Ava begins dragging me away just as their argument begins.
“Noah when are you going to tell her!” Tinsley stamps her foot at him.
But I'm out of earshot to hear to rest of Tinsley’s diatribe.
“Where are we going?” I ask.
“I want to go somewhere private,” Ava whispers in my ear. “Somewhere we can be alone.”
She continues, dragging me by the jacket, past all the celebrities and their dates for the evening, heading below decks, until she heads into a bedroom, then into a washroom, locking the door behind us.
“What are you-” she silences me with her lips. “Ava…”
“Come on…” She's undoing my belt before I can stop her, biting my lower lip hard, and I must admit, I'm ready to go.
“Just a quickie?” She begs for it.
Then she reaches into my pants, and tugs on my cock to bring it to life with a few quick strokes.
“Ava, we're at a party,” I mumble, nonetheless a groan escapes my mouth as she continues to stroke my shaft. She hops up on the counter, working my pants down with her heels, before whispering in my ear that she isn't wearing any underwear.
“Fuck,” I swear.
If they weren't just upstairs, if there weren't an element of danger.
“Corban please!” Ava begs.
The danger makes this more exciting, and then she's begging for it.
I'm lifting her dress, pulling her towards the edge of the counter, fully aware that this is not ideal, but too turned on by my wife to care, because she's guiding me inside her willingly before I can stop her.
“Oh my god,” She gasps and bites her lip.
Ava arches her back as I take hold of her hips, watching her reaction I thrust hard into her only makes me want this more, and I think about all the time we have together, all the nights we will have together.
“Fuck Corban.” She urges me on, knowing by now all the tricks to make me grip her hips harder.
Then, as if she wants to get me deeper, she spreads her legs wider, ever so slightly, and my cock throbs deeper inside her, making her scream my name louder than before.
Then I catch sight of her heels and run my hands along the inside of her thighs. I spread her legs ever so slightly as she tosses her hair back, biting her lip to keep from screaming louder.
“Are you going to lose it, baby?” I whisper in her ear.
All she can do is nod as I start to pound her harder, and her legs start shaking.
That's when she says it, the first time I heard those words, and I start to lose control.
“Oh my god, Corban cum inside me please!” Ava begs.
Immediately I blow, losing my mind as my eyes find hers as she gasps.
All her muscles spasm as her gasps mix with a moan and my name; a sound comes out that I've never heard before, as she grips the edge of the counter.
I can feel Ava, my wife, losing all sense of reality, both of us spin wildly out of control.
“You're a dirty little minx,” I whisper in Ava's ear when we finally resurface.
Tinsley and Noah are arguing still, and I call Tinsley's name loud enough to signal that they need to stop arguing before Ava can reply.
“Hey Ava, you just missed it, Rowan fell on her ass in those hooker heels,” Tinsley crosses her arms with a wink at Ava, who laughs in response, neither of them the least bit suspicious of where we were the last twenty minutes or so.
Though I'm sure there were quite a few people who heard us down there, it's not like we were remotely quiet.
Not that I can stop thinking about it.
I really can't.
I want to take her back down there.
Do that all again.
“I'm sorry I missed it. We were just looking around, comparing how shitty this place is to Noah’s,” Ava smirks.
“The drinks are crap too,” I look down at my plastic cup; they apparently stopped serving glasses five minutes in. This is also terrible, because I hate plastic cups more than anything.
I saw a few people just tossing them overboard.
Nasty.
“Still think we can make a swim for it?” Tinsley asks, pointing to the fading shoreline. “What time does thing dock, and what time is it?”
“We've got another couple of hours,” Noah looks at his watch, looking upset about this whole ordeal. “Maybe there are fewer people at the front of the boat? You girls can re-enact another movie, maybe?”
“Shut up you dog,” Tinsley smacks him playfully on the arm.
I am sure they were arguing about Ava.
Maybe something else?
I want to question Noah about what Tinsley knows, so I let Tinsley and Ava walk ahead.
“What was that with Tinsley?” I ask.
“She’s just on me about something or other, what else is new?” Noah rolls his eyes slowly.
But he is not the eye-rolling sort of man.
Nor has he ever been.
I can tell he is ticked.
Whether it has anything to do with this boat, the party, or Tinsley, I cannot say.
“So, what, she does she know about Ava? That she’s your daughter? And you haven’t told her?” I push him.
“You're assuming things, Corban,” Noah just shrugs calmly.
“Is she, or isn't she?” I ask.
He’s so irritating.
“Is she or isn't she what?” he avoids my question skillfully.
The man knows how to charm women and get out of straight up telling me the truth.
“She was kidding, and your eyes went so wide, I thought you had a heart attack. I think the only person on this goddamn boat that didn't see that look was you,” I accuse him.
“She's blind then,” Noah looks at me.
“So, she is then,” I reply, my voice blunt.
“Is what?” he persists.
For whatever reason, Noah refuses to answer whether Ava is his daughter.
To be honest, at this current point in time, maybe I would rather not know.
