. Like that fact that she’d cheated on me. Ah, fuck me.

“Then stop the story,” I said.

“We’re in the middle of nowhere. We don’t have connections to the press here.”

I’d hardly classify Delaware as the middle of nowhere. But he was right. I didn’t have the same connections here as I did in New York. “What paper is it? Surely we can hand someone some cash to make this disappear.”

“I already tried everything. It’s a huge story, James. Especially for a small town like this to break.”

I leaned back in my chair and stared at the ceiling. “How bad is it?”

“Isabella told the press that Penny was a minor.”

Jesus. “Surely they’ll do their due-diligence.”

“I don’t know,” Ian said. “Like I said…small town. Not many resources. And it’s already being picked up by national media.”

For fuck’s sake. “Give me the name of the paper. I’ll handle it.”

“It’s the Delaware Post.”

I hung up the phone and called them. But it went straight to voicemail. What kind of shit press was this?

I called one news outlet after the next. I reached out to all my connections in New York City. But everyone just told me the same thing. That stopping the story there wouldn’t help. Everyone was reporting it. Since when had the news turned into a gossip column?

Around 2 a.m. a news van pulled up outside my apartment building.

Ian was right. There was no stopping this.

I pushed away from my desk and walked into the hall. The only thing I could do was get some sleep before all hell broke loose in the morning. I went into my bedroom and stared down at Penny sleeping peacefully in my bed.

I’d wanted to talk to her about our future. I wanted it to be us to decide together what our next steps were.

But Isabella had stolen that from us.

I got ready for bed and climbed under the sheets next to Penny. I breathed in her cherry perfume and tried to sleep.

But I’d never been good at lying still.

I pushed the covers off of me and wandered back into my office. I’d really wanted to talk to Penny about this. I did want to. But we didn’t have that luxury now. I needed to get ahead of this situation.

I pulled out a piece of paper and started to write my resignation letter. My fresh start in Delaware was dead. But this was the last thing I’d let Isabella rob me of.

I shot an email to the dean scheduling a meeting for the morning.

Even before the news story, my lawyer thought I’d be fired.

There was no real choice here. And there was nothing Penny and I could discuss now either.

There was no way to keep our relationship a secret until after the semester.

I had to get control of this scandal in my own way.

I slipped my resignation letter into an envelope. It was done.

But Penny and I would get through this. We had to. Because I knew what the alternative was. I knew what I was capable of and what I wasn’t. And I had to make this work. Because if I didn’t…

I sighed. I was tired. Just so fucking tired of ruining everything around me. If I lost Penny I wouldn’t be able to make it through that. I’d slip. And there’d be no point in coming up for air this time.

***

Even though I knew what Isabella had done, I still couldn’t shake away my thoughts about the weird invitation I’d gotten.

I’d looked up the address and it was just a normal bar.

Nothing odd about it. But I’d still texted Mason, asking how he was.

I just needed to know that everything was fine so I could put my mind at ease.

Mason liked to party, but it was almost 3 a.m. on a weeknight. I’d have to wait until the morning to hear from him.

So instead I just stared at the Delaware Post website, waiting for it to refresh. My hands were buried in my hair as I stared down at my cell phone. The news would drop online any minute. Any fucking minute.

“James?”

I looked up. Penny was standing in the doorway of my office in one of my t-shirts. She was so beautiful. And I’d just ruined her life. I couldn’t help but think that. I was trying to be better for her. But trying was a lot different than actually being better.

The news wasn’t just ruining my fresh start. It was ruining her college experience. And she’d already told me once that I’d ruined her.

"Why didn't you come to bed?" she asked.

"I did.” I sighed. "I couldn't sleep."

She walked over to me. "We'll figure it out. Just like you said." She leaned against my desk.

I shook my head. "I was so busy thinking about my feelings for you that I didn't think about all the repercussions..."

"You did think everything through. We talked about that on our first date."

I shook my head again. Loving her had consequences. But I thought I was the one jeopardizing everything. I was selfish. This story was going to throw her in the lime light, and I knew she didn’t like being there. "I never thought that the dean would find out before I talked to him, though."

