Denial_A Stone Billionaire Series Novel

by Kaya Woodward

  Then suddenly I feel something, a sharp pain?

  Labor contractions?

  It’s too early.

  “Connor, I need to go to the hospital, something’s wrong,” my voice waivers.

  “You’re fucking dramatic, I’ll take you to Dr. Carr, then we can finish this conversation," he grabs his coat and mine.

  “Come on," he sneers.

  An hour later I am in Dr. Carr’s office, with my legs in stirrups as I stare at the ceiling, my heart beating faster than I ever recall.

  “Your cervix is opening," explains Dr. Carr.

  “It’s nothing to worry about, but I would recommend bed rest for the rest of your pregnancy,"

  My eyes bug out at his last sentence.

  “What’s happening?” my voice shakes.

  “You could go into preterm labor,” he says, his face solemn.

  “Oh my god!” I cry, tears flowing down my cheeks.

  Connor stands there looking unamused.

  “Bedrest?” He confirms.

  Dr. Carr nods.

  “Yes, I would take her straight home to bed. She’ll need a nurse or something, or if you could work from home.”

  “I’ll figure it out,” I explain to the doctor.

  Then I call for my car.

  I’m not going anywhere with Connor.

  “You know, the longer you stay here, the worse it’s going to be, just let me give you a ride at least," he sighs heavily.

  Hesitantly I get into his car.

  We’re going to the same place anyway.

  I steel myself for his rage in the car, but it never comes.

  My mind reels with thoughts of the baby.

  The car stops and I reach for my purse, but it’s not there.

  Fuck!

  I left it in the apartment in my rush to get help.

  “Can you bring my purse to my mother’s?” I ask him.

  “Just fucking come get it,” Connor rolls his eyes.

  He no more cares for this baby, than he does for me.

  I was merely something to be used, and then discarded when I was no longer of use.

  “You don’t phase me,” I tell him as I follow him to the door, ready for him to hand me my purse and get the hell away from him.

  I don’t trust him, not in the slightest.

  That’s when I suddenly lurch forward because Connor has thrust me into the apartment from behind.

  I struggle to keep my balance, wobble, and land on the marble tile on my back with a thud.

  “Are you deranged!” I scream.

  Connor slams the door behind me.

  “You’re not fucking going anywhere!” He screams with rage so loudly, and I am sure someone will hear him.

  “Get in the fucking bedroom!” he points to the door.

  I don’t move.

  “Tinsley, I will fucking kill you, and that baby, if you don’t listen to me. Are we clear?” He sneers at me.

  I stumble away from him and into the bedroom, then land on the bed as Connor suddenly pushes me again from behind.

  “Connor I’m pregnant!” I scream at him.

  “And who the fuck cares exactly?” he asks.

  “I mean, you didn’t die in that fire, you’re certainly going to die here, if it’s the last thing I do," he laughs maniacally and then slams the bedroom door closed.

  I reach into my coat pocket for my phone.

  It’s not there.

  Every instinct in my body is telling me to scream and bang on the door, but the continuing danger to the baby stops me.

  Connor has me right where he wants me.

  He knows that I won’t do anything that might even slightly hurt the baby.

  Connor is also not above hurting me, as evidenced by that.

  I can’t help the tears that flood my eyes and roll down my cheeks.

  Noah has to save me.

  44

  Noah

  December 10, 2017

  It's strange.

  When I check my voicemail the next morning, there is nothing from Tinsley, and when I call Gianna, she hasn’t heard from Tinsley either.

  My next call is to Rita Bradford.

  “Hello Rita, it’s Noah,” I sigh into the phone.

  “Oh Noah, how lovely to hear from you. How are you?” Rita Bradford asks.

  “I’m looking for Tinsley,” I admit.

  I cut straight to the point because my worry only increases by the second.

  She isn’t at my apartment, or her mother’s, and she was last with Connor.

  “She’s on bedrest at their apartment, Connor took her to Dr. Carr yesterday, she was having some trouble, but he’s assured me that everything is alright,” Rita chirps.

  “I failed to look there, thank you, Rita,” I swallow hard.

  Connor hasn’t told his mother about the divorce.

  Gianna stands behind me, a bewildered expression on her face.

  “Is there something wrong?” Gianna cries.

  “It’s nothing I can’t take care of,” I assure her.

  “When Tinsley didn’t come home, I just assumed she was with you!” Rita wails.

  “It’s Connor? Isn’t it? He’s lost it!” Gianna screams.

  “Gianna,” I say as I put a hand on her shoulder.

  “I will take care of this, I promise,” I tell her with authority.

  My voice settles her.

  “Where do we start?” Lucius asks.

  “With Dr. Carr,” I tell Lucius as we approach his car in my garage.

  A brand new Nissan GT-R, it roars to life and Lucius pets the dashboard like it’s a fluffy white kitten.

  I snicker.

  “What?” He glares at me.

  We’re at Dr. Carr’s office in record time, which is not a surprise.

  Lucius drives like a maniac, and I have to wonder if we’re going to get a ticket or die.

  “Do we have a plan?” I ask Lucius as we roll into the parking lot.

