Bruce, are you crazy? What are you doing? Are you drunk?

Even though she was wondering what was going on, she couldn’t help but look at the two men’s incredible asses and feel her crotch getting wet. She felt a little embarrassed to be horny in such a situation but couldn’t take her eyes off of that beautiful view.

People inside the “chilling room” started to laugh and to whistle at them.

“Woo! Sexy!”

“Remove everything, guys!”

“Nice tats!”

Indeed, Kenichi’s ripped body was impressive. His entire back was covered by an intimidating tattoo which continued to his arms and his thighs. Jennifer couldn’t tell what it was exactly, but she could see samurais and scary demons faces across his body.

Suddenly, Jennifer’s heart skipped a beat. Bruce was striding over the balcony fence. In a flash, she remembered Maria’s words “Mr. Wilson actually attempted to kill himself in the middle of a party...”

Before she could say a word or move to stop him, Bruce jumped.

“Bruuuuuuce!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Completely paralyzed for a second, she looked at the other guests. Nobody was moving. Actually they were looking at her. What are you looking at, guys? Nobody’s going to help him or what?

She ran to the balcony fence, and there, she saw a huge long slide going down several meters away to the swimming pool. As Bruce said, there was a fire pit and a bar right in the middle of the pool, and his staff was already busy cooking raw meat for his guests.

Jennifer exhaled loudly and closed her eyes. My God, I’m going to kill him!

Kenichi smiled at her, strode over the balcony fence and jumped on the slide before joining Bruce in the swimming pool.

A woman approached her and gently patted her back. “Don’t feel embarrassed. He did the same to all of us...”

***

Everybody was having fun. The grilled beef was juicy and tasty, the wine was flowing and the music was loud. People were chatting in the pool or sunbathing on the deck, and Jennifer was having a great time.

Bruce, sunglasses on and smoking a cigar, sat down next to her. “Everything’s fine?”

Jennifer coughed and swept the air. “You smoke?”

“Only when I have a party like this, which is not very often. So how’s everything?”

”Perfect. Except for your fake suicide attempt in the ‘chilling room’ earlier this afternoon...”

Bruce frowned. “Why do you say that? I was just having fun and jumping in my pool. Not your typical jump I’ll admit, but this is how I party...”

Jennifer cleared her throat. “Maria told me what happened after your divorce and your suicide attempt in the middle of a party.”

Bruce started to stand up. “Where is she? She’s fired...”

Jennifer grabbed his wrist and pulled him down. “I asked her, okay? Don’t be mad at her. If you want to be mad at someone, be mad at me. But listen, you have to understand. You left me the other night with no other choice but to find my own answers.”

Bruce sat down and looked away. “And? You’re satisfied?”

“Not at all.” Jennifer said, playing with her glass of wine. “But what do you want me to do?”

They both kept silent. Jennifer continued. “Where were you really going in the middle of the night the other day?”

“I told you - to see my lawyer.”

“Bruce, you need to let go. I need answers, you understand?” She leaned forward and turned to him, resting her hand on his forearm. “I’m not going to hurt you, okay? But if you want me to be committed to you and to stay by your side, you need to stop acting like that. Stop holding back. Stop keeping secrets from me.”

Bruce slowly reached for the glass ashtray, put his cigar in it and blew the smoke out of his mouth. “It’s my ex-wife.”

Jennifer felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. “What about her?”

“She’s back. She’s here, in New York, and she’s looking for me.”

Jennifer’s heart was about to explode. “Did you see her? Have you met?”

“Not yet.”

“So you intend to see her? When? Is it going to be just the two of you?”

“I don’t think I’m going to see her. This is why I had to consult my lawyer. He’s the one who has been talking to her so far, as my middleman. They’ve been in touch for almost two weeks now.”

“Two weeks? So what happened that night when you had to run away at midnight? You already knew she was here, looking for you, right?”

“Yes, I already knew.”

Bruce kept silent. Jennifer sighed. “Bruce, help me! Talk to me. What does she want? What is she doing here?”

“Child support...”

Jennifer suddenly felt dizzy. “Wha... what? You mean... she wants money for...”

“For the child we had together.”

Jennifer dropped her hand from Bruce’s forearm and started to cry. “How many more secrets and ugly surprises do you have for me? Why are you doing this to me, Bruce?”

“Look, I didn’t know myself, okay? It’s not like I wanted to hide anything from you. I didn’t know until a few days ago. What did you want me to do? To tell you right away, just like that? I needed time to take the news first!”

Jennifer tried to control herself and to calm down. “How old is the child?”

“He’s a boy: Max. He’s seven now. Apparently, she got pregnant just before our divorce.”

“Where has she been all these years? Why come back now?”

“She was back in Seoul, Korea raising the kid with her family. She thought I was broke, which I was back then, and didn’t know I was a billionaire until very recently. She just stumbled upon my name and my photos in a magazine.”

“Wait, you said back in Seoul? She is...?”

“Korean, yes. She’s the Asian woman you saw that day getting out of my Rolls... She was meeting with Mr. Schneider, my lawyer.”

Jennifer took her head in her hands. I knew it! I knew there was something going on with her!

She took a deep breath and laughed nervously. “Okay... well, that’s a lot to digest. I think I need to take a drink!”

Jennifer stood up and went to the bar to refill her glass. As she was drinking, Bruce joined her and took her in his arms. Jennifer stayed cold and didn’t try to hug him back.

“Send me back home. I need to be alone...”

“Okay, I’ll drive you ho...”

“No, no! You’re not going anywhere. You have a party, you have guests, you have a wife, you have a son... You don’t need to drive your assistant anywhere, thank you!”

“Jen, put that glass down, that’s enough now.” Bruce tried to take her glass off her hands, but Jennifer screamed. “Don’t touch me! I’m not drunk, okay? It hurts, you got it? It fucking hurts! But you can’t understand that, right?”

Bruce took off his sunglasses and looked straight in her eyes. “You don’t know what I’ve been through. You don’t know anything about me and my past!” He said, clenching his jaw and his fists.

“Yes, Bruce. You’re perfectly right. I don’t know you... and that’s the problem between us. Look, I don’t even know if there’s any ‘us’ at all actually. Where do I fit? Your life is a mess, Bruce, and you can’t hide behind your parties and your fancy scissor doors cars! Now just send me home. And don’t even try to call me.”

Bruce didn’t try to hold her back. “Fine.”

Jennifer turned her back on him and walked away. Bruce called Gerard.

“Yes, Sir?”

“Tell Jack to send Jennifer home.”

“Certainly, Sir. Which car is the most appropriate? The Maybach maybe?”

“No.”

Bruce slowly put on his sunglasses and took his cigar.

“The minivan...”

Chapter Seven

Jennifer was waiting in the hall, arms crossed and looking at the spiral glass staircase wrapped around the impressive aquarium. About a month ago she had been right here, walking into Bruce’s life, far from imagining they would end up having a relationship.

And now here she was, totally confused and overwhelmed by his impossible lifestyle and rocky past, uncertain about the future and what to do next. The contrast was unreal. Jennifer couldn’t imagine how fast she got sucked into his world, completely under his spell and how fast she had let him take her heart.