Page 40 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 3

Melissa set her cup back down and leaned forward. “Penny, you trust me, right?”

She wasn’t exactly the same Melissa that I remembered. But it seemed like we had remained close. I still felt comfortablearound her. She still made me smile and laugh. “Of course I trust you.”

“James was the most eligible bachelor in NYC before you scooped him up. He’s handsome, and smart, and kind, and very very possessive. In a sexy way,” she said quickly when she saw the expression on my face. “It’s endearing, trust me. So just please do me a favor and try. Look at him when he gets home tonight. Really look at him and tell me you don’t think he’s sexy. And please do everyone a favor and don’t say stuff like that about Rob and Tyler around him, okay? Please?”

“Fine.” I bit the inside of my lip. “But I don’t see why an addict would be the most eligible bachelor in NYC. I guess it makes sense though. This city sucks.”

“What?”

“I’ve always hated New York. It’s…dirty and loud here.”

“I’m not talking about the city. I’m talking about what you just said about James. He’s not an addict. Why would you think that?”

“Um…” I let my voice trail off. Maybe we weren’t as close as I thought anymore. If we were still best friends, wouldn’t she have known that? Surely I would have told her.

“Penny, it’s one thing to say he’s not your type. It’s another to make up horrible lies about him. That’s cruel. He’s not an addict. Why would you jump to a wild conclusion like that? I’ve never known you to judge someone without getting to know them.” She was looking at me like she didn’t know who I was either.

“I’m not jumping to conclusions. He told me he had issues with substance abuse.”

She shook her head.

“I swear, Melissa. We had dinner earlier and he told me his version of everything that happened. He brought up the drug thing. I’m not making stuff up about him.”

“Penny, you never told me that before. I…” her voice trailed off. “Maybe it’s a new thing? Since you got hurt? He’s taken all of this really hard.”

“No. He said he had those issues before he started teaching. He basically said his life was horrible before we met. I overheard a conversation between him and Rob earlier too. James said that I saved him. And after our talk, I think he meant from his life as an addict.”

“If that’s true, you kept it from me.” She looked hurt, like it was my fault she had been kept out of the loop. I didn’t even remember any of it. She couldn’t be mad at me.

“I don’t know why he’d lie,” I said. “He was trying to woo me. It seems like a bad idea to mention something like that on a first date.”

“Yeah.”

“Still a catch, huh?”

“I mean…all I know is what you’ve told me. And you always seemed happy. He always seemed perfect. But maybe…” her voice trailed off.

“Maybe tall, dark, and handsome isn’t all it’s cut out to be? Especially when it’s combined with serious, liar pants, druggie.”

“I feel like this is just a misunderstanding.”

“Well, it’s possible he did lie. Because he sat there and told me all about our perfect wedding and failed to mention the part where he got shot. Did you know that?”

“Yeah, I was there. I was your maid of honor.”

At least some things seemed like they were right in this world. “And have you looked around the apartment? There are pictures missing from the walls. And there are doors locked upstairs. There are so many secrets in this house. And it feels like someone is watching me all the time, I can’t even explain it.”

“Well, the last thing is easy to explain.” She pointed to a device mounted in the corner of the living room. “You are being watched. James has cameras everywhere.”

A chill ran down my spine. “Why?”

“Your security guards monitor everything to keep you guys safe.”

“They’re watching us right now? Are they listening to us too?” I looked over at the camera.

“I don’t know. You get used to it though. I forgot the cameras were even there until you just mentioned it.”

It was like I was living in one of those books that I had to read during one summer for a high school English class: 1984 and Brave New World. I don’t know why they made us read them at the same time. Ever since then, I always got them confused. But I knew in one of them someone was always watching you. Or maybe it was both of them. Either way, those were terrible dystopian worlds. How had my life turned out so wrong?