Secret: A Stone Billionaire Series Novel (The Stone Billionaire Series Book 5) Read online

  “But, you could’ve let me do this alone,” I argue.

  “When have I ever told you no?” she points out.

  Fuck.

  She’s right.

  “You could,” I tell her.

  Leigha sighs, exasperated with me.

  “How many ways do I have to explain to you that this is as much my business as it is yours? My life just fell apart! I’m in tiny little pieces Evan, and I can’t do anything about it! This was the absolute least I could do,” Leigha says.

  Then, she wipes at her eyes like she’s attempting not to cry.

  “Leigha,” I say.

  I rub her back lightly, and she shakes me away.

  “I’m fine, it’s just a lot to handle,” Leigha explains carefully.

  “Let’s just-” she starts to say something.

  Then, she stops talking, her eyes focused on the paper in front of her.

  “What is it?” I ask.

  Before Leigha can say anything else, her phone rings.

  “Hello?” she questions.

  Her face goes gravely pale.

  “It’s Merc,” Leigha tells me.

  8

  Leigha

  February 31, 2018

  “Isaac Miller is on his way to New York,” Merc explains on the phone.

  “No time for pleasantries,” I say.

  Then, I roll my eyes in Evan’s direction and grab a piece of paper.

  “He’s on his way to New York,” Merc repeats.

  “And you know this how?” I ask.

  There’s silence on the other end, and I recognize that I’m probably not allowed to know about the inner workings of MI6.

  “How can I trust that?” I argue with Merc.

  “Leigha now isn’t the time to play the blame game or tell me who you trust indefinitely,” Merc shoots back at me.

  “Woah! What the fuck are you on about?” I gasp.

  “Not important,” Merc tells me.

  “It is so!” I scream into the phone.

  “Isaac Miller is going to be in New York; he’s going for Grace. Do you want Evan to be there or not?” Merc replies calmly.

  “Yes,” I tell him.

  Actively, I have to stop myself from hanging up the phone and throwing it against the wall.

  What good is that going to do?

  “Well, tell him,” Merc says lamely.

  “You do it,” I respond angrily.

  Then I toss the phone at Evan and storm out with no desire to have anything to do with Merc Torelli.

  I sigh.

  I know that Evan feels the same way and he may very well just discard Merc’s information.

  With another, heavier sigh, I try to find Noah instead.

  He’s in his study, with Aidan and Lucius.

  “Merc said that Isaac is going to be in New York,” I report to him.

  Noah perks up at this.

  “How does he know?” he asks.

  “Information only pertinent to MI6 I guess,” I tell him.

  Noah shakes his head and sighs before he rubs his temples.

  “This is a gigantic headache,” I tell him.

  Evan storms in before Noah can respond.

  “We can’t trust him!” he rages.

  “What choice do we have?” Noah asks.

  “Not another likely one that’s going to lure Isaac anywhere,” I point out.

  “Who cares?” Evan roars.

  “Evan, this isn’t about Merc, this is about finding your sister’s boys! Or have you forgotten that?” I rage back at him.

  “I haven’t forgotten!” Evan screams.

  “Then, why are you being selfish!” I scream back.

  “Stop it!” Lucius yells over both of us.

  “Go to New York,” Noah orders, and ignores Evan and me.

  “What about Aidan?” Lucius asks.

  “What about me?” Aidan pipes up.

  Evan just makes a disgusted sound as they argue between them.

  “If it’s a setup, you still need someone on the ground here,” Aidan points out.

  “It’s not a setup,” Lucius says.

  “You don’t know that,” Evan argues.

  “Shut-up,” I growl at him.

  “Enough!” Noah roars.

  We all fall into silence immediately.

  “Evan, go with Lucius if you’re so sure,” Noah says, trying to give Evan an out.

  “Fine,” Evan agrees.

  “I want to help,” I interject.

