Eruption (The Hunted Series Book 3) (26 page)

"Then why did you do it?!"

"I..." I didn't know what to say. I didn't have an
answer. "Those pictures aren't what you think. I was upset when you were
at your bachelor party. Melissa wasn't speaking to me. Tyler was just being a
good friend. He went and asked Melissa to be his girlfriend right after
this," I said and waved the pictures in the air. "Isabella took these
and she's..."

"I know. I know that Isabella took these. She gave them
to me a few days ago. And she told me I couldn't trust you. But I didn't
listen. Because I trusted you. With everything. I was wrong." It looked
like he was about to cry. I had never seen him like this.

I wanted to comfort him. I took another step toward him, but
he took a step back. "You weren't wrong, James. You can trust me. Please
just believe me. We're being blackmailed. I had to transfer the money so there
wouldn't be pictures of us having sex leaked all over the internet."

He laughed and shook his head back and forth. "God, all
you do is lie. You're leaving me, right? That's what this is?"

"No."

"And you needed money before you left me?" he said
like he hadn't even heard what I had just said. "So you could run away
with him?"

"What? No." I wanted to laugh. This whole thing was
ridiculous. "I don't love Tyler. I don't want to be with Tyler. And were
certainly not running away together. James..."

"Then why did you transfer 20 million dollars into
Tyler's bank account?"

"I didn't." I transferred it to Isabella's account.
Fuck.
That bitch set me up. "I didn't." My voice sounded so
small.
Oh God, no.
My whole body felt cold.

"Yes you did. At 4 o'clock you transferred 20 million
dollars of my money to Tyler Steven's bank account."

"No. James." I could hear the desperation in my
voice. "This isn't what you think."

"Stop it." He ran his hands through his hair again.
"Isabella knew. That's why you didn't want me to talk to her. She knew you
didn't love me. She knew you just wanted my money."

"I do love you. I love you so much."

"But not as much as you love him? Penny, I trusted
you."

"Then trust me now. We're being blackmailed."

"Just stop!" His voice was so loud. "Who the
fuck would blackmail you into giving my money to Tyler?"

"I can't tell you."

"Because the answer is no one! Your lie doesn't even
make any sense."

He didn't believe me. "We are being blackmailed. I just
can't tell you by who or they'll leak..."

"Photos of us having sex? Yeah, I heard you the first
time. I need some air." He walked past me. He stumbled slightly and caught
himself on one of the stools in the kitchen.

I had only ever seen him this drunk once before after hanging
out with Rob back in Newark. "You can't leave. You're drunk. Please just
sit down."

"Like you care."

"I do care."

"What because you love me?" he scoffed. "No
one loves me. Keep the money. Just get the fuck out of my house."

"James." I put my hand on his arm.

He recoiled from me, like my touch caused him pain.
"Leave." His voice was firm.

"I'm not leaving until you listen to me."

"Go be with Tyler. Go be happy. That's all I ever
wanted. For you to be happy."

"You make me happy."

"Please just go." He wiped his hand underneath his
eyes. I had never seen James cry. It killed me. He was crying because he
thought I didn't love him. It felt like my heart was breaking.

"Those pictures aren't what they seem. I don't love
Tyler. I love you. I love everything about you. This whole thing is just a
misunderstanding."

He pulled out a few more pictures from his pocket. "Like
this?" He slammed the picture down on the counter. It was of me touching
that random guy's abs at the bar. "Or this?" He slammed down the
picture of Austin kissing me.

"They're like the ones of Tyler. They were taken out of
context. It was my bachelorette party. There was this list of stupid stuff my
friends made me do. And Austin kissed me. I shoved him off right away. Isabella
made him..."

"Just save it. I don't care, Penny. You're not my
problem anymore."

"Problem? Is that what I've always been? Just something
you had to take care of?"

He shook his head. "You certainly can't take care of
yourself. You're immature. And selfish. And ungrateful."

"Ungrateful for what? This house that I didn't want?
Because I don't like spending your money?"

"I try to give you everything and you always pretended
like you didn't want it. You played me."

"I didn't play you. I don't care about your money. And
this?" I picked up the picture he had of Austin kissing me. "I
trusted you when you kissed Isabella. All I'm asking is for you to do the same.
She orchestrated the pictures. You can't believe anything she says."

