Denial_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel

by Kaya Woodward

  “Yeah right,” he scoffs at me.

  “Single forever, just like you,” he laughs.

  When I don't respond, he has to sit down.

  “You and Tinsley? Really?” he asks, astonished.

  Evan's disbelief causes me to laugh.

  “Is that unbelievable?” I reply.

  He considers this for a moment.

  “I doubt Jamesen Whittaker would be okay with it. That's all,” he offers.

  Evan's shrewd sense for people is probably correct in this instance.

  I've also considered this myself.

  “Shut-up,” I grumble at my son.

  4

  Tinsley

  July 23, 2017

  “Tinsley, come here."

  It's Father.

  He is standing in his office.

  I can see his bags waiting at the door.

  He's about to leave with Jamesen to do some work on the merger in London.

  I recall that they're meeting Connor and Hazel as well in London.

  The fact that they're going through with it means they never really needed me to marry Connor.

  This is something I always suspected, deep down inside.

  I want to change out of my dress first, but when my father calls me, I go to him.

  “Yes, Dad?”

  I stand in the doorway, trying to gauge his expression.

  He's relaxed.

  I wonder if it's just business.

  “Come in, sit down,” he says, as he motions to the chair in front of me.

  I take a seat, feeling a little bewildered.

  Thank god I showered at Noah’s.

  The last thing I want to do is sit in front of my father stinking of sex.

  “Who were you with last night?” he asks.

  As he questions me, his face transforms with rage within seconds.

  “And don't lie to me!” he shouts, pointing at me.

  This makes me squirm in my chair

  It's none of his business.

  “Noah Stone,” I say.

  I have to be honest.

  My father swallows hard, his eyes moving to the bruises and bite marks on my neck.

  “Noah Stone,” he repeats.

  “How long has this been going on?” he questions further.

  I refuse to answer that question.

  “Alright, is Noah Stone the reason you ended the engagement?” he persists.

  I consider what this means for a moment.

  I wonder if he'll understand?

  “Daddy, please, I love him…” I begin.

  “You love him!” my father roars, and then he's suddenly laughing harshly.

  He reminds me of a maniacal clown.

  All he's missing is the face makeup.

  “You couldn't possibly be in love with him. That would mean that all Olivia's accusations, about you two being together when you should've been with your fiancé are true!” he shouts.

  “Olivia!” the gasp that escapes my lips is involuntary.

  “It is true!” he accuses.

  My father's face is red with anger, his hands forming fists.

  He's never hit me before, but I'm suddenly afraid that he might.

  “It's true then? That you've been sleeping with Noah all these years? That Noah divorced Olivia for you? To be with you? And you put your entire engagement at risk to do sexual favors for him?” he fires off the questions rapidly.

  “He didn't divorce her for me!” I protest.

  “It's not like that!” I yell.

  I'm suddenly screaming back at him.

  “I love him! He loves me! We want to be together; we want to get married, we want to-” I try to explain our love for each other, but Father is having none of it.

  “You will not!” he says.

  My father is firm.

  “I can hardly approve of this when he took advantage of you at such a young age! This is preposterous!” he shouts.

  “Dad, it's true!” I yell at him.

  “I love Noah!”

  “Not anymore!” my father roars.

  He slams his fist down on the desk, making me jump.

  “You will no longer be seeing Noah Stone. You are not to talk to him, or even look at him. I'm going to have to find you a husband, after all. Alexander, I'm sure the Bradford’s would approve of that!” he says.

  “Dad! I'm not going to marry someone just because you want me to! I don't love Alex! I love Noah!” I cry.

  My voice is harsh, but I will not let him steamroll me, again.

  “What you want doesn't matter,” he tells me firmly.

  “Not anymore! If you disobey me, I will have no choice, but to cut you off,” he snarls.

  “Dad!” I'm horrified at the thought of being cut off from my family.

  “That's it!” he tells me.

  “You carry on with that man, and I will disown you so fast your head will spin!” he crows.

  I have no words.

  My father has the all power here.

  “Now come with me to the airport,” he orders.

  “I want to make sure you understand what this means. I'll have to talk to Bradford, but I'm sure Alex would be happy enough with this arrangement,” he says,

  It is with no intention of giving up on Noah that I follow my father's orders.

  I need to escape.

  I need to run.

  When I return from dropping my father off, I am sweaty from the heat and exhausted.

  I notice Mother is sitting in my father's large leather chair, a highball glass in her left hand.

  Two things are wrong with this picture: my mother's hair isn't correctly done, and she rarely drinks.

  That is how I know my father broke the news to her, about Noah.

  I am sure he also unveiled his intentions that, should I choose Noah, I will be left out of the family entirely.

  I swallow the guilt that comes with agreeing to marry Noah.

  I will deal with the fall out later.

  “Mother?” I knock on the door.

  “You truly wish to ruin this family, don't you?” she asks.

  I can't believe she is angry with me.