  “If Isaac is going to lead us straight to Elizabeth, I want to be there. I’m not afraid to put a bullet in her head if it comes down to it,” I say, boldly.

  “Leigha you’re hardly a killer,” Noah says, shocked.

  “I’m not a killer,” I agree.

  “It’s justice for what she’s done. I don’t consider that murder,” I reply.

  I’m not afraid to stand firm against Noah Stone.

  For the first time in my life, there’s something I really believe.

  It’s the conviction for what I want; not just the company back in good standing; not only my father’s will to live; but, for justice.

  I understand the thirst to bring her down; bring Elizabeth to her knees and watch her squirm like the snake that she is.

  Aidan and I make eye contact for a moment, and it’s like he recognizes something in me.

  He’s got the same look that I know is probably on my face, his eyes are wide with rage and the need to do something.

  “I’m angry, Noah! I’m angry, and I’m thirsty for Elizabeth fucking Darlington’s blood, and I’m not going to stop until I get it! Whether you agree to help me or not, I’ll do whatever it takes,” I am firm with Noah.

  Noah straightens up.

  “She goes” he states, firmly.

  “I think it’s a good idea,” Aidan agrees.

  Lucius just nods.

  “No, that’s absolutely out of the question. I don’t need my mother fucking killing off more people in my fucking life. Do you understand that?” Evan shouts.

  His words come out in a wild flurry so mixed together that I almost don’t understand what he’s said.

  “Evan, I’m a big girl, remember? I don’t need you to protect me anymore, I can fend for myself,” I argue hotly.

  “You need me to protect you!” Evan reacts angrily.

  “No, I don’t need you to protect me! I’m not one of your Goddamn women, Evan! I’m your friend, and as far as I know, I’m the only friend you’ve got left. Merc is a write-off, and Vic is dead, and maybe Grace will die too if we don’t do something. Maybe-” I stop myself.

  I can’t say what I want to, I can’t hurt him like that.

  “Maybe if I hadn’t tried so hard to protect Vic, she wouldn’t have died,” Evan finishes for me.

  “Maybe if I’d treated her as an equal, and let her in, and let her help me instead of distancing myself, she wouldn’t be dead,” he adds.

  “Is that really what you think?” he says.

  Evan’s voice is odd.

  “Give us a moment,” I say through gritted teeth.

  Noah, Aidan, and Lucius bolt faster than I’ve ever seen them scatter.

  “What if that is what I think?” I say.

  My voice is laced with so much frustration I’m almost screaming.

  I can’t handle the rage I feel at Evan.

  It’s so sudden and all-encompassing, and suddenly we’re screaming over each other.

  “You pushed her away!” I scream.

  “I had to! I didn’t know what to do!” Evan roars.

  “Yes, you did! You know always know what to do, but you’re such a fucking coward you run!” I scream.

  “I am not a coward!” Evan roars over my voice.

  “YOU ARE!” I scream over him.

  “Just like when I was pregnant, and I lost the baby - you ran, and Merc had to go fucking running after you! You made him do this!” I scream as loudly as I can.

  “I didn’t ma
ke Merc do anything! besides, I didn’t care if he came! You could’ve had him for all you wanted, I would’ve left you two to be happy together even if it killed me,” Evan lowers his voice.

  “What are you talking about?” I ask.

  “I was in love with you! I cared about you! You were everything to me, and I couldn’t handle the way that I hurt you! Leigha, you were all I wanted!” Evan booms at me.

  “Why didn’t you tell me!” I scream back at him.

  “Because I thought you were in love with Merc!” Evan yells.

  “I was in love with both of you!” I rage at him.

  “Merc always had that stupid girlfriend of his, whatever her fucking name was, and you just slept with every single girl you could, so I didn’t think there were ever any feelings there!” I shout.

  I continue to rage at Evan.

  “You were the first person I ever slept with! How about that?” Evan screams back at me.

  I’m stunned into silence.

