Off Limits: Playboys of New York Series

by Low, JA

  “Mr. Stone. Miss Jones. This way…” The hotel manager greets us at the back entrance. “We have the penthouse waiting for you, sir. We will have someone bring up your bags. Extra security has been arranged at the entrance in case they decide to come here.”

  That makes me feel a little relieved.

  We make our way to the penthouse suite. I’m so riddled with anxiety that I can’t appreciate its beauty. Taking a seat, I open my phone and begin to Google our names. Lines of gossip fill my phone screen from all the usual outlets. Then I see a video by TMZ about an interview with Walker, and curiosity gets the better of me.

  My hands are shaking after watching it.

  He’s so angry about Noah and me.

  “Babe, are you okay?” Obviously noticing the color has drained from my face, he asks me to hand over my phone to him. He watches the video, and I can see he’s visibly shaken from it as well. His face turns like thunder, and he furiously starts calling people. He’s shouting down his phone about extra security and that Walker has threatened us.

  Walker won’t do anything.

  He won’t want to lose the millions of dollars in sponsorship.

  He was caught off guard and didn’t have enough time to put his public mask on and think about things.

  “He won’t touch you ever again. You hear me,” Noah tells me. The determined look on his face leaves no room for error. He goes back to his phone calls.

  My phone lights up, it’s Emma.

  “What the fuck?” she screams. “That boy is fucked in the head. Where are you? Are you safe?”

  “I’m with Noah at a hotel. The paparazzi are at our home, so we came here.”

  “Anderson and I are on our way back to the city. I’ve called a meeting with the gang. Text me where you are.”

  A couple of hours later, my girls are here as are EJ, Anderson, and Logan. The boys have gone into a separate room to talk strategies. I hate seeing the concerned faces of my friends before me.

  “Guys, I’m fine. I had no idea Noah and I going in public would cause so much drama. I was kind of hoping to lessen it. Obviously, I was wrong!”

  “It’s a cute pic,” Stella adds. “Very swoony.”

  Emma pours champagne for everyone except Lenna who declines.

  “Why are you not drinking?” Emma questions her. “You never say no to champagne.

  “I just don’t want any,” Lenna says defensively.

  Emma eyes narrow on her.

  “How are things with?” I flick my thumb toward the other room.

  “You have enough going on, try not to worry about me.” Lenna’s eyes are glassy.

  Honestly, I need the distraction.

  “What’s going on?” Moving forward and grabbing a sandwich, I can be concerned and fill my belly.

  “Nothing. It’s no big deal. Don’t worry about me. Really.”

  I frown at Lenna’s response.

  “We can’t do much for Chloe at the moment, but maybe we can help you,” Ariana says gently as tears begin to well in Lenna’s eyes.

  “I love my job, but I can’t work there anymore.” She tries to hold her tears back. “Not with him.”

  My heart breaks for her.

  “Oh, my Lenna bug.” Emma sits down and pulls her into arms. “No man is worth your tears. Especially not one so emotionally stunted like him. No offense, Chlo. You got the good twin,” Emma tells me.

  Thanks, I think.

  “He made it obvious this weekend whatever fleeting thing we had was done and dusted. I can’t turn my feelings off like that. I’m not a robot.”

  I want to punch Logan in the dick for being, well, a dick.

  “I’m sorry, guys. Seriously, Chloe has more important things going on than my stupid crush.”

  “Hey, no. This is just as important,” I tell her. I don’t know why everyone’s freaking out, to be honest. Walker said something in the heat of the moment, but he won’t do anything. He won’t risk the new persona he has as the doting dad and faithful fiancé.

  “I can’t do it anymore. I thought I was stronger, but I’m not,” she tearfully tells us.

  “Does it have anything to do with you not having any champagne?” Lenna flinches at Emma’s question.

  “No!” she yells, standing quickly.

  Okay, not sure what’s going on right now.

  The boys walk back in after hearing the commotion, and they see a tearful Lenna standing in the middle of the room.