Her eyes grew round. "Has he?"

I’m so sorry, baby. But for some reason I couldn’t say it out loud. I wished that this wasn’t my fault. I wished we could just keep going the way we had been. I stood up and walked over to the window. I pulled the curtains to the side and looked down at the street.

Penny stepped up beside me and looked down at the shit show below.

There were three news trucks down there now. More would be arriving at dawn.

"Maybe it's for something else?" she said.

I shook my head. "No. The story is being printed in the Delaware Post in the morning.” And a million other places. “I've tried everything." I let go of the curtain and raked my fingers through my hair. "I fucked up, Penny. I should have thought about what Isabella would do if..."

She grabbed my arm to stop me from pulling my hair out. "James, you couldn't possibly know what Isabella would do."

"I should have. It's my job to protect you." And Isabella had done shit like this before. I should have known. I fucking should have.

"It isn't. I made my own choices. I knew I was breaking the rules. I kept pursuing you. I wanted to be with you. I knew there might be consequences. I can face them."

"It is my job to protect you." Didn’t she see that? I wrapped my arms around her and rested my chin on top of her head. She was the only good thing in my life now. For so long I’d thought of teaching as my fresh start.

But I didn’t really feel better until I’d met her.

She was my fresh start. And I should have done more to prevent her from getting hurt by all this.

She sighed and leaned into my chest. "The worst that can happen is that you get fired and I get expelled."

It sounded like she was okay with all of that. How was she so calm right now? "I don't care if I get fired. I just don't want you to get expelled."

"I have good grades. I can get into a different school."

This was what I’d wanted to talk to her about last night. But the conversation was different now. Because we didn’t have a choice. And I wasn’t sure if she was saying this because she had no other options now or because she really didn’t care. Either way, it wasn’t that easy.

"It's a scandal, Penny. Other universities may not see your grades as valid." And if Penny was allowed to stay at the University of New Castle…things wouldn’t be easy for her. I knew how fast rumors spread better than anyone. And I knew how people would perceive Penny if they believed Isabella’s side of events. They’d think Penny broke up a happy marriage.

They wouldn’t care about the facts, only the idea of a scandal.

"James," Penny said. She leaned back so she could look up at me. "If I could go back, I'd do it all over again.”

There was a lump in my throat that I couldn’t get rid of.

“Even if I knew I'd be expelled,” she said. “You make me so happy. I want to be with you. That's all that matters.”

I didn’t deserve her. I didn’t. But I was never letting go.

She scrunched her mouth to the side in that adorable way I loved. “If anything, I should be apologizing to you. You told me to forget about you. On multiple occasions. I didn't listen..."

"Stop, Penny.” This wasn’t on her. It was on me. “I couldn't leave you alone either. And I didn't want you to leave me alone. I never meant it. I can't even imagine not being with you."

She took a deep breath. "So we'll face it together."

"Mhm." I smiled down at her. Even though the conversation was different than what I’d wanted, we’d still kind of had it.

Maybe we would have come to the same conclusion.

Maybe we wouldn’t have. But all that really mattered was that we were facing this together like she’d said.

“I'm not used to having a partner in crime. "

"Well get used to it. You're getting me kicked out of school, so you should probably stick with me for a while. It's the right thing to do."

I laughed. "You should probably call your parents." Hearing this from her would be better than reading about it in the paper.

She finally looked as horrified as I thought she’d be about all of this.

“I'm sorry, Penny."

"I think I'm dreading that discussion more than talking to the dean."

"I'm sorry,” I said again.

"Please stop apologizing. James." She put her hands on the sides of my face. "I love you. That's all that matters."

I smiled down at her. I hoped that was enough. I hoped we’d be able to make it through this. I was used to the press, but Penny wasn’t. All I could do was try to be her rock through this. "I love you too."

"So will you please come to bed now?"

"Mhm." I leaned down and kissed her.

She laughed as I scooped her up into my arms.