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

  Evan runs a hand through his hair, and he knows that I’m right.

  It doesn’t matter where my feelings for Evan stand at this point because that’s all become an afterthought.

  “What else did Isaac say, anyway?” I change the subject.

  “I think Olivia knows Elizabeth a lot better than Olivia’s let on,” Evan tells me.

  “How so?” I ask.

  “She was funding the operation. Isaac said it wasn’t before she knew my father, but given the circumstances, I’m pretty sure that was a lie,” Evan explains.

  He sits on the edge of the bed.

  “Well, then Olivia’s hatred would make sense, especially considering your father and Corban ended that operation,” I tell him.

  “She used my father,” Evan says.

  “There’s one thing I think, that I do know,” I admit.

  “What’s that?” Evan asks.

  “I don’t think Olivia will hurt the twins. I think they just want the money, but, it doesn’t compute in my head. I mean, if something happens to the twins, the money just goes to your sister. If something happens to Ava, then you’re next. What do they plan on doing? Killing off everyone?” I explain.

  “You’re missing one key factor,” comes a voice from the doorway.

  Evan and I both look up, and I can’t stop the gasp that escapes my lips.

  A man who looks almost exactly like Evan’s father is standing there.

  Except, this isn’t Noah Stone.

  Part II

  12

  Evan

  March 5, 2018

  I step into my father’s library, deeply unsettled by this latest development.

  “Dad, I’ve found a solution,” I tell him.

  I close the door behind us, so we can have a private moment before I smack my father in the face with the most astounding news he’s probably ever heard.

  “You do? Because, I haven’t heard anything…” my father starts.

  “No, wait. Let me finish,” I interrupt.

  I begin again.

  “We have a solution. We know – well, he knows - where the twins are. And, he has a solution. He does, that is,” I explain.

  My father gives me a strange look.

  It takes a lot to startle Noah Stone, and I’m about to do just that.

  “Think back dad, did you ever sleep with Lauren Darlington?” I ask.

  He instantly shakes his head.

  “Dad, you did,” I say.

  “Evan, I’m sure I’d remember something like that,” he grins.

  Then, he gets eerily quiet for a moment.

  “What exactly are you on about?” he asks slowly.

  I have to clear my throat and prepare myself to actually say the words.

  How am I supposed to explain this?

  There’s no way!

  “You have another son,” I say quietly.

  The reaction I expect isn’t the one I get.

  He knows exactly what happened, and I am clueless.

  Powerless against this.

  “He’s here, isn’t he? Come in,” my father calls.

  The door opens and all 6’2 of Leviathan Stone, in a dark grey Armani suit, enters.

  “I go by Levi,” he says.

  “Leviathan?” My father asks.

  Levi simply nods.

  “My mother and Aunt Lizzie have the twins in Rio, of all places. I quite detest South America because the weather is dreadful, but that’s where they are,” he says, all business.

  “Don’t you want to talk about this?” my father interrupts.

  “Listen, I would like nothing more than to discuss my absence and silence over the last twenty-five years,” he grins.

  Noah grins back, and it’s weird.

  Like looking at a mirror image of two men, but there’s a subtle difference.

  Levi is my father a quarter of a century ago.

  “However, now is not the time,” he says.

  Noah nods.

  “My nephews are currently in danger, and at the moment, that’s my greatest concern. We move now, or we don’t move at all. I don’t know how much longer Mother will trust me+, but I know she does now,” Levi says pointedly.

  “Quite,” my father agrees.

  “Quite,” Levi repeats.

  I have to do another double-take: if my father were twenty-five, Levi would definitely be his double.

  My father and Levi stare each other down for a moment, and I wonder if they’re about to come to blows.

  I can’t fathom what each man must be thinking right this moment.

  “We should go,” I interrupt.

  “Yes,” Levi says.

  His accent is much thicker than my father’s, but everything from his jawline, to his eyes, are so similar I feel like I’m staring at a younger Noah Stone.

  Even I don’t look that much like him.

  “Give us a moment Evan,” my father requests.

  “Of course,” I sigh.

  When I exit my father’s office and close the door behind me, everyone is standing in the hallway.

  Athena looks confused as anything, and Ava is, of course, near tears.

  “He knows where the twins are, don’t worry,” I tell her.

  Then Ava, instead of replying, bursts into tears in Corban’s arms.

  Tears of relief.

  But, my instincts scream that we can’t be so relieved just yet.

  March 6, 2017

  “Wait here Ava,” my father instructs as we begin to disembark the plane at the private airstrip.

  “I want to come!” she protests.

  “It’s too dangerous,” Levi explains.

  “The last thing we need, is you getting hurt. Worse yet, if you get into trouble the second we manage to rescue your boys,” he adds.

  “He’s right Ava. I’ll go. Please, darling, just go with Athena and Tinsley, okay? I love you,” Corban says, holding Ava tightly.

  She looks at him, her eyes bright with fear and hope, and he kisses her nose.

  She grins, and wipes her face across his cheek, her tears leaving a wet streak.

  He kisses her again, gently.

  “I love you,” she whispers to him.

