The Platinum Triangle Read online

  The Platinum Triangle

  ISDN 978-0-9962825-1-2

  Copyright © 2015 by T V Hartwell

  Second Edition

  All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce or distribute this book or portions thereof in any form or fashion whatsoever.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, businesses, organizations, and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, situations, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  *The following story contains mature themes, strong language, and sexual situations and is intended for adult readers.

  The Platinum Series

  Book One

  The Platinum Triangle

  Book Two

  The Platinum Rebound

  Book Three

  The Platinum Reunion

  To the City of Angels—your pink and orange sunsets a source of inspiration, your streets a canvas for dreams

  The Platinum Triangle

  Book One

  The Platinum Series

  Chapter 1 Game Theory

  Their first two years at Stanford, Jake and Amanda were completely unaware of the other’s existence. Jake was firmly ensconced in Greek life and the myriad social activities belonging to one of the school’s most elite fraternities entailed. While caught up in a very insular and closed social world where frat boys and sorority girls clung to one another nearly to the exclusion of all others for revelry and hedonistic exploits of various kinds, Jake’s dating pool did not include Amanda since she had chosen not to join a sorority.

  However, that all changed the beginning of their junior year when they both signed up for Game Theory 101. From the moment Jake and Amanda laid eyes on each other, the energy and pull between them was magnetic. When Amanda walked into the room on their first day of class, they noticed each other almost instantly. Already seated, Hello, beautiful, Jake thought when he looked up at her, their eyes locking for about three seconds before Amanda broke her gaze. But not before she registered Jake’s suntanned legs and sexy feet, he was wearing a pair of shorts and flip flops, as well as his dark blond hair and baby blue eyes, which seemed to glow in the light even from across the room. Although they had never met, they recognized each other instinctively. They were cut from the same cloth, descended from the same rarified world of social pedigrees and bloodlines.

  The tables and chairs were organized in a rectangular configuration so that everyone could see one another, and Amanda sat down directly across from Jake. He couldn’t take his eyes off her, struggling not to be too obvious as he stared at her while the rest of the students filtered in. Amanda did not stare back, but she knew that Jake was checking her out and crossed and uncrossed her legs a few more times than was necessary.

  When the professor eventually made his appearance, he announced they would go around the room so everyone could introduce themselves by stating their name, class year, where they were from, and what they knew or hoped to learn about game theory. Amanda spoke before Jake, and when she shared that she was from Los Angeles, Jake lit up, his curiosity piqued even more since LA was his hometown too. When it finally came Jake’s turn to speak, he didn’t miss his chance to get Amanda’s attention. “My name is Jake Doyle and I’m also from Los Angeles. I followed Amanda here,” he deadpanned, looking straight at her before revealing a big smile. Caught off guard at first, Amanda blushed and then smiled back, feeling warm inside at the flattering—albeit somewhat corny—attention given to her by the beautiful stranger.

  “Oh really, so you two came to Stanford together?” the professor cheerfully asked before Jake backpedaled to explain that he was just kidding and he and Amanda had actually never met before. The nerdy-looking professor seemed a bit flummoxed by Jake’s pretense, but the rest of the class chuckled, recognizing Jake’s open and gutsy flirtation with the pretty girl sitting across the room from him.

  Determined to say hello to her and become properly acquainted, Jake lingered around after class ended, fidgeting with his backpack and papers so that he could time his exit from the classroom exactly with Amanda’s.

  “Where in LA did you grow up?” he asked enthusiastically as they walked toward the door.

  “On the Westside.”

  “Whereabouts?”

  “Holmby Hills.”

  “Get out. That’s where I went to school, Harvard-Westlake.”

  “Really? Well, my house is just down the street,” she said, smiling broadly and admiring Jake’s handsome face close up.

  “I know you didn’t go there or else we would’ve met before now.”

  “No, unfortunately, I didn’t. I went to boarding school, but it wasn’t my choice.”

  You’re fucking amazing, Jake thought, mesmerized by Amanda and her refined manner. The way she talked, the way she moved, and the way she looked at him made him sweat under the arms with a nervousness unfamiliar to the frat boy used to having girls in hot pursuit of him. Amanda seemed different. She was beautiful, but in a simple and classic way. A natural brunette with shiny hair that flowed just past her shoulders, light brown eyes that appeared as crystal clear as a pair of polished marbles, and a flawless smile revealing perfect teeth framed by thin, delicate lips, Amanda carried herself with a sense of effortless confidence and grace. Although she seemed more mature and sophisticated than most other girls Jake had met and dated on campus, she nevertheless came across as approachable and warm.

  Jake studied her face with a calm and gentle attentiveness as he hung on her every word. His initial reaction to her was both emotional and physical—he wanted to hold her in his arms and protect her, feel her thin, athletic frame tight against his lean, muscular body. He imagined what it would be like to press his mouth to hers, to feel the softness of her lips. He wondered what she would taste like. He longed to know everything about her. Did she ski? Was she a Lakers fan? Was she a Republican or Democrat? What was her favorite ice cream flavor? When was her birthday? In a word, Jake was smitten. The guy who looked like he stepped right off the page of an Abercrombie & Fitch catalog, normally all casual and cool around pretty girls, suddenly became eager to impress and prove to Amanda that he was one of the good guys, worth her time and attention.