  She should understand this.

  Of all people!

  “That was never my intention,” I say.

  “After everything I've taught you, the last thing you were supposed to do, was fall in love with that man,” she says, slurring her speech.

  Is she drunk?

  She speaks of Noah as though he isn't from good breeding.

  It's as though all he is made of is manipulation and mind games.

  That's not the man that I know.

  “You don't know him as I do,” I protest, my words harsh.

  It's easy to face my father, but my mother?

  I stand no chance against her.

  “You're going to ruin your life - and mine,” her voice turns sour.

  “Whatever did we do to you?” she shakes her head.

  “I shouldn't blame you, this is his fault, I'm sure you had nothing to do with anything until Noah Stone came along,” she rambles, sipping her drink.

  “Don't you want me to be happy?” I cry back at her.

  “You need to listen-” I start.

  She cuts me off.

  “No!” she snaps at me.

  “You need to listen to me. I'm your mother, and even if you're twenty-seven years old, I still know better than you,” she hisses.

  Her words sting as she shakes her head at me.

  She gets up unsteadily from the chair and wobbles over to the bar.

  My mother pours herself another drink.

  “Men like Noah Stone stick around as long as it takes to win the battle,” she says.

  She implies that Noah is using me.

  I ball my fists in anger, and my gasp of horror and hurt catches her attention.

  She looks over at me, not caring that she’s spilling her booze as it pours all over the table.

  “How could y
ou say something like that?” I ask through gritted teeth.

  “Because I'm your mother,” she says.

  Her reply isn't satisfactory.

  She stops pouring and puts the bottle down haphazardly.

  She grimaces at the mess, then shrugs.

  She goes back to the chair and plops herself into it.

  Then, she nurses the drink, while passing her gaze all over me.

  She nods, coming to some internal decision.

  “I'm your mother, and I know what's best for you. Noah Stone is not what's best for you,” she says.

  “It doesn't matter what you think,” I tell her, and turn to walk away from her.

  This conversation is over, as far as I am concerned.

  I won’t argue with a drunk.

  “You want to throw your family away? Do you want to be a stranger to me? You're forcing your father's hand with this, and there's nothing I can do to stop him,” she shouts, spilling her drink as it sloshes.

  My mother's voice sounds strange.

  “We only want what's best,” she says.

  My resolve to stand up to her weakens slightly, I don't want to do anything to hurt my parents, but after a lifetime of being ordered around, it's time that I stand up to them.

  I refuse to let someone else dictate my life.

  “Mother, this isn't what you think,” I tell her in a firm voice.

  “You're making me decide between my family and the man that I love,” I explain.

  “Noah Stone will leave you, just like he left Olivia,” she replies, hoarsely.

  My mother shakes her head.

  “I'm not Olivia!” I shout.

  My anger flares up.

  “Our relationship is nothing like theirs,” I snap.

  “You'll see,” she croons.

  My mother's attempts at placing doubts in my mind don't work on me; they don't make me doubt Noah at all.

  “No mother, I won't, because neither of you understands this, and you never will,” I spit back at her.

  I turn to leave, but I have more to say.

  “Neither of you have ever understood what it means to love someone. An all-encompassing love that makes you yearn for that person every single day. You don't know love, and you don't know me,” I say, getting the knife in deep.

  My words are firm, direct, and to the point.

  “You don't know me, and you never will,” I yell and storm out.

  I slam the door behind me and go straight to Noah's.

  I run most of the way.

  When I get there, I bang on his door like the apocalypse is coming, until he answers.

  “What's wrong?” he asks.

  The question comes out of his mouth automatically.

  “Olivia told!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

  “Olivia told my father everything!”

  Noah's eyes widen.

  “Oh, bloody hell, what does that woman want from me?” he asks.

  “She's going to break us!” I yell through tears.

  “Come here!” he soothes.

  Noah pulls me roughly into his arms, leading me to the couch where I begin to sob against his chest.

  “It's going to be alright,” he tells me calmly.

  “We'll convince them, together,” he suggests.

  “No,” I shake my head, tears still streaming down my cheeks.

  “He said he would disown me,” I cry.

  Noah stares at me in disbelief.

  “Olivia told him everything then?” he asks.

  “Everything. She seems to think that you divorced her, for me,” I sniff, still not believing that.

  “Tinsley.,” Noah pauses.

  “I did. I thought you were somewhat aware of that,” he confesses.

  “What?” I widen my eyes in disbelief.

  “You did?”

  “You made me realize that I wanted something real, that I wanted a real marriage, and that you were the woman I wanted that with,” he says.

  “Maybe the divorce wasn’t entirely for you, as I had to do it, but I did have you in mind. Yes, you could say that I did, indeed, divorce Olivia because I wanted to be with you,” Noah admits.

  “And now we're,” I sniff and try to stop the tears.

  “And now my father won't allow me to be with you. He wants to marry me off again!” I cry.

