The Player + The Pact = I Do (New York City Billionaires #2)

Chapter 22

TWENTY-TWO

Jules

I still don’t understand the rules of football. Every couple of years, I google it, or I ask someone to explain, but then I remember I don’t give a shit and get on with my life.

It took them awhile, but Leo and his friends are spread out on the sofa, watching and roasting each other and catching up. It’s cute, even if they are fully grown men. Even billionaires need to blow off steam and be silly from time to time.

“This happens every Monday, huh?” I ask Efa, who’s just come back from the bathroom.

“Every Monday no matter what.” She hops up onto a barstool and starts helping herself to the charcuterie board. “It’s a real priority for Bennett. He won’t miss it unless there’s an emergency.”

“It’s nice, right?” I say. “That they prioritize each other.”

“They pretend it’s about the sport.” Efa laughs.

“It’s not about the sport,” I say. “I’ve been here five minutes and I know that.”

“They trust each other. And they’re so successful, finding people to fully trust can be hard.”

“Finding people you can fully trust can be really hard no matter how successful you are.”

Efa sighs like I’ve pressed a button that brought back a memory. “That’s very true.”

“So congratulations on your engagement,” I say. “I hear it happened fast.”

“Really fast,” Efa says. “I never expected to be engaged so young, but… He says I have an old soul and he’s an immature asshole at times, so we meet somewhere in the middle.”

“A match made in heaven.”

She nods. “What about you? You and Leo seem…” I tense, wondering what she’s going to say next. “Like you’re having a lot of sex.”

My eyes widen and I’m not quite sure what to say. “What do two people having a lot of sex seem like?”

She laughs. “Like you and Leo. So is it a casual thing or…?”

There’s clearly no point in denying it. “Did Leo tell Bennett?”

“No, I can just tell by the way you are with each other. You seem connected. Like more than a fake-engaged couple. Do you like him? What’s the deal?”

The deal is I feel connected to him.

“I don’t know if we have a deal, to be honest.”

“You’ve not talked about it?”

I shake my head. How would that conversation go? “Hey, you’re great in bed, wanna make this fake engagement into a real one and see how it goes?”

“He’s not my usual type.” I pause. “No, maybe he is my usual type. I’m not sure. I haven’t really analyzed the situation. ”

“Really?” she asks, taking a corn chip. “Then let’s start.”

Efa is a stranger. I get that she knows Leo and everything, but she doesn’t know me. I can’t go around analyzing my feelings with someone I just met. I don’t even know if I have feelings to analyze.

Well, that’s not true. I’m pretty sure I do have feelings to analyze, I’m just not sure I want to think about them.

“When did the sex start?” she asks, just as Bennett comes up behind her and adds a few more things to his plate.

“Jules, please ignore Efa if she’s being too intrusive. Don’t worry about being rude, just tell her to mind her own business.”

She playfully thwacks him on the arm and he chuckles before going back to the game.

“Were you together when you were his assistant?”

“God, no,” I reply reflexively. “I kinda hated him when I worked for him.”

“I hated Bennett too!” She seems enthusiastic that we have this in common. “Well, I fucked him first, then I hated him.” She laughs to herself. “Is Leo an arsehole to work for? He’s always so upbeat and charming. I imagine he’s a pushover as a boss.”

“He’s not a pushover. But he’s not an asshole. He lets everyone thinks he’s relaxed and a bit of an airhead, but nothing could be further from the truth. He knows what he wants and how he wants it. But he’s charming about it.”

“He sounds like a great boss—kinda how he is outside of work. So why did you hate him?”

I pull in a breath. Efa wants to know everything. “I guess because he’s charming and flirty and good-looking and… I imagine not the most faithful guy in the world. Like, he ’d be unreliable as a boyfriend. I’ve been burned by that kind of guy.”

Efa hums as she thinks. “And you’ve found out he’s not like that?” She pauses. “I mean, he is charming and flirty and good-looking. There’s no doubt about that. But he’s not unreliable. And I’ve never known him to be unfaithful. He’s been burned too. Maybe that’s made him a little afraid to commit.”

My stomach squeezes and twists. “Yeah, he’s told me bits and pieces,” I say.

“He’s such a good man,” she adds quickly. “He just hasn’t met the right woman yet. Maybe you’re who he needs.”

