“Goddamnit! Come here!” I tell Merc.
We embrace lightly, and he claps me on the back.
“I’m sorry,” Merc says honestly.
“I know, it’s alright, it’s good to see you,” I say, meaning it.
It is so good to see him.
It’s incredible to see him.
I try to look past all those months I spent torturing myself over his death.
He’s all right.
He’s alive!
He’s here, in front of me, and not a figment of my imagination.
The way I feel right now, that honestly wouldn’t surprise me.
There’s a ton of crap I’ve had to wade through in the last year, and this lightens the load.
“Can I ask you something?” Merc asks.
I just nod.
“How is she?” he whispers.
I know he means Leigha.
“She’s as well as she can be. I’m sure you heard about her dad’s company, about what happened?” I tell Merc.
“Fuck, that’s right!” Merc swears.
He runs a hand through his hair and looks as though he’s trying to swallow the guilt of not being able to help her.
“It was out of your hands, wasn’t it?” I ask him.
“Out of my hands is an understatement. I didn’t know until it was over, or I would’ve… I would’ve done everything I could to protect her,” he responds quietly.
Fuck.
Merc and Leigha.
“She can’t know, Evan, she can’t know I’m alive. This was an accident, but you can’t tell anyone,” Merc’s instruction is explicit.
I have to lie to my best friend.
The only person I haven’t managed to alienate is Leigha.
“There a bed around here?” I ask.
“Second door to the left,” Merc says.
I swallow the rest of the vodka, then pour the last from the bottle into the mug before I find the bedroom and sprawl across the itchy comforter.
My mind races with all sorts of thoughts.
I almost died, and my body is ravaged in the worst way from that explosion, but otherwise, I am mostly intact.
Far from whole, I think, but I’m still breathing.
Somehow, I don’t feel good about it.
I’m just about to drift off when I hear my cell phone ringing in the other room.
Merc emerges in the bedroom, tosses the phone at me, and the instant I see the name I know he’s got the wrong idea.
The door to the apartment slams shut before I can pick up her call.
“Leigha,” I breathe into the phone.
“Did you forget something?” Leigha asks pointedly.
She sounds really, really, annoyed.
Then it hits me.
I asked her to come to London, and promptly went off with Lucius the day I was supposed to pick her up!
“Fuck, I forgot! I am so sorry, Leigha,” I tell her.
“Yeah, well, I can’t really be mad at you, now can I?” she asks.
“Be mad, please! I’d give anything for anyone to be mad. Are you still at the airport?” I ask.
Please, please, please still be at the airport.
“Yeah,” she sighs.
“What’s the address, I’ll just take a cab or something,” she says.
“No, I’ll send a car for you,” I insist.
By the time I call for Leigha’s car and call her back to confirm, Merc is gone.
“He’s my contact at MI6,” Lucius explains, needlessly.
“You’ll see him again,” he adds.
“God, I hope so,” I reply.
Merc thinking there’s something between Leigha and I is worse than Merc being dead.
2
Leigha
February 28, 2018 - London
The Stone family is all over every newspaper and tabloid as I pass through the terminal.
“Stone Twins Kidnapped by Deranged Darlington!” scream the headlines.
“Darlington Family Disgrace!” scrolls across the BBC feed on the monitors throughout the airport.
“Stone Cold Kidnappers!” I spy, tangentially, on someone’s laptop screen.
Ha!
That last one’s pretty good!
I have to smile a bit, as I hurry out to the curb, to finally get a ride.
Really, none of it is funny in the slightest.
No headline can adequately confer the dour facts that Evan’s nephews have been kidnapped, and his fiancée is dead.
I stand outside, looking for Evan, or anybody, to whisk me away from here.
I am in knee-high boots, tights, and an oversized sweater, and, with over ten hours of stale, recirculated air clinging to my body, I am sure I look a wreck.
I’m already looking to get the hell out of here.
All of these pictures of the Stone family swirling around me is disconcerting.
My gaze lingers over a specific picture of Evan and Victoire.
They were beautiful together.
“Leigha!”
A familiar voice calls my name.
“Athena?” I ask.
I turn my head to see her perfect blonde curls bounce as she rushes towards me, and wraps me up , giving me a long, motherly hug.
“That blasted nephew of mine! If he’d told me you were coming, I would’ve met you at the gate,” she scolds gently.
“Well, that’s Ev for you,” I sigh.
“Isn’t it though?” Athena asks.
She gives me the two-kiss Euro hello, taking my suitcase from me.
“How are you dear? You’ve eaten? Are you hungry? Tired? Anything?” Athena dotes on me.
She cares for me more than my own mother, might I add.
Evelyn Bergmann simply clicked her tongue at me when I said I was going to London, and ordered me to not to follow “that boy” around.
“That boy” being Evan.
I’m not following him around; he needs me.
He just doesn’t need me enough to remember that he was the one who asked me to come.
I sigh.
He didn’t even give me any hints about why.
