“Come now, my dear,” she says, taking Leigha’s elbow.
“Evan!” Leigha pleads.
I let her go, silently promising her that I will not let anything happen.
My clenched fists are at my side.
“You gave your word, Olivia,” Levi reminds her.
She laughs and walks off the train with my wife.
I watch as they approach the waiting chopper.
I was right.
It’s a Dauphin.
Expensive and luxurious.
The other two helicopters are Wildcats. They are armed with rockets!
How the hell did she manage that?
Their presence is violating at least five treaties!
I watch as Leigha boards the Dauphin, and then it rises into the air.
The dust is kicked up, and then it’s only a tiny spot, and then it’s gone.
Shit!
* * *
“Levi! Vic said the MI-6 choppers are landing!” Merc shouts as he comes back from the engine.
It’s been twelve minutes since Olivia stole my wife out from under me.
“Let’s go! Merc, stay with Isaac!” Levi says, nodding at me.
We walk off the train, as the dark attack helicopters move into our position.
“Raise your hands and don’t move!” comes a harsh voice from the loudspeakers on the lead chopper.
We do as instructed — no need to get blown into shreds by miniguns at this point.
A second chopper sets down, and soldiers disembark.
They walk to us, and Levi hands them his ID. The commander nods, and points to the train.
We walk back inside, followed by a medic.
“You two! Help this man! Get a stretcher and evac him to Monte Le Clair Hospital! Stat!” he yells over the noise from the rotating blades.
The two men maneuver Isaac onto a cot and begin an IV. He’s passed out.
Grace comes running into the car.
“I’m going with him, and don’t anyone try to stop me!” she cries.
The soldiers see Merc and Levi nodding and let her pass.
“Isaac!” she shrieks, her composure finally breaking.
Hot tears cascade down her cheeks.
Levi goes to her and hugs her, reassuringly.
“He’s going to be okay, Grace. Stay with him!” he soothes.
He points to one of the medics.
“Will you please make sure she’s given every courtesy that you can provide? Thank you,” he says.
The soldier nods, as Isaac is carried out.
“We’ll be in touch, Grace! Go!” he says to her, and she wordlessly follows the men.
They strap Isaac’s stretcher to a skid and make sure his oxygen mask and IV are secured, and Grace hops on board. In a minute or so, the chopper lifts off, the winds buffeting everything.
“Merc, let’s find Noah!” Levi says.
The other soldiers and I follow them down the length of the train, stopping at the last car. It’s a private affair, and the doors are locked.
Levi kicks the door open unceremoniously.
The luxurious dining car is empty except for one, lone occupant. My father sits handcuffed to a table, bolted to the floor, sipping a whiskey just as Olivia had suggested.
The look on his face is one of resignation.
“Well, that didn’t go as planned,” he says mildly.
32
Leigha
January 28, 2019
I watch the train shrink into the distance, as the helicopter carries me away from everyone I love.
Olivia is wearing a headset and speaking to the pilot. I think it’s the pilot. He’s nodding and looking about as he flies us further away from Evan.
God damn it! We had just reunited!
Why was this happening to me?
We fly in silence, and I admire the appointments in this vehicle. It’s one-hundred percent upgraded.
I can see the instruments on the cockpit, and it’s obvious even to me how advanced they are. I see things that seem military. Does that say “ARM MISSILES?”
The pilot veers off and follows the mountainous terrain, finally settling into a course that parallels a river. Ten minutes later, he cuts across a small town, and bounces over the hill, and then into a field.
He sets the chopper down smoothly.
“T-minus four minutes, Madame,” he tells Olivia.
She nods, taking the headset and placing it gently in its cradle. I do the same, and she motions me to follow her off the craft.
Bewildered, I get down from the chopper and follow her.
Is she going to kill me here, then?
Well, that bitch is in for a fight, that’s for sure.
I steel myself to hit her and try to see a path away from the area that will provide me cover. There’s nothing but grass for a thousand yards in every direction!
We walk at least five hundred feet away so that now I can hear her.
She’s been chattering the entire time.
“…all this trouble for nothing, don’t you think so, Leigha?” she says, ending some sentence.
“What did you say? I couldn’t hear you?” I reply.
She spins and sighs, and reaches into her purse.
This is it!
I tense myself to knock her down and get her gun. Only, when she pulls her hand out of the purse, it’s holding a small blue box.
It appears to be a Tiffany jewelry box!
What is going on?
“Leigha, this is for Tinsley, and only her. Do you understand me? I am taking a huge risk in trusting this errand with you. Can I trust you to only deliver it to her? You must not let Evan, or Levi or that dolt Mercutio know I have given this to you. Are we clear?” she says.
Her voice is devoid of any inflection.
I nod.
I take it from her and put it into my pocket. The box is about the size of a pack of cigarettes.
“Noah and Tinsley will have you taken to The Stone Estate, and you must be sure that she, and only she, gets this package!” she pleads.
I am stunned.
“If the Duke knew I was doing this, he’d have us all killed, Leigha. All of us. The Stones. The Darlingtons. And, especially Tinsley!” she says, and her voice catches.
