I motion to Evan, and the room fills with polite applause.
Evan nods, though I'm sure I hear a scoff.
My attempts to improve Evan's image fail.
All the time.
Every time.
This may be no different.
“I'd also like to thank my daughter Ava, who's been my inspiration,” I raise my glass.
“Once again, thank you all,” I finish.
There's a round of rapt applause as I rejoin my family at the table near the front of the room.
“Good show dad,” Evan’s tone is bored.
“Yes, you'd almost think you had something to do with it,” I say, with a stern glare.
“Hey, I'm the reason we got the initial public offering,” He beams.
Mostly at himself.
Evan has a proud smile on his face.
“Alright, I'll give you that,” I nod.
I look around the room at my clients.
“They're all especially hungry to get at the Alexander Technical Institute stock, I imagine. Though they probably shouldn't know you got Alexander drunk enough to get us this opportunity,”
“It's such an opportunity,” Victoire adds with a grin, as she joins our table.
“Half the people around the room whisper about how we landed the stock option. It's glorious,” She continues.
“Do you ever relax?” Evan raises an eyebrow at her.
“Well, it was practically my idea,” Vic scoffs at him.
“I slept with Leigha Bergmann; she got this for me. Not you. Did you sleep with her? Did she do that for you?” Evan retorts.
Victoire smirks.
“No, but I bet if given a chance, I would've pleased her in bed better than you ever could,” Vic’s voice drips with innuendo.
This makes everyone laugh.
“Evan, I've only known you a short time,” Ava can't stop her laughter.
Every word comes out in between giggles as she holds her stomach.
“But take one for the team, sit this one out,” she finishes her sentence.
Evan falls mute because his sister is correct.
“Vic, there's Leigha over there. Why don't go sleep with her, and we'll find out just how good you are in bed,” Evan spits the words at her.
We all look around as though we are no longer at the table.
“I might do that,” she sneers.
Victoire's heavily lined lids flutter, and she sweeps away in her black ballgown.
“Bitch,” Evan mutters under his breath.
“Oh, come on Ev, just because you two can't make it work-” Ava starts.
“I think it's him that can't make it work,” I point out.
“Probably,” Ava laughs.
“But that doesn't mean she's a terrible person. Relationships fail all the time; you pick yourself up, go date someone else. Don't mope,” She says.
Ava then looks at me, however.
I have not been moping.
“On that note, I'm excusing myself to the bar,” I dismiss them all.
And anything else my daughter is going to say.
“Dad!” Ava calls me.
I look over my shoulder and wave a hand.
I am fine.
I am okay with the fact that Connor and Tinsley are a couple that outshines everyone else tonight.
Tinsley looks radiant in a red silk dress that hugs all her curves and shows off her little bump with such elegance.
I want to crow to the world that she’s having my baby.
Instead, I am mute.
Of all the goddamn ideas I’ve had this one is the worst.
By the bar, I watch them, an attempt an amused expression on my face.
Tinsley plays with the train of her dress, showing off an endless expanse of bronzed leg with the large slit up the left side.
She never ceases to amaze me.
Connor touches her waist slightly, and I want to bash him across the room.
Tinsley sidesteps him, wags her finger, and the crowd that surrounds them laughs.
She catches my eye and winks.
I wink back and turn to the bartender.
“Can I get-” I start to order.
“Whiskey neat,” The bartender remembers my order and smiles at me.
“Here,” I stuff a fifty in his tip jar.
He hasn’t let my drink run dry all night.
Good man.
“Noah, don’t go getting drunk off your ass,” Vic scolds me just as I’m about to take a sip.
“Who? Me?” I feign innocence.
“Yes, you. You British pig, the last thing I need is you stumbling all over the place and-” She begins a tirade.
Half listening, I interrupt her.
“Victoire, I thought you were out to sleep with Leigha Bergmann? Prove that you’re better in bed than Evan?” I amuse myself.
“I didn’t know you went both ways,” Tinsley’s voice seeps into my soul when I hear her.
“Tinsley,” Vic smiles curtly and makes her exit in a hurry as Tinsley puts a hand on my shoulder.
“Thought I might save you,” Tinsley quips.
“Save me?” I ask, then roll my eyes for good measure.
“She means well enough I guess,” Tinsley admits.
“She always means well, that’s the problem. The woman doesn’t let loose at all, which is hard to believe, considering her past,” I note.
“Vic worked with Ava, right?” Tinsley asks quietly.
I simply nod.
“But if you tell anyone that, she may kill you, even if you are carrying my child,” I lower my voice at the last part, a simple whisper in her ear.
Tinsley bites her lip in response.
“I had fun in Lake Tahoe, you know,” She responds quietly.
“You did?” I mock shock.
“Who the hell took you to Lake Tahoe?” I ask.
“Oh,” She snickers and pretends to fan herself.
“Just a man I’ve been with for eight years, give or take,” her voice is so sassy I want to rip her dress off right there.