But, I’m sure it was important.
“I’m not the one to be concerned about,” I tell Athena.
“How is he?” I ask timidly.
Athena is quiet for a moment.
“He’s not himself,” she admits.
“Well, given everything going one with him, I would expect that,” I admit to Athena.
“Maybe you can bring him back, then, dear,” Athena suggests.
It’s a simple fact: Evan and I are all that’s left for each other.
When one calls, the other comes running.
That’s how it’s always been.
I was prepared to give that up when he got engaged, but now?
Now, I can only imagine how torn up he must be.
My heart aches for him, and how devastated he must feel.
As we get in the car, my mind wanders to the last time Evan suffered through the death of someone close to him.
Merc and I may have been close, but he and Evan were best friend’s.
It killed him when Merc died.
Evan tortured himself for months over what he could’ve done to save Merc’s life.
He returned to the city and fell back into old habits, smoking pot every day, fucking around, video games - the works.
The person that brought him out of that numb state was Victoire.
Who’s going to do that for him now?
“Leigha,” Athena catches my attention.
“Oh?” I say.
I see the driver patiently holding the door open for me, and Athena has already slid inside the car.
“I’m sorry,” I apologize.
The driver just nods, and smiles slightly as he closes the door.
The drive is short, the house is enormous, and the only people I see inside are the help, preparing dinner.
We walk down the hallway, to a ni
cely appointed alcove.
“You can have this one,” Athena says as she opens the door.
The opulently modern guest bedroom is nothing less than what I would expect from Noah Stone.
“Are you sure?” I ask anyway.
“This is pretty fancy,” I say, scanning the room in amazement.
“Leigha, you know better. It’s all like this,” Athena laughs.
“I do,” I say awkwardly.
That’s me.
Awkward as all hell, and out of place in this world.
Especially now that my father’s company is gone, and my entire world has fallen apart at the hands of Evan’s mother.
Talk about Mommy issues!
I thought I had my fair share with my own mother, who’s pretty harsh, but at least I know she somewhat loves me.
Evan’s mother, on the other hand, is a serious piece of work.
Not only did she leave when he was young, but she also kept his sister from their father for decades, and then continued her path of destruction.
Elizabeth Darlington devastated my father’s company, and Noah’s, after trying to kill him in a fire that destroyed half of a landmark building in New York City.
“How’s your father doing?” Athena asks.
“He’s fine,” I lie.
“And your brother Brett?” she continues.
“Brett is selling real estate in Los Angeles, making money and living the life,” I reply sweetly.
“Your brother always was fantastic with people,” Athena smiles.
“That’s Brett,” I nod.
Athena senses the conversation is a little awkward for me, even though we are so familiar.
The truth is I’m pissed at Evan, and that’s kind of getting the best of me at the moment.
“I’ll let you rest, come down for dinner though. I’m sure Noah would be happy to see you,” Athena says.
“I doubt Noah Stone even remembers me,” I laugh.
If he does, it’s because he knows I’m the one who caused him to lose NLS Financials.
There’s a shift in the bed beside me and when I open my eyes my vision is blurry, but it’s clear that the man in the bed with me its Evan.
I slide my glasses on, and I can magically see again.
“Evan,” I sigh.
He’s curled up around a pillow, his hands under his head.
“Hey!” he says.
“Hi,” I yawn.
“Did I wake you?” he asks.
“Wasn’t that your intention?” I quip.
“Maybe,” Evan replies.
“What time is it?” I yawn.
“It’s seven in the morning. You missed dinner. No one wanted to wake you. Jet lag from New York and all that,” he adds.
When he says “New York,” the longing on his face is apparent.
“You aren’t missing much, Evan. Just some FBI agents,” I chide in an attempt to comfort him.
Evan’s sigh is long and hard for me to take.
He closes his eyes, and I can hear him count to three under his breath.
Evan’s eyes squeeze shut tighter, and then, finally, he opens them again.
“Better?” I ask.
Evan nods.
“I’m sorry,” he says.
“My mother set-up an ambush for us; I had to be there,” Evan explains.
“Oh, you had to?” I ask.
Then, I raise an eyebrow at him.
“She lied and said she wanted to discuss terms for returning the twins to us. My father didn’t want the police involved. Lucius and I went to Prague,” Evan explains further.
Then he turns around and lifts his shirt to show me a bruise across his muscled back.
“That looks nasty!” I comment.
“Hurts like hell, too” Evan admits.
“Let me get a look at,” I say.
I shift from under the covers and make Evan turn around so I can prod the bruise on his back.
He winces, manfully trying not to make any noise.
I poke at him until I elicit a grunt of pain.
“Hey! I thought we were friends, Leigha!” he says, frowning.
I grab some ice from the fridge and wrap it in a towel from the washroom.
“Here,” I whisper softly to him.
Then. I gently press it against his back.
“Ahhh!” Evan sighs in relief.
“Better?” I ask.