  Just before they parted ways on that first day, Jake looked into Amanda’s eyes and without moving his mouth, silently swore to her, I am going to marry you one day. At that moment, Jake’s gaze and energy were so intense that Amanda got chills and lost track of what she was saying. “I feel like I just had a senior moment and I’m only twenty,” she admitted in embarrassment before Jake reminded her that she was describing why boarding school felt like a five-star prison camp.

  After their initial encounter, Amanda went away tickled with excitement over the hot new prospect who’d appeared out of nowhere. She couldn’t wait to see him again. Likewise, Jake became like a man on a mission, plotting his next move.

  The next time class met, Jake had eased his way into becoming Amanda’s partner for their midterm project, which quickly led to study dates and then actual dates. Soon they were inseparable, spending countless hours together talking, studying, and melting in the warmth of each other’s embrace as they quickly evolved from fast friends to eager but cautious lovers. Although neither was a virgin, neither wanted to rush sex. They only slept overnight together occasionally, engaging in passionate kissing and heavy petting, but no intercourse. Jake knew deep down from the very start that Amanda was a keeper, and they both wanted their relationship to be built on something more than casual sex although their attraction to one another was undeniable.

  Almost a month after they began dating, Jake and Amanda found themselves on
the brink—completely aroused, nearly undressed, and desperately craving each other’s sex. “I want you, Amanda,” Jake told her. “I’ve never wanted anyone like I want you, but I don’t want to be your rebound. I want to know that you are really mine, because I won’t be able to handle the thought of you being with someone else after I’ve made love to you.”

  Although their make-out session had him physically raring to go, Jake was reticent to take things to the next level. He held back, concerned that Amanda hadn’t fully recovered from her recent breakup with a guy on the men’s tennis team who was a year ahead of her and whom she knew from boarding school. He even suspected she had followed the tennis player to Stanford, but knew she would never admit that. Their relationship had run its course after a rocky, on-again, off-again two years during which the guy was more focused on his tennis game than on Amanda. They had decided to stop seeing each other shortly before Amanda met Jake, but Jake was not yet convinced that she was completely over him.

  Jake’s honesty and directness about wanting to be exclusive with Amanda so early in their relationship attracted her to him even more. After two years of feeling like the one doing the chasing, it felt good to be pursued for a change—especially by a guy who she thought was more kind, genuine, and sensitive than her ex, and much better-looking too. Not only did Jake make Amanda feel physically desirable, he seemed to care about her interests and goals as well. He even made her laugh and was fun to be around. After the stress and tears of dating an elusive high school crush who was ultimately indifferent to their relationship, Amanda finally began to let her hair down and enjoy her time at college. Her self-confidence blossomed alongside her new relationship with Jake. He made her feel cherished and appreciated for who she truly was. Jake became her first true love.

  After two months, Jake and Amanda consummated their relationship the weekend before Thanksgiving break. Jake was heading to Mammoth with his family and Amanda to Aspen with hers. However, before they went their separate ways for the holiday, they decided to have their own little Thanksgiving celebration in San Francisco, dinner and a night on the town with some friends. Jake and Amanda discovered that they both liked to dance, which they did that night at DNA Lounge, a popular nightclub not far from Union Square. As they danced, Amanda moved with a mild seductiveness, slowly pulling Jake closer to her with the music’s pulse as they swayed close together on the tightly packed dance floor. Amanda looked radiant and felt confident in her sexual power like never before. She was Jake’s object of desire and she knew it. He could not keep his hands off her as they kissed and shimmied provocatively in the dark. Right then Jake knew that it was The Night. He loved Amanda and he wanted to show her just how much before she left the next day. He had this ominous feeling that something might happen to one of them over the holiday break. And, just in case they never saw each other again, he did not want their time together to come to an end without showing Amanda how he felt.

  Instead of driving back to campus in Palo Alto that night, they ditched their friends and decided to splurge on a hotel room at the Four Seasons. As they made love that night tears rolled down their faces, both felt overwhelmed by how hard and fast they fell for one another. The emotional connection between them was so powerful and strong, it scared them. The vulnerability and nakedness they felt by allowing their true feelings to take over was like nothing either had ever experienced previously, and the unfamiliarity drew them closer.

  “You make me feel like I’ve never felt before with any other girl. All the other girls I’ve dated up ’til now were just kind of fun to be with, we had good times together and I enjoyed their company, but I never saw any of them the way I see you.”

  “How do you see me?”