Instead, I maintain my composure.
Tinsley sighs as she looks across the room.
“I’d better get back to my husband, I’ll see you later then?” She asks pointedly.
“Of course,” I respond with vigor.
I lick my lips because I can’t wait for a taste of Tinsley later tonight.
30
Tinsley
October 14, 2017
As I step out of the washroom, I come face to face with Connor.
“What do you want?” I snap.
“I saw you talking to Stone,” His voice drips with malice.
“So?” I huff.
“You can’t speak to him, not in public, people will talk,” Connor rages at me.
His barely controlled rage makes me feel no regret about what I say next.
“Say what? That he’s the father of your unborn child? That your wife is in love with him? That you forced me into a marriage of convenience for your own sick, twisted means?” my voice is smooth as silk, edged with hatred for this man.
Connor glares at me.
“If you didn’t want to marry me, then why did you?” he asks.
I laugh harshly, and several people turn in our direction.
One of them is Ava, and I blow her a kiss in her elegant blue gown.
She looks stunning, all baby, the perfect picture of a mother.
“Your barely restrained need to conquer me was what got the best of you,” I retort to my husband.
“Barely restrained?” Connor’s voice is laced with an edge I don’t like.
“Yes,” I answer, ready to stand up to whatever he says.
“Well, as long as we’re talking about ‘barely restraining ourselves’ you and Stone need to cool it. Going away for a weekend? Your disappearance wasn’t a pretty surprise Tinsley,” Connor tells me.
His pudgy little face is red, and his hairline has receded only maki
ng him more unattractive to me.
“A million girls would kill to be my wife, Tinsley,” His teeth grit together as he speaks.
“Then you should’ve married one of them, let me be, and let me have what rightfully belongs to me. You only got me in this position out of a fluke, dear, and if you think I will go down without a fight, you are tragically mistaken,” I bounce back at him.
My hands settle on my stomach, and I flick my gaze from Noah to Connor.
“Doesn’t it annoy you, dear husband, that your wife is carrying another man’s child? That she wants nothing to do with you? That your idea of a marriage of convenience isn’t convenient for you?” my voice drips with hate for this man.
Connor doesn’t reply. He only storms off as Ava rushes to my side.
“What was that?” She asks, bewildered.
“Nothing,” I say in dismissal.
“Nothing important, anyway,” I add.
“Not Connor,” Ava explains.
“The way you looked at my dad,” her voice is low.
“What about it?” I feign innocence.
“Oh, come on,” Ava stamps her foot.
“I wasn’t born yesterday, though I wish these twins were, Christ I feel like a whale,” She bemoans.
“You look fantastic, and your father and I are finished,” I tell her with certainty.
“Doesn’t look that way to me,” Ava says.
Ava shoots a look from her father to me, and then back at her father.
“What’s going on here?” her voice is low, no one could hear us.
I’m about to answer when a familiar stench fills my nostrils, and I brace myself for the witch herself.
“Oh Tinsley, how lovely to see you,” Olivia kisses the air above my cheeks, and I return the favor, as though we are old friends.
Ava slips away unnoticed.
At least if Ava had stayed, Olivia would’ve played nice.
I detest the woman, but I will not start a scene in public.
I refuse to hurt Noah on his big night.
“Lovely to see you as well Olivia. How are you?” I ask.
Then it’s easy to realize I've opened up the discussion for her to torture me.
“Oh, you know, now that you've married Connor, I believe my work is done,” She smirks at me.
“That doesn't change the fact that you are alone,” I answer swiftly with my most winning smile.
Four or five marriages, and none of them stuck.
She is the problem.
Or her strange attachment to Noah is the problem.
“Dear, Noah didn't give you anything, any more than he gave me. Except I got the Long Island home,” She gloats.
“He hated that house anyway,” I dismiss this.
Then I rest a hand on my stomach, as though to protect the baby from her.
Olivia, however, isn't fazed by me, she merely continues.
Her broad smile exaggerates her sharp features, only enhanced by her malice.
She's out to make me angry, make a scene but I won't let her have it.
“I still got my way dear, now you and Noah are simply a thing of the past. As it always should've been,” Olivia continues to gloat.
“Your father played right into my suggestions, you know,” She adds.
This makes my blood boil.
She suggested Connor for me!
She put me through this!
“You have no business with my family's affairs, not anymore, I’m in charge,” I spit back at her.
I've never been so enraged in my life.
She ruined everything for me.
My relationship with my father, my chance to be with Noah, all of that was almost destroyed but Olivia Winthrop in my father’s ear.
How could he be so stupid!
I clench my fists.
Now I know that if she hadn't been the one to push my father into the belief that I should marry Connor, everything would be different.
Maybe my father wouldn't be dead.
“I had every right to that man until you came along,” Olivia purses her lips.
“It was only fair that I rip that away from you as well,” her gloating only exaggerates her features.
She’s ugly to me, on the outside and the inside.
