Carved in Stone (The Stone Series) (18 page)

Surprised by his presence I
lean around Aidan to grin at Sebastian.

             
“Hi Sebastian.”

             
“Hey Gabby,” he smiles warmly. “Good to see you again sweetheart.”

Thank god, at least there is one member of Aidan’s family who actually like
s me. For the life of me I just don’t understand what I did to make Virginia hate me so much.

             
“Stay out of this Sebastian,” warns Blake frowning.

             
“Enough,” barks Aidan, causing me to jolt back startled. 

             
“We are not doing this now Blake. Sebastian’s right, this is neither the time nor the place. Virginia, I suggest you get back to your guests and Sebastian, could you please escort Gabriella to the bar and freshen up her drink.”

             
Leaning down, Aidan whispers softly in my ear, “Button, please go with Sebastian, I have a couple of people I need to speak with first then we’ll be leaving. Yes?”

             
Nodding my head, I murmur, “Sure.”

             
Extending his arm to me Sebastian grins, sending me a roguish wink of his eyes.               “My lady.”

             
As soon as Sebastian and I are out of earshot of his family I say, “Okay, spill the beans. What the hell was that all about?”

             
“You don’t want to know Gabby,” mutters Sebastian, rolling his eyes.

             
“Yes, I do.”

             
Shaking his head, Sebastian smirks, “Okay but first I need a drink, a rather large drink. I hate attending these kind of family functions.”

             
With drinks in hand, Sebastian leads me over to a quiet corner on a secluded side of the terrace away from all the guests and thankfully far away from Virginia and Blake.

Aidan, I note is on the opposite side of the
terrace immersed in conversation with a middle-aged gentleman I’ve never seen before. Intermittently he surveys the crowd, I suspect checking on my location because when he locks his eyes on mine, he gives a barely perceptible nod of his head then continues his conversation.

             
“So, what do you want to know,” says Sebastian taking a long slug of his drink.

Chapter
Fifteen

              It’s now or never – an opportunity to finally get some insight as to why there’s so much animosity between Aidan and his family.

             
“Everything,” I blurt out eagerly – too eagerly by the way Sebastian raises his eyebrows at me.

             
“But for starters, what was all that about the Stone Corporation and your father leaving Aidan a percentage. There’s obviously no love lost between Blake and Aidan, your mom for that matter either.”

             
“Nope, you’re correct there. Those three have been feuding for what seems like a lifetime. My father established Stone Investments from money that Aidan’s mother gave him when they were first married. The money was an inheritance from her father. When my father died, he stipulated in his will that he was bequeathing the majority share of fifty-one percent to Aidan, he felt because the initial investment originally came from Aidan’s mom, Aidan was therefore entitled to a bigger slice of the pie. I guess deep down my father felt guilty for leaving Aidan’s mother, that and the fact that when she died she had not a dime left to bequeath Aidan herself because she’d given all of it to my father to invest.”

             
Listening to Sebastian’s story, a hollow ache of sadness stabs within my chest. Hearing about Aidan’s mom, it hurt to consider how she must of trusted and loved Aidan’s dad to give him her inheritance and then, according to Sebastian, be left with nothing when he left her.

             
“That’s kind of a sad story. She must have loved your father very much to give him everything she had.”

             
Sebastian tilts his head and looks thoughtfully at me. “Yes I guess she did.”

             
“Sorry, please go on.” I urge, knowing by the way Sebastian is running his finger around the rim of his glass restlessly, he has much more to say.

             
He sighs then takes another sip of his drink before giving me a small sheepish smile.

             
“Along with a sizeable trust fund, both Blake and I were given twenty-four percent each.”

             
Calculating the math I raise my eyebrows in surprise. “But that would only leave your mom one percent.”

             
“Correct,” says Sebastian.

             
Oh…

             
“Oh…I bet that didn’t go down too well.”

             
“That’s an understatement,” he says dryly. “And as you can imagine, now having met both Virginia and Blake, at the time it did not go over well at all. To make matters worse, Stone Investments wasn’t doing so well financially at the time of my father’s death but within twelve months of Aidan inheriting the majority share of the company he tuned it around significantly. Not only did he turn a profit for the shareholders, he used his personal share of those profits to acquire other investments than in turn transformed them into very lucrative ventures. The whole domino effect was a brilliant strategy it’s paid off big time for Aidan over the past four years.”

             
“All those other holdings are exclusively his and come under the Stone Corporation which belongs solely to Aidan. Stone Investments is a subsidiary company and the only company of the vast Stone Corporation’s holdings that Virginia, Blake or myself have any share or say in.”

             
“Their… jealous” I state shaking my head as comprehension hits me. There’s so much to take in – Aidan’s poor mom, his dad’s guilt, Virginia and Blake’s resentment over the will not to mention Aidan’s astonishing fiscal virtuosity. I knew he was a brilliant businessman but what Aidan has accomplished in such a relevantly short time is beyond astonishing.

             
“Yes they are but it’s more than just good old fashion jealousy at play here. They’re both resentful, bitter to the core, and yet they both have to play begrudgingly nice because Aidan holds the majority vote in the one company that’s providing almost all of their income.  You see Gabby apart from several properties my father left Virginia along with a meager endowment she has no other assets. Blake on the other hand does have a rather sizeable trust fund but he hasn’t enough business savvy to do what Aidan’s done. He has Virginia constantly in his ear, and he’s spoilt with a false sense of entitlement – never a very smart combination.”