  “Logan, Noah. I just wanted to let you know that I’m giving you my two-weeks’ notice.”

  The room falls silent.

  “Lenna.” Noah steps forward. “No. We don’t want you to leave,” he tries to reassure her.

  Logan’s standing frozen with a scowl on his face.

  “Say something, dickhead.” Anderson elbows Logan.

  “You’re a good employee. We don’t want you to go.” But Logan’s words sound so robotic, it’s as if he’s just going through the motions but not really feeling them.

  Lenna’s face turns red.

  “Urgh… men,” she huffs frustrated. “I have to go.” She grabs her bag. “I can’t be here anymore.” Her eyes glare at Logan, who doesn’t say a thing.

  All of us girls rally around Lenna, trying to reassure her that she shouldn’t leave.

  “I’m sorry, Chlo. I know I should be here for you right now. But I just—”

  “Shh.” I pull her into my arms. “I’m fine. But please, don’t leave. Something’s going on, and you need us.”

  She shakes her head. “I know. But I have to sort this mess out myself. My life has decided to go in another direction.”

  Cryptic. You’ve just quit your job. Maybe deep down, this wasn’t what she wanted.

  We all say goodbye to her.

  Walking back into the suite, the boys are talking amongst themselves.

  “You’re a dick.” Emma’s the first one to speak, directing it straight at Logan. “You should have begged her to stay. She was waiting for you to man up.”

  “If she wants to move on, then that’s her choice,” Logan tells her.

  “Seriously, did you get dropped on the head or something as a child?” Emma yells at him.

  “This has nothing to do with you,” Logan advises.

  “Like hell, it doesn’t. I’m her friend.”

  Logan scoffs, which makes Emma see red. “You’re a selfish bastard.”

  “Anderson control your wife,” Logan spits at his friend.

  Anderson turns to Logan, and he looks furious.

  “Don’t involve him. Are you not man enough to take on a woman?”

  “I don’t have time for this bullshit. I never thought you were one for the dramatics.”

  Emma’s eyes go wild.

  “Back the fuck off,” Anderson booms putting himself between Emma and Logan. “You will show my wife some respect.”

  “Your fake wife.”

  Anderson’s hand comes out at lightning speed and grabs Logan by the front of his shirt.

  “Whoa, hold on.” Noah jumps in wrestling Anderson from his twin.

  “Emma’s a part of my life. A permanent part of my life. You better get used to it.”

  “I don’t get how you can stay with a gold digger like her,” Logan spits.

  “What the fuck, Logan?” Noah turns on his brother.

  EJ restrains Anderson from knocking Logan out.

  “I’m not a fucking gold digger,” Emma screams at Logan. “I have my own shit.”

  “Ems…” I tug on her arm, “… leave it.”

  Her eyes widen at me. “You’re siding with that dick after the way he’s treated Lenna. Your friend. You do remember that?”

  What’s going on with Emma.

  “I’m not siding with anyone. I don’t think hurling insults at each other is working either.”

  Emma pulls her arm away from me. “I’m out.” She reaches out, grabbing her bag.

  “Me, too,” Anderson agrees with her, leaving the
suite with a black cloud hanging over it.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Noah asks his brother.

  “Leave me the fuck alone.” He pulls himself from Noah’s grip, and the boys disappear back to the other room.

  “Wow! Okay. That was a little much,” Stella interjects.

  “Made me totally forget my shit.”

  “I’ve got whiplash over all those verbal volleys,” Ariana states, looking confused.

  “Something’s going on with Lenna. Then Emma’s outburst. Why is she so angry?” I ask the group, who all shrug with no idea.

  “I’m so lost. I think Lenna’s pregnant, and I think Emma’s in love with Anderson. But who knows?” Stella adds.

  Ariana’s and my head turn instantly, giving us both whiplash at her comments.

  “What?” Stella looks at us both. “What makes you say all that?”

