A Bona Fide Gold Digger (25 page)

Needing to hear Noah admit his homosexuality, she asked, “Are you and he…?”

“Yes,” Noah answered before she finished the question. He uttered a pitiful cry and then wept like a woman. “Hayden and I are lovers,” he said through sobs.

She steadied her footing and took a deep breath before asking the next question. “Are you dying, Noah?”

“No.” He shook his head vehemently. “That was a lie as well. I pretended to be deathly ill, feigning a terminal illness as a scare tactic to coerce Hayden into leaving his wife.”

“You’re not terminally ill?” Milan screamed with wide, incredulous eyes.

“Of course not,” Hayden said disgustedly. “Aside from starving himself like a lovesick schoolgirl, Noah’s in perfect health.”

“I’m sorry, Hayden. But you must know that every deceitful action was intended to get your attention,” Noah told Hayden, sounding contrite.

“Your little scheme has backfired, hasn’t it? After getting your wedding invitation, I pressured Emma into a trial separation. I was beside myself with grief. I thought you had thrown in the towel and was hell bent on finding some semblance of happiness even if it meant suffering through a loveless marriage with a
woman
,” he said, turning up his nose. “At first I was going to do the honorable thing, put up a brave front and attend the wedding with Emma.” Hayden gave a snort. “But I changed my mind. Silly me, I came here to surprise you with the news that I’ve decided to ask Emma for a divorce. I was going to beg you on bended knee to accept my hand in a commitment ceremony. But now that I’ve discovered your treachery, I don’t want anything more to do with you.” Hayden stood with his arms tightly folded. He breathed in deeply. “Noah, I want you to pack your bags. Leave the premises immediately.”

With unexpected agility, Noah leapt from the bed and clutched at the front of Hayden’s shirt. “Please! Don’t do this to me. I was mean and spiteful. I admit it. But I did it for love. I love you with my whole heart; you know I do.”

Noah’s admission of love was sickening. Milan doubted if she’d ever hated anyone as much as she hated Noah in that instant. Could her existence get any worse? From the moment of her unwanted conception, her life had been nothing more than a comedy of errors. And it wasn’t fair. The illness, the engagement, the pending marriage, the insemination had all been nothing more than a game to Noah. A vicious game.

She’d put up with Noah’s sickening fantasies and perversions, had even been injected with his foul sperm. What he’d done to her was despicable; she deserved to be compensated for her duress. She glanced at Hayden. It would be tough to get him to see things her way, but she’d use every tool in her arsenal to convince Hayden to compensate her for the time spent and trouble endured with his down-low paramour.

“M
iss Nelson…,” Hayden said, startling Milan by using the alias she had briefly used while dodging the law. His harsh tone and dark, unforgiving eyes pinned Milan in place. He resumed his seat, reached over, and picked up a stack of papers from a nearby table.

So much drama had unfolded, so many secrets revealed, Milan hadn’t noticed the ominously official-looking paperwork the Brit now waved in the air. “It is Miss Nelson, isn’t it?”

Trouble was brewing. She felt her blood surging in response to being called by the alias she’d completely forgotten about.

“Or should I call you Miss Walden? It seems you have several aliases. Which name do you currently go by?” he asked with a pompous tilt to his head and a malicious smile as he rustled through the papers.

Milan gulped. “Uh, my name is Milan Walden. Noah knows that.” She shot Noah an evil look. But Noah was knelt before Hayden, clinging to him with his head placed in Hayden’s lap.

Revealed as an imposter himself, Noah refused to meet her gaze. She wanted to yank Noah from Hayden’s lap, and collar and bitch slap him. It took every ounce of restraint not to pounce upon Noah and strangle him until his tongue lolled and his eyes bulged in death.

“Whatever your name is, I have evidence that you have taken well over a half million dollars of
my
money. I could have you arrested for theft.” He pointed to her left hand. “Your acceptance of this ring could bring on an additional charge—receiving stolen goods!”

In light of the fact that she had only eighty thousand squirreled away in her hidden stash, the amount he accused her of taking was ridiculously excessive. Sure, Noah had paid her large sums of money, he’d even liberated her of her financial grief with Pure Paradise, but it still didn’t add up anywhere close to half a million dollars.

