Chapter 23

TWENTY-THREE

It’s been a long time since I’d set foot in Manhattan.

As a child, we were here for a good part of the year. My parents still owned the same penthouse, and according to Ava, our rooms were exactly the same as when we were kids.

It’s only supposed to be three days, but upon reviewing the schedule, Hunter only needed me for the Gala event. His days were occupied with meetings I didn’t need to attend.

To make sure no one accidentally saw us or the accounting team pick up on only one hotel charge, Hunter booked two hotel rooms, although he insisted I sleep with him.

As soon as we arrived, the change in time zone and flight caught up on me. I was exhausted and wanted to crash so hard, but Hunter had needs and made sure he fulfilled them even though sleep was the only thing I could think about.

When I woke the next day, he was gone. He briefly sent me a text to say he wouldn’t be back until late. I told him I’d be working from the hotel room for a bit, then planned to catch up with my Uncle Rocky for lunch.

“Look at you, all beautiful and grown up.” Uncle Rocky grins proudly. “No wonder Lex has turned gray.”

“Salt and pepper is the correct term.”

“Oh, yeah. Eric mentioned it once.” He rolls his eyes, then blows a puff of air from his mouth in annoyance. “I’m not even going to tell you what he said afterward.”

I cringe, knowing Eric is anything but vanilla with his opinions and views on life and men.

Uncle Rocky insists we have lunch near his work which happens to be in the Yankees Stadium since he is a sports commentator. I don’t mind traveling to the Bronx, given I’d answered all my pending emails and nothing was urgent.

“This new job of yours, you like it?”

We sit at the small table in the back of the deli, both of us ordering Rueben Sandwiches. Hunter enjoyed fancy restaurants, much like my father, but sometimes these small delis hit the spot with their food.

“I do. It was challenging at first, but I guess lately, it’s gotten a lot easier.”

“Oh yeah? You working for Cash, right?”

I nod, biting into my sandwich. It tastes so good, I accidentally let out a small moan.

Uncle Rocky lets out a whistle. “He and your father don’t exactly get along.”

“They don’t? I thought they’d only met once. That’s what Hunt, I mean Mr. Cash told me.”

“I guess anyone can extend the truth.”

“What do you mean?”

“Business is business, sweetheart. Men can get all macho about it,” Uncle Rocky informs me. “They will protect their name and brand at all costs.”

“I know that. I am Lex Edwards’ daughter,” I remind him.

“Exactly. Just be careful.”

“Of what, exactly?”

Uncle Rocky watches me with a weighted gaze, but then he smiles and starts to talk about the sandwich. I’m glad we stopped talking about Hunter and Dad since I don’t want to get caught in either one of their egotistical dramas.

After lunch, Uncle Rocky takes me back to the stadium for a tour. The tour involves the men’s locker room which, to be honest, caught me by surprise.

“Eric would love this.” I chuckle softly.

Uncle Rocky groans. “Trust me. He’s been here. He claimed he had to discuss something with me, then all of a sudden, he’s not in my office and supposedly lost his way … to the locker room.”

“Soooo, Eric.” I laugh.

The stadium is huge, not that I’m a sports fan or anything, and I barely go to games of any sort. As Uncle Rocky continues his tour, his phone buzzes with a text, prompting him to read it.

“Ah, shit,” he mumbles.

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m supposed to drop off keys to Beau. We changed the locks on our place in the Hamptons, and he’s going there tomorrow. The problem is, I’ve got two meetings this afternoon and a flight out to Cincinnati tonight.”

“Oh, bummer.”

“Hold on.” Uncle Rocky motions for me to follow him back to his office. “Do you think you can drop them off when you head back to your hotel?”

“Uh, sure. Where exactly?”

“Beau lives on campus at NYU. I’ll give you directions to get there.”

It’s not like I can say no since he seems to be in a bind. He scribbles something on a post-it note, then passes it to me along with the keys. It’s the address and dorm room number.

