Stanton Bliss: Stanton (15 page)

The door opens and Adrian walks in without noticing me. He stops mid-step when he sees me. “N-natasha,” he stammers.

“Hi, baby.” She smiles.

She stands to kiss him and he grabs her in an embrace, squeezing her. He stands back and holds her at arms length and smiles a swoony smile. He squeezes her again. “Oh, you look so beautiful today,” he gushes.

She looks over at me, her face serious. “You told him.”

“Way to go, Murph,” I hiss.

He screws up his face. “But I’m so excited. I promise I won’t tell anyone,” he stammers.

“Did you tell Cameron, too?”

“Maybe.” I wince.

She smirks. “It’s ok. I told Didge, Mum and Abbie, too. I couldn’t hold it in.”

Adrian sighs with relief and bends to kiss her stomach. “Hello, in there, it’s your favourite uncle. The good looking one.” He hangs off her hips with a huge smile on his face.

I smirk and Natasha rolls her eyes. “This is going to be a long eight months.” She sighs as she puts her hand on his head.

Natasha

I sit in the car as the scenery flashes by, my heart is beating through my chest. I reach over and grab Nicholas’ hand and he squeezes it back in a reassuring gesture. I’m twelve weeks pregnant and about to do something that I know is going to cause Armageddon. Nicholas and I are going to the prison, four hours south of L.A. to visit the young boy who kept me alive when I was held hostage. I have too many questions, too many unanswered things that I need to tie up. I lost twenty-four hours of my life and I can’t let it go no matter how hard I try. I need closure. I need to know what happened to me. Nicholas has been giving me phone therapy sessions from London, and he and I both think that this will give me some sort of closure. He has flown home from London for three days to come with me. Joshua doesn’t know I’m going and I have lied to the guards, telling them we are picking up a stroller from a shop. There is one car in front of us and one behind. I’m more guarded than the fucking Queen these days. Max is driving and I know he is onto something. He keeps looking at me and raising an eyebrow in question. He knows I wouldn’t drive four hours to buy a stroller with Nicholas in tow. I don’t want to do this when I have a baby at home, and I don’t want to go there when I’m noticeably pregnant, either. He could be transferred to another prison or given parole and I will never get my much-needed answers. I need to get this over with now so I can deal with it before the baby comes. Max is driving, so I can’t even discuss with Nicholas what I am going to say. We are sitting here, both pretending that we are on a shopping trip. This Russian spy thing we have going on is only adding to my nerves.

“What is the address?” Max asks for the second time.

Nicholas’ eyes meet mine. I can’t tell him the address until we are nearly there. If he works out where we are going, he will ring Joshua. Shit, this is messed up.

“I have the address in my bag, just head into town and I will find it,” I reply nervously.

“Ok.” His eyes flash at me in the rear view mirror. He calls the car in front of us. “Get off at the next exit.”

“Gotcha,” the voice replies.

I grab the small notepad from my bag and give it to Nicholas who types the address into his Maps app to look it up.

“Actually, Max, while I am here, I want to quickly visit a work colleague.” Nicholas replies casually.

Max’s eyes flicker to me again in the mirror. “Where at?”

“We will go to his work.”

“Where does he work?”

“Turn right up here,” Nicholas instructs.

The car in front of us falls behind so we now have two cars trailing us. My heart really starts to hammer.

“Second left.” Replies Nicholas.

I can see it. The large grass area of the prison and the fences. Fuck, am I really going to do this?

“Natasha, you can come in with me.”

We get to the gates and Max narrows his eyes in thought.

“He works at the prison?”

“Yes, I’m just going to invite him out for lunch with us.”

Max enters slowly and goes into the car park to park the car.

“I-I will come with you,” I stammer as I open the door.

“No, you won’t!” Max snaps. “You will wait here.”

Panic hits me and I start to hotfoot it across the car park to the prison’s front doors.

“Natasha?” Max yells. “Get back here.”

“I’m going in. I need answers, Max.”

His face falls as he puts the puzzle together. “No!” he yells.

The other guards all start to get out of their cars.

I make it to the front doors with Nicholas hot on my heels and turn to look out the window to see Max on the phone. Shit, he’s ringing Joshua.

My heart is thumping so fast.

Nicholas walks to the reception. “We have an appointment to see an inmate.”

My eyes turn to look back outside to see the guards all pacing. They aren’t allowed to touch me and I know they won’t physically drag me from here.