“What is this?” I whisper.
“It’s proof. That’s all you need to know. It’s safer for you this way!” she explains.
She sighs, and I hear the tiredness.
“You know, I never imagined it could be like this. I was a spoiled woman, to be sure. And, over all the years, I only wanted one thing. Noah. Oh, the other girls he had, they meant nothing. Every great man has his peccadillos. It didn’t bother me. But then Tinsley came along and changed everything,” she sighed.
“You have no idea what that woman can do, Leigha,” she continued. “The Duke is right to fear her. Especially with Noah at her side. I can’t keep running from the truth, or what I’ve become. But, certainly, I cannot depend on Geoffrey any further. His latest projects are too much. Even for me,” she says, shrugging.
“I used to think that Elizabeth was right. That there wasn’t anything we could do to make things better for ourselves. That we were just things to be used and discarded by men. It was I who helped set ISA, Inc. up. I convinced her to hire Ava. Well, Bexley, I suppose…” she said, trailing off.
“And then, all that mess with Lauren and Elena, and …” she says, but I interrupt her.
“Excuse me? Elena?” I ask.
She looks at me as though I’ve two heads, then throws her head back, laughing uproariously.
“Oh! I’m so sorry! I keep forgetting how intricate these webs get!” she says, her eyes glistening with tears.
“Sit down here with me, Leigha,” she says, patting the ground.
“T-minus one minute!” comes a voice over the chopper’s loudspeaker.
Olivia waves at the pilot.
“He’s not going anywhere without me, so fuck him,”
she murmurs.
I sit next to her.
“Elizabeth, Lauren, and Elena are all sisters. The woman you ‘killed’ was an agent that Noah had tried to use to break into our organization. She had to pretend to be Lauren, and when you whacked her, we ended up having to fake her death. Noah fabricated a false coroner’s report. Unfortunately, Merc found out, and he and his partner, Sophie whatshername, caught the poor dear. Luckily, Noah managed to get to Sophie and his agent in time to fake her execution, in front of Mercutio. He thinks Lauren is dead, and so does Evan. In reality, she and Elizabeth and Elena and I have been working to further the Duke’s power. It’s partly why I married him, you know. But the man is out of control now. He’ll destroy the United Kingdom if he’s not stopped. And, I won’t allow that to happen!” she explains
My mind spun.
Is Lauren alive? Another sister?
“Where…where is Elena, then?” I asked, fearing the answer.
Olivia does not give me an answer. Instead, I get a wry smile.
Some secrets must be kept, I guess.
I know I’m just lucky to be alive.
* * *
True to her word, the helicopter is still waiting for her.
I can see the pilot. He looks angry.
“Don’t forget what I told you. Tinsley, alone, can have that box and what it contains. If anyone else manages to get it, then…” she says.
“Goodbye, Leigha,” Olivia says before she walks towards the chopper.
She boards it and replaces the headset. The pilot rips open the throttle and applies power, and the craft practically leaps into the air, pummeling me with the windblast, almost knocking me off my feet.
I watch it recede, and then it’s gone.
I am alone. Out standing in a field.
But, not for very long.
Another helicopter roars towards me, and I see two uglier ones in its wake.
It’s Evan!
My heart skips a beat!
The choppers land, and soon Evan scoops me up in his arms. I am relieved, and he smothers me with hot kisses, oblivious to the soldiers. We walk giddily back to the aircraft, and it takes us to an airport.
Evan asks me a thousand questions, and all I can do is squeeze his hand. I am happy to be with him again.
I know I can never leave.
But there is still one thing I have to do.
After all, I promised Olivia I would.
* * *
February 9, 2019
It’s been a hectic day since we returned from Monaco.
Evan took me into our hotel room and ravaged me senseless. I practically raped the man. I was such a wild thing in his arms. Our lovemaking even caught the attention of the hotel guests.
We received not one, but two calls from the front desk to keep the noise down.
I didn’t care who heard my screams of pleasure!
Eventually, we were relocated to the Penthouse suite. I barely could make it, and wrapped myself in a bedsheet, as I clung to my love. Evan immediately began pounding me, over and over, as soon as the bellhops had exited the room.
We took a bath and a shower and another bath. We ordered room service and barely touched it.
I sucked Evan until his tormented balls were empty, and even then, wouldn’t surrender it from my hungry lips. He massaged my rump, spanking my cheeks and licking all my intimate places, making sure nothing was ignored.
It was the most decadent, fulfilling sex I’d ever had in my entire life!
We ended up passed out in bliss, entwined among each other’s limbs.
I slept the sleep of the dead.
The next morning, we flew back to London, and the Stone estate. I took great pains to hide Olivia’s ‘gift,’ even during our unexpected relocation at the hotel.
When we landed, I made a mental note to see Tinsley as soon as possible. But that had to wait on Noah and her reunion festivities.
And, I thought Evan and I were noisy!
* * *
Tinsley and I sit in the nursery, watching Sebastian. He’s playing with some blocks.
He looks adorable.
She looks ravaged.