  “I have my gun. That's about it,” Lucius looks to me.

  “Alright, we'll play it by ear I guess,” I think out loud.

  I don't like being without some plan in these situations.

  “What do you have on you?” I ask.

  “A gun,” Lucius reports back.

  “No, I mean money wise,” I shake my head at him.

  “There's twenty grand in bonds in the trunk?” Lucius gives me a quizzical look which I return.

  “Why exactly?” I ask in confusion.

  “You never know,” Lucius shrugs.

  “Well, get them, I'll replace them,” I tell him.

  “Alright,” Lucius nods.

  He gets out of the car, opens the trunk and shuffles around a bit before he gets back in the car to hand me the bonds.

  The bonds go in my jacket.

  “What's this for again?”

  “If Connor paid this doctor to lie to her, I'm going to pay him more,” I explain.

  “Do you want me to stay here?” Lucius' robotic tone asks.

  “Come,” I shake my head.

  We approach the elevator in silence and ride up to Dr. Carr's floor, where the receptionist is having lunch.

  “Can I help you?” she asks with a bright smile.

  A cursory glance tells me her name is Anita.

  “Anita, my friend and I need to see Dr. Carr; it's business. Would you mind obliging us?” I ask.

  Then I give her my best devilish grin, and she giggles at me.

  “Of course, Mr. Stone," she points.

  “Go down that hallway, all the way at the end is his office," she bats her eyelashes at me.

  “I saw those pictures of you and Ms. Darlington, you make a lovely couple," she adds.

  “We're old friends,” I smile at the receptionist again.

  Lucius sighs.

  “Do you always have to do that?” he asks.

  “Charm my way into what I want? Yes,” I smirk, and Lucius laughs as we open the door to Dr. Carr's office
.

  Only to find his face buried in the crotch of Rita Bradford.

  “Oh my god!” Rita screams and jumps up to scurry away, half naked.

  She disappears behind a door and appears to fall inside the closet.

  I never expected to see so much of her.

  “That was just an oral exam,” Dr. Carr sputters before he stands up.

  “What are you doing here!” he demands.

  “Sit down,” Lucius orders.

  He flashes his gun, and Dr. Carr sits down immediately.

  We give him a moment to fix himself up.

  He takes a deep breath and glances at the door that Rita disappeared through.

  “What?” I ask.

  “I've got her skirt,” Doctor Carr answers.

  I take the skirt with a sigh and knock on the door.

  “Rita, your skirt,” I say.

  She opens the door a crack and takes it.

  “Thanks, Noah," she says.

  “You might want to be out here for this,” I tell her through the door.

  In a few minutes Rita exits, her face is flushed with embarrassment.

  “Noah I-” she starts.

  “You deserve to have some fun, Rita. Don't be embarrassed,” I soothe her.

  “Oh Noah, I knew you would understand," she smiles at me.

  Then I turn back to Doctor Carr.

  “You saw Tinsley Whittaker,” I ask him.

  Doctor Carr's face contorts.

  “So?” I ask.

  “You and I both know what you're going to say, why don't you spell it out for me. Or does Lucius have to take the Glock out of its holster?” I ask.

  “I've got an Uzi at home I can bring over as well,” Lucius tells Doctor Carr menacingly.

  I enjoy that he always takes everything too far.

  “Alright! Alright!” Doctor Carr shouts.

  “I did it, and I lied to the girl! But only because Connor threatened to have my medical license taken away! He said he’d forge documents, that I was abusing patients!” Dr. Carr yells.

  His guilt-ridden face turns away from all of us.

  “Arvin tell me you didn't!” Rita gasps.

  “I did,” Arvin runs his hands through his dark hair.

  “He threatened me!” Dr. Carr defends himself.

  “He did what!” Rita screams.

  “That goddamn son of mine! I'm going to go give him-” Rita screams.

  Lucius stops her, shaking his head.

  Then Rita begins to scream in Lucius' face while he holds her firmly in front of him.

  It's quite comical actually.

  Rita is about 5’4, and Lucius is 6’4.

  She’s a full foot, maybe more, shorter than Lucius, and she has no trouble with Lucius.

  Rita continues to scream obscenities, as Dr. Carr and I stare at the pair of them.

  “Unhand me you, oaf!” She screams loud enough for anyone in Dr. Carr’s office to hear.

  Lucius unhands her.

  “I am not an oaf. I trained with the Israeli army; I was a bodyguard for several arms dealers and drug dealers. I worked for the CIA and managed several black-ops operatives. If you want out of this room, you're going through me,” His words are direct.

  Rita falls silent and stands there.

  “He said he’d make sure you lose your medical license?” I ask Dr. Carr.

  “He said he had several women he’d paid, that were ready to accuse me of things I never did! He had signed statements! I had no choice!” Dr. Carr pleads with me.

  Rita's shock is so severe Lucius pulls a chair out for her.

  She stares into space.

  Then she asks bewildered, “How could my son have done this?”

  Everything makes sense now.

  Tinsley is fine.

  Dr. Carr unlocks a drawer in his desk and pulls out a file to open it.

  “She's fine. I've got everything here," he pushes the file towards me.