"But the money? Explain that to me. Just tell me who's
blackmailing us." He put the word blackmail in air quotes.

My phone buzzed. I pulled it out of my purse and looked down
at the text:

"Don't you dare. All I have to do is press enter."

"What could possibly be more important than this
conversation, Penny? Unless it's him?"

"It's not Tyler."
Isabella must have cameras in
here. She's been watching us this whole time.
"You know this isn't
about Tyler. You know that. We're just friends."

He shook his head. "You stole from me. For him. And you
don't even have an explanation."

"I didn't steal. You said what's yours is mine."

"Come on, Penny. That's just something people say. And I
don't know what love is. Obviously. We're calling the wedding off just in time.
Because I just liked fucking you. That's all I know. I need another
drink."

"You don't mean that."

"I do. You have a great body. But clearly you're a
shitty person. You're ugly on the inside. I see that now." He grabbed a
glass from the cabinet. "I'll find another ten to keep the bed warm. Don't
you worry about that."

"You're just lashing out. Stop saying things just
because you're upset..."

"I mean every word that I've said. Go to hell,
Penny."

"You're such an asshole." Yes, I couldn't explain
the missing money to him. But there was no reason for him to say that he never
loved me. That I was ugly on the inside.

"Sure." He unscrewed the cap to the scotch and took
a sip straight from the bottle. "I'm the asshole."

"Yeah, you are." I pulled off the lid to the box I
had left on the counter. "Because you still talk to Rachel." I threw
the pictures at him. "And cheated on me during your bachelor party."
I threw the rest of the pictures at him, the ones of him fucking some random
girl and kissing Isabella in his office. "And you loved Isabella. You lied
to me. And maybe you still do love her. You left her millions of notes saying
how much you loved her. You never left me love letters. You told me you were
forced to marry her. That you never loved her. And talking about having
children with her? Jesus, James. You never wanted that life with me. So now I
know why. Because you just liked fucking me. You never loved me. You're a liar
and a cheat."

"Have you been following me?" He held up the
picture of Rachel. "What is wrong with you?"

"That's all you have to say to me? After everything I
just said? God, you did cheat on me."

"I didn't fucking cheat on you! I already told you that
when I got back from my bachelor party. I would never cheat on you. I'm not the
one who fucked this up. You are. This is on you."

"Fine. Throw the blame on me. I'll take it, if that's
what you need. But, James..."

"What I need is for you to either tell me why you stole
from me or get the hell out of my house."

"I already told you! You won't believe me. Because you
trust your ex wife more than you trust me."

"Because she never needed my money! God, my parents were
right the whole time. You can't trust someone who comes from nothing. All
they'll want is your money."

From nothing?
I didn't come from nothing. I had a
family that loved me. That meant more than all the money in the world. And I
thought that's what he wanted from me, to be my family. I was so wrong.

"You kept telling me not to trust Isabella and that I
shouldn't talk to her. And I was too naive to see that you were the one I
shouldn't trust. So take the money you got your hands on. But you'll never get
another dime from me. I'll blacklist your name so you can never get a marketing
job in this entire city. I'm done giving you my handouts. I'm done with you. I
never want to see your face again."

"Screw you, James." My whole body was trembling.
Every venomous word that came out of his mouth broke me a little more.
"I'm giving you what you want. I'm leaving." I walked away from him
and opened up the front door. "Have fun finding a ten to keep your bed
warm." I slammed the door behind me. Part of me wanted him to come after
me. To tell me he was sorry. But I knew he wouldn't. He thought I was a gold
digger. He thought I was in love with Tyler. And he didn't trust me. I pressed
the button to close the doors of the elevator. Apparently he never had.

Ian was leaning against the car when I stepped off the
elevator.

I looked down at the ground, hoping he wouldn't look up as I
passed him.

"Penny? Do you need a lift?"

"No, I'm good." I kept walked.

"Are you okay?" He put his hand on my shoulder

"I'm fine." I wiped my tears away.

"What happened?"

"Nothing."

"Let me drive you wherever you're going."

I didn't want to go to my parents' hotel room crying. I
didn't want to go to Melissa and Tyler's. Not when James thought I still had
feelings for him. I couldn't go to Bee and Mason's. "You don't work for
me, Ian. You made that clear the other day." I pulled away from him.

"And I said I was sorry. Please, just let me take
you."