  “Oh, ‘cause Lenna didn’t want a glass of champagne. She’s more than a little emotional, and she’s quit her job because she’s in love with Logan.”

  Seriously, how did I miss all that?

  “And Emma has to be getting the feels for that hunk of a man. I mean they spend every waking moment together. Plus, they have sexy times. But she’s too proud to say she likes being married to him or that she’s emotionally attached. Did you not see the way those two were all over each other this weekend in The Hamptons? I mean… they can tell the world they were putting on a show for the cameras, but it so wasn’t. They were drawn to each other every chance they got, especially when there were no cameras around.”

  Far out, I suck as a friend. I’m so caught up in my life and drama that I haven’t noticed what’s been going on with my friends.

  “Wow! You really are on the ball,” Ariana adds.

  Stella shrugs.

  “I’m not getting laid, so I need to do something to keep myself busy. Luckily, my friends live dramatic lives.” She smiles, then sips her champagne.

  32

  Noah

  “What the hell just happened?” I yell at my brother.

  “I don’t know. They’re the ones coming at me.”

  “Because you were being a dick.”

  Logan flips me off.

  “I think everyone’s a little touchy at the moment, and everyone’s trying to protect everyone,” EJ adds. “I’ve also known Emma for a really long time. She’s no gold digger, man,” he tells my brother.

  “Fine,” he huffs. “I was wrong there. I owe her an apology over that.” Now we’re getting somewhere.

  “Also, you insulted a man’s wife,” EJ adds. “I know they have some weird, fake marriage going on, but still the way he stood up for her tonight, that didn’t seem fake.”

  I have to agree, there’s more going on there.

  “Fine. I’ll apologize to everyone. Happy?” Logan throws up his arms.

  EJ and I look at each slightly concerned.

  “You okay about the whole Lenna thing?”

  The death stare he gives me tells me he’s not.

  “She looked so upset.” A tiny glimmer of remorse flickers across my brother’s face.

  “Mixing business and pleasure is hard. That’s why I don’t do it.”

  “You haven’t even once with Stella?” I ask the obvious question.

  “No way. She’s a good girl. Look at her, she has wholesome written all over her. She’s marriage material, not banging material,” EJ muses.

  “You started off so strong then fucked it all up in the end.” He looks at me confused, but I’m not touching that.

  “But then there are people like Chloe and me, whose workplace romance works.”

  “I don’t want to hear about it,” EJ grumbles.

  “You’re the exception,” Logan admits.

  “What are you going to do about Lenna?”

  “Nothing.”

  I’m shocked. “So, you’re just going to let her quit?”

  “She can’t work with me anymore. What more can I do? I fucked it up. I fucked it all up.” I’ve never seen my brother so defeated.

  “Lenna’s a valuable employee. Honestly, I don’t want to lose her. There has to be another way. We have two weeks to change her mind.”

  “Fine,” Logan sighs.

  “Great. Can we get back to the bullshit that is Walker and his threat about getting Chloe back.”

  * * *

  We’ve been stuck in this hotel for the past two weeks. Our friend, Jackson Connolly, from LA came out to help update the security on Chloe’s and my townhouses and work. We have employed a private investigator to keep track of Walker to ensure he isn’t making any trips to New York. I’ve watched the video over and over again, and each time it raises my anxiety.

  “Walker, what do you think about the news of your ex, Chloe, dating and living with multi-millionaire hotelier, Noah Stone?” the reporter yells at Walker.

  “What the fuck did you say?”

  The reporter repeats his question, but this time his voice is a little shaky, especially given the daggers Walker’s shooting at the camera.

  “She can run, and she can hide, but I will always find her. And when I do, I’ll bring her home, so we can start the life we were supposed to have had together.”

  The reporter is a little stunned by Walker’s comments.

  “But you have a fiancée and son at home.”

  “She’s my first love. Nothing can take that away, especially not some punk-ass hotel guy. I had her first.” He points at the camera, threatening me. “She will always be mine. Mine!”