Though it would make sense, if the man would carry a gun around a crowded boat for anyone, it would have to be his flesh and blood, not just my wife.
I'm pretty convinced at this point, as we stand back, watching Tinsley and Ava climb up on the rail, holding their arms out, laughing like they don't have a care in the world.
“She's a Darlington,” I tell him.
“I know,” Noah nods.
“Will she still love me?” I ask him.
“If everything goes according to plan?” He looks at me. “Honestly, she's stubborn. She's willful. But if she truly loves you, she'll see that her mother had you backed into a corner. But you're going to have to tell her the truth, before any of that. You're going to have to earn that forgiveness before she can love you again.”
“How do you know she will?” I don't know that for sure.
“I don’t,” He shrugs. “But if she's anything like her old man,” He pauses to gaze at Tinsley. “She won't give up on the one she loves.”
It's an admission by any means.
I'm about to say something when the boat suddenly shudders and stops, I watch as Ava dangles precariously on the railing and Noah darts for her.
He grabs Ava before she can fall forward, off the boat and they both land on the deck.
“Oh my god!” Tinsley crouches beside Ava.
“Are you okay?” I ask.
Ava nods, a little shaken up. “Oh my god, I almost fell overboard…”
“You could've been killed!” Noah's anger flares up “What just happened?”
Noah looks a little uneasy as he helps Ava back on her feet, and she looks visibly shaken.
“I'll see what I can find out,” I nod to Noah.
Therefore, I rush through the mixed crowd of partygoers, attitudes range from confused to careless.
Some of those still ordering drinks are still having a blast; others are complaining that they have a schedule to keep.
The mes
sage rippling across the boat is the same: something is wrong, we're waiting on repairs.
“Repairs,” I report back.
“I'll call for a ride,” Noah immediately pulls out his phone. “I'll get my pilot to come get us.”
“Noah in the middle of the night?” Tinsley clicks her tongue. “Come on; I'm sure it won't be that long.”
“I'm not spending any more time on this death trap,” He snaps.
Then Noah sighs looking at his phone. “No signal. Anyone have a signal?”
“I don't have my phone,” I shrug.
I haven't touched all three in days, Tinsley and Ava don't have signal either, leaving Noah without reception and frustrated.
“Stay here,” He orders. “I’m going down below. I'll see if I can help them.”
“Noah, it'll get fixed,” Tinsley protests.
However, he walks away anyway.
“Keep trying to get a signal!” Noah’s voice is firm.
Then hands Tinsley his phone, and walks away, dismissing her, as the night wind picks up, and it starts getting colder.
“What's wrong with him?” Tinsley turns to me.
“He's a Stone,” Ava shrugs. “There's probably something wrong with all of them.”
Chapter 20: Ava
May 14, 2017
When Noah goes down below Tinsley fiddles with his phone for a little bit, manages to send one text message, and then gives up, shoving the phone in her bra before we head inside, where just about everyone else in the party is, because the temperature has been driven down by the wind.
Corban, however, has become just as suspicious as Noah was earlier.
“Come with me to the bathroom,” I ask Tinsley.
“Where are you girls going?” Corban asks immediately.
“Washroom.” I raise an eyebrow at him. “We can do that, right? Or do you want to come?”
“I don't want to get separated in case something happens. Meet me up top, where there are fewer people when you're done, okay?” Corban says.
“It's cold,” I shake my head.
“Here,” Corban hands me his jacket, and heads outside, into the cold. “And don't take so long, you ladies take forever in the washroom.”
Tinsley suggests wasting our drink tickets before joining the long line up and when we return, the line is longer.
Every woman on this boat has to pee at the same time, or the breakdown is causing people to stay inside.
Either way, I concede.
“Don't tell Corban he was right okay?” I turn to Tinsley.
“Done,” Tinsley nods. “But only if you don't tell Noah that he was right too, okay? He loves to be right.”
“Men,” We laugh at the same time.
I finish both drinks before the line thins and we make a mad dash for the toilets, both of us wishing this night was over.
Somehow when I step out of the washroom though, Tinsley is nowhere to be found.
I figure she probably went back to the bar.
So, I walk back around to the mostly vacant bar where we got our two drinks and hand the bartender my last drink ticket, looking around.
It's kind of eerie that everyone packed inside, and outside is now abandoned.
I take the drink and leave a tip, sipping my drink as I make my way around the deck, with even less people around.
But no Tinsley.
I can't help but think how strange it is that everyone seems to have disappeared on me.
First, no one would leave my side, and now they're all gone?
I sip the last of the drink, which seems to have had no alcohol at all as I stop at the rail, looking up the stairs about to call Corban's name.
When I suddenly feel the wave of nausea hit me.
Like all the alcohol I've been drinking is sneaking up on me, only it's so much worse than anything I've felt before only I can't talk, I can't say anything, and I realize someone has slipped something in my drink.
“Ava!” Noah’s voice is somewhere.
Then Noah is walking towards me, and I reach out to him as I cling to the railing, trying to remain upright.
“Ava!” Noah's voice is louder this time, but everything goes black, and I realize the lights have gone out.
