Someone will have to bail me out.
Worry lines suddenly crease my face as my stomach drops.
“Don't worry, if Ava doesn't come and bail you out, I'll do it,” Noah promises me, handing me the flute of champagne.
I down the whole thing, because destroying my life's work in a matter of minutes calls for some sort of celebration.
This was the only way to show Ava she was worth it, worth my life.
If this all goes wrong, and I spend the rest of my life in jail?
So be it.
At least I tried.
“So, what do we do now?” I ask Noah.
He’s lounging at the dining room table, pouring more champagne.
“We wait,” he answers.
Noah hands me more champagne.
I just grab the bottle.
The siren's outside increase in volume and I wonder exactly what Noah has done to me.
Ava is worth it, I tell myself as Noah fiddles with the Stereo, turning the volume on max and I feel sorry for my neighbors.
He's always had a thing for Sinatra, I think, as the old voice croons over my sterile apartment.
But the man had a point.
Frank Sinatra makes love seem so much simpler, as the lyrics to Luck be a Lady fill the air.
I think to myself that luck is what I'm absolutely going to need if I'm going to make it out of here without a scratch on me.
We continue drinking champagne.
***
Around seven in the morning, after several bottles of Dom, I shuffle towards the door when I hear the banging.
Several police officers are standing there.
“Corban Winthrop?”
“That's me,” I yawn.
I smell like Dom, I haven't showered, and I'm still wearing the same damn suit.
“We have a warrant for your arrest,” One officer says.
“Can I at least,” I begin to ask to change.
One officer slams me against the cement wall of my apartment, the other cuffs me and they start reading me my rights, half of which I don't understand because the wind has been knocked out of me.
Also, I think I'm a little drunk still.
All the way down the elevator I don't know what to expect, but Noah insists on coming with us, making jokes about them putting cuffs on him too.
“He's had a little bit to drink,” I tell the officers.
He keeps joking until they threaten to arrest him.
“Go ahead,” Noah holds out his hands. “Arrest me.”
They don’t.
I don't expect the mountain of press outside my building, which the police barely manage to keep back before they squeeze Noah and I into the back of a squad car.
This is completely unorthodox but they don't have a choice.
They're not going to leave him standing on the street threatening to call his legal team.
Which he does eventually do, because once they lock me up it's clear to Noah that I won't be able to pay for my own lawyer.
And my publicist won't keep her job once she realizes what's gone on either.
Once they’ve locked me up in a cell, Noah pays his way in to talk to me.
“I'll call Victoire,” Noah sighs. “She won't be happy that her holiday has been slashed in half, but for the money she makes, she’d better not complain.”
“She's got a sharp tongue, but the woman works wonders. I'm not saying she's going to save your reputation,” Noah tells me sternly.
I can tell he's starting to sober up as he winces.
“But she'll do you some good. Note how I said some,” he points out.
“Noah, I knew what I was getting into,” I roll my eyes.
All at once I am reminded that Ava is a Stone.
If she still doesn't want me, if she doesn't need me after all of this?
All of this has been for absolutely nothing.
But I won’t regret it.
Not one bit.
Noah will stand by his daughter, I decide, as he fixes his jacket, though he's stood by me for most of his life, he's spent a great chunk of his life searching for her, and he won't throw their relationship away for me.
“Noah,” I turn to him.
“Corban,” He repeats my name.
“If it comes down to the two of us, Ava and I-” I start.
“It won’t,” He cuts me off. “She may be a Stone, and I know what you're thinking, but Ava has a much more forgiving nature than any of the Stones that I know. That and what you've done for her, once she realizes she will forgive you,” He waves a hand like he doesn't see it any other way.
I think he just doesn't want to consider that maybe he won't be able to keep us both in his life.
“I'm just saying that if she doesn't… I get it,” I insist.
“Well you won't have to,” He looks annoyed with me. “Don't be stupid. Now, I'll have to go call your mother, before this breaks in the papers and she finds out from someone other than myself.”
“Tell her I'm sorry,” I call after him, leaning on the bars.
Chapter 32: Elizabeth
July 4, 2017
“Isa, there's an issue with Rowan, she's asking for you.” One of the suits, as I've taken to calling them because they're dumb as bricks, only worth the muscle, calls from the doorway.
If I wanted muscle with brains, I'd find someone worth paying more than what I pay them.
I don't need someone with a brain; I need someone to protect me.
I need to get better security, however, if they can't handle Rowan.
She's an imbecile if she thinks she's going to get any better than what I'm giving her.
Rowan is good.
She's good for publicity, but she's not all that smart.
She's been demanding things ever since Fiji, and it is time to retire her permanently.
She was useful when she got involved with Corban, which I allowed because he was so close with Noah, now she's useless to me.
The twit was stupid enough to get herself found out.
It was all so perfect until it fell apart.