I know the feeling.
If she and Noah did one-tenth the fucking Evan, and I did, she’d look like that. I suspect a lot more happened than that, however.
It’s been three days since we returned, after all…
I finally managed to corner her alone. It wasn’t easy, but Levi and the other men are off to visit Isaac in the hospital. He’d required some surgery but was recovering nicely, according to what I’d heard from Vic. Grace hasn’t left his side, except when she was forced out by the surgeons. She’d immediately gone to his room and has been there ever since, except for a shower or to use the bathroom.
I know the level of devotion she is feeling.
Vic and Levi have been keeping some time together, as well, and I noticed that Evan includes him on our outings now.
I wonder if maybe something is brewing between Vic and Levi.
I plan to ask Tinsley once I give her Olivia’s gift, whatever it is.
“Noah told me that Olivia kidnapped you, again,” Tinsley says, suddenly.
“Well, I don’t think you can call it that,” I reply.
She arches her eyebrows at me, and I shrug.
With no one else around, finally, I remove Olivia’s blue box from my pocket and show it to Tinsley.
She gives it a cursory glance and laughs.
“Leigha, I don’t think you are my type,” she says.
I give Tinsley a nervous giggle in return.
“Olivia gave me this. You are the only other person that knows that, Tins,” I explain quietly.
Tinsley takes the box from me, suddenly looking extremely nervous.
“What is it?” she asks
“I don’t know. I was not to open it, just deliver it. Do you think it’s a bomb or something?” I say, suddenly worried.
She chuckles.
“That’s hardly Olivia’s style,” she says drily.
She glances at Sebastian, who is mouthing the letter “L.”
“Silly boy! Don’t eat the alphabet!” she scolds.
It’s a momentary distraction from the seriousness of the moment.
Sebastian gives us a goofy baby smile and continues drooling around the block of wood.
Tinsley twirls the box in her hands for a long time.
“Oh, for the love of god Tinsley, please open it,” I beg after what feels like an hour.
It’s probably been about two minutes.
She looks me in the eyes, and I’m struck again by how gorgeous she is, in a majestic sense even. For some reason, the idea of Tinsley as a Princess occurs to me, and I’m suddenly struck with a realization.
In the box, inside the carefully placed wrappings, is a silver chain that Tinsley pulls out of the box slowly with a little gasp.
At the end of the chain, there’s a medallion with the initial “T” on it.
Tinsley lets the brooch fall from her hand, and the Royal seal reveals itself on the other side.
She’s extremely pale and her expression unreadable!
Tinsley goes from shock to fearful, to shock again.
“It’s impossible!” she says, then she looks at Sebastian.
“This can’t be! I don’t believe it!” she stammers. She picks up Sebastian, throwing the brooch onto a couch.
She busies herself, cooing to the baby for a few moments.
Then, she burst into tears.
“Hey! Tins! Hey! What is it? What’s the matter? Should I get Noah?” I ask.
Panic wells up in my throat as her shoulders shake. I let her cry and rub her back gently until Noah walks into the room. He takes in the scene in a split second then walks over to a sobbing Tinsley calmly, removing Sebastian from her arms and handing him to me wordlessly.
Sebastian wriggles in my arms, but we go ignored.
Noah bends over the couch, retrieving the brooch.
He examines it while Tinsley cries softly.
“So. That’s that,” Noah says firmly.
“Now, we know. Your Highness,” he continues. However, that grin is masked by a deadly serious look underneath.
Tinsley, finally aware that Noah is in the room, throws herself into his arms and Noah wordlessly comforts her, rubbing small circles on her back.
I continue to hold Sebastian, who’s now squirming like a little snake reaching out for his mother.
He looks at me.
“Does anyone else know about this, Leigha?” he whispers.
I look at them.
“No. No one. Olivia told me not even to tell you, Noah. I’m sorry!” I say, suddenly afraid.
What did he mean by ‘your highness’?
“Tinsley, what did Noah…” I begin.
She looks at me with the saddest look I’ve ever seen.
“It means I can never marry Noah,” she whispers, then Tinsley begins to cry in earnest.
Noah’s attempts to console her only make me feel like sobbing as well while Sebastian continues to wriggle in my arms, now more vehemently reaching for his sobbing mother.
Highness?
Suddenly, I know.
“Oh, my God!” I cry.
“You are a real princess!” I say, the realization walloping me.
Tinsley buries her head in Noah’s chest and wails louder than I can handle, a tear seeping down my cheek as Sebastian joins in, beginning to cry.
Noah reaches out to take Sebastian from me in turn, handing the boy to Tinsley.
“It’s okay, baby, it’s okay,” she sniffs, trying to calm the boy.
Noah shuts the bedroom door, which was slightly ajar.
“This can go no further, for now, Leigha. Not even Evan! Promise me!” he says, looking at me.
I know the kind of raw power which Noah Stone is capable of exerting, and now I am in its path. It frightens me, the intensity with which he’s begging me to keep this secret. I know this is something that even Evan can’t know.
FRACTURE: Hearts of Stone Book Six Page 18