A colleague of Uncle Rocky barges into his office with some major crisis, calling for Uncle Rocky’s attention. I say goodbye quickly, then leave to catch a cab to NYU.

As I stand in the NYU courtyard, I can’t help but admire the green trees surrounding the tall buildings. Students are sitting around, some in groups and a few by themselves. There’s a lot of laughter from a group sitting near a tree, yet it doesn’t seem to bother the students reading near them.

A warm feeling fills my chest, and I can’t help but smile at all these people in their element. People who happen to be my age. It reminds me so much of high school, but with fewer cliques and judging by what everyone is wearing. Everyone is just chilled doing their own thing.

I look down at my dress pants and blouse, not even remembering the last time I wore jeans and sneakers. Every day is corporate wear, which, to be brutally honest, is boring as fuck.

A part of me feels nostalgic like I’ll never ever experience this. I intake a breath, ignoring these thoughts because what’s the point of dwelling on it?

Glancing down at the piece of paper, it’s obvious my sense of direction is awful.

“Excuse me,” I ask a girl walking past. “Do you know where this building is?”

She quickly reads the paper. “Sure, over there on your left.”

“Thanks.” I smile.

Making my way to where she pointed, I find the entrance without too much trouble. Beau’s room is down the corridor as I track the numbers on the door. When I get closer, a guy stops me.

“You looking for someone?”

“Yeah.” I hold up the paper, then point past him. “Just down there?”

A smirk graces his lips. “On the left. I’m Beau’s roommate, Kellan. And you are?”

“Alexa.”

“Oh, Alexa Edwards?”

My brows draw in as I tilt my head with curiosity. “How do you know?”

“Beau’s mentioned you. The name just stuck.”

“Right …”

“Anyways, just go on in. The doors unlocked. He won’t hear you knock. Usually, AirPods are in.”

“Of course, it’s all about studying.”

Kellan grins. “Yeah … sure.”

I thank Kellan, then continue down the corridor. It dawns on me I don’t even know what Beau is majoring in because he’s never mentioned anything that has to do with college. I’m surprised he even goes, to be honest.

The door is just on my left. As I place my hand to turn the knob, I realize I really should knock first but then hear music. He probably won’t hear me. My hand twists the knob to open the door wide when my eyes fall upon Beau standing in the middle of the room as a girl is on her knees, sucking him off.

“Oh my god!” Beau lifts his head to meet my shocked gaze, but I clutch my chest in a state of panic. “I’m … I’m so sorry.”

Panicked, I turn around in a mad rush and slam my face and arm against the edge of the door. The pain ricochets in my mouth, causing me to see stars.

“Ouch,” I cry.

“Alexa?” he calls in a raised voice. “Fuck, are you okay?”

I shake my head, but it hurts, and then I taste something weird on my lip.

“Brittany, get me an ice pack,” Beau commands.

Even in my state of pain, I glance down to make sure he isn’t naked below. Thankfully, his jeans are zipped up.

Brittany crosses her arms beneath her chest. “Who is she?”

“Never the fuck you mind,” Beau shouts. “Just get me the goddamn ice pack.”

“Get it yourself!” Brittany storms out of the room, staring me down like I’m some villain. If anything, I’m the victim here.

Beau retrieves the ice pack and demands I sit on his bed. Carefully, he places it on the corner of my lip as I gasp from the cold.

“What are you doing here?”

“Your dad asked me to drop the keys off.”

“Oh,” he mumbles.

“Yeah, oh, for me,” I drag. “Your roommate told me I didn’t need to knock.”

Beau’s nostrils flare in anger. “Kellan is a dick.”

“He certainly is,” I agree. “Look, I’m sorry I interrupted your activities.”

As Beau continues to hold the ice pack to my lip, he doesn’t say anything but continues to examine the cut near the corner of my mouth.

“I’m not sure how your lip got cut, and nose survived.”