  “I wasn’t?” I say uncertainly.

  “You were Leigha, you were. I knew how my dad lived his life, and I never wanted to be like that, never. I could never just say the words, and then that night it happened, I knew you were the person I wanted to be with, because I knew we cared about each other, and that it meant something,” Evan confesses.

  His swift explanation stuns me.

  I don’t know what to say this.

  “I didn’t know how you felt,” Evan repeats.

  “Merc was always in the picture, I knew he wanted you, but I wanted you so badly it hurt. I didn’t want to put our friendship in jeopardy like that. If Merc wanted you-” Evan starts.

  “I just your best friend, Evan! You called me your little sister on numerous occasions!” I interrupt him.

  “Yeah, Leigha? Did you ever think that maybe I was trying to put distance between my feelings for you and what would happen if we lost each other?” Evan retorts.

  I take a deep breath.

  “You wouldn’t have lost me, because you didn’t, I’m still here,” I remind him.

  “And that’s because we never cross that line! We don’t! Do you know how many times I wanted to punch that stupid face of Mike or whatever his name was just so I make you see that what you were looking for was right in front of you?” Evan blurts out.

  I know he didn’t mean to say it.

  His eyes are so wide, and the horror on his face spells everything out.

  “You don’t think it killed me to send you back to Vic? I could never compare to her,” I tell him.

  “Don’t say that!” Evan protests angrily.

  “Well, I’m not Vic!” I scream.

  “No! You’re not! You’re the woman who never questions me, you’ve never doubted me, you’ve been my rock for so long that I can’t even imagine you not in my life!” he rages.

  “Still, I’m not Vic. You loved her Evan, you loved her a lot. You got engaged for Christ's sake!” I remind him.

  “It was a fake engagement! I was saving her from being questioned by the FBI! And don’t think for a second, I didn’t consider saving you. Because, I really was torn, I wanted to do it, I wanted to tell you to just agree to fake an engagement to get you out of that mess,” Evan admits.

  “Well, if you’d saved me, maybe I would’ve been dead instead, and you would’ve been better off,” I suggest.

  “Don’t say that!” Evan roars.

  “Do not say that I would ever be better off without you in my life!”

  His voice raises loud enough that I’m sure the others can hear us.

  I lower my voice.

  “I just want to have her back, I want the Evan that I know because I see you, and I know that you’re dead inside, and I want to be okay. It’s hard to handle the thought of you in so much pain,” I pause and sniff.

  I’m going to cry.

  “I can’t handle the thought that I can’t help you be you again,” I finish.

  Evan wipes away the tear sliding down my face.

  “Leigha, you are,” he says softly.

  When I look up at him with tears in my eyes, it’s a range of emotions that comes with one simple look from him.

  He’s focused on me.

  He chose me at one point.

  There are too many thoughts in my head to think clearly.

  When Evan lowers his face closer to mine, an entire shiver runs down my body.

  His hand is around my waist as he pulls me closer.

  I can’t even think that we shouldn’t go down this road.

  Part of me tries to pull back, away from his lips, but there’s magnetism to him that I can’t explain.

  There is a moment of slow, beautiful hesitation.

  Then, it is lost as Noah storms into the room.

  9

  Evan

  February 31, 2018

  We are so close I can see how Leigha’s cherry lip balm makes her lips slick, and I am moving in for a kiss, when Noah coughs lightly and interrupts us.

  I spy my father looking at us, grinning slightly.

  I back away from Leigha, too quickly.

  Leigh stumbles over the coffee table and lands in a chair.

  Luckily, she is unhurt.

  “Are you two finished?” my father asks pointedly.

  He looks like he’s about to start berating me, so I merely nod to him.

  “So, we’re going to New York then?” Leigha says calmly.

  She primps a bit of hair back into place.

  Whatever we were just doing, I must’ve imagined it.

  Leigha is barely shaken.

  Or, maybe she’s hiding something?