My phone rings and I jump. The name Lambo lights up the screen and I flick it to silent. Nicholas turns and looks at me, shaking his head.

Fuck. I run my hands through my hair.

The phone rings out but then rings again straight away.

A text beeps through.

ANSWER YOUR FUCKING PHONE!

Oh my God. He’s going to kill me.

It rings again and I close my eyes as I answer. “Hello,” I whisper.

“Where the fuck are you?” he shouts.

“I need answers.”

“Where are you?” he screams.

“I’m at the prison. I’m visiting the boy who kept me alive.”

“What?” He yells so loud, I have to hold the phone away from my ear.

“Get in the fucking car and get your ass back here right now. How dare you do this?”

My eyes tear up. It’s been a long time since Joshua has been so angry with me. I forgot how scary he is.

“Don’t you even think about going in,” he growls. “I mean it! So help me God, Natasha.”

I swallow my fear. “I love you.” I hang up and turn my phone off. I will deal with him later.

The large door bolts open and Nicholas turns to me. “You ready?”

We walk down a long corridor and into a room. It reminds me of the room I used to see Jes in when we first met.

Nicholas takes a seat next to me and the young boy is led in. His eyes meet mine and he drops his head in shame before he sits down.

I sit and stare at him as he looks at the floor. Is he fucking kidding? He put me though Hell and doesn’t even have the guts to look me in the eye.

Nicholas’ phone rings and he switches it straight off. Shit, that was Joshua.

I sit still as my time locked in that room is replayed in my head. He doesn’t look up and he doesn’t acknowledge me.

What a fucking coward.

Fury starts to rise and I take a deep breath to calm myself down. Nicholas and I talked about me getting upset could endanger my baby. I need to stay calm and get my answers, then leave.

“Why?” I ask.

He looks down.

“I asked you a fucking question. Answer it.”

“Why do you think?”

I glare at him. He’s different to what he was in the house. Prison hasn’t been kind to him. He’s harder, colder.

“She offered me money, more than I could refuse.”

“How long was it planned?”

He shrugs.

“Think!” I snap.

“Couple of months.”

“Who drugged me?”

He sits back and rolls his eyes. “If you came here for an apology, I’m sorry.”He sneers.

I sit forward as fury rips through me. “I didn’t come to you for an apology, you conceited little prick. I came to find out how you got me off the boat.”

His eyes hold mine.

“And the sooner you tell me the sooner I will leave. Who drugged me?”

“A waitress.”

“Who was the waitress?”

“One of Amelie’s friends. You nearly didn’t drink it.”

I frown as a cold shiver runs down my spine. There were people watching and waiting for me to drink fucking poison at that wedding.

I swallow my anger. “When I got back to the boat… what happened?”

He doesn’t answer me.

“Answer the question.” Nicholas growls.

“There were two scuba divers already under the boat when you arrived.”

I frown.

“Carl and another man.”

“Go on.”

“As soon as the boat you arrived on drove off, they climbed aboard.”

“Straight away?”

“They needed the sound of the engine to drown out them climbing into the boat.”

Oh God. I put my head into my hands as fear runs through me.

“They were only on there for ten minutes when you were unconscious.”

I stare at him through tears.

“He was only supposed to nick your vein, but the knife was too sharp.

A tear falls onto my cheek as I run my thumb over my deep scar. I can almost feel it cutting me again.

“There was too much blood. They had bandages to wrap it before they put you in the water.”

I frown as I imagine men in scuba diving gear smearing my blood all over the deck and wrapping my arm in a bandage.

“You were off the boat within fifteen minutes of them climbing on it.”

I frown. “I thought this happened in the still of the night?” God, the guards would have all been chatting only two hundred metres away.

He shakes his head. “It had to be done straight away or they would have been heard.”

“They swam you back to shore and gave you oxygen from their tanks.”

A wave of emotion starts to flood my senses as if memories are coming back to me.

“That’s where I came into it.”

I raise an eyebrow in question.

“I was in the back of a horse float by the water in the forest. They loaded you into the back of it and I looked after you while they drove us to the house.”

“You stitched me in the back of a horse float?” I ask. Oh my God, I can’t believe this shit.

“Yes. I couldn’t stop the bleeding. I had to.”

Nicholas grabs my hand for support.

“When we got to the house, I gave you a transfusion of my blood.”

He saved my life. I stare at him for an extended time. “Thank you,” I whisper through tears.

For the first time he looks remorseful.

