Page 110 of Dr. Stone
Nat slowly lowered her sunglasses. “Oh, honey, you’re going to have to dig deeper than that. What exactly do you think you’re protecting him from that he can’t handle himself?” She gave me a knowing smile. “Jace might be a hot snack, but don’t let that soft side you fell in love with fool you. He’s more than fierce enough to take on any bastard who thinks they can touch his reputation or the Stone family name. You know how those old money boys grow up, don’t you?No onefucks with their family legacy and gets away with it.”
“Why do you feel you’re in a position to protect him?” Avery questioned. “Jace has had a reputation long before you waltzed into his life and stole his heart, and he’s always done a stellar job of protecting himself, no matter the circumstance. He knows the score and how to handle things.”
I took a deep breath, ready to confess the demon I’d been carrying all this time. I raised my eyebrows and exhaled slowly. “The bastard who is my son’s biological father? He just showed up out of nowhere.” I glanced at the three of them, seeing theconcern in their eyes. “He threatened not only me but Jace, too. He said he’d dig up everything from Jace’s past…all the flings, stuff that could make headlines, and things supposedly buried by his family. The asshole claims he has pictures, documents, and screenshots. He’s got a whole damn folder.”
“And what was he going to do with that?” Darcy questioned, seemingly annoyed by what she considered to be a mild threat, but it was real as hell to me. “Shove it up his ass?”
“He was going to send it to the hospital board and to the media, papers like you used to write for,” I answered her, my voice trembling at the thought of it all. “He said he’d destroy him.”
Ash’s jaw tightened. “It still pisses me off you endured this fear for a whole fucking month by yourself,” she said, her eyes filled with sadness.
“That wasn’t the only threat that kept me quiet,” I whispered. “He called me a billionaire-chasing whore and said if I told anyone or didn’t break things off with Jace, he’d drag me through a custody battle for years. He promised to take my son away. There’s no fucking way I’d let Jonathan do that. I would rather lose my own happiness than put my son’s life and joy at risk by a man who left the night he found out I was pregnant.”
Avery sat up straighter. Her eyes narrowed, fury crackling beneath her calm. “That’s not a threat. That’s fucking psychological warfare. What a mother fucking dickhead! There aren’t words for a monster like that.”
“Oh, sure there are, honey,” Nat said, keeping her usual cool but her eyes fiery. “That man is diabolical as fuck to come back into your life after he didn’t want your child in the first place. Then, he sees you being treated well in a relationship, and goes and does research? Fuck no. That man needs to be put away.”
“I believe he’ll follow through. I was even nervous after telling Ash since he said he’d have people watching my every move,” I said.
“Oh, fuck that shit,” Darcy said. “Is this guy even from a family like Jace’s? Because if he’s not inthosecircles, he doesn’t have a whisper of a chance at smearing someone like him. The name Stone carries serious weight. He’d be eaten alive. I’m talking blood-in-the-water level shark attack.”
Ash nodded and asked, “And what about the PIs? Do you think he has that kind of money?”
“Probably not, but I have no idea, and that’s why I believed him.” I shook my head, feeling more and more foolish as the ladies made their observations and comments. “I think what scares me the most is that I didn’t even question it? I didn’t even realize I was still afraid of that dick until I looked Jace in the eyes and lied to his face to keep him safe.”
Nat slammed her drink down like it personally offended her. “Well, I wish you had said something. That bastard would’ve been pissing his pants in his used car dealership after I was done with his cowardly ass.”
For the first time in a month, I smiled in humor. “He works at a Porsche dealership.”
Nat arched an eyebrow. “Honey, he could be out there selling rocket ships to NASA, and I’d still mop the floor with him,” she said with a wink. “But listen to me when I say this: the next time someone threatens you, you don’t carry that hell alone. That’s why you’ve got us. Every single one of us has wrangled an alpha male and brought him to his damn knees. You did it with Jace, too; you don’t give yourself enough credit. And with those credentials? Your little snitch of an ex wouldn’t stand a chance. He’d be checking himself into a psych ward by the time we were done with him.”
“Yeah, babe. You should’ve said something earlier, so we could’ve been there for you,” Avery said.
“I was embarrassed,” I admitted, the shame leaking out with the truth. “I didn’t realize how much control he still had over me. I still flinched when I heard his voice, and I just let it all dismantle me.”
Avery reached over and took my hand in hers. Her voice was soft, but the fire in her eyes never wavered. “That fear you felt, and the way you instantly believed his threats, that’s trauma, sweetheart. And it’s real as hell. I know because I’ve lived it. I run a women’s center because of what I went through, a place where we share our stories and help each other heal. You’re not a coward for hiding from everyone or for being scared of that asshole. The women at my center aren’t broken. They’re just finally unpacking the damage caused by some man whose mommy or daddy screwed him up so badly that he ended up destroying the woman who only wanted to love him. But now, those women don’t live in fear anymore, pretending it was love. They’re taking back their power, and so will you.”
My throat tightened. “I should sit in on one of your sessions. Ash talks about them all the time. I just never believed I had that sort of life.”
“No one does,” Avery grinned. “But yes, I would love to have you in there so you can see that you’re not alone, and you’re not to blame for any of this. You haven’t done anything wrong; do you understand that?”
“I feel like I should’ve been stronger,” I said, honestly.
“You don’t think it shows strength to break up with a man you were falling in love with to save his reputation and protect your son?” Darcy questioned.
“I didn’t see it that way,” I said. “I just felt like a chicken shit. Most people would take that fight head-on, like Nat said.”
“That’s not strength, honey,” Nat chuckled. “That’s just wild determination to do all but castrate a mother fucker for threatening a woman.”
“That’s just Nat,” Ash laughed. “You are a brave woman, and I will gladly sit with you in these meetings when we get off work on Tuesdays.”
“I probably should go as well,” Nat said, smirking. “Perhaps I might learn something about my internal burning desire for violence.” She laughed with the rest of us.
“In all seriousness,” Ash leaned in, that same quiet steadiness in her voice. “You’ve carried so much alone, even before this asshole came back and tried to destroy your life. It’s okay to let other people carry some of it, too, especially your friends and the ones who love you.”
“Sooo,” Darcy dragged the word out slowly and dramatically, like she was gearing up to drop something big. Her eyes scanned everyone around us, then landed back on me, like they were all in on some secret I was about to find out.
I couldn’t help but smile, wondering if maybe they knew something about Jace. Some part of me hoped there was something—anything—that could fix this mess, even though I knew deep down the weight of my ex’s bullshit still hung over him. I guess my heart was holding out for something my mind already knew wasn’t possible.