The look on precious little Ava's face when I told her the truth about her husband.
So brilliant.
That stupid, stupid little girl.
She even married him.
She married the man I hired to tear her apart.
I couldn't have planned any of this better.
He even fell in love with her.
I can't believe that woman is my daughter.
Any child of mine should not have grown up to be so stupid.
I thought she was smarter, stronger.
I thought she would've guarded her heart more closely against a man like Corban.
Maybe I was wrong.
When I return from promising Rowan that I will give her whatever she wants, I tell the suit to go home and think about his actions, he frowns and asks when to come back.
“I'll call,” I instruct carefully.
This shows him that his job is on the line.
They're all highly paid; they want these jobs.
I pay them cash, they get to hold guns, feel up the girls, and at the end of the day, if they want a date for the night, they can have it.
What else is better than free sex, with no strings attached?
They have families to feed after all.
Most of them anyway.
But when I come back, sit down at the computer, it won't access what I'm looking for.
And I'm looking for Ava's file.
I want to document everything.
Then I hear sirens.
Jail is what I’m thinking.
For what? Who could have possibly figured out my operation?
The only man who would dare is Noah.
And he's not smart enough to do this on his own.
This is no accident.
It's also no accident that Noah is around.
He's planned this.
Corban is a genius behind
the screen, with the body of a god.
I should've known that man had a plan.
I should've left when I had the chance with that money in Switzerland Olivia has been holding for me.
In the millions too.
Before I can do anything else, Detective Aidan Wilde walks in the room.
I stand and simply put my hands out for him to cuff me.
I do not intend on dying.
“Are we going to play a sexual game now?” I purr.
Aidan laughs so harshly I wonder just how much he hates me.
“Oh, Elizabeth, we’re going to have a lot of fun together,” he sneers. “I’ve had a cell reserved for you, for years.”
****
“So, you're the woman behind Isa?” detective Aidan Wilde sneers.
He's been chasing Isa for months.
Chasing me.
I've alluded him until now.
“It’s curious how most of your files have been deleted? How’d you manage that?” He asks.
“Oh?” I raise an eyebrow. “Look to Corban Winthrop for that one,” I smirk at him.
He's protecting his wife, I suspect, but I don't offer anything else.
Everything I worked for, all my blackmail lists, all the girl's files, everything went, and I know it without even saying another word.
Corban did it to protect Ava.
I'm finished for now.
I don't even scowl because anything I say further will just incriminate me beyond what they already have.
“Elizabeth Darlington, a woman with all the money in the world, is the woman behind ISA Incorporated.”
Troublesome man.
“You know; I could easily pay you to let me out of here,” I offer.
“You want to add another charge to that long list of felonies?” his deep voice bounces back at me as he stands at the bars, unlocking the cell and letting himself in, taking a seat on the bed across from me.
“Aren't you going to lock it?” I ask
“You won't escape, not from here,” He shakes his head as he tosses a pack of cigarettes at me.
I open the pack and light one; this might be my last chance to smoke.
Aidan shakes his head as I hand the pack back.
“Keep it; you'll need it where you're going, Elizabeth,” he smirks.
“You can call me Lizzie if you want,” I purr back.
“Alright Lizzie,” he smirks at me. “So, what's the motive behind all this? If you don't mind my asking. I've been chasing you since I became a detective. This is my biggest break yet, I'm curious.”
“No motive,” I shrug, taking a puff, exhaling in his face.
The man doesn't wince.
“Why'd you get caught?” he prods further.
“I suspect Noah Stone had something to do with it,” I smile at him, waving as though this is just a huge game to me.
“We suspect Corban Winthrop helped you try to delete everything. Where are the back-up files?” he asks.
“You have everything,” I shrug. “So, if you want the dirt, on your senators, your presidents, your businessmen, all of it is gone. Unless you can find it.”
“You don't have a server anywhere?” Aidan insists.
“Why would I pay to have a server, with everyone's dirty laundry, when someone could easily access that and use it for themselves?” I ask him. “Would you, if you had all this power, give it to someone else to hold for you? And pay them for it? That was my way out, my leverage? The only thing I had. I kept it safe.”
I don’t even raise my voice, noting that my calm demeanour is off-putting to Detective Wilde.
“Not safe enough,” He shrugs. “I guess the only person you have to thank for this, is Winthrop.”
He sighs, getting up. “Someone wants to say hello.”
Aidan slides the cell door closed, locking it with such glee on his face that I'd go and smack that grin right off his face if I could.
The man has been hunting me for years.
No wonder he's celebrating.
But I think I know who my visitor is.
He's probably paid handsomely, just to say hello.
Though I'm sure, that's the last word he plans on saying.
Noah.
The man still looks impeccable, with my heart thumping he stands at the bars of my cell, as I continue smoking.