  “Take it, pretend you were never here, and undo whatever he's trying to do,” Dr. Carr says.

  Rita begins to sob.

  “I didn't know what he was capable of! He's lost it!” she cries.

  “What do you mean?” I ask.

  I lower myself to her level as I hand her a tissue.

  “Julian and Jamesen, last time I spoke with them, they were talking about merging the companies regardless of what was happening," she sniffs.

  “And?” I prod further.

  “Julian mentioned that should anything happen to either of them, Tinsley should be the one in control of everything. Julian didn't trust Connor, any more than I did. We've seen changes in him lately, and... oh I thought it was nothing!” She cries.

  “Bloody hell,” I swear, looking up at Lucius.

  “It's too bad,” Lucius sighs.

  “This all could've been a lot different," he looks directly at me when he says this.

  Different indeed.

  But where exactly does Olivia come into play?

  In all of this?

  Then it all clicks in: Lauren.

  I don’t have time to deal with her now.

  Evan enters my office in a full suit, looking refreshed.

  “Where were you?” I ask.

  “I called you two hours ago,” I complain.

  “I was on a three day trip with Victoire,” Evan smirks.

  “God she is amazing!” He declares.

  I snicker.

  Evan finally got the girl.

  Good for him.

  “Evan, I need you to do me a huge favor. The IPO in three days, I want you to make the speech, in the office,” I tell him.

  “Me?” Evan's eyes widen.

  He knows what an honor this is.

  “Of course!” He instantly obliges.

  Then, he's suddenly suspicious.

  “Why?” He asks.

  His eyes narrow and he knows there’s something more to this.

  “Because I need you and Connor Bradford here, while I'm somewhere else,” I explain.

  “Oh god, Dad, whatever it is, don't do it,” Evan shakes his head.

  “I have to save my wife, and my child, this isn’t optional,” I shake my head back at him.

  “You are,” I tell him.

  “You need to keep Connor Bradford here. Get him liquored up, distract him,” I demand.

  “Done. That I can do,” Evan nods.

  He winks as Victoire saunters in.

  “Noah, can I have a moment alone? We need to talk about Monday," her smile is tight-lipped.

  Victoire is always agitated about something.

  “Speak with Evan, He's the one running the show on Monday,” I tell her.

  “Are we sure that's a good idea?” Victoire bemoans.

  “Hey!” Evan pipes up.

  “It's time he filled my shoes, for once,” I cut them both off.

  “Now go argue somewhere else,” I grunt, and motion for them to get the hell out of my office.

  45

  Tinsley

  December 11, 2017

  “I’m going to see your lover at his office, should I tell him we’re back together?” Connor snickers as he drops a plate of food in front of me.

  I don’t say a word.

  I am protecting Noah's child.

  Our child.

  Nothing will go wrong if I obey the doctor's orders.

  However, it seems highly suspicious that Noah would invite Connor, today of all days, to his office to celebrate the initial public offering.

  For NLS Financials this is a big deal, why would Noah want Connor there?

  My mind starts turning with why Noah would suddenly want him somewhere.

  Unless he plans on rescuing me?

  But he wouldn't miss this!

  Not for the world!

  This is Noah's big moment, and I would never expect him to sacrifice it for me.

  However, I hope against all the odds that he’s going to come for me.

  Finally, I look a
t up him, with pleading eyes.

  “What did I do to you?” I beg for an answer.

  “Well, for starters, you went and got knocked up by that bastard, now I have to pretend that your bastard child is mine. How do you think that makes me feel?” he replies flatly.

  “I told you, I never wanted to marry you, you forced my hand in all of this,” I respond.

  “I told you I want a divorce!” I scream and a throw a pillow in his face.

  Connor catches the pillow as he laughs maniacally.

  “Oh Tinsley, did you think that I would go along with this?” he shakes his head.

  Suddenly a coldness washes over me.

  I had a feeling he was up to something, and I ignored it.

  “I can see it in the papers now, my wife and child both deceased during childbirth," he sneers at me again.

  “Connor! You wouldn't!” I gasp.

  “Oh, did you think I was just going to let you and that bastard baby live a happy life with Noah fucking Stone, and leave me out in the cold?” He laughs again.

  “Connor you won't get away with this!” I scream at the monster he's become.

  “This is over!” I scream.

  “Yes dear, it'll be over," he pauses for dramatic effect.

  “When you're dead," he adds.

  Then he slams the bedroom door closed.

  The sound of the locks chills me to the bone.

  I let out one, deeply agonized scream until my voice is hoarse.

  Someone will save me.

  Noah will save me.

  I have to do something.

  But what?

  I wait until I hear the front door close.

  The next five minutes is absolute torture.

  He has to be gone before I can attempt to escape.

  Then I tiptoe towards the door and listen.

  But he probably didn't think to lock the bathroom door.

  Connor may be smart enough to pull something like this off, but he will not outsmart me.

  I sit on the ground for a moment, before I crawl through the unlocked bathroom door.

  The next door opens into a walk-in closet.

  I pause for a moment and hope I'm doing nothing to the baby in this.

  But if I'm going to save us both, I have to risk it!

  I dig through the drawers and pull out a nail file and some hairpins.