Page 29 of The Billionaire Genius

“Audrey, I can explain,” I say, and she turns back around.

“I highly doubt it.” My sister looks horrified, I would be too if I was her. “What is going on…how long…has this been happening? Oh, my fucking God! Spencer! We have rules.” I hate this. She’s upset.

“We went to this event, and I drank a lot. And we ended up having sex and getting married.” I try making sense of it, but it sounds worse when I say it out loud.

“Married? Please tell me you are joking. This is a sick joke, Luna?” She looks past me to where Luna is standing. “You are screwing my best friend, and you are fucking my brother! Neither of you thought I should know? You got married!?” Audrey raises her voice to a shrill scream now, and I need to find a way to defuse this situation.

“Calm down, we are getting a divorce,” I say over her shouting. The room falls silent, and they both look at me. I know I said the wrong thing the minute it’s out of my mouth. Luna lunges past me and slams the office door behind her. Storming away, leaving me with my very very upset sister in a confined space.

“What the fucking hell has happened while I was gone?” Audrey asks, she looks at me and I know I have messed everything up for all three of us. “You better have an answer,” she says, taking a seat. There is no escaping this now.

“She made me go to an event, some charity thing. So, I got mad and made her go with me.” That’s what started it. “I don’t know what happened, or if it started before that, but when I saw her in the dress, I felt stuff.” My sister just glares at me, waiting for an actual explanation. “Then she flirted with me, and Blaire approached me.” I sigh. It still sounds ridiculous.

“That bitch! Why was she there?”

“Because I was there,” I say, that was obvious even to me. “I kissed Luna, or she kissed me to piss Blaire off—which worked.” I enjoyed seeing her so pissed.

“That still does not explain how you’re married to Luna and why you are having office sex at two in the afternoon.” No, it doesn’t.

“I drank to cope with all the fucking people, and Luna drank to deal with drunk me—it was a bit of a cycle. Then there was more flirting, and we had sex in the gentlemen’s club. I don’t know, Audrey, we woke up married and she was upset when I said it was a mistake.”

“Why would you say that to her?” My sister sounds horrified.

“Because I drunk married your best friend, that’s why. It was a mistake. It was not intentional.” I defend myself because I feel attacked. “I did not say it to upset her, but it did.”

“Because Luna is a hopeless romantic that believes in fairytales and love,” Audrey says like I should have known that. “But you are still doing the sex thing? Spencer, make it make sense.”

“Yes, and she said she loves me. And I have feelings which I did not know how to handle. And I couldn’t talk to you, so I have probably fucked this up, and I know there are rules. But fuck the rules. I love her.” Audrey smiles, and it shines across her entire face.

“Then I suggest you fix whatever you just broke because if you hurt my best friend, I will have to kill you, and I don’t want to have to kill my only family.” I thought she would say no, that she’d stop this madness and make me see sense. Instead, she wants me to go after Luna.

“I’m not sure how to fix it. I filed for divorce. It was a mistake!” Fuck, I have no idea what to do. This is hard for me. People are hard for me. Feelings are just a foreign language. I can speak Mandarin, but love—God help me.

“You go find her and apologize for being an oblivious fool, for starters. Then you tell her I am fine with this, but if you two ever lie to me again, there will be hell. And then show her that you love her.” I have really missed my sister so much.

“How do I do that?” I ask, and she gives me the stink-eye.

“For starters, you don’t get divorced! Idiot.” I have to stop that. I don’t want to lose her. “Go. I will come back once you have fixed the fuck up,” she says, and I open the office door calling for Luna. But the house is empty. Her car and Athena are gone. She left. I pushed so hard that she left me. I knew she would. I am terrible at this.

The leash and Athena’s ball are gone. She has gone to the dog park. At least I know where to find them. I just need to think about what to say when I get there. As I get into the car and ask the GPS to take me the fastest route, I think back to my past. When we were much younger, Audrey told me I would just know when the right person came along—it would make sense. Luna makes no sense, but Luna and me—somehow, that does.I know. I just know.

TWENTY-TWO

LUNA

I needed to cry, and I didn’t want either of them to see me falling apart. I had to get out of that house. I knew Spencer was going to hurt me. I knew it from the first kiss. Athena brings her ball and drops it at my feet. Her tail wags as she waits for me to toss it again. My tears roll down my face, and I know people are staring at me as I sit and sob on a park bench.

I’m sad, angry, and afraid I am going to lose Spencer. He still wants a divorce. None of our time together has changed his mind. It changed him—he smiles more, and he’s relaxed and not in such a damn mood all the time. But it didn’t change his mind. He still believes that we were a mistake. My heart is already breaking, and it isn’t even over yet. My tears are spilling, and I don’t hold them in. I have to feel this. It can pass, so I can allow myself to let him go when those papers come. Spencer is not the sort of man that settles with a woman like me. I’m a free spirit, and he’s an anal-retentive asshole. We don’t match. We don’t make sense—yet inside, I know he is the one for me even if I’m not the one for him.

Athena barks at me. I didn’t even notice she’d come back. “Sorry, baby girl,” I say and throw her ball as far as I can this time. She bolts after it, and a bike messenger chains his bike to a tree near my bench. I’m not watching the people in the park today. I am feeling my feelings today. Letting myself just have a moment to be human and allow it all to settle in.

“Luna Heath,” the messenger asks me, and I look confused. No one knows that I am married. Why would he call me that?

“Yes, that’s me. Who is asking?” I reply as Athena comes bolting back, barking viciously at the man. She’s got her hackles up and, clearly, doesn’t like him.

“Ma’am, you have been served,” he says, handing me a brown envelope with a legal seal on it. I don’t need to open it to know what it is. The weight of the paper in my hand crushes me, and I start crying again. Athena is growling at the poor messenger, but I don’t stop her. He isn’t a nice person. She is right about him. Who delivers bad news for a job without being an asshole? I know messengers of the court are notoriously sneaky. They will find you anywhere. They’ll ambush you on the toilet if it means you get served because that’s the only way they get paid.

I hold the papers in shaky hands, and Athena jumps onto my lap. She knows I am not okay, but she is not a lap dog. Her weight squashes me, and I hug my arms around her. She loves me. I need to feel loved for a moment in all of the emotion that churns inside me, even if the dog is the only one who loves me.

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