  “I won't let that happen,” Noah says as he wipes the tears from my face.

  “I can't let that happen,” he repeats.

  “We have to be together!” I say, pressing my body against his.

  I want him to hold me. I want to be in his arms for the rest of my life.

  “You have a choice to make, I suppose,” he says.

  Noah is stoic.

  “And I don't expect you to choose your family over me, but I would hope that what we have is enough for you to consider the prospect,” he offers.

  How could I decide?

  To lose my family to be with the man of my dreams?

  How could my father put me in this position?

  “Noah I couldn't possibly decide. They're my parents; they've given me everything,” I tell him.

  “Until they haven't, they won't give you the one thing you truly want. That's the ability to make your own decisions without consequences,” he reminds me.

  Noah is right.

  Am I doomed to spend the rest of my life like this?

  Or will I make my final move, against them?

  5

  Noah

  July 23, 2017

  Tinsley begins to sob into my arms again, and I’m bewildered as to what just happened.

  How could Jamesen do this to her?

  To us?

  Why is he furious?

  There is only one answer: he hasn’t seen us together if he saw us it would know in an instant that this is right.

  “Tinsley if we just run away, get married, what can they do?” I ask

  “You think?” she replies, mulling over this.

  “Yes. We prove to your father that we are real, that this is what works. That we love each other, he’ll have to see this is right,” I explain my plan carefully.

  Tinsley nods.

  “Noah, I want nothing more than to marry you!”

  “Let’s do it then,” She agrees.

  I clasp her hands in mine.

  “We’ll go to the courthouse, we’ll go wherever you want, and by the time your father comes back, he’ll have to understand. He needs time to cool off.” I tell her.

  Tinsley has stopped crying, listening to me intently.

  “Oh, Noah! You always know what to do. What would I ever do without you?”

  The words bubble up from her mouth.

  “Let’s not think about that.” I sigh before kissing the top of her head.

  Tinsley nods, hiccupping.

  “We need to focus on us.” Her encouraging words are all I need.

  “Are we going to do this?” she murmurs, looking up at me.

  “You want to marry me?”

  I drop down to my knees in front of her, taking both of her hands in mine.

  “Tinsley, I may not have a ring, but yes. I’ve wanted to marry you since the moment I laid eyes on you in Miami.

  “I confess readily.

  “You’re sure then?” She’s still in disbelief.

  “I want to marry you too.”

  “Then marry me,” I urge her.

  Tinsley’s lips crash against mine, and I couldn’t pull away if I wanted to.

  All around us, the world is on fire, but together, we’ll jump through the flames.

  “Noah, I need you.” She pulls at my shirt.

  “I need to be with you. I need you in my life.”

  “I’m here,” I murmur into her hair as she pulls me close.

  “Let’s just run,” She begs me.

  “We don’t have to deal with anyone else. Let’s just go to Fiji, we’ll get married there, and disappear and we’ll never have to deal with Olivia o
r my father again.”

  As tempting as this sounds, I know she’d miss her family desperately, and as much as I want to tell her yes, we can’t.

  “Tinsley, running won’t help things. We need to face everyone together.” My careful explanation hurts.

  “Though I would like nothing more than just to run away and take you all over the world, we need to get through this together first.”

  Tinsley nods, knowing that I make sense.

  Though it makes about as much sense to me as Evan suddenly marrying someone he barely knows.

  I’ve wanted nothing more than to leave; just the two of us.

  But, at this particular point in time, I know that Jamesen will never accept us together.

  We must face everyone.

  But right now, all that matters is the woman in my arms and the fact that I want to carry her off to my bed and make wild passionate love to her.

  I pick Tinsley up and carry her to the bedroom.

  She lets out a sultry laugh, “Are you going to devour me, Mr. Stone?”

  Her voice is as sexy as ever.

  “Of course, I intend to make every inch of my fiancée’s body quiver with desire for me.” The words I speak affect me.

  Suddenly, my body is infused with desire, my cock rock hard.

  “Fiancée!” Tinsley squeals with delight as I throw her down on the bed.

  In seconds we have deposited each other’s clothes on the floor, and I am placing sensual kisses on the creamy skin of her stomach, moving up the curves of her body.

  I take her flushed red areola in my mouth, brushing my tongue across the quivering tip of her nipple.

  Every touch, every swirl of my tongue, and gentle bite makes her body writhe in pleasure.

  Every warm breath coming from her body is uneven, accompanied by small gasps and moans.

  My heart is beating widely out of my chest, ready to take her like I want to.

  My wish to ravage her body overtakes everything.

  Now that we are engaged, there is no longer a need to be careful.

  She is mine! Finally!

  I spread her legs apart, guiding the tip of my cock slowly across her wet clit, before thrusting into her slowly.

  In response a long, desirable moan escapes her lips.

  “Tinsley,” I whisper into her ear, pressing my body against hers, our hearts beating together wildly.