  “I want to be with you, Amanda. I feel like we belong together and that our paths crossed for a reason. I’ve felt that way since the first day we met. I just knew from the minute you walked into class that you were different, and then when we started talking, it was all over for me. I wanted to be done with the hooking up game right then and there. From that moment, I had to have you as my girl and only you. You are like this hidden jewel that I stumbled across, and now that I’ve found you, I don’t want to let you go. I want to keep you all to myself. I hope I’m not scaring you. I just want to be honest and straight up about how I feel, no regrets.”

  “I feel the same way. I never felt like I deserved to have a guy like you. I’ve always been made to feel that I should consider myself lucky to be with guys I’ve dated in the past. As if I had won the prize in some sort of dating lottery. And then you come along and you make me feel so special and so wanted. Like I’m the prize now. The feeling is so wonderful. I never want it to end. I keep asking myself if this is real. But I don’t want to get hurt again, Jake. I wanted to give you my heart, but you’ve already stolen it from me. I’m willing to let you keep it, but I’m afraid of getting hurt again.”

  “I won’t hurt you. I only want to love you. I swear to God. I really do. I’ve never felt that way about any other girl in my life, and the feeling scares me too because I don’t want to get hurt either.”

  Jake and Amanda embraced and fell asleep in each other’s arms on that cold San Francisco night as their naked bodies melted together and became one under the warm, luxurious duvet of their cozy Four Seasons bed. It was the initiation of a scene that they would recreate over and over again as their love and commitment to one another grew.

  Over the next several months and years, Jake and Amanda became convinced beyond all doubt that they were meant to be. Their relationship even endured a long-distance courtship; Jake remained at Stanford to attend law school while Amanda moved to New York City to pursue her interest in the fashion industry. The separation did however bring about a year-long breakup, during which they dated other people, before the gravitational pull of their love and desire for one another brought them back together. Jake begged Amanda to take him back for good and to be his wife, and she accepted his proposal without a second thought and moved back to LA posthaste. Thus, nearly six years after first meeting, they were set to marry.

  The much anticipated wedding of Jake Doyle and Amanda Climent was now less than thirty days away. With the bride and groom both scions of two of the oldest and most prominent families in Los Angeles, their wedding would be a highlight of the 2010 social calendar among the city’s old guard and power elite. The Climent family’s notoriety went beyond Southern California as Amanda’s parents, well-known international jet setters, traveled in the society circles of New York and Europe as well. As such, the upcoming marriage of their daughter drew the interest and attention of media outlets that covered the affairs of the world’s rich and powerful.

  Page Six ran an article on the speculated high cost of the wedding, including a rumored $1 million dollar payment alone for a performance by Beyoncé. The New York Times planned to feature the couple as the lead story in its coverage of weddings and celebrations, and both Vanity Fair and Town & Country, long the chroniclers of America’s aristocratic class, were planning to do photo spreads showcasing the young couple’s haute couture wedding fashion and style in forthcoming issues of their respective magazines.

  People admired and envied Jake and Amanda’s relationship; they were the perfect couple who had it all: beauty, intelligence, good genes, wealth, and fancy friends. They almost seemed too perfect, and some believed that their courtship and marriage had somehow been manipulated into existence by their influential families. But that notion could not have been further from the truth.

  While most everyone was thrilled for the young couple and anxiously awaited their big day, there were some notable exceptions; the biggest one being the mother of the groom, Jamie Doyle. She had sworn to rid her son of Amanda Climent the moment she’d laid eyes on the girl and her single-minded pursuit of this goal had never wavered. Although running out of time and growing increasingly desperate, she remained dead set in her determination to keep their wedding day from ever taking place.
r />   Chapter 2 Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

  Ever since Amanda had been introduced to her as Jake’s girlfriend, Jamie had worked tirelessly to discourage and undermine their relationship. It all started when Jake and Amanda were both home in LA over the Christmas break shortly after they started dating. After their unforgettable night together at the Four Seasons, Jake and Amanda were so enamored with one another that they could not wait to introduce each other to their families. Thus Jake invited his new girlfriend over to his house for dinner on Christmas Eve. It was a long-standing tradition in his family to attend the Candlelight Eucharist service at their church, Holy Trinity Episcopal, on Christmas Eve followed by a big dinner at their home. Jake’s parents were eager to meet Amanda. They had met other girlfriends of his in the past, but this was the first time Jake had invited a girl to such an intimate family gathering. So they knew that Amanda must have been something special.

  Amanda arrived at their home shortly after they had returned from church. She had attended Catholic Christmas Eve service earlier in the day with her grandmother and younger sister, Alexandra. When Jake answered the door he was so happy to see her. She looked stunning in her silk floral print Tory Burch short-sleeved dress which enveloped her figure perfectly. She complemented her outfit with a classic pair of Christian Louboutin pumps, which made her look statuesque and regal. Her long dark hair was exquisitely styled, layered, parted in the middle with her ends slightly curved. It was the first time Jake had ever seen Amanda dressed so formally and she took his breath away. He wrapped his arms around her thin waist and pulled her into him as he softly kissed her lips, feeling aroused by her clean, flowery scent. “You’re so beautiful,” he said.