             
An uneasy feeling slithers along my spine. “Should you be telling me any of this? ”

             
Sebastian shrugs. “I’ve never seen Aidan so committed to a woman like the way he is to you Gabby. Finally, it appears my big brother has fallen in love and in my opinion, he couldn’t have found a more perfect match. So I figure you’re in this now so you might as well know what you’ve gotten yourself into.”

              Several minutes of silence pass between us, as I study Sebastian, my curiosity kicking in - what’s his position in this family drama, after all both Virginia and Blake is his family too.

             
“And you Sebastian, where do you stand in all of this?”

             
“Ah…” He smirks with wry amusement. I’m not sure but I think I see an odd glint of admiration flash across his face.

             
“Sheath your claws kitty-cat, I’m on Aidan’s side in this particular war. Don’t forget, I grew up in that den of vipers and I learnt from a very early age it doesn’t pay to pick the loosing side.”

             
Something in my hard skeptical expression instantly sobers Sebastian up wiping the grin from his face as he sighs.

             
“Whether you believe me or not Gabby,” he shrugs humorlessly, “I wholeheartingly believe Stone Investments was always Aidan’s birthright. Aidan put in the hard work, turning the company around from the brink of bankruptcy and he’s forged on to create a huge financially successful conglomerate, which is virtually impossible to achieve in this current economic climate. My hat’s off to him, I’m not threatened by Aidan’s power or wealth I have my own money. And whether he chooses to believe or not, not all of us are against him, he’s just too damn fucking stubborn to see that at times.”

             
Grinning, I feel the warm sensation of happiness flow through me at witnessing the evident pride and admiration conveyed on Sebastian’s face for his brother. I had often felt a twinge of sadness for Aidan being so detached and distant from his family. To me, growing up, family was everything.

             
Playfully bumping my shoulder against him, I tease, “Gosh Sebastian, I think you may actually like your big brother.”

             
Sebastian returns my grin with impish one of his own. “Shhh…don’t tell him that.”

             
“Now here’s a sight for sore eyes,” drawls a familiar voice behind me.

             
Turning around I see Caleb Norwood smiling flirtatiously, his baby blues twinkling with mischief. Dressed in a grey pinstripe suit, light blue shirt, sans the tie, collar undone and exposing his golden tanned throat, he looks as if he just step out of the pages of a GQ magazine. Although my feelings for Caleb are purely platonic and I would forever be indebted for his role in getting Aidan and I back together, even if he did do it in a sneaky kinda of way, a girl would have to be completely deaf, dumb and blind not to appreciate the charismatic allure of Caleb Norwood.

             
“Hey Caleb. I didn’t know you were coming tonight.”

             
He raises the crystal tumbler of amber liquid in his hand in a mock salute.

             
“Yes, afraid I was reluctantly coerced here by the powers that be, but seeing you here Gabby just made this pretentious event more bearable.”

             
Before I can ask what he meant by being coerced here tonight, Caleb turns to Sebastian and the two shake hands. “Caleb, god to see you man,” greets Sebastian.

             
“You too Sebastian. Where’s Aidan,” he asks scanning his gaze through the crowd of people.

             
“Talking with Webster,” Sebastian replies nodding his head in Aidan’s direction across the terrace.

             
“Is that wise doing it here?” Caleb’s eyebrows rise in question and curiously I watch as both men communicate something to each other without a word spoken between them.

             
“Err…why do I feel like I missing something here,” I query looking pointedly at the two of them.

             
Sebastian conspicuously coughs clearing his throat while Caleb grins dismissively at me feigned innocence.

             
“Why don’t we get you another drink Gabby,” says Caleb placing his hand at the small of my back, leading me towards the bar.

             
“Ah… distraction, an excellent avoidance technique Caleb,” I smile sarcastically, a little annoyed at being left out of the loop.

             
“Well I could kiss you, now that would be a more preferable distraction but somehow I betting your boyfriend would kick my ass if I did that.”

             
“Ha ha Caleb, you’re a very funny man…Not!”

             
Mockingly clutching his hand over his heart as if in pain we arrive at the bar. “You wound me beautiful lady. Here I thought you adored my sense of humor.”

Caleb bursts out laughing when I childishly poke my tongue at him and roll my eyes.

              We stand at the bar conversing for a while; me, chatting excitedly about the arrangements for Caleb and Aidan’s gala hotel opening next week which I’m beyond thrilled to be organizing while Caleb does what Caleb does best – flirting outrageously. Another good reason why I could never envision myself with a man like him. I would be insanely jealous with a boyfriend that flirted with every female in a ten-mile radius at any given social setting but that easygoing, jovial, flirtatious personality of Caleb’s is what makes him such entertaining friend to have.

             
“Tell me Norwood,” says Aidan brusquely, startling me to his sudden presence beside me. I was so caught up with the conversation with Caleb I didn’t hear him walk up to us.

             
“Why is it that every time I see you lately, you’re with
my
girlfriend.”

             
“Good question Stone, maybe it’s because you conveniently absence all the time.”

Both men stare
impassively at each other for a couple of beats in what can only be described as a testosterone filled pissing match. Sighing my patience with the pair of them snap causing me to snap, “Seriously guys!”