  Then he’s pulled away by his football club’s representative, obviously seeing his unhinged ramblings as bad publicity for the team.

  She will never be yours.

  You fucked it up.

  You chose to think with your dick, not with your heart.

  Walker’s bitter because he knows what he’s lost. Chloe’s a goddamn diamond set amongst cubic zirconia. I’ll never make that mistake. No way in the world. She’s mine now, and I don’t intend on ever letting her go. She’s it for me. And as scary as that sounds to a commitment-phobic man like me, when it has to do with her, it feels right.

  We’re going to get that house in the suburbs, the dog named Frank, and the blonde kids running around between our legs. Our home is going to be filled with laughter and smiles, and I’m going to give my kids the idyllic childhood I had before everything went to shit.

  * * *

  “There’s cake in the lunchroom,” someone tells me as I walk down the corridor at work.

  There’s nothing to celebrate. I’m not happy that my brother wasn’t able to convince Lenna to stay. In fact, he hasn’t spoken to her since he asked her to stay, and she turned him down.

  Lenna took the job Emma offered her—running the HR for her fashion marketing business. Chloe’s excited that Lenna’s still close by, and that they can still do lunch together.

  My brother’s a stubborn and complicated guy. He bottles things up. Logan doesn’t involve people in his business, but Chloe and her friends are all up in each other’s business. Now that Lenna is part of their squad, that means those girls are all up in my brother’s business, and that doesn’t mesh well.

  He apologized to Anderson and Emma for the way he acted, and thankfully they didn’t hold it against him, which was commendable of them.

  I’ve noticed he has withdrawn a lot since the whole Lenna thing happened. It reminds me of how he acted after dad died. I’m concerned, but like I said, he’s stubborn.

  Things at work have been running smoothly even though Chloe thinks the young girls in the office are flirting with me more blatantly now that they know I’m dating her. I didn’t believe her at all until I overheard the girls in the lunchroom bitching about Chloe.

  I soon put a stop to that kind of office gossip, and if they don’t like it, then I have no qualms over firing them all, which might be a problem seeing as we don’t have a new HR Director.

  “Hey, babe, just dropping off some cake t
o you.” Walking into her office, I place the plate beside her.

  “Aw, thanks.” Standing, she gives me a quick peck. “Who’s the other slice for?”

  “Logan.” She raises her brows at me. “I’m worried about him.”

  “I know you are. But he needs to work through his feelings in his own time.”

  “He’s stubborn, Chlo.”

  “I know. But if you keep backing him into a corner, that’s not going to help either.” Maybe she’s right.

  “I can’t just sit back and see the woman, who I know my brother wants, disappear from his life.”

  “Aw, you old romantic, you. Maybe it’s a case of… if you love it, set it free.”

  “It’s just cake.”

  “If it ends up on your face, I’m going to say I told you so.”

  “I’ll take my chances.” Walking down the corridor to my brother’s office, I push open his unlocked door and barrel my way in.

  “Here’s some cake, dickhead.” He doesn’t even flinch when it lands beside his work. “It’s good cake.” I give him a nudge, but he just grunts. “You said your goodbyes yet?”

  “I’ve said all I’ve needed to say.” He doesn’t even look up from his work to answer me.

  “Why won’t you talk to me?” Never thought I’d have to plead with my own twin to tell me what’s going on inside his head.

  “There’s nothing to talk about. We hooked up. It was a mistake. Now it’s over. The end.”

  “Was it a mistake, though? Because you didn’t feel anything or because of the business?” He doesn’t answer me, which totally means it was only because of the business. “Why do you think you don’t deserve love?” Now, I’m turning into a therapist.

  “Love?” he raises his voice. “You think what happened between Lenna and me was love? Hardly. It was a couple of convenient fucks.”

  There’s a gasp at Logan’s door, and I turn around to see Lenna standing there, the bottle of whiskey she has in her hand drops in slow motion. She’s turned and left by the time the bottle smashes over the floor.