Exposure_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel Read online

  “Coming from me, she's going to wonder, she barely knows me,” he explains.

  “I know,” I nod.

  It'll be better coming from me.

  Noah needs to be the one to tell her that he’s her father.

  Though he hasn’t admitted so much yet.

  Chapter 11: Ava

  May 9, 2017

  Tinsley is wonderful.

  She's a gorgeous brunette, with a heart-shaped face, about five seven, beautiful hazel eyes that turn green in the sun and laugh that reverberates across the mountain.

  She shows me the entirety of the house and explains the top of the mountain holds the remains of a volcanic crater, an amazing hike if I am willing.

  We both change and hike up and around the mountain for a bit, but eventually give up getting to the top, since the sun is setting, and the lizards seem to freak Tinsley out.

  By the time we return we've both worked up a sweat and jump.

  We strip down and jump in the outdoor shower next to Noah's amazing infinity pool.

  As darkness pours over the island, the automatic outdoor lights come on, solar powered, and everything is cast in a romantic glow.

  “They're orange,” Tinsley explains. “It's not as harsh on your eyes, Noah likes it that way.”

  “So, you and Noah?” I ask.

  “He's a friend of my father's,” Tinsley’s voice lowers, as though she's wondering if Noah and my husband are around.

  “But?” I wrap a towel around my naked body, feeling a kinship with Tinsley.

  She was raised in high society and recently engaged, but he broke it off. He got married quickly after and announced it.

  So, she got the hell out of dodge.

  I know it's not the whole story, but I don't pry.

  “Honestly, there's a lot of history,” She says as she rubs her temples. “I feel so stupid, honestly.”

  “History?” I repeat the word, wondering what exactly she means.

  “We were somewhat of an item, back when he first divorced Olivia,” Tinsley admits.

  “And him?” I ask.

  She shakes her head. “It’s just not going to work.”

  Tinsley doesn’t seem convinced.

  “Okay, but I don’t believe that,” I tell Tinsley.

  “It's a long story,” Tinsley sighs.

  She sounds like she wants to tell me, but Tinsley can't get the words out.

  “They were on the verge of divorce at the time, it was already over …” she trails off.

  “Tell me you slept with him,” I finish for her.

  Tinsley only nods. “My first time.”

  It takes everything inside me to keep from screaming because this is to good. They belong together, for sure, and a part of me is rooting for them to get together.

  I’ve seen the way they look at each other, you can’t forget something like that.

  She must want to be with him.

  “And what? Nothing?” I ask.

  “He was married, they got divorced, and then we stayed friends. Now we're friends,” her voice is uneven.

  They are so not friends.

  “Okay,” I nod, deciding not to push the issue because of the pain in Tinsley's voice.

  She is so apparently in love with the man, and Noah looks at her differently than he looks at me, or Corban.

  His face changes, the stress goes away.

  I don't know him all that well, but I sense feelings.

  So, when we all sit down for dinner, I intend on delving into this a little bit further, without being obvious, which is excellent, because my husband is back to being surly.

  I cut into my steak.

  “So how long have you two known each other?” I ask Noah.

  “Too long. Years, in fact, I've known Tinsley’s father for quite a long time,” Noah answers.

  Rough.

  He could be her father.

  Or my father in fact.

  Too bad. Next question.

  “And you're here together, as a favor?” I push.

  “I'm sure she told you about the scandal,” Noah nods.

  “That's rough,” I nod. “Life is all about getting through the hard stuff, and sometimes you just have to get away from the people that make it all that much harder.” I offer a tidbit of advice, and Tinsley smiles gratefully at me.

  “My, you are insightful,” Noah gives me a strange look.

  “Everything happens for a reason.” I shrug.

  Noah raises an eyebrow. “That's something I always say.”

  “I think a lot of people say that. Because it keeps us, it keeps everyone from believing that all shit we must wade through, happens so that we can get to the good parts of life, no matter how little, or tiny they seem to be,” I reply.

  I take a bit of my blue rare steak, and it's incredible.

  “That was a bold choice. Are you sure it's cooked okay?” Corban asks me, concerned.

  I finish chewing, and the steak, which isn't overly spiced, perfect. “No, it's perfect. I love it like this; I'd bite into a cow if I could.”

  That makes everyone laugh.

  “I know Tinsley isn't a fan of red meat,” Noah comments.

  Tinsley is glancing at her well-cooked steak, not enjoying it.

  “Try some of mine,” I offer.

  “It's uncooked,” She protests.

  “Just try it. I realize your mother says red meat, goes straight to your hips,” I cut a piece. “But, it won't kill you, and that isn't steak. That's butchered by the grill.”

  “I agree to that,” Noah and I clink glasses.

  I smile at Corban, whose mood is still bordering on surly, he kicks me under the table, and I raise an eyebrow at him.

  Tinsley stares at the piece of meat I've put on her plate.

  “How did you know her mother says that?” Corban asks me. “I mean; I know her mother says that, but I've known her mother for years.”

  “You learn a lot about each other when you shower together,” I wink at my husband, who coughs on his wine.