“You always were the one to fix me up,” he comments.
“Like that time, you and Merc got into it and beat the shit out of each other for no bloody reason?” I ask.
Evan hesitates.
“Yeah,” he says.
To this day I don’t know what that fight was about.
Evan and Merc were both almost kicked out school the second the headmaster saw them bloodied up like that.
If I recall it correctly, Noah donated a library to the school to smooth over the episode.
Silently, I ice Evan’s back and watch his muscles relax until some of the tension has been removed.
“So, how are you?” I ask.
The ice is cold in my hands; I focus on the cold, because it keeps me steady.
Evan presses his lips together, and I know there is so much he wants to say but doesn’t.
“I’ll be alright,” he says.
Now that I’m here to pick up the pieces, as always, I add silently.
That’s what we do.
Evan falls apart, and I pick him back up.
That’s always been the way of our friendship.
Most of the time.
He’s only had to pick me up once, but that didn’t lead to a good place.
At least, not a place that I could recover from…
I keep my thoughts about Merc to myself.
“Do you miss him?” Evan asks suddenly.
I watch him pour whiskey from a bottle on the nightstand into two crystal cut highball glasses, and take the one he hands me before I answer.
“Miss who?” I say coyly, playing stupid.
“Merc,” Evan says the name.
“Of course, I do, Evan” I shrug.
“Of course,” Evan nods.
I take a sip of the whiskey and narrow my eyes at him.
“Why do you ask?” I say.
“No reason,” Evan replies.
He is lying to me.
There’s always a reason when he brings up Merc.
I ignore the lie, maybe hoping to uncover the truth, by being subtler.
“So, we’re going after your mother,” I tell him flatly.
“We?” Evan asks.
His raised eyebrow tells me that was not the plan.
“Well, you don’t think I’m going to just stand by while you chase after her, do you? She wrecked my life too!” I growl.
Evan only nods.
“Evan,” I scold him.
“What the hell is wrong with you? You’re acting stranger than you ever have. Is it Vic?” I ask.
“No,” he says.
Then, he closes his eyes, and I can’t tell if he is lying, this time.
Sitting cross-legged on the bed beside him, I don’t know what to say, for the first time ever.
“Well, then out with it!” I insist.
“Can you just trust me when I say that this isn’t something I can tell you?” Evan pleads.
His voice strains and I know he doesn’t want to keep this from me, but I won’t push him.
He doesn’t need to be pushed; he needs to grieve.
“Well, I’m smarter than you, Evan! And I think a hell of a lot faster! Let’s get the hell up and figure out what our next move is,” I tell him.
Then I gulp the rest of the whiskey and hop off the bed to grab some clothes, before I march into the bath to shower.
I drop my clothes on a hamper, and undress.
“Well, you are smarter than most,” I hear Evan quip from the other room.
I peer around the doorway, mostly undressed.
&nb
sp; Evan sees this, and he finally cracks a smile.
I smile back, and slowly close the door, wiggling my eyebrows suggestively.
I’m just fooling around with him.
Adjusting the nozzles and water temperature, I reflect about my feelings towards Evan.
The hot water is exhilarating in the shower, and I mull over what my mother said, about always running after Evan when he needs me, as I run my hands through my wet hair, teasing out the knots and dirt from my trip.
I apply some shampoo, and conditioner, and relish the feel of the water on my skin.
I lather up with some kind of English soap, and it smells like flowers.
I rinse it away, Evan creeping again and again into my thoughts.
He’s always been there for me any time I’ve called.
Granted, I don’t call him quite that often.
The last time, I’d had a one-night stand.
At least, I felt it was only the one time.
The dude fucked me like I was an inflatable doll, and came so fast I thought there was something wrong with him.
After he came, he yelled at me, calling me some other girl’s name, and punching the pillows.
I asked him to leave, but he just ran into the bathroom, and locked the door.
I thought I could hear him crying.
So, I called Evan to come get the guy out of my apartment.
Evan strolled in about ten minutes later, dressed in a suit and carrying a briefcase, screaming “Honey, I’m home!”
The dude opened the bathroom door, his eyes bugging out.
“I guess I forgot to tell you, I’m married. My husband is extremely jealous, so I guess I’m sorry?” I said, innocently, looking suddenly afraid.
I’ve never seen any man get out of an apartment faster than that time.
Evan laughed after the guy had run out.
He waved the guy’s shirt at me.
“Linen? After Labor Day! What the hell, Leigha?” he said, scornfully.
I just shrugged.
We lean on each other, but that’s where I always drew the line.
I don’t need Evan’s complications.
I just want what he wants: his mother brought to justice.
When I open the washroom door wearing just a towel, Evan is right in front of me.
“What are you doing?” I deadpan.
“Let’s have sex,” he says.
I roll my eyes and snort.
“Evan, I’m not going to have sex with you,” I tell him.
Secret: A Stone Billionaire Series Novel (The Stone Billionaire Series Book 5) Page 2