I hear screams, and then something louder.
Then someone pushes me, and I am in free fall before I hit something.
Something hard.
I can’t think about the pain as the darkness fades over me.
I can hear voices.
It sounds like Isa.
Chapter 21: Corban
May 14, 2017
Tinsley finds me first when she loses Ava in the crush of people, but when we both hear Noah shouting Ava's name, and the lights go out, there's the unmistakable sound of Noah's Glock, and I press Tinsley against the deck of the boat.
Mercifully this is the moment Noah's seaplane flies overhead, and I can hear him shout.
“Oh my god!” Tinsley sees something that I don't, and we both take off, running towards where Noah has, quite literally, jumped off the deck, and dove into the water.
“What are you doing!” Tinsley screams.
Then I see it, my heart sinking in the distance.
A small motorboat.
Noah swims towards it, but the boat is much faster.
He's shouting instructions at the plane captain, but they can't hear him, so he swims towards the plane.
“Take your shoes off, come on,” I tell her.
Tinsley nods, and we both run towards the back of the boat, slipping into the water.
Tinsley is a stronger swimmer than I anticipated, and all those summers at our lake house did me no good because she reaches Noah, and the plane, before I do.
I'm out of shape and out of breath, and out of time because it's written all over Noah's face, what happened.
“They've got her,” The words are out of his mouth before I can comprehend what he's saying.
I buckle up as Noah slides the door of the plane shut, taking the seat beside Tinsley, giving the pilot orders to immediately search for that boat.
“Noah, we need to refuel, we don't have that much time,” The pilot gives us the bad news with a straight face.
“Do what you can, okay?” He asks.
“Alright, Mr. Stone,” The pilot nods. “We could go back to the airport, grab another bird, we'd have more flying time that way?”
“They'll be gone by then,” Noah shakes his head. “Go.”
“Noah nods like everything is sinking, and silence sinks over the three of us, as we mull over the idea of what just happened.
“I just lost my wife,” I can hear my voice, but it doesn't sound like it's coming from my body.
“We'll find her,” Tinsley takes my hand and Noah's. “We'll find her you guys.”
But her voice is shaking, and she doesn't sound that confident.
The pilot flies in the direction they went, as low as he is allowed, with his searchlight on, but nothing turns up, and then we are forced to turn back.
Otherwise, we will not be able to land properly.
On the way back, I finally break the sullen silence that has settled over the three of us.
“How did they do it?” I ask.
“Someone put something in her drink,” Noah mumbles, before sitting up straight, to squeeze Tinsley's hand, and let go.
“I went looking for her after I realized the yacht was tampered with, and I couldn't do anything. She was clutching onto the railing, trying to speak but nothing came out.”
He takes a deep breath.
“There I was yelling out for her, and when she sunk lower to the ground, I moved for her, the lights went out. Someone came out the door, pushed her. So, I tried to fire at them,” He admits.
He drops the gun on the ground.
“It's loaded with blanks,” his miserable voice informs us.
I can feel her presence missing.
“It was just a feeling,” Noah repeats. “I didn’t thin
k Elizabeth would do something like this.”
“It was Rowan,” Noah looks directly at me. “Rowan pushed her into that boat; then she jumped in herself. I tried to go after them, but it was too late.”
But all I can remember is the last thing I said to Ava.
Something about taking forever in the washroom?
“What if that's the last thing I ever said to her?” my voice fades, talking to no one in particular.
***
“Elizabeth is not going to kill her,” Tinsley's voice is strained, “She may be many things, but that woman, however much of a monster she might be, isn't looking to murder her, she's probably looking for money. What she probably wants, is for us to call the Darlingtons. Make them give up whatever money she wants, so that she can disappear, and Noah will leave her alone.”
Tinsley is familiar with the story, she knows more than I do.
I suspect she always knew who Ava was.
“She's right,” Noah appears in the doorway, rolling up his sleeves, as he stands beside Tinsley.
“Then do it,” I look up at both of them. “Do whatever she wants.”
“Now, now. We can't exactly give up the ransom when the kidnapper hasn't called,” Noah shakes his head. “Eat your soup.”
My mind spirals out of control all night. When I stumble downstairs, sleep deprived and hungry, but unable to eat as I pour myself a cup of coffee, Tinsley is already prepared.
She's got maps of the island where we left from, spread out across the large dining room table, her and Noah's head of security, Lucius, are combing over them, drawing little x's over everything.
“Okay, so if we already looked here… what about all this?” Tinsley draws another X.
“These are all outlying private islands, like Noah's… we could check rentals. I'm on it,” the buff man with caramel skin and a deep voice replies.
Lucius is intimidating to anyone who wants to remain upright with a pulse.
Lucius is from Noah's New York Office but Noah probably brings him everywhere, especially where Elizabeth is involved.
I vaguely remember that he carries a gun, always, and various amounts of American money.
He has several passports from different countries, only a few of which are legitimate.
He has a family in Canada, and mistress in Switzerland.
Exposure_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel Page 17