  “Sorry what?” Corban stares at me.

  “There's blood,” Tinsley squeaks.

  “Close your eyes,” I wave a hand dismissively.

  Tinsley closes her eyes and takes a bite, thoroughly enjoying it, an expression crossing her face that looks somewhat seductive and Noah's expression changes.

  I smirk.

  I stuff another large bite of steak into my mouth before announcing that I'll be right back, and I can hear Corban following me.

  “What are you doing?” He asks.

  “I was testing a theory,” I shrug.

  “A theory about Tinsley and Noah? Do you realize how weird that is? He could be… her father, or your father. He could be both your fathers!” Corban admonishes me.

  “Well he's not my father or hers, so I think it's okay. Besides, he seems to be into her. You should go get more wine,” I dismiss him.

  I don’t care what he thinks.

  I start to head to the washroom when I feel Corban grip my wrist. “Ava… you cannot do this.”

  “What?” I ask.

  “Ava you're messing with people's lives here, you don’t understand how complicated that situation is. They can’t be together,” he tries to explain

  “I didn't do anything,” I wrench my wrist away from him, and it smarts, mostly my fault because he would've just let me go. “What's your problem?”

  “You, apparently,” He says as he looks at me sadly.

  I just shake my head before I turn out the back door and go down the steps.

  My feet are in the soft sand before I know what's going on.

  I start a run for the pristine beach, where I am nobody's problem but my own, and pull the light maxi dress over my head before I dive into the water.

  I just need to feel the cold.

  I need to remove myself from the situation before I am in a rage again.

  Then I dive under, into the black abyss, and I swim forward until I feel li
ke resurfacing again.

  When I stand up in the water waist deep above me is the vastness of billions of stars.

  This startles me.

  As Corban said, what I see, is just the light that has traveled so far some of those stars don't exist by now.

  Just a reminder that Corban and I might not make it through this, the notion that those stars aren't real, only makes me feel like Corban and I aren't real.

  We are just figments of light pretending to be real, put in an ideal situation in paradise.

  We would never last in the real world, is what I tell myself.

  When I finally walk out of the water, dripping wet Corbin is waiting by my clothes, with a worried look on his face in the illumination of the moonlight.

  My only choice is to ignore him.

  I grab my dress and my shoes as though I don't see him.

  “Ava!” he calls my name, but I pretend that I don't hear him.

  “Ava!” his voice is far sterner but I hold my head high as I continue to trudge through the sand in my underwear.

  The wind picks up, I'm wet and cold.

  I wrap my arms around myself to keep in some warmth.

  A soaked push up bra and a cotton thong offer nothing and I'm sure both are see-through.

  Then, to my surprise Corban grabs me by the arm, and turns me around to face him.

  “Why won't you talk to me? Ava, I told you earlier okay, this is complicated, I get that, but that doesn't change the way that I feel about you, and that's the fact that I know I need you in my life!” He yells. “You almost died back there yesterday!

  “I know!” I yell back, unafraid. “And it woke me up!”

  He forgets that I'm wise beyond my years.

  “I'm too old, and I've spent far too long pretending to be someone I'm not,” I lower my voice, “To pretend to be the wife of someone who…” I begin.

  Corban cuts me off.

  “Don't you dare,” his voice is almost cold, and my words are silenced on my lips as he sounds angry with me now, far angrier than he's ever been.

  “Don't you dare say that I don't care about you. There might be complications here, but Ava I do, okay, I care about you. Maybe our situation isn't exactly perfect, but between you and me? I think we've got it better than most people because we've got each other. We found each other. I'm sorry I've been acting strange today but I've got some things I must deal with, and there's nothing you can help me with. It's business stuff.” His excuse is lame.

  “You're telling me business stuff makes you cold, makes you not say a word? Makes you uncontrollably miserable around me?” I shoot back.

  “I didn't know how to act,” He clears his throat, removing his shirt as he wraps it around my shoulders to lead me in the direction of Noah's home.

  “Sometimes I'm still not sure how to act, because of this ridiculous situation,” Corban adds.

  “You've got that right,” I shrug. “Every bit of it is ridiculous. So even if you're infuriated because of work, and even if I'm furious with you, even if I want everything off the table or on the table, or wherever the hell it's supposed to go, it doesn't matter because I'm not as important as work.”

  Corban sighs. “It's not work that's bothering me.”

  “Then what is it?” I snap at him.

  Corban falls silent.

  “Did you ever try to find your parents?” his question comes out of the blue.

  I eye him curiously, wondering why he's asking me such a strange question.

  He knows the answer to that.

  “All I can say is if you do decide to open up that can of worms, be prepared, that you may not like what you find. I mean, look at the mess my family can sometimes be,” he waves a hand.

  He’s got a mother, he’s got Noah, and he’s got a brother.

  His family might be messy, but it’s still a family.

  I’ve got no one.

  “But they aren't some bitter disappointment,” I point out. “I could just be a bitter disappointment to them.”

  “And if your family is a bitter disappointment?” he asks.

