Page 29 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 11

Friday

"What's Rob like?" Penny asked as I led her out of her dorm room.

What was the best way to describe my brother? "He's...fun."

"You mean like funny?"

"No, I wouldn't say funny.” He’d been hilarious when we were kids.

But after I’d married Isabella his jokes had become more annoying than funny.

“He likes to have a good time. I invited him to stay with me when I didn't have you.” And because he had nowhere else to go.

“He's good at distracting me." I stared down at her as we walked outside. I didn’t like talking about the time we weren’t together.

Going on a break with her had been a terrible mistake.

Penny laughed, but there was something else in her eyes. She looked…sad. She was probably remembering our time apart too. She hadn’t fared much better than me.

She cleared her throat. "Is he like you at all?"

"Like me? He looks a little like me, I guess."

"Yeah, I've seen his picture. I mean, is he like you personality wise?"

Huh. That was a good question. I opened up the car door for her.

She climbed in and I walked over to the driver’s side.

Was Rob like me? Even a little? Rob was fun and carefree and always smiling.

He traveled all the time. He hadn’t accomplished much of anything since graduating college.

“No,” I said as I climbed into the car and buckled my seatbelt.

"He's not really like me at all. He's kind of the opposite of me.

" But I guess I did smile more now. Because of her.

"What do you mean?"

"He's not independent."

"What does that mean exactly?"

"He lives off my parents' money. He's never held a job for more than a few weeks." I pulled out of the parking lot.

"Oh. So is he close with your parents?"

Closer than I am, that’s for sure. "It's funny. I felt like I was the only one of my siblings who ever listened to them. And they like me the least."

"I'm sure that isn't true."

No, it was true. My parents hated me for selling my company. For leaving Isabella. For living my life the way I wanted. Yet, Jen and Rob could do whatever they wanted and my parents didn’t say a word.

"Do your parents know about me?” Penny asked. “Do they know about your divorce?"

"They know I filed for divorce. I told them about it before I did it. They tried to talk me out of it." My mother thought I was an idiot. Her exact words. And I thought she was an over-botoxed bitch. I was pretty sure I’d said those exact words to her face.

"And what about me?"

"I haven't talked to them since I left New York."

"They haven't tried to talk to you at all? That was almost a year ago."

I glanced at her for a second before turning my attention back to the road.

"I didn't say that." My mother had reached out. A few times. She’d left voicemails about how divorcing Isabella would be the biggest mistake of my life. I’d deleted them instead of calling her back.

My mother preferred when I was numb to the world.

When she could control me. But I was done living my life that way.

"So they have tried to talk to you? And you haven't taken their calls or something? James, maybe..."

"Penny. It's better this way."

"I'll have to meet them eventually."

Unfortunately. "I know. How about you meet Rob first. Then you can decide if you want to meet the rest of my family." That was actually a terrible way to decide. Penny would love Rob. And she’d get the wrong impression and want to meet my parents too. My parents couldn’t be more different than Rob though.

"I think Rob sounds great. Does he know about me?"

"No, actually. He doesn't even know that my divorce is final." I wanted to surprise him.

"So he thinks that it's just going to be two single rich bachelors in a college town? He's going to hate me."

I laughed. "He's not going to hate you."

"He probably thinks you're going to go out every night and pick up girls."

"I'm sure he wishes that's what we would be doing. But he knows I wouldn't have done that whether I had a girlfriend or not."

"Why wouldn't you if you were single? Wasn't that kind of the point of inviting Rob to live with you in the first place? To get over me?"

"I don't go to bars and pick up women. I like to practice self-control, Penny.

" It was weird being so open with her about my issues. But also…good. Yeah, it was good. But my hands were gripping the steering wheel a little tighter. I didn’t like talking about my addiction problems with her.

But I knew it was important. She needed to know every side of me. Even the bad.

"So what made you give in to temptation with me?"

That was an easier question. "You. I've never been so instantly attracted to someone in my life. You're different than other girls I've met. You chose option two."

She laughed. "Our day in New York was perfect. I'll always choose option two."