  Then, she breaks away, rushing to the other women.

  The take her in a group hug, and move off to another room.

  If I had said what Levi did, there would’ve been a big fight.

  There’s something about my older brother that has a calming effect on Ava.

  Leigha, on the other hand, refuses to hear anything about staying behind with Athena, Tinsley, and Ava.

  “I’m not going to stand by idly, Goddamnit, while Elizabeth gets away with destroying my life!” she argues with me.

  “Leigha, this isn’t up for discussion…” I start to say.

  “What did we say about you trying to protect me?” she replies, stopping me cold.

  “I don’t need you to tell me what to do Evan! I’m fully capable of taking care of myself!” Leigha adds fiercely.

  I sigh heavily.

  “Leigha, it’s best if you stay,” Levi says.

  “Who are you to tell me what to do?” Leigha responds, standing up to him.

  Then, she takes a step back, fully realizing to whom she is speaking

  Levi is only the man who sacrificed himself, and worked with the Ventretti mafia, to feed intel to Merc.

  Elizabeth didn’t trust him.

  But, Lauren, his mother, always did.

  That’s the only reason he knows where the twins are.

  “My mother is dead set on me inheriting what’s ‘rightfully mine,’” Levi argues with her.

  “Do you really want to be the one to get in her way?” he adds.

  “I don’t care about Lauren, Levi! I only care about Elizabeth and what she’s done to me! Did she tear your life apart? Did she destroy your father’s work in one simple move?” Leigha responds angrily.

  “Yes, she did,” Levi retorts.

  �
�Then, you know how I feel,” Leigha tells him angrily.

  “You should be on my side, damn you, Leviathan!” she yells.

  She exits the plane before Levi can say anything else.

  “She’s your woman. Deal with her,” Levi says to me.

  “Leigha isn’t my woman!” I snap.

  “Evan!” my father snaps back at me.

  “What!” I roar back at him.

  “Please, both of you now isn’t the time for this,” Tinsley says.

  Tinsley is as regal and gorgeous as always.

  Her voice is gentle, and soothing, and she calms the raging beasts in our souls with just a look.

  She steps in between us.

  “Before you go off on each other, think about where we are, what’s going on. You’re both jet-lagged and confused. So, please stop it, boys. You can always fight later,” Tinsley suggests, with a sly wink.

  My father simply nods.

  “You’re right, sweetheart,” he tells her.

  He is like a tame lion with her.

  She really is amazing.

  But, I am not her son.

  “Whatever,” I turn to my ultimate passive-aggressive phrase because my father really hates it.

  I storm off the plane, encountering an intense wave of heat.

  I slip off my jacket, tossing it in the back seat of one of the waiting sedans, before I get in the driver’s seat.

  Leigha slips into the passenger seat.

  “Why do you get the front?” Aidan argues.

  “Because I’m ‘Evan’s woman’,” Leigha snaps back at him.

  I look at her and grin.

  She smiles back, sweetly, and it’s all we can do to avoid laughing at each other.

  Corban just shakes his head.

  “I understand the tension is pretty high right now, but if you would all stop the pointless arguing, that would be great,” Levi says to all of us.

  Corban is about to reply, but then he sees Levi’s eyes.

  Leigha and I turn to say something to him, but stop short.

  Levi has the Noah Stone look down pat.

  That silences everyone, and Corban slumps down in the passenger seat.

  “What if we’re too late?” he asks.

  “We’re not,” Levi says, with certainty.

  If we are, I don’t want to think about the alternative.

  The compound where they have the twins is on the coast, and the airstrip is quite some distance away.

  I’d like nothing more than to speed past Levi in front of me, but the traffic is so thick that it’s impossible to get around him.

  Of course, I have no idea where I’m going.

  So, I blindly follow him.

  In the back of my mind, I am thinking that this could all be a really dangerous trap.

  Levi could be bringing us straight into the lion’s den.

  We could be walking into a slaughterhouse.

  When he pulls off onto a side road, I’m confused.

  “This isn’t the compound,” I tell him when I get out of the car.

  “What did you think? We were just going to drive up?” Levi asks.

  Leigha shakes her head at me.

  “Leigha, you can come with me, under the pretense that you’re willing to bargain with Aunt Lizzie for your father’s company,” Levi tells her.

  Leigha just nods.

  She reaches into her purse to retrieve her pistol.

  I watch as she checks and holsters the Glock.

  I’m suddenly afraid for Leigha, as though Levi is about to bring her to my mother for slaughter.

  As if that was his whole plan…

  I have to shake my head and convince myself that’s not the case.

  Lucius reaches into the trunk of his sedan and picks up an M4.

  He’s got a gigantic smile plastered across his face.

  “God, I miss these babies!” he tells me.

  It’s pretty ugly.

  Black, sinister, and deadly, it has a suppressor on the barrel, and a quick-change magazine. There’s a foregrip, flashlight and laser sight on Picatinny rails, and a collapsible stock.

  The Eotech optic sits on top, and Lucius peers through it, smiling.

  I pick up an identical gun.