"I don't have anywhere to go. And you need to be here in
case James comes down. He's drunk. So, don't let him go anywhere. I don't want
him to hurt himself."

Ian frowned. "Is everything okay between you two?"

I couldn't tell James that Isabella was the one who had given
me Tyler's bank account number. That she had orchestrated this fight between us
perfectly. And even if I did, he wouldn't believe me. He trusted her way more
than he trusted me. She had him wrapped around her finger. And James had said
some awful things to me. He was drunk, but that didn't excuse it. It was like I
was hearing how he really felt about me for the first time. And it wasn't what
I had wanted to hear. James and I certainly weren't going to fix this
overnight. The wedding wasn't going to happen. I grabbed my key out of my purse
and the credit card that James had given me and handed them to Ian. I didn't
need James' money. I never needed it. I only needed him. "Can you give
these to him for me please?"

"Penny, what's going on?"

"We're done." I shook my head. "I'm done. Just
don't let him go anywhere while he's drunk. I don't want anything to happen to
him."

Ian nodded his head. "I'll still take you wherever you
want to go. As a friend."

"It's okay, Ian. I just...I'll walk." Where the
hell was I going to go?

"Where will you stay?"

"I'll figure it out. Just don't let anything happen to
him." I walked away before he could ask me any more questions.

Thursday

I knew I'd love James until the day I died. That's what hurt
the most. He could say as many horrible things he wanted to me. It didn't
change the way I felt about him. And I still wanted him to be happy. Even if I
wasn't the one that could make him happy.

Sex.
That's what it came back to. That was my biggest
fear. That he was addicted to sex. I was just a good lay. Did he really mean
that? I felt so cheap. James had lashed out at me before. He was good at
pushing people away because he didn't think anyone could love him. So he didn't
want to fall for anyone.

I hated that I was walking through the city streets of New
York, a city that wasn't my home, feeling bad for the person who had just
dumped me. But I did feel bad for him. He was so broken. I thought I could heal
that wound. I thought I was enough. But I was just a good lay. I was just an
escape from his reality. I was a drug. And he was ready to move onto the next
thing.

The most ironic part is that Isabella had warned me it would
happen. She had actually been right. Isabella had acted like a good friend to
him the whole time she was torturing me. She won. And I didn't want to spend my
whole life fighting her. I had a sick feeling that James was running to her
right now, falling into her trap. Hopefully Ian would listen to me and not take
him anywhere. If he wasn't going to be with me, he needed to find someone that
actually made him happy. I didn't want him to revert back to her because it's
all he knew.

I pulled out my phone and called Rob who was in town for the
wedding. He could take care of James and make sure he didn't get back with
Isabella. Rob hated her just as much as I did.

"Cashing in on your last lay as a single woman?"
Rob said. "I thought you might call."

"Rob, can you go check on James?" I asked, ignoring
him.

"Absolutely. I was just on my way over to hang out with
you guys. Are you not there?"

"No. I'm...James can explain. Just take care of him
okay? Promise to take care of him for me?" It suddenly hit me hard that I
was losing all of James' family and friends too. Rob really had become one of
my best friends. More like the brother I never had. I wouldn't be able to hang
out with Bee and Mason any more either. I'd never get to see Jen again. I was
losing the love of my life and my new family.

"What's going on?" Rob suddenly seemed to
understand that I was serious.

"I'm...the wedding's off, Rob."

"What?"

"He doesn't love me."

Rob laughed. "Yes he does. You're just getting cold
feet."

"No. We're done." My voice caught. "It's over.
Please just go take care of your brother. He's drunk. And he needs you."

"He doesn't need me. He needs you. Penny..."

I hung up the phone. There was a text message waiting for me
from Isabella:

"You did the right thing, Penny. You're both better off
this way. You're free to do whatever you want now. Go back to Wilmington. Go
home. Live your life. And don't worry about James. I'll take good care of
him."

 A person passing me on the street gave me a strange look. I
quickly wiped away my tears. I was aware of the fact that I looked like a crazy
person, but I didn't really care. If James didn't want me anymore, it didn't
change my feelings for him. I'd always love him. And I needed to do one last
thing for him before it was too late.

I looked in my purse. I had about thirty dollars in cash.
That could at least get me there. I'd figure out what to do next later. It was
time to finally take Zach's advice. I needed to fight fire with fire. If I
couldn't have James, I had to make sure Isabella didn't end up with him either.
I put my hand out and hailed down a taxi.

