He closes his eyes as if in pain. “Fucking Richter. I thought I was done with him. That night on the roof when I let him fall, I was so goddamn happy because I was finally going to be free of him. But I’ve never been free of him Nikki, I’ve never been free.”
“I know. I hate that for you.”
“He infected everything he touched. Me, Sofia, this boy who’s now a man.”
“Maybe he did, but you turned out okay. And Sofia really was getting her shit together. And from what I can tell, Ash is brilliant and focused and angry. But it’s not really you he’s angry with. He only thinks he is.”
His arms tighten around me, and he kisses my hair. “Oh, God, Nikki, baby, I have a son. A child who isn’t ours. A child I never knew existed, who I fathered when I was only a child myself. How the hell are we supposed to make this work?”
“I don’t know,” I say. “But I know I love you. And I know I believe in you. And I know that somehow it will all turn out fine.”
16
Damien wasn’t sure if he was surprised or amused that Ashton was staying at the Stark Century Hotel, but at least that made it easy to locate him. At the moment, though, Ashton wasn’t Damien’s priority. First, he needed to meet with Charles and Ryan. And if Ashton happened to pass through the lobby bar and notice the three of them together, then all the better. After all, Damien wanted Ashton to know that he was taking the paternity claim seriously.
He settled in at a four-top in the bar, then smiled when Carla brought him a bourbon. She’d worked for the hotel for over five years, and he’d been honored to comp her the penthouse for her honeymoon last year.
“Anyone joining you, Mr. Stark?”
“Charles and Ryan,” he said. “Bring Charles a—”
She waved his words away. “Please, Mr. Stark. Don’t insult me. Mr. Hunter’s the same as you, and Mr. Maynard wants a dry martini.”
“This place couldn’t survive without you.”
“I know, right?” She grinned, then headed back to the bar. A few moments later, Charles joined him. By the time Carla returned with the drinks, Ryan was at the table as well.
“Anything more from the Chicago team?” Damien asked Charles.
His attorney shook his head. “Nothing yet, but Ryan and I spoke earlier. He’s got some thoughts. But before that, I want to address Nikki’s question.”
“She made a good point,” Damien said. “Why now?”
“Exactly. We should’ve realized. The trust.”
The trust Charles referred to was a newly revised trust that Damien had originally created for Lara’s benefit when they adopted her, and it was specifically written to provide for all of his kids. As a result, it hadn’t needed to be revised after either Anne or Bradley was born.
A few months ago, however, Damien had moved some assets into the trust, both securities and real property, which increased the value of the trust’s corpus by about ten-fold.
Because Ashton was over twenty-one and Damien’s son, he was entitled to monthly draws from the trust. And that, honestly, was something that Damien hadn’t thought about yet.
So, yes, the trust potentially answered the why now question. Except that there was still one gaping hole. “How would Stone even know about the trust? Much less that I’d recently increased the assets?”
“That’s a different question,” Charles said. “But you have to agree the timing is suspicious. You increased the corpus two months ago. Now this guy shows up?”
“That was about the time he approached Noah,” Ryan pointed out. “I don’t like it.”
Damien tapped his finger on the tabletop. “We have no evidence that he even knows the trust exists.”
“You’re getting sentimental,” Charles said. “And why wouldn’t you? He’s your son. You want a relationship. But Damien, he wants to hurt you.”
“I don’t actually know if that’s true,” Damien said. “For that matter, we don’t know what he wants. But as far as the trust is concerned, none of that matters, because now that paternity has been confirmed, he is entitled to his share.”
Charles leaned back looking grave. “So you’re just going to hand him a check? You’re not going to put up a fight?”
“No, Charles. I’m not.”
“Damn it, Damien, get your head out of your ass.”
Damien bristled, something that would have made a lesser man cower, but Charles had been around since his tennis days, and didn’t miss a beat.
“The man’s looking for a payday,” Charles said. “This is just another business deal that needs to be nailed shut. You don’t want him in this trust. Pay him off and let him go away. This guy’s been poisoned against you. Make the deal and consider yourself lucky.”
Damien rubbed his temples. For the first time in his life, he felt like he didn’t know where he stood on a matter related to the fortune he’d worked so hard to build. Or, maybe he did know…
Because the bottom line was that Ashton Stone was his son. For better or worse, that talented, angry, arrogant, complicated, brilliant man was in this world now because of Damien.
He remembered the profound joy that had filled him when he’d first seen Lara. When Anne and Bradley had been swaddled and put in his arms. And damned if that same emotion wasn’t growing in him now. Yes, it was messy and confusing, and all the worse because Ashton reviled him. But it was the truth.
He sighed, thinking of Nikki and of how goddamn hard some truths could be.
On the surface, she’d been nothing but supportive, and yet he knew this wasn’t easy on her. An adult son who was also Sofia’s child. He’d been so caught up in his own confused emotions that he hadn’t had time to truly understand what a nightmare this must be for her.
“Maybe you’re right,” he said to Charles. “But I’ll give him the choice. We already know he doesn’t want anything to do with me. So I’ll offer him regular draws from the trust or one lump payment. I’ll treat it as any other business deal, and at the end of the day, money will be the bottom line.” And maybe that really was for the best. After all, Damien knew better than anyone how little blood really mattered.
“Good,” Charles said. “But you know that’s not the end of it. Son or not, this man’s been harassing you. These are threats to expose very personal matters, and that’s not something we can look the other way on.”
“Agreed,” Damien said.
Ryan shifted in his chair. “I’ve sent Winston and Linda to Illinois,” he said, referring to two operatives in Stark Security. A formerly married couple who were reunited after Winston had spent years thinking his wife was dead.
“I want them to chat up Ashton’s mother,” Ryan continued. “She’s Richter’s half-sister, and I’m curious if she’s the one who’s been telling him lies about you intentionally staying away. For that matter, I want to know what the family told Ashton about Sofia. What was she supposed to have known?”
“I don’t think she knew anything about the baby,” Damien said. “I saw all her psych reports for years. Nothing like this was even hinted at. Nikki suggested she’d repressed it, and I think she’s right.”