Page 411 of Forbidden Billionaires: Vol. 1
He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "Two more days."
Two more days!
***
Today was my last day of work before the wedding. And I was excited to get it over with. I just wanted to be able to focus on the wedding. Melissa had called me last night and said she'd come to my dress fitting too. She finally seemed excited about being my maid of honor. Maybe she was just happy that I was tying the knot so I wouldn't run off with Tyler. I laughed to myself. I really hoped that Tyler and her made each other happy. I rested my back against the side of the elevator.
"What are you thinking about?" James asked and squeezed my hand.
I leaned closer toward him and whispered, "That I'm excited this is the last time I'll walk into your office as Penny Taylor."
He smiled down at me. "Do you want to go out to dinner with your parents tonight? I can get us a reservation at that new Thai restaurant near Kleinfeld's."
"Actually, we're going to be around so many people the next few days. Could we maybe stay in tonight, just us? Maybe we can rent a movie or something? I just wanna relax."
He looked even happier than he had a second ago. "That sounds perfect. I'll let Ellen know we'll be there for dinner."
The elevator doors opened. James kept his fingers intertwined with mine as we walked off the elevator. He stopped right in front of his office door. "I have a lunch meeting today that I couldn't get out of. And I'm slammed with last minute things that need to be finished before I take all of next week off. But I'll see you back home for dinner." He leaned down and kissed me.
I didn't care that he was kissing me at work. I was never going to take another moment with him for granted. When he pulled back, my face was flushed.
"Have a good last work day as Miss Taylor." He ran his thumb over one of my rosy cheeks.
"Have a good last work day as a single man."
He laughed. "Don't worry, my friends aren't going to kidnap me again. I'll see you tonight, baby." He kissed me once more and then disappeared into his office.
I felt even giddier than I had back at the apartment. I made my way through the maze of cubicles toward the marketing interns' desk pod. As soon as I saw my desk, my smile disappeared. There was a manila envelope underneath the picture of James and I at the beach. Why couldn't Isabella just leave us in peace? I lifted up the new frame and grabbed the envelope.
"Did you see who dropped this off?" I asked Zach. He was the only one there. I wanted to know who Isabella's minion was. Maybe it was just Austin. They deserved each other.
"No, no one's been over here. Maybe someone dropped it off last night?"
"Yeah, maybe." I sat down and looked over my shoulder to make sure no one was around to see whatever was inside. I pulled outa new stack of photos. There was a post-it note covering up the first picture:
The truth doesn't seem to bother you. It's your life. I can't stop you from marrying him. But I can get you to give me what I need.
I lifted off the sticky note and swallowed hard. They weren't pictures of James. This time, they were pictures of me.Fuck.The first one was of me hugging Tyler outside of Kleinfeld's. Then of him holding my hand inside that diner. The rest were from my bachelorette party. Me talking to guys at the bar, touching some random guy's abs, and dancing. There was another post-it note on top of the last picture:
Wire 20 million dollars to my account number below. I'll go away forever. I'll stop calling James. I'll stop interfering with his parents. I'll be out of your life forever. And if that isn't enough motivation, I also won't show the pictures to James. You can finally have the happily ever after that is your immature vision of reality. You have until the bank closes at 4 o'clock.
There were some numbers at the bottom that must have been the bank account number. I lifted up the last sticky note. The last picture was of Austin kissing me, right before I shoved him off. I bit my lip.That bitch.I took a deep breath. All these photos were taken out of context. I could explain them to James. And it just made me realize even more that the pictures she had given me of James were only half the truth.
She was like an evil villain, but she was a bad one. And I wasn't going to fall for her games anymore. She would never get another dime of James' money. I pushed the pictures and notes back inside the envelope and tossed it into the trash.
I turned around again. It felt like someone was watching me. I guess someone was. Or else these pictures wouldn't exist. Neither would the ones of James. I had been so happy a second ago, and now I felt like I was on edge.
"So, are you going through with it?" Zach asked.
"What?"
"Marrying your abusive boyfriend?"
"He's not. And you're awfully judgmental. You don't know me or him."
"We're all trying to get to know you."
"Fine. You want to know what I'm going through? His ex wife hit me. That's why I had a bruise on my face. And she's been harassing me. And threatening me. She's doing everything she can to make me call off the wedding. So I don't appreciate you hounding me on this. I don't need anyone else against me. It's exhausting."