Hearing the word
arrested
issued from the lips of an affluent man was disconcerting, to say the least. It was clearly time to cut her losses and make a speedy exit. “Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. I worked for Noah. I made an honest living here,” she said, yanking off the ugly engagement ring. “Here’s your property. Sorry for your trouble,” she said and turned to leave.

“Not so fast!” Hayden watched Milan with unwavering eyes. “I can see that you’re an opportunist. You obviously took advantage of poor Noah,” Hayden informed her and then tossed Noah a sympathetic smile and gave him tender pats on the head.

Apparently all was forgiven, Milan surmised with a
tsk
. The two creeps deserved each other.

“If you don’t return every single dollar you stole from me I’ll have no choice but to notify the authorities.”

Noah lifted his head from Hayden’s lap. “He’s right. You took advantage of me. I was distraught and in an unhealthy mental state…”

“Shut up, you pervert. Did you tell your boyfriend what I had to do for that money?”

“Please. Spare me the sordid details,” Hayden said snidely. “Young lady, at this point I have no interest in your tawdry love affair. I’m only interested in regaining the money you stole from me.”

“I didn’t steal anything. Noah paid for my services. The money he paid me didn’t come close to a half million.”

“I agreed to pay for the services of a companion for Noah.” Hayden shuffled through the pages. “Yes, here it is,” he said, peering at a computer-generated spreadsheet. “Companion fee—two hundred and fifty dollars a week including room and board and full use of all the amenities.” His focus reverted to Milan. “I offered to pay for a companion for Noah, someone to keep him company until I could resolve my situation. I never intended to maintain the lavish lifestyle of a gold digger.”

Milan didn’t flinch. The personal affront was the least of her worries. “Noah led me to believe that he was independently wealthy,” she said, defending herself while wondering if she could possibly bargain her way out of the predicament. “As you know,” she said, speaking quickly, “we were planning to be married. Imagine how shocked I am to learn that Noah—my fiancé—is on the down low.”

“He’s on the what?”

“He’s a gay man pretending to be straight,” she explained to Hayden, who obviously had not heard of the expression. “He’s bisexual. On the down low, like you,” she added matter-of-factly, but hoping to somehow use Hayden’s hidden sexual orientation for leverage. “No, he’s probably worse than you. He’s such a freak, he likes to pretend that I’m a little schoolgirl.”

Stone-faced, Hayden did not react to the incriminating insult. “An attempt at blackmail is not a wise move. Now tell me, exactly how much of my cash did you siphon?” he asked bluntly.

As if the answer lurked in a hidden corner of Noah’s bedroom, Milan looked in every direction as she tried to come up with the type of lie that would declare her innocence and allow her to escape this house of inquisition with every dollar she had earned. She’d sold her soul to a nutcase homo pervert and she’d be damned if she’d leave empty-handed. The situation reminded her of the ordeal with Pure Paradise when she was railroaded by the members of the board. Being accused of fraudulent behavior was like a recurring bad dream. She resolved that this time, she would not go out without a fight.

Feeling invigorated and determined to keep most of the money, she told Hayden, “I only earned about ten thousand! Noah said my elegant room and board was sufficient for now, that I’d be handsomely compensated after our marriage.”

“I said no such thing!” Noah objected.

Milan opened her mouth to respond, but struck with an excellent idea, she instead assembled a speech. “I’m saddened by this dreadful turn of events, Noah. I’ve spent hours celebrating with my family—my mother and my sister,” she lied. “Celebrating the new life that you and I are bringing into the world.”

Noah frowned. Hayden turned as white as the papers he held in his hands. “You had sex with her?” Hayden recoiled visibly.

“Never!” Noah said firmly.

“He’s telling the truth,” Milan said. She narrowed her gaze and studied Hayden’s expression, watched his features soften with relief. Then she went in for the kill. “We never had sex, not in the conventional sense, but I am most definitely carrying his child. The advances in technology are amazing and I was able to use an early detection at-home pregnancy kit. I’m approximately ten days’ pregnant. Isn’t that wonderful?” Milan asked, beaming.