***

I looked up at the Hunter's huge mansion. It seemed strange
that this is what James thought I was after. I never cared about his money. I
didn't know he still had doubts about that. But his parents had ingrained that thought
into his head. If he had just trusted me, the wedding would still be on. I had
trusted him. I was going to marry him despite the pictures Isabella sent. But
James hadn't given me the same courtesy. What happened between us was just as
much his stubbornness as it was Isabella's fault. And she knew him. She knew
that he was sensitive about someone being with him for his money. She won.

What life did I have to live without James? I didn't have a
home to go back to. New York was my home. Wherever James was, that was my home.
He was home to me. I quickly wiped away the tears that had started to roll down
my cheeks. I just wanted him to be happy.

I walked up the steps to James' parents' house and pressed
the doorbell. A moment later, Eric opened up the door. He was the person that
had been nicest to me at the engagement party. I fit in better with their help
than with any of them.
Because I came from nothing.

"Hi, Penny."

"Hi, Eric. I need to talk to James' parents."

"Are they expecting you?"

"No. But it's urgent. Can you please tell them that? I
wouldn't be here if it wasn't."

"Of course." He stepped aside and I walked into
their huge foyer. "The sitting room is to your left. Please take a seat
while I go tell them."

"Thank you." I walked into the room he had pointed
to as he disappeared down a hallway. The room was like every other room I had
seen in here. It was way too ornate for my taste. Simple people liked simple
things. This wasn't a life I wanted. I'd be okay.

No.
I sat down and put my face in my hands. It didn't
matter what I told myself. I'd never be okay. I bit the inside of my cheek. I
wasn't going to cry in front of James' parents. As far as I knew, they were
part of Isabella's scheming. If that was the case, I wasn't going to give them
the satisfaction of seeing me cry. But I really hoped they weren't. They had
said that they'd do anything to protect their son. I just needed to make them
see that I wasn't the one that they should be worried about.

Isabella had taken everything from me. And all I could do was
make sure she didn't get to take my place in James' life. He needed someone
good and kind. Maybe that wasn't me. Good, kind people didn't have sex in their
fiancé's office. That's what got us in this mess in the first place. Good, kind
people also didn't touch strangers abs during their bachelorette parties. But I
didn't want to. I had wanted to stay in and watch a movie. I thought I was a
good person. And it hurt that James didn't think so. It felt like no one had
ever truly seen me before I met him. But he thought I was ugly on the inside.
My chest hadn't stopped hurting since I had left our apartment.
His
apartment.
He had made that very clear.
He never loved me.

James' father cleared his throat. I immediately stood up.
"Mr. and Mrs. Hunter, I'm sorry to just stop by."

"A little notice would have been nice," James'
mother said.

"It's okay," Mr. Hunter said and walked into the
room. "Eric said you had something urgent to discuss?"

James' mother sighed and walked into the room.

"Yes, it's about Isabella..."

"Isabella is a dear friend of the family. She'll always
be our daughter in law. If you're here to complain about her, you've come to
the wrong place. You'll never replace her."

"Enough." James' father's voice made me jump. He
sounded like James when he was upset. "Let the girl speak."

I swallowed hard. "I'm not trying to replace her. And
I'm not going to be marrying your son."

"Thank heavens." His mother sighed and sat down in
one of the chairs.

James' father lowered his eyebrows. Again, it reminded me of
James. "What happened? Where is he?"

"He's fine. He's with Rob." It was the first time
that it actually seemed like one of James' parents cared about his well being.

"Okay, well, Eric will see you out," James' mother
said. She snapped her fingers and Eric appeared at the door.

"No. I'm not here to tell you about that. I got an email
from Isabella this morning, blackmailing me and James. She had pictures
of..." right now wasn't the time to be discreet. And I didn't care if
Isabella was listening. She had never said I couldn't tell his parents.
"Of James and I having sex in his office. She planted a camera in his
office or something. And she said she'd leak the photos to some tabloids if I
didn't agree to transfer 20 million dollars into her bank account. I didn't
want the pictures to be leaked. I was trying to protect your son. I love him so
much, I..." I was getting off topic. I blinked away the tears that were
starting to well in my eyes. "I did what she asked. And she said I couldn't
tell James that she made me do it. So I didn't. But she actually gave me the
bank account of this guy I used to date. I couldn't tell James that she tricked
me. I couldn't risk it. So he broke up with me. Because he doesn't trust me. I
just thought you'd like to know that your perfect daughter in law just stole 20
million dollars from the son that you claim to care about."