“You did it, didn't you?” I ask.
“I did nothing, darling,” Noah grins.
“Don't call me that,” I hiss.
I drop the cigarette immediately to swat at him through the bars, but he's too far.
“You bastard! You ruined me!” I scream.
“Yet, you've taken so much from everyone,” His voice is eerily calm.
It’s my turn to feel disturbed.
“I thought it was time; we took a few things back for ourselves. Don't worry; we left enough on there to incriminate you,” Noah smirks. “Though Corban may have a rough time, for what he's done. He’ll be alright. I'll make sure of that. Just, one question, if you're in a women's facility, are you going to try to run another prostitution ring in there? Or are you going to be someone else's bitch?”
His laugh bellows so loudly I find myself cringing.
I try to compose myself.
He will not win this one.
“Just tell me one thing, Noah,” I plead, seething with anger.
I want to hurt him.
“What's that?” he asks with a smile.
“Did you love me, I mean, did you ever really actually love me, or was that always just a game to you?” I fake sadness, remorse.
“You're one to talk. Playing games with people,” He evades my question.
“I can feel remorseful, can't I?” I pretend to be hurt.
“If you had any feeling left in you, that is,” Noah bites back, as hard as he can.
I don't blame him after all these years.
“I know when you’re playing with me Lizzie,” Noah says coldly. “So, don’t think you’re going to win yourself any points here.”
A funny thing happens to you after a while; you feel invincible when you don't get caught.
I went years and years of making fabulous money and being the woman in charge.
I felt invincible.
Feeling invincible became less of a feeling and more of an illusion.
That led me to make some serious errors.
Errors that I've apparently misjudged.
And now I'm here.
Noah watches me for a few moments.
Does he feel anything for me?
Does he know I do still care deeply about the man?
Unlikely.
But.
You never know.
This just might be the end.
“Anything else?” He asks.
“Tell Ava,” I sigh, “That her mother wishes her well at least. I don't want her last memory of me, to be a terrible one. Delivering news like that tends to make a villain out of the person who delivered it.”
“Lizzie,” Noah clicks his tongue. “You made yourself the villain.”
The last thing I hear is Noah’s loud laughter as he walks down the hallway, away from me.
Chapter 33: Ava
July 5, 2017
Dreaming isn't pleasant anymore.
Neither is waking up to find that I'm not twisted in the sheets with Corban.
I'm dangerously close to forgiving him, breaking down those walls.
I've at least decided that the right thing to do is to tell him about the baby, even though I don't know anything about the baby myself yet.
I just know that if I were him, despite the situation between us, I would want to know.
He deserves to know.
Waking up early has its benefits, but Athena and Evan are both late sleepers, so I stay in bed late, trying to avoid the day ahead of me.
Today is July fourth.
Of all days.
I think back of all the weekends, and holidays I've celebrate
d.
What is different about today?
I'm not alone, but I've never felt more alone.
The last few years, I've been booked solid with someone or other, always.
It turns out the most significant holidays we celebrate are the ones that people want to be alone the least, especially Christmas and New Year’s.
But July fourth is also one of the biggest days of the year, back when I worked for my mother.
I lay in bed, thinking backward, backward to when July fourth meant no school, meant my foster parents might give us a break.
It was never anything fancy, it wasn't a party in the Hamptons or this sort of luxury.
However, I miss the simplicity of popsicles and barbecue.
I'm happy enough now.
But a large part of me is missing.
When I finally shower and make the trip downstairs, Athena and Evan are sitting at the large dining table, on one end, trading the paper back and forth, chattering between coffee and pastries.
“Oh my god, can you believe this?”
“Did you call Noah?” Athena asks Evan
“He didn't pick up. I should call him again; he's got to have something to do with this. Ava, you need to call the Darlingtons, they need to hear this from you,” Evan's eyes are wide.
“Hear what from me?” I ask as I sit down beside Evan, taking the front page of the paper, he's been reading from him.
Darlington Prostitution Ring Exposed.
“Holy shit,” The picture of Elizabeth is clear as day, in that stupid black wig, as she's led up the precinct steps out of squad car.
“What happened?” I gasp.
“We don't know,” Athena and Evan say in unison.
“I'll call Ava,” I tell them.
My grandmother, would want to know first.
Though I'm sure they've already gotten the news, I head into the living room and dial her home on Long Island, expecting her not to pick up the phone.
But I do get her cheery voice. “Hello?”
“Grandmother, it's Ava,” I say.
“Ava, darling, how are you? How is Athena?” She asks graciously.
“Umm… well, we're okay I guess. I've got some news about Elizabeth.”
“Yes, I've seen it. Unfortunate for the family but, we are Darlingtons. I guess scandal is part of the family history.” My grandmother clicks her tongue.
“You've seen it then?” I ask as I pinch my nose.
Exposure_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel Page 25