Page 16 of Old Money

I shake my head as I get out of bed, walking toward the bathroom. And then I freeze in

my tracks when I remember what else I did last night. I smack my forehead with my hand as I cringe, thinking of how I mounted him and tried to seduce him in my drunken splendor.

“Oh, my god,” I whisper to myself as I let my hands slide down my face.

Ineverdo stuff like that.

Trevor Bell was my first and only boyfriend, and it took over a year for us to go out on our first date because I was too nervous to say yes. I have had a couple of random hookups over the last three and a half years, but they’ve all left me wondering what the fuck everyone freaks out about sex for.

But there is something about Julian that makes my entire body ache in the best way. It feels like parts of me are awake now that have been dormant my entire life. And I really like it.

But I can’t like it enough to make a complete fool of myself when he was kind enough to take me in…again.

I splash water on my face, comb my fingers through my hair, then take the walk of shame—the not-so-fun kind—down the massive staircase to the living room. When I round the corner into the kitchen, though, I’m surprised to see a platter full of food and Russ at the kitchen island, sipping coffee and watching the morning news.

“Morning,” he says when he sees me.

“Morning,” I say, looking around.

“He left,” Russ says. “Said to tell you he was sorry he had to run. He has a meeting-packed day today, but I’ll give you a ride.”

I nod, trying to cover my disappointment.

Oh, God. I definitely gave him the ick last night. He’s having his people handle me.

Fuck.

“Bonnie made you a few different things,” he goes on. “Eat something before we leave.” I nod again, walking slowly toward the platter of hot foods she made and stabbing at a pancake and a few pieces of bacon before I take a seat next to him at the island. I grab the syrup, and Russ and I watch the weather report in silence for the next fifteen minutes. I finish up and bring my plate to the sink.

“Just leave it,” he says.

“I don’t mind washing it,” I tell him. He smirks.

“Honey, the people that work in this kitchen get paid a lot more than I do. Leave it,” he says, standing up. Russ is a tall Black man with both bulging biceps and a bit of a gut, but he still looks like a dude I wouldn’t want to fuck with. Or maybe like a dude I’d want with me if someoneelsewas trying to fuck with me.

“You ready?” he asks as I throw away my napkin. I nod. My bag is packed and on the floor where I left it last night, and Russ bends down to grab it.

“I already have the other things we brought back in the car downstairs,” he says.

“Thank you,” I say, trying not to take it personally that it feels like he’s trying to get me out of here fairly quickly. I wonder what his instructions were.

“Feed her, then get her out of my apartment.”Maybe something to that effect.

We take the elevator down, and he helps me into the back of the Escalade, then he puts my bag inside the other door. He pulls out, and I take a mental picture of everything as we leave, knowing I’ll likely never set foot in a billionaire’s apartment ever again. I sigh as I stare out the window, visibly pouting.

Not only will I miss the amenities and the incredibly sexy billionaire who owns them, but this means I have to go back to campus. For the first time since my entire world got upended, I have to face it. Alone.

But as we get off on the exit toward campus, I notice he doesn’t take our usual route. And then he keeps veering off, about two miles east, closer to the water.

“Where are we going, Russ?” I ask. But he doesn’t answer. Instead, he pulls the car onto a side street, right on the beach. He parks in front of a set of row homes, and then he gets out. He opens the back door and grabs my bags then walks around to let me out. He leads me up one of the stoops, enters a code, then pulls the door open when it unlatches.

Then I follow him up a set of stairs and then one more. We pass several doors, and I realize the row homes have been converted to apartments. And when we get to the next floor, he walks me to a door then hands me a single silver key.

I take it, looking up at him, confused as hell.

He nods toward the door, and I unlock it.

When it opens, my jaw drops.

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