"You're lying," his mother said.

I pulled out the bank slip that I had gotten and handed it to
her.

"This doesn't prove anything. All it proves is that you
transferred money out of James' bank account. That
you
stole from him.
Which is exactly what we tried to warn him about. No wonder he broke up with
you. Eric, please show Miss Taylor out."

I wasn't sure who I hated more, Isabella or Mrs. Hunter. I
handed her a sheet of paper filled with the texts that Isabella had sent me
throughout the day. I had stopped and had them printed out. "Isabella was
watching me somehow. It was like she could hear everything I was saying and see
what I was doing. I just thought that you'd both like to know. Maybe she's not
the girl you thought she was." I walked past his mother and toward the
door before I could start crying.

"Wait," his dad said.

I stopped and turned around.

"Let me see your cell phone."

"I'm not lying. Those texts are from her. That's all the
proof I have. I know it'll be my word against hers and..."

"I believe you."

That's what I had wanted James to say to me. His dad believed
me? He didn't even know me. Maybe James would believe me if I could have told
him the whole story. I pulled out my phone and handed it to him.

He ran his fingers along the back of it and peeled off what
looked like a clear sticker.

"What is that?"

"The thinnest camera and recording device in the world.
It was the last technology Blive Tech International came out with before James
sold the company. She was watching you. And listening to you." He looked
over at his wife.

She shrugged her shoulders. It looked like she was in shock.

Maybe Austin had slipped it on my phone when he had kissed
me. That was the only thing I could think of. Which meant Isabella had been
watching me all week. I felt a chill run down my spine. My phone was always
near me. She wasn't lying when she said she had more pictures.
Oh God.
"Maybe you could get the pictures from her? Ask her not to leak them? I
don't want..."

"We'll take care of it." He handed my phone back to
me. "And we'll talk to James. None of this is your fault."

"No." I shook my head. "It's deeper than that.
We're not...it's over." It pained me to say it. But it was true. I
couldn't marry James. He didn't love me. It didn't matter how much I loved him.
If he didn't trust me after everything we had been through, he never would.

"I'm sorry to hear that," his dad said.

"Your son is wonderful. He's not weak. He just needs you
both in his life. Show him how much you care. Because I can tell that you do.
You should be so proud of him. He's the most amazing person I've ever
met."

"You really love him?" James' mom asked.

"So much that it hurts." My voice caught. "I'm
sorry, I have to go." I turned around and walked as quickly as I could out
of the room.

***

I didn't care if pictures of me having sex were all over the
internet. Scandals blew over. I knew that better than anyone. I was such an
idiot. I should have just told him.

A raindrop landed on the top of my head. I looked up as a
light drizzle started. I didn't have a jacket or umbrella. But I didn't care.
The cool rain felt good against my skin. Rain had always been comforting to me
every since I met James. It reminded me of him. Walking under his umbrella back
from the party that I hadn't wanted to go to. I wanted to go back to that
moment. I wanted to do things differently. The rain wasn't comforting tonight.
It just reminded me of what I had lost.

I took off my high heels and continued walking, letting my
feet splash in the puddles that were forming on the sidewalk. It was only a
matter of minutes until I was completely soaked. My tears had quickly mixed
into the rain.

He shouldn't have given up on me. He shouldn't have said
those things to me. All I had ever done was love him.
Unconditionally.
That's what love was. It was unconditional. James didn't love me. He had never
loved me.

I was holding on to something that had never existed. It felt
like I was melting into the rain.

James was wrong. I could take care of myself. I didn't need
his handouts. I had my debit card with a few thousand dollars left in my
account. It was all the money I had saved up working stupid summer jobs in high
school and in college before meeting James. And it was all I needed. It was all
I had ever needed. I'd use it to leave. That's what he wanted. He didn't want
to see me ever again.

I would have followed James to the ends of the earth. I
pulled my phone out of my purse and looked down at it. There were no missed
calls or messages. He wanted me to leave. So I'd do that for him too. I'd
disappear. It felt like I already had. I wasn't me without him.