  I’ve never shot one of these before, but what’s there to it, really?

  I find the charging handle, work it, and watch the bullet go into the chamber.

  I look down the optical sight, my finger off the trigger, and aim it at the sky.

  The green reticle is perfectly visible against it.

  My finger finds the safety, and I mentally assure myself it is activated.

  It’s just a rifle.

  Aim, pull the trigger, kill my mother.

  Aidan stays behind with the cars and a radio set, ready to pull up when Levi calls for him. He doesn’t seem to mind all that much, although I’m sure that he would much rather make my mother face the muzzle of his gun.

  I want to walk right through the doors and scream at Elizabeth for what she’s done to my family.

  Emotion has no place here.

  We group together, and begin the trek to the compound.

  It’s a few kilometers up the road, and I’m already sweating in the intense heat after ten minutes.

  But, Levi seems immune to the heat, as he chats idly with Leigha.

  Fucking bastard!

  We make it to the outside wall of the compound, and Leigha and Levi disappear around the front.

  I follow Lucius, while my father and Corban move around the other side.

  The wall is about ten feet high, and we didn’t bring a ladder, naturally.

  Instead, Lucius boosts me up so I can catch a glimpse.

  They’ve got security everywhere, which we expected.

  “Let’s move a little further down, there are some bushes we can hide behind,” I suggest.

  “Alright,” Lucius nods.

  We move, and then he boosts me up again, I slip over the wall, lose my balance and land in a tangle of thorns.

  I’m still in the thorns when I hear a grunt and Lucius manages to grab hold of the top of the wall, before boosting himself over.

  The fucker lands on his feet.

  “I can’t believe…” Lucius begins.

  Before he can finish, he flattens himself in an alcove.

  Suddenly, I’m face to face with an ugly thug.

  For all of two seconds.

  Then, Lucius reaches down and grabs the hired gun by the throat.

  It’s over quickly.

  Lucius is far stronger than the guard, and took him down directly.

  I manage to disentangle myself from the thorny bush.

  “Is he dead?” I ask.

  “Sleeping,” Lucius chuckles.

  As we proceed through the compound, the guards go down so quickly, I’m almost sure this is a trap.

  We move around to the back where the pool is, and I see Corban and my father behind some bushes.

  I catch a glimpse inside an open window and see nothing.

  This wasn’t in the plan, but I decide to try to slide inside the window anyway.

  I drop down onto the tile floor silently.

  Lucius follows me.

  “What are you doing?” he whispers.

  “Improvising,” I whisper back.

  Lucius shakes his head.

  “You dumbass!” he hisses.

  Then, he shoves me back against the wall as Elizabeth walks into the room.

  13

  Leigha

  March 6, 2018

  Face to face with Elizabeth Darlington I can’t bring myself to say anything.

  “Leigha Bergmann,” Elizabeth’s voice is snakelike.

  She approaches me slowly, inspecting my face.

  She puts out her hand and moves a lock of hair behind my ear.

  “That’s better, dear,” she says.

  Her voice is ice-cold.

  “How’s your father?” Elizabeth sneers.
/>   “Now, now Aunt Lizzie, I told you Leigha is willing to bargain with you. There’s no need for that,” Levi clicks his tongue.

  “Did you approach her?” Elizabeth asks.

  “I thought it might be prudent, considering the situation. Where’s my mother?” Levi asks.

  “Right here,” Lauren says as she appears in the doorway.

  “Please have a seat,” Elizabeth tells us both.

  The compound is run down, and I wonder if this place is just borrowed from whoever lived here.

  Maybe they’re dead.

  I wouldn’t put it past Elizabeth to do such a thing.

  “Leviathan, you always manage to amaze me. If the girl doesn’t please us, we can always just do away with her,” Elizabeth says.

  Right in front of me, she threatens to murder me if I don’t say what she wants to hear.

  “I don’t feel there will be a need for that…” Levi begins to say.

  Elizabeth whacks Levi in the forehead with the butt of a concealed gun, and he crumples to the floor, and I scream.

  I have to cover my mouth to actively stop myself from screaming again.

  Levi grunts and Lauren shakes her head.

  “Lizzie that was hardly necessary,” she says.

  Lauren stoops to the ground to take a look at the damage her sister has done to her son.

  “Leviathan, are you alright?” Lauren asks.

  He has his hand pressed against his forehead, wincing.

  He nods, slowly.

  “What do you want?” I finally manage to find my words.

  Elizabeth opens her mouth to speak, and there’s a roar in my ears.

  Her eyes widen instead, and when I whip my head around, I see Evan with his arm around Olivia’s neck, the muzzle of his Glock pressed hard against her temple, as she weeps for her life.

  I’m frozen.

  “Hard-knock life, right, Mother?” Evan sneers.

  “Oh, Evan,” Elizabeth sighs.

  Everyone is frozen.

  Then I see it: a pant leg across the room.

  The muzzle of a gun, aiming at Evan.

  “Evan!” I scream.

  There’s a shot, and a flurry of action.

  Evan manages to duck and push Olivia hard against the tile as the bullet flies past his head.