  I know what my father is going to say to me later, that this isn’t the time for me to fuck things up with Leigha, which would undoubtedly happen.

  Noah Stone looks at the two of us, calculating something only he knows about.

  Then, he tells us to go.

  He turns to the pile of papers on his desk, ignoring us.

  So, we go.

  March 2, 2018

  The wheels of the jet touch down at La Guardia, and there’s an audible sigh of relief from Leigha.

  I know what she’s feeling: she’s happy to be back in New York.

  Home.

  I wish I could feel better about being here, but Vic beckons to me from every familiar place, my memories of her still sharply etched in my mind.

  I have a bit of difficulty deplaning, but Leigha and the stewards wait for me to get my bearings.

  We disembark, and I see that Merc is there on the tarmac.

  “We could’ve just paid customs off,” I mutter under my breath.

  “I heard that,” Merc says, scolding me.

  “Think that would’ve been wise?” he continues.

  “Stop it, before you even start, you two,” Leigha says crisply.

  I fall silent, only because Leigha is right.

  Instead of going through the terminal TSA, we just hop into Merc’s running SUV.

  He drives right across a taxiway, then stops at the gate.

  The guard isn’t pleased at this intrusion of a vehicle onto the airport runways.

  He and Merc exchange a few words, and then Merc shows the man an ID card. The guard makes a quick phone call, and opens the gate, thanking Merc for not killing him.

  I don’t know if he’s joking or not, but he seems relieved.

  Merc speeds through the gate, and merges into traffic, angling to get onto the freeway.

  “We’ve got twenty-four hours,” Merc reports.

  “Good enough,” Lucius says from the front seat.

  Lucius glances back at Leigha and me, his face stern.

  I know what he is thinking.

  She shouldn’t be here.

  The FBI had already warned her not to leave the country, but she did.

  By returning, she’s risking a lot.

  Her sudden new-found thirst for justice is only going to get her into trouble, just like it did with my father.
<
br />   But, there’s no point in telling her that.

  Because we could both easily be arrested, Merc obeys every single solitary traffic law, even though his car sports diplomatic plates.

  We err on the side of caution and park a few blocks away from Grace’s building in an alleyway.

  Merc opens the trunk of the SUV, and it’s like Christmas morning.

  The amount of ordnance is staggering!

  There’s several rows of pistols, and a shotgun.

  Three MP-5 submachine guns are strapped next to each other.

  Magazines, holsters and other gear are neatly stowed, along with an assortment of knives.

  Immediately I grab a Glock.

  Leigha reaches for one for herself.

  “I’ve never shot one of these before,” she admits.

  “The safety is here, right on the trigger. Just point and squeeze. Bang! Don’t put your finger on the trigger until you are ready to shoot!” Lucius instructs her.

  He points at a small pad on the front of the grip.

  “That’s for the laser sight,” he says.

  “Squeeze it,” he tells her.

  A small red dot shows up on the side of the wall.

  “That’ll make it easier to aim,” Lucius explains.

  “She’s not going to shoot anyone,” I tell Lucius.

  “You don’t know that,” Lucius tells me.

  He’s right, I don’t.

  We have no idea what we’re about to walk into, and if Merc does he hasn’t said anything.

  “I’ll go in the front,” Lucius explains as he puts the gun in his holster before he closes his jacket.

  “Wait for me at the back door,” he adds.

  “We’re not the fucking CIA, we can walk in the front door,” I protest.

  Merc sighs.

  “There’s no point in arguing with him,” he says.

  He slams a magazine into his gun, works the slide, and does a press-check.

  He grunts, nods and walks away.

  Grace is confused more so than I’ve ever seen her when she opens the door to her apartment.

  “Evan? What are you doing here?” she questions.

  “Get inside,” Lucius orders.

  He pushes past Grace to get inside the apartment, Merc right behind him, an MP-5 pointing the way.