I sit for a moment, not sure what to ask next. There are more things I should know but I just don’t want to be here anymore. It was the getting me off the boat information that I so desperately needed. I don’t want to hear any more of this vile horror. I look at him one last time and I stand.

“I’m ready to go. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye, Natasha.”

I walk out into the hall as if The Devil has been set free from my soul. I can finally breathe.

Chapter 9

I
t’s just gone
dark when the car pulls into the underground parking lot of our apartment. There has been complete radio silence. Joshua hasn’t called, so he obviously knows I’ve left the prison and am on my way home. As we drive around, I see him standing on the curb near the entrance to the elevator. There are two guards standing back and Ben is leaning up against Joshua’s car. They’re all waiting for me. How long has he been standing there? His hands are in his suit trouser pockets, and the look on his face is murderous. I feel my fear rise and perspiration starts to burn my armpits. I haven’t seen him this angry since he found Jesten in my apartment that night.

“Fucking hell,” Max mutters under his breath. “This is going to be good.”

I blow out a breath and Nicholas grabs my hand reassuringly. Nicholas flies back to London tomorrow.

“Thank you for coming with me,” I whisper. “I really appreciate you coming all this way to support me.”

He smiles. “It had to be done. I’m glad you are feeling better.”

Max parks the car and I get out slowly. Joshua stands still on the spot. Something he never does. He always walks to me and then walks me back. He’s severely pissed. I walk toward him and his eyes don’t leave my face.

“H-hello,” I stammer.

He doesn’t say anything.

Nicholas is the first to speak. “Joshua.”

Joshua holds up his hand and cuts him off. “Don’t fucking speak. Get in your car and fuck off before I knock you out.”

My eyes widen. Holy crap, I’m dead meat.

Nicholas takes his cue and bends to kiss me. “Call me,” he whispers awkwardly before taking off across the car park toward his car. Joshua turns and walks to the lift, pressing the button.

“Don’t be rude to Nicholas,” I stammer nervously as I follow him.

His head snaps around, but he holds his tongue and, after a deathly silence, he speaks. “I will do whatever the hell I fucking like.”

We get into the lift with Max and Ben and stand silently. This is so awkward with them around. I think I want to run to Bridget’s. Joshua’s scaring even me. My eyes watch the dial as the floors shoot past. Shit, I don’t want to get out of the lift. The door finally opens and Joshua holds his hand out. My eyes fall to Max and he nods. That’s his
I will be out here if you need me
nod. I smile in thanks. Joshua opens the door and I walk in, The door closes and he throws the keys so hard at the wall that they put a hole in the plasterboard. I jump in fright and start to shake my head nervously. “Joshua, please understand…”

“Understand what?” he yells.

“I needed answers,” I cry.

His eyes narrow. “I need a few fucking answers myself.” He sneers.

I cringe at the venom in his voice. Oh God, I’ve never seen him like this.

“At what point, Natasha, did you think that going to a prison to see someone who tried to murder you…” His voice is cold and calm and I swallow my fear. “Was a good fucking idea?” he screams.

My tears fall.

He holds up a finger in my face. “Don’t you dare! Don’t you fucking dare start your water works bullshit.”

I stand still, unsure what to say. My bottom lip is trembling. “Joshua, calm down,” I whisper.

“Calm down?” he yells. “Calm down? I am married to a self-centred liar who put my baby’s life at risk today.”

My face falls. “This is the first time I have ever lied to you.”

“I am way, way, beyond fucking calming down.”

“The baby’s life wasn’t at risk,” I try to tell him.

“Wasn’t it?” he shouts.

“I knew what I was doing.”

“Just like the night on the boat when you told Ben to go.” He shakes his head as he gathers his thoughts. “You knew what you were doing that night too, didn’t you? You didn’t need protection that night, either, did you, Natasha?”

My eyes close. He had to bring that up, didn’t he?

My tears fall and I shake my head. “No. I knew you wouldn’t let me go.”

“Because I’m trying to protect you!” he screams so loud that I jump back.

“You’re scaring me,” I whisper.

“You should be fucking scared.”

My face falls. “Stop it,” I breathe.

He stares at me for an extended time and then closes his eyes.

“I’m scaring myself,” he replies coldly. He comes really close to my face. “You lied to me today. You betrayed me today.” He growls.

I shake my head as my tears fall. “No, Joshua, I would never do that.”

He turns away from me and punches the wall and it crumbles under his fist.

“Stop it,” I cry.

He turns and his wild eyes hold mine as he struggles for control.