“Well, he's not with you now, and he’ll never be, so, truly, you lost,” I bounce back at her.
“What does it matter? You're married to another man, and expecting his child,” But she isn't referring to Connor.
She glances at my stomach, then Noah.
I can't mistake what she implies.
“Well, I guess that means he did give me something,” I snap at her.
Olivia's smirk is so menacing I step back.
“Does he even know?” She crows.
That I refuse to answer, let her think what she wants.
“I don't doubt you're going to say something to Noah at some point or another. I'm sure you two yearn to get back together,” She laughs and rolls her eyes as though this is an impossibility.
Bewildered, I can only stare at Olivia, her eyes shining with joy as though she's finally won this game.
She doesn’t know I’m going to repeat every word to Noah.
“Tinsley,” She begins.
“You're such a sweet girl. Don't get yourself, or that child, mixed up in things you don't understand. Leave him alone,” her voice shakes me.
She straightens herself up to her full height, taller than me in heels.
“That man won't change, he's going to desert you, just like he's deserted every woman before you. Don't believe you're any different,” her voice has that edge.
This is an attempt to hit me where it might hurt.
Tough luck bitch, because Noah isn’t going anywhere, not without me.
He’s proved it thus far.
“I know him better than you,” I respond smoothly.
“What did he leave you with? Nothing,” Olivia shakes her head.
“Nothing but a child, no ring to show for yourself. I'm sure if you and Connor hadn't married, you'd still have nothing to show for yourself because the truth is that man cares less about you than he does about himself,” Olivia's words hurt, even if they aren’t true.
Then she wiggles her left hand in front of me, to show off the pompous engagement ring that Noah gave her once upon a time.
“He was married to me for eight years. What did you get?” she asks.
She doesn't deserve anything more out of me.
Innocently I push a piece of hair out of my face with my right hand. I intend to flash the large, (but beautifully understated), blue diamond ring that Noah gave me.
“He didn’t give you this,” I say innocently, wiggling my finger in front of her.
“Do you know how rare blue diamonds are?” I ask her.
“I heard the last one that went to auction at Sotheby’s went for over eleven million. I wonder if this is the one?” I continue to taunt her, then look down at my ring, how it sparkles in the light.
Olivia laughs, though I can see the redness in her face.
I struck a chord with her somehow.
“Oh look,” She says innocently.
“He’s dancing with Lauren Darlington, a real woman,” Olivia’s snide response to my comment sets me on edge.
“Goodbye Olivia,” I whisper fiercely.
“Dear, don't cause a scene. This is simply the truth. Noah and I had a lovely whirlwind romance, and he simply lost interest like that,” She snaps her fingers.
Not one part of me pretends to know the whole story, but I know that by the end of their marriage they were strangers.
Noah and I have not discussed Olivia at length, but that’s purely because their relationship had precedence to ours.
The mature thing to do is walk away now.
Then the realization that this is because she got nothing out of their marriage, as she stated quite plainly, comes swiftly.
She wasted eight years of her life with
him.
Elizabeth and Noah have children.
Noah and I will have a child together.
What did Olivia get?
Nothing.
But still, I'm not Olivia.
I'm not some woman he's going to throw away for someone else.
Our love is not the same.
Here I am married to someone else.
Olivia leaves me with my thoughts as my mother comes along to speak with her.
I glance at Lauren and Noah on the dance floor together and watch as photographers snap multiple pictures of them.
Damn Lauren.
And him.
Olivia managed to push me to the brink of insanity.
The witch!
I'm enraged, and I've never felt this sort of hot, seething anger in my life.
I'm done with this gala, and I'm done with Olivia.
It bothers me, what Olivia said.
Deep down do I believe Noah could decide he doesn't want me any longer, just like he did her?
I've already pushed him into Lauren's arms.
Do I get to watch them happy together while I remain in a miserable marriage?
It's in a flurry of rage that I storm outside, into the crisp night air.
I can't do anything but let a scream of rage escape my lips.
“What did she say?” Noah’s voice is suddenly in my ears.
He followed me outside.
I snap back around so fast it makes me dizzy.
“How did you see me leave? I thought you were dancing with Lauren Darlington. You can if you want, you know. We’re not attached. It doesn’t bother me at all, not in the slightest,” the words fall from my lips, and I can’t stop them.
“I’m here Tinsley,” Noah says quietly.
He is here, outside, where he shouldn’t be.
Inside he’s being celebrated, and outside there is no one.
This is his night, and he shouldn’t be out here with me.
“What has that miserable woman done this time?” he asks persistently.
Noah approaches me slowly and wraps his arms around me.
Big strong arms that I can't help but find comfort in.
“She was the one who pushed my father into the idea of Connor,” I mumble.
The pained expression on Noah's face tells me everything I need to know.
“Goddamnit,” He stutters.
“I knew she was always up to something, but that was-” he can’t find the words.
Denial_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel Page 15