"I know. And I couldn't seem to control myself around you." I glanced at her again. "Not because I'm addicted to you." I’d been over and over that issue with Dr. Clark. And I wanted to believe that he was right about this.

"I don't care if you're addicted to me, you know. I'm addicted to you."

I pulled to a stop at a light. "That's different, Penny." It was cute when she said she was addicted to something. It was a lot more sinister when I said it.

"Is it that different?"

"When I'm low I feel like I can't breathe.

Even when I indulge in whatever it is I'm addicted to.

It's just an escape. But with you, I feel like I can finally breathe for the first time.

You're not an escape. You're a new way of living that I didn't even know was possible. " It was a fine line. A very fine line.

But she wasn’t staring at me like she thought I was a monster.

I turned back toward the road. "Shit." I pulled the car to a stop outside my apartment building.

The reporters were blocking the entrance to the parking garage.

Penny had dealt with enough today. This whole thing was ridiculous.

How long could they sit out here in their vans?

The investigation was done. I was about to press on the horn when Penny unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Penny, stay in the car."

She opened the door, ignoring me.

"Damn it, Penny!" The last thing we needed was a scene. It just fueled them.

She slammed the car door.

Fuck. I put the car in park and flung open my door.

"What do you want to know?!” she yelled. “Why are you standing out here? Don't you have anything else to report on? This isn't news."

"Penny! How do you feel about the recent findings in the investigation?" One of the news reporters approached her, quickly followed by her cameraman. "Did you know that James was..."

"He wasn't. He hasn't done anything wrong. What is wrong with you people?"

I ran up to her and grabbed her arm. "Penny, get in the car now."

"Is that how this started?” the reporter asked. “Him telling you what to do? Did he force you..."

Fuck off. I put my hand in front of the video camera lens that was in our faces. "Penny," I said sternly. Why the hell was she engaging with these people?

"He didn't force me to do anything,” Penny said. “Haven't any of you been in love? James is kind, and caring, and wonderful."

I stared down at her. I hadn’t expected her to say that.

The reporter stepped closer. "He cheated on his wife in order to be with you."

"He didn't,” Penny said. “Stop standing out here harassing us and go do your job. You're just spreading rumors. This isn't news!"

It was sweet of her to try to defend me. But I didn’t mind taking the heat here. I wanted to. For her. "We don't have any other comments at this time," I said and stepped in front of her.

Penny climbed back into the car.

I knew why she was upset. Her fellow classmates were assholes.

Girls were lying to get As. Joe was just accepting crappy detectives' theories in order to sweep this whole mess under the rug. And these reporters had chosen us to harass. It was ridiculous. But engaging with them just made everything worse. And for once in Penny’s life, I just wanted her to listen to me.

To let me handle this the way it needed to be handled.

I climbed back into the car, slammed the door, and laid my hand down on the horn. The reporters didn't back away so I just started slowing driving forward until they had to move.

What a fucking shit show. The investigation was done.

They were probably getting ready to pack up and go on to the next thing.

But after finally getting a word from Penny?

They were going to stay even longer after that.

My hands gripped the steering wheel even harder than they had when we were talking about my addiction problems. Really, why couldn’t Penny just for once listen to my advice?

I knew how to handle these people. I’d been in the limelight for years.

You had to ignore them or they’d never stop.

I pulled into my parking spot and got out of the car.

I needed a second to calm down. I couldn’t protect Penny in her classes.

And apparently I couldn’t even protect her when she was right next to me.

I was used to being in control of all aspects of my life.

And I felt very out of control right now.

I heard her chasing after me as the elevator doors slid open.

I stepped on.

She hurried inside before the doors closed. "James, I'm sorry. But this needs to stop. They can't stay out there forever."

I shook my head and hit the emergency button on the elevator. The elevator came to an abrupt stop. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Wasn’t today bad enough? Why make it a thousand times worse?

"It doesn't make any sense that they're out there. They're being relentless."

"And you just made it worse. I specifically asked you not to talk to them."

"James. Doesn't it make you mad? Why won't you defend yourself?"