“Please understand,” I whisper.

“Understand this. I can’t be around you right now.” He picks up his keys.

“Where are you going?” I whimper.

“Away from you.”

“No. Joshua, don’t go,” I cry. “Where are you going?”

He turns and walks out of the apartment and slams the door. My face scrunches up, tears falling. Oh God. Now I’ve done it.

I fall onto my bed and wail.

“It’s 2:00 a.m. and Bridget and I are on my lounge watching the clock. Joshua hasn’t come home and I don’t know where he is.

“Where the hell is he?” Bridget frowns. “I’ve had enough of his shit.”

“He was so mad, Didge; I’ve never seen him so mad.”

She rolls her eyes. “What were you thinking? Why didn’t you just tell him?”

I shrug sadly. “I don’t know. I knew he would be mad but I didn’t expect this mad.”

“How mad, like on a scale from one to ten?” she asks as she lays back.

“One hundred.”

“Hmm.”

“Where do you reckon he is?” I ask.

“Getting drunk somewhere.”

“Ring Cameron again.” I throw my phone at her.

She picks it up and dials his number, putting it on speaker. Cameron and Adrian have been out looking for him since about ten.

He picks up. “Hey.” The music is loud and thumping through the phone. “I just found him.”

I put my hand on my heart in relief. “Is he ok?” I ask shakily.

“He’s at a strip club.”

“What?” I gasp. Holy fuck, he’s a dead man.

Bridget’s eyes bulge, and she puts her hand over her mouth as she smirks.

“Are you kidding me?” I yell at Cameron through the phone.

“Shut up!” he snaps. “So, you can secretly go visit killers in prison and he can’t go to a fucking strip club? Pull your head in.”

“He’s having a fucking baby!” I yell in an outrage.

“Last time I looked, so were you,” he hits back. God, his loyalty to his brother is so fucking annoying. “I will text you the address, come and get him.” He hangs up.

I hang up the phone with such force I nearly crack the glass screen.

“How fucking dare he?” I growl.

Bridget bites her bottom lip to stifle a smile.

I stand and storm into my bedroom and yank on my clothes. “Hurry up,” I yell.

“I’m in my pyjamas,” she calls.

“Get dressed then,” I tell her.

I pull on my cardigan. “So help me God, if he’s so much looked at one fucking stripper, I am going to kill him with my bare hands.”

“Great,” Bridget replies, deadpan. “Sounds fun.”

“This isn’t funny, Bridget.”

“Who’s laughing?” she replies dryly.

Half an hour later we walk into a small strip club with five guards following us. Max hasn’t commented and I know they are loving the return of the vamped up Jerry Springer. My eyes scan the room. A small stage sits in the middle of a ‘U’ shaped room and a girl is dancing around a pole, writhing around on the floor wearing a g-banger. The waitresses are all topless and the way I’m feeling, all mumsy at the moment with even a cockroach in lingerie seeming sexier than me, I feel my jealousy rise.

“I swear to God, if I see so much as a neck crack he’s going to die a slow, painful and bloody death.”

“What are you going to do when we find him?”

“I don’t know,” I answer as my eyes drift around. “I’m a donkey on the edge. Anything is possible.”

“Yeah, I’m kind of picking up on that.” She frowns.

Our eyes continue to scan, and then over in the corner I catch sight of Cameron talking to a waitress. In front of him, Joshua sits at the end of the bench seat drinking a beer, and Adrian is farther down from him.

Joshua’s eyes are fixed on the show but I know he’s not watching. He’s staring into space, miles away.

I walk over to the table and drop down into the seat next to him. His eyes drift to me, then back ahead in front of him.

“Go home, Natasha.” He sighs.

“No.”

He continues to ignore me.

I put my hand on his forearm and he shrugs it off. “Don’t touch me.”

“I needed to know what happened to me, Joshua, and I knew you wouldn’t let me go.”

His cold eyes hold mine and he tips his head back and drinks his beer.

“Baby, I needed to do this for me.”

“What about what I need?”

I grab his hand on the table. “What do you need?”

“You know damn well what I need.” He spits angrily.

“Joshua,” I whisper.

“I need to know you are safe. This isn’t just about you anymore, Natasha. I’m sick of your selfish fucking attitude.”

I pick up his hand and kiss the back of it. His eyes stay down and guilt fills me. I hurt him today. I grab his hand and cup it around my cheek as I tear up.

“I love you,” I whisper.

“Doesn’t feel like it.”