  “Great,” I tell him, wondering why he is so against this. “Then they're some bitter disappointment, just like I am.”

  “You are not,” Corban takes a seat beside me, pushing a piece of wet hair behind my ear slowly. “A bitter disappointment.”

  Then he kisses me softly as if to impress upon me the fact that I am not such, that I am worth his time at least.

  His lips are soft and warm, he wraps his arms around my waist to pull me closer until I crawl onto his lap willingly. Somehow the heat of his chest is impossible to resist.

  I'm mad at this man, I am, but his hard muscles, and the way he's biting at my lower lip to draw me towards him anyway.

  I press back against him and push him away.

  Corban could have any woman he wanted.

  It was merely by the luck of the draw that he ended up married to me.

  “You're just married to me because of the luck of the draw.” I spout as I crawl away from him.

  It’s harder than I imagined.

  “I know who your mother is,” Corban says suddenly.

  “You what?” I stand up still half naked and covered in sand. “How the hell do you know who my fucking mother is!”

  I’m suddenly enraged again.

  “Ava,” he tries to soothe me.

  Corban stands up as I put my hands on my hips, my stance demands an answer from him.

  “I spoke with Noah,” He continues when I don’t say a word.

  “Noah!” I scream at the top of my lungs.

  We both pause, and I half expect Noah to come running down the beach.

  “He was looking for a woman, and he happened to stumble upon something that points to your mother,” Corban continues.

  “When was this?” I demand, pointing at him, and when he doesn't respond right away, I scream again. “When!”

  “Yesterday,” Corban admits.

  “Yesterday!” I yell at the top of my lungs, my voice getting hoarse. “You didn't tell me the second you knew!”

  “Ava, it's going to be a lot to digest, once you hear this,” he tries to reason with me.

  There is no reasoning any more.

  “Okay,” I pout as I cross my arms angrily

  I want to dive back into the water and forget he ever said anything, because everything about his body language screams guilty like I'm not going to want to hear this.

  “Your mother, your mother…” Corban stutters.

  Almost like he can’t say the words.

  Then they come, “Isa is your birth mother.”

  And it's like being punched, all the air is sucked out of me, and I hunch over to take a deep breath.

  “You're kidding me,” I say between breaths.

  I fight back the little black spots that signal I'm about to faint.

  “Yeah… that's why I didn't tell you,” Corban admits.

  “You fucking bastard!” I scream, then lunge at him.

  He takes me with him, and we both topple over into the soft sand, Corban taking most of the impact.

  I don't know what my idea was, but I try to fight him, only he catches both of my arms in seconds.

  “Why are you fighting me?” he asks. “I'm not the bad guy.”

  “Right now, you are!” I scream in rage before I break free of his grasp.

  I push myself up, off the ground.

  Despite the apparent attraction, I want nothing to do with this man now.

  Whether or not I am married to him, I want nothing from him now.

  “How could Isa possibly be my mother?” I spit.

  “Just come inside. I'll show you,” He begs.

  “I don't want to,” I shake my head. “I don't want to go anywhere with you.”

  “Well at least come inside and dry off,” He pleads with me.

  “I don't believe you either,” I cross my arms

  “Believe what you want, just…
do me a favor, don't go calling the woman mommy, okay?” His statement is stupid.

  What does he think I am? A little girl? If this is true, she's been hiding it from me all this time; I'm not about to burst into her office and accuse her of torturing me all these years and getting some sick pleasure out of it.

  Which is precisely what she was doing.

  If this is true.

  For the moment though, I refuse to believe him.

  Refuse.

  “Can we go back in?” He asks.

  “I can. You can follow me if you want, but you're not coming anywhere near me,” I shake my head.

  “Ava please!” Corban begs.

  “You're lucky,” I almost spit at him. “You're lucky you can't lose me for the sake of your goddamned business. You're lucky Rowan's at the resort, or else I would just walk out that door and leave and never come back.”

  “This has nothing to do with my business!” He screams as I continue to walk away.

  He knows I'm right though, if I leave suddenly, Rowan will have a field day after that little scene today.

  Having to pretend to be his happy wife in public will be a challenge.

  But I can torture him in private.

  Especially since the little party that follows her around comes with all the social media perks, I despise.

  That's why I stay out of the social scene. I don't like it.

  “What are we going to do?” his defeated voice wafts over me from a distance.

  “You're going back there tonight, as far as I'm concerned. When we're in public, I will do whatever you want me to do. In private, you can just pretend you don't even know me. Because I sure as hell, do not know you.” My words are forceful, and I take one last look at Corban.

  Then I stomp back towards Noah’s home.

  Chapter 12: Noah

  May 9, 2017

  “You did what!” I snap at Tinsley purely by accident.

  “I told her she could stay here,” Tinsley raises an eyebrow at me. “Noah, she’s your daughter, she didn’t want to go anywhere with Corban. What was I supposed to do? Make her go back to him?”

  I grunt. “They need to work it out between them.”

  “And sometimes, two people need space to figure out what they need,” Tinsley eyes me.

  This isn’t about Ava and Corban.

  This is about us.