“Big lips,” I blurt out, then close my eyes in embarrassment. “Ignore that, please.”

Beau chuckles. “Okay, sure. So, you never mentioned you were in the city.”

“Last minute work thing.”

“Work.” He lingers with a smirk. “I forgot you sold out to the corporate life.”

“Kind of had no choice,” I admit, then sigh. “NYU is beautiful. I’ve never visited this campus. My cousin Andy went here.”

“You missed out on the whole touring college campuses experience. Though, for me, it just made sense to stay in the city.”

“What exactly do you want to major in?”

Beau shrugs his shoulders. “Not sure. I knew I needed to complete my undergraduate, and I guess we’ll see what happens.

“So, you applied without a plan?”

He removes the ice pack to examine me again, moving closer so we’re only inches apart.

“Too much pressure to decide at a young age. I’m sure I’ll figure it out in the next few years.”

It never occurred to me to attend college without direction. All my sisters knew exactly what they wanted to do. So did Mom and Dad. I’d been conditioned my whole life to think I had to know in senior year.

“Your lip looks bad,” he murmurs, continuing to stare. “People will think I beat you up or something.”

I place my hand on his shoulder jokingly. “You did beat me up, my brain, that is. I’m not sure if I can unsee what I saw.”

Beau rubs the back of his neck. “Sorry, Brittany is just—”

“A girl who likes to give you blowjobs?”

“Yes, but we’re not dating. It’s all just casual.”

“College life.” I grin, then attempt to stand up, but my head spins. “Whoa. Did the ground move?”

Beau catches me as I stumble into his arms. “Okay, you need to lie down.”

“I can’t. I need to go back to the hotel.”

“Alexa,” he warns, bringing me down to his bed. “You need to rest, even just for an hour.”

“Okay, I can manage an hour.”

It doesn’t take me long to doze off, given Beau’s bed is soft and his sheets have this nice smell. When I wake, I let out a groan and wet my dry lips. Everything hurts, making it all the more difficult to sit up in bed.

“What time is it?” I croak, noticing the daylight has disappeared from the room.

Beau is sitting at his desk on his laptop with what appears to be some essay on the screen.

“It’s seven,” he informs me. “You slept for like four hours.”

Panicked, I sit up in a rush. “Four hours?!”

My head really hurts, and so does my lip. I reach into my purse to grab my phone.

Twenty missed calls.

Fifteen voicemails.

And ten text messages.

With my heart beating like a drum, I close my eyes momentarily and then open them to read the last text.

Hunter:Where the fuck are you????

“I have to go,” I rush, trying to balance myself upon standing up. “My boss is angry.”

Beau grabs my arm to help me, and despite my reluctance, his support helps me focus better to avoid collapsing.

“Tell him you had an accident and you stayed here. What’s the big deal?”

“I can’t tell him I’ve fallen asleep in another guy’s bed,” I mumble.

Beau stares at me with tight eyes. “Why not?”

“It’s unprofessional,” I lie.

“You’re fucking him,” Beau insinuates in almost a growl. “Is that it?”

“Beau … stop.”

“Does Lex know?”

I cross my arms with a pinched mouth. “What kind of a question is that?”

“It’s a very valid question, Alexa.” He paces the room, angered by the whole thing, which makes no sense. “It’s like you purposely go out of your way to hurt your family!”

“Excuse me?” I bellow. “I do not do that!”

“Yeah, then give me one good reason you’re fucking your boss. Of all the men you could have chosen, why him?”

I walk toward the door, opening it, but stop mid-step. “What I do is none of your business. As for my family. You have no idea.”

“That’s where you’re wrong, Alexa. When it comes to your family, I’ve known them my whole life. Lex is like a father to me. He doesn’t deserve what you put him through. You need to wake up and realize your boyfriend will never replace the love of your father.”

My eyes are blazing as my muscles quiver. “Go to hell, Beau Romano. You know nothing about me.”