What I lost suddenly seems so far away.
Leigha finds my lips again, with a warm soft kiss.
“You did all this for us?” she asks in wonder.
“I’ve been in the process of building the house for a few years, then I started to furnish it when we got engaged, and I may have had most of our apartment packed and shipped over. Should arrive by the new year,” I announce proudly.
“Do you like it?” I ask.
“I love it,” Leigha tells me
“I love that you love it,” I says with a grin.
“Does that mean we can move in right away?” Leigha giggles.
I know she’s anxious to have our own space again, and frankly so am I.
So is Bond.
“Whatever you want sweetheart, I’m all yours,” I tell her.
“Always,” Leigha whispers.
5
Leigha
December 31, 2018
Between Christmas, Athena trying to squeeze in wedding plans, moving into the house and getting everything from our old apartment straightened out when it arrived, I’ve barely had time to breathe.
We decided to have New Years at our place.
Our place.
Just knowing that Evan and I live together, in our home, with our cat thrills me.
Every single day I wake up in bliss.
“You know,” I start to tell Evan.
I straighten out the champagne glasses on the counter.
“We really should tell Athena the truth, now is probably best,” I continue.
“You’re right, we don’t want to get stuck…” Evan stops talking as the doorbell rings.
“They’re here,” he groans.
“What’s got you in a mood?” I tease.
Evan wraps his arms around my waist and roughly pulls me towards him.
“Now do you know what I want?” he growls.
I kiss Evan on the nose.
“Later,” I promise him, as the doorbell rings again.
My glittering cocktail dress is champagne gold, and sweeps around my body to the floor.
I know it’s just family, but I wanted to dress up.
I even convinced Evan to put on a tux.
When I open the door to greet Ava and Corban, sans the twins who are Magda, I see that Ava had the same idea.
Ice-blue silk looks as though it drips off her body and she looks better than ever.
“You look fantastic! Both of you!” I greet them.
“You women,” Corban huffs.
He adjusts his tie and walks in, champagne bottle in hand, to find Evan.
“Oh, Leigha, this house is gorgeous! I don’t know how you and my brother pulled this all together so quickly,” Ava comments.
“It was mostly Evan; his surprise,” I admit.
Ava rolls her eyes and laughs as Elizabeth walks up the driveway with Tinsley and Athena.
“Leigha,” Elizabeth smiles.
She pulls me into a warm hug.
Elizabeth is somehow motherly, and I never in a million years expected that.
She’s still a bit out of sorts, and Tinsley leads her into the house.
The biggest surprise however, is Aidan and Athena.
Together.
“She begged me to come, and, seeing as I had nowhere else to go, here we are,” Aidan says gruffly.
He strolls in and Athena’s lips pucker.
“At least he cleans up well,” Athena comments.
Then, she drapes her arm across my shoulders as we walk into the house together.
“Now, I know you and Evan are opposed to most of my ideas for a wedding, but…” Athena begins.
“Actually,” I start.
“Now, now, just listen. We can keep it small and intimate but I really think it would be good for everyone, to have something to look forward to,” Athena reasons.
“Damnit, you’re right,” I admit.
I look across the room at Evan, dashing in his tux with Corban.
They’re popping open a bottle of champagne, and making jokes about the twins.
Ava stamps her foot at something Corban has said, then sticks her tongue out at him.
“I knew you’d see it my way,” Athena croons.
“Well, the way I see it, maybe you should be planning your own wedding,” I tease her.
Teasing Athena is usually not a good idea, but she does blush ever so slightly.
“Please, Aidan and I are nothing,” she sniffs.
“Whatever you say, Athena,” I say with a light smile.
More champagne is popped; even Elizabeth has a glass.
The mood is jovial, and light, and I feel at ease.
It’s times like this that I feel the fear, which is healthy.
Fear that things won’t always be this happy, that everything will be ripped away from me in an instant.
I don’t know why it happens, I suppose it’s logic when one is so happy.
Evan taps his glass to get everyone’s attention and reaches out to take my hand.
“Leigha and I are so happy to have everyone together, in our home. So, I think it’s only right that we tell you tonight, we have a little secret to share,” Evan announces.
“But Athena might be slightly disappointed, because Leigha and I eloped in November,” he says.
His words are crisp, clear.
Evan is my husband.
“We didn’t want to wait, there was no reason for us to wait. We know each other, we knew we wanted to be married, and that was it,” I add.
“You. Did. What?”
A smooth voice I know loudly interrupts, before anyone can say anything.
My heart stops.
Suddenly, I can’t breathe, and I don’t want to look at Evan.
I don’t want to see the look on his face, I don’t want to know how he feels right now.
Why?
Because Victoire, in all her glory, is standing in our home.
The black, backless dress is painted on her body, showing off endless amounts of leg, and just enough cleavage.
She’s the same as ever, if a bit filled out.
“Victoire?” Evan says her name.
I want to scream at him, but I can’t bring myself to say anything.
“Did you marry her?” Vic asks pointedly.
“What are you doing here? What happened? How?” Evan stutters through his words.
Thank God his arms are still around me, because that’s the only thing holding me up.
“Your goddamn father decided it would be best if I hid, before anything else could happen to me. He faked my death and then that fool disappeared!” Vic rages.
“Do you know what I had to do get back to you Evan!” she screams.
Evan is speechless.
“We didn’t know,” I say.
Suddenly I feel guilty, when I know I have no reason to.
Evan said it himself, he wanted me all along.
That I shouldn’t have pressed him to go back to Victoire.
But, Victoire ignores me completely.
“I had our baby, alone. I spent months, alone, and this is how you greet me?” Vic asks.
With her rage subsided, momentarily, I see the lust for Evan in her eyes.
When I look up at Evan his expression is stoic, I know he’s trying to swallow the guilt.
All at once, Victoire crosses the room, and pushes me away from Evan so harshly that I lose my balance.
I cry out and Evan reaches to catch me, but Corban catches me first because Victoire has my husband by the collar.
To my sheer horror she tries to kiss him, and their lips smash together for just a moment because Evan pulls away instantly.
He roughly grabs Victoire by the arms and shakes her.
“Vic, Leigha is my wife. I’m married. Do you get that?” he pleads with her.
“Don’t you remember? How much you loved me? How much you wanted me? Don’t you want to be a family with our son?” she cries.
&n
bsp; Evan opens his mouth to speak, but no words come out for a moment.
He turns to me, and pulls me into his arms.
I’m shaking and ready to start sobbing, but I cannot, absolutely cannot break down in front of Vic.
“We’re going to be alright,” Evan whispers.
“It’s all going to be alright,” he says, looking at Vic.
She smiles, and he returns it, looking so much like a Stone it gives me chills.
And, just like that, I’m no longer on steady ground.
Thank You!
To all my readers:
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THE STONE BILLIONAIRE SERIES
Secret: A Stone Billionaire Series Novel (The Stone Billionaire Series Book 5) Page 31