I force a small laugh. I don’t want her to think I’m some girl who thinks she’s the exception—that this time will be different. “We’re not actually getting married, so it’s completely fine. I’m living in the now.” I take a chip and load it with dip. I don’t want to talk about this. I don’t even want to think about this. Leo and I haven’t discussed anything beyond having sex while we’re living together. And why would we? For starters, I still work for him. Then there’s the fact that we’re not going to be living together forever. We don’t need to discuss this stuff because whatever we have between us will come to a natural end when I move out after the awards ceremony. I know Leo’s never going to settle down. He’s not the asshole I thought he was, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to anoint me as the Chosen One, either.

“Now’s a good place to start,” she says. “But don’t write off tomorrow. Since I met Leo, it struck me that what he needs is someone in his corner. He’s been so afraid of finding someone, but I think deep down, that’s what he wants.”

I start choking on my chip. “Good to know,” I say when I’ve recovered.

“He’s got a really good heart.” She glances over at the couch. “They all do. They just need the right women to round off their hard corners.”

“Is that what you do for Bennett?”

She smiles. “I think we do it for each other.”

I like the idea of the man I’m with making me slightly better, and me being able to do the same for him.

“Are Leo and Bennett the closest?” I ask.

“I’m not sure. Sometimes, from what I can see. But then sometimes Worth and Leo spend a lot of time together. Fisher and Jack are really close. But they all trust each other. They’d do anything for each other.”

It’s nice to see that side of Leo—the side that’s fiercely loyal and a good friend. If Caroline Hammond had never happened, I wonder whether Leo would be less afraid of being in a committed relationship.

“Do you know about his ex?” I ask.

“Caroline? Or Nadia? He only has two from what I know.”

I’m interested in both, but I settle on Caroline. “The first one. She seems to have really…”

“Fucked him up? What a bitch, right? Was just using him to irritate her father. Apparently, she got a chunk of change when she got shipped off to California. Her father tried to pay Leo to dump her, and when that didn’t work, he paid her to dump Leo and sent her west.”

My stomach churns at the thought. How can people treat each other like that? “Do you think that was her game plan all along?”

“Probably. But why did she have to string him along for years? ”

“Well, if he was as good in bed then as he is now, I think I know why.” I laugh, and Efa joins in. “I’m kidding. There’s no excuse to behave like that. But it says far more about her than it does about him.”

“Maybe she liked him, but not enough to marry?”

“And then he decided never to trust another woman with his heart again,” I say out loud. “She ruined him.”

“Maybe you’re the woman to change that.”

I groan. “Women always think they can fix men.” My mom always thought if she loved my dad enough, he’d stay with us, or he’d do the right thing by us, but he never did. He always put himself first. “In my experience, people don’t fix other people emotionally. If he doesn’t want to commit, I’m not going to change that.” I’m telling myself what I need to hear. I need to remember who Leo is at his core and why. He’s not going to change. Just like my father is never going to change.

“I know he appreciates what you’re doing for him,” she says after a few minutes. “It’s kind of you.”

“Not really,” I say. “I get a job out of it.” My phone buzzes on the countertop and I flip it over to see who’s messaging.

“True,” she says. “That’s how it started. Doesn’t mean it has to end that way.”

The message alert flashes a number I don’t recognize and my heart aches in my chest. I swipe down on the screen. “Sorry, I just want to check this.”

It’s my dad, asking if we can schedule that coffee.

He messaged me just like he said he would. Maybe him reaching out wasn’t all about the job—or maybe the job was the excuse he needed to take the initiative after all these years. Maybe he’s picking me. Finally. I hate myself for it, but I can’t help but hope. Maybe now that I’m older and things are different—now that I’m not relying on him for anything, now that he doesn’t have to worry about being a provider—maybe now things will be different.

Hope splutters into my chest and I turn the phone back onto its face.

“Sorry, what were you saying?”

Efa smiles at me. “God laughs when we make plans. You said yes to being Leo’s fake fiancée for the job, but maybe you’ll end up being with him for real. I mean, you’re already with him for real.”

“We’re not together,” I say.

She shrugs dismissively. “You’re not pretending to have sex though. That’s happening for real.”

“Right. But sex is sex. Sex isn’t a relationship.”

“But you’re in his apartment, you’re his employee. He may not have thought about it too much either, but this is a big deal for Leo. Don’t underestimate what you have together.”

What we have together?

“Leo is a really good guy at heart,” Efa continues. “He’s not one of these narcissistic players who doesn’t think about other people’s feelings, or see sex as a sport. The reason he doesn’t get close to women is because he’s afraid of being hurt. You two have built trust. I think this is different.”

Different.

I feel something nudge in my chest. I so want what Efa says to be true. I want to be different for Leo, because as I sit here, listening to Efa talk about him—describe him as the good and kind and sensitive guy I’ve come to know him as—I realize things already are different. For me.