I hold my head to the side. “I do. You know I do. Please let’s go home and talk about it.”

“No.”

“Why did you walk out on our argument today? You should have stayed and talked it through with me.”

His eyes hold mine. “You don’t want to know.”

What’s that supposed to mean? “Yes I do.”

“I was so angry that I didn’t trust myself to be near you.”

I frown. “Why?”

He puts his head back and drinks his beer as he thinks. “Maybe I’m more like James Brennan than we all realise.”

My heart drops. “Joshua.” I sigh. “You would never hurt me and I know that for a fact. You would never lose control.”

His haunted eyes hold mine.

“You proved that to yourself by leaving. Don’t beat yourself up because you were furious with me. You had a very good reason to be angry.”

He takes another swig of his beer.

“Joshua, I was off the boat in ten minutes, the guards were still awake. There was no way you could remember a thing, nobody expected something to happen when everyone was around.”

He frowns. “He told you that?”

I nod and his face falls. He needs to know he couldn’t have stopped it.

The girl on stage starts to moan into the microphone as she gives it to herself with a vibrator, and I hear Bridget and Adrian laugh in horror. I put my hands over the front of my stomach. “Close your ears, baby Stanton, Daddy has us hanging out in a pussy parlour listening to fake orgasms.”

Amusement flickers across Joshua’s face.

“Why would you do that?” he whispers.

I shrug. “I don’t know. It seemed like a good plan at the time.”

“He could have upset you. Anything could have happened.”

I kiss his hand. “I won’t do anything like that ever again, I promise.”

A topless blonde with huge boobs walks over and bends over Joshua to take his empty beer bottle on the table. She gives him a dirty smile and he raises a brow at me.

I look at her, my face straight. “Buzz off, Blondie, before I stick this bar stool up your ass,” I warn her.

She pulls a face and moves along.

A trace of a smile crosses his lips. “Stick a bar stool up her ass?” he repeats.

I smirk. “It would probably fit.”

He smiles into his glass and I know I’ve got him.

“Are you taking me home, baby daddy?”

He shakes his head in defeat. “Stop fucking with my head, Natasha.”

I lean in and kiss him gently. “That’s my job.” I rub my hand over his short dark hair.

He frowns, his lips against my lips.

“Wives fuck up their husband’s nights at strip clubs all the time,” I whisper. “It’s a common occurrence, Mr. Stanton. Get used to it. I will do it again.”

He smiles and shakes his head to himself. “Once a show stopper, always a show stopper.”

“Baby, your show starts when we get home. I’m going to make it up to you.” I kiss his shoulder.

He grabs my hand as he stands. “Pregnant woman aren’t supposed to be horny all the time.”

I smirk. “Most pregnant women don’t have a Lamborghini parked in the garage.”

Five Months later.

I stand with my hands on my hips as I look around baby Stanton’s nursery. I’m feeling very proud of myself. We are at Willowvale and I am just putting the last of the new furnishings in. The renovations are complete and there is now a doorway between the four adjoining bedrooms so that we can be closer to the incoming crowd.

The nursery is cream with white furnishings, cream carpet and touches of mint, finished off with taupe and mint drapes. A pair of large, cream, wing back chairs and ottomans, all in the same fabric as the drapes, sit in the corner next to the window. The room is big and spacious. Adrian and I designed it and, of course, and it looks better than anything I have ever seen in a magazine. This nursery is to die for. I’m not even going to tell you how much I have spent on this house. Baby brain is making me lose all budget sense. Either that or I am getting accustomed to having nice things. Either way, I’m totally spoilt.

The bathrooms have all been remodelled and a large entertaining pool has been put in. We will be moving back here as soon as the baby is born in approximately four weeks, so we wanted all the work done before we came here permanently. We have been coming here on Thursdays and staying most weekends throughout my pregnancy. It feels like my home now and I hate leaving on Monday mornings. I can’t believe it. In four weeks I’m going to have a baby, and I don’t even know what to do.

The dog barks and I look out the window to see my man come up from the stables from his morning ride. I smile to myself. Those jodhpurs will be the very death of me. I have truly been adored by Joshua throughout this pregnancy. Actually, no. I have been worshiped throughout this pregnancy. Joshua cannot get enough of me and we are so physically in tune with each other, it’s frightening. I’m heavily pregnant – huge – and at a time when I imagined feeling fat and frumpy, Joshua is making me feel like the most beautiful woman on the planet. How did I ever get so lucky to have a man like him love me with everything that he is?