“An immaculate conception, I presume,” Hayden said. Judging by his doubtful expression and the sarcasm in his tone, he obviously didn’t believe her.

“Noah hired a nurse to inject his sperm into my uterus. Check your records, you’ll see that he doubled the hours of Ruth Henry from the Mobile Nurse Agency.”

Hayden quickly leafed through the pages. Spotting the incriminating evidence, his body stiffened. “You did pay extra hours for this nurse.”

“I admit it,” Noah said quietly.

“She used a turkey baster to do the deed,” Milan chimed in. Hayden grimaced.

“I didn’t have possession of my rational mind,” Noah whined. His panicky eyes flicked over Hayden’s rigid form. “I thought I’d lost you; I wanted to hurt you as much as you hurt me. Bringing my own progeny into the world was an act of defiance—a ludicrous notion. I’m so sorry, Hayden. Darling Hayden, please forgive me.”

“I do forgive you, dearest, but this is quite an awful mess.”

Milan wanted to throw up, but doing so would interfere with the flow of the plan she’d put in motion. “Seems you two have an additional problem now that I have a little Noah on the way.”

“How do I know that what you’re saying is true?” Hayden asked, his voice rising angrily.

“You don’t,” Milan replied in a calm tone. “My attorney will handle all the details of the paternity suit.”

“Sue!” Hayden said challengingly. “As I’ve told you, Noah doesn’t have a plug nickel to his name.”

“That may be true, but I’m going to have to find a way to support myself during my pregnancy…” Her voice trailed off. She inhaled blissfully. Wearing a serene smile, she caressed her stomach.

Noah and Hayden shared expressions of revulsion.

“Mr. McIntyre—may I call you Hayden?”

Hayden grunted a response.

“I don’t know what you do for a living or your social ranking, but Noah spoke of you as if you were royalty.”

“Believe me, I have no ties with the royal family.” Hayden gave a nervous titter.

“Well, you strike me as a rather prominent person—a well-connected man with strong social ties. I’m sure my story will make great fodder for one of those British tabloids. And with all Noah’s bills being funded by your account, I can assure you that you will indeed be dragged along with Noah through the court system. I plan to divulge everything I know about your homosexual relationship with Noah, your manservant.” Milan snorted. “I’ll provide graphic details of Noah’s ruthless and twisted revenge tactics that resulted in the conception of an innocent child. You two,” she said waving a finger at the two men, “will be held in scorn by the masses. I see a book deal and a film offer in my future. Yes, this awful mess might work out just fine for me,” Milan said brightly.

“How could you get me involved in such a scandalous disgrace?” Hayden shouted at Noah. “I can’t have my name dragged through the courts and sensationalized in the tabloids. Why, Emma will never get invited to another social function, the poor dear will have to hide in shame. I can’t let this happen,” Hayden avowed as he slammed the heap of documents on top of the table, then pounded the pile with a balled fist.

When he’d arrived, Hayden had been ready to divorce his wife, according to him. Now he had a change of heart. Milan suspected he’d been stringing Noah along for years with the divorcing and un-divorcing of his wife. But what did she care? She was too close to the prize to concern herself with the twisted love triangle of Noah, Hayden, and Emma, the unsuspecting wife.

She hadn’t stolen one dollar. The money she had stashed was hard earned and she wasn’t about to take a fall for the misdeeds of the group of thieves Noah had hired. Milan didn’t have a problem dropping names, including that of Tookie’s mom. For all Milan knew, Elise could very well be the thief. Hell, if it wasn’t Elise than it had to be Irma, Greer, or even Ruth Henry—any of those women could have stolen the money. She’d be damned if she was going to be left holding the bag.

“Listen, I’m going to cut to the chase,” she blurted. “I don’t know what happened to your money. Noah had a companion before I was hired. Her name is Elise Corbett and I heard she’s sitting pretty—doesn’t have to work another day of her life. He also had a traveling nurse from down South, Greer Wilson. Greer made out like a bandit too. Check your records—you’ll see she charged a king’s ransom for every sugar pill she dispensed. Noah paid for her family’s vacation. And that cook…” Milan sighed. Irma had obviously been in cahoots with Noah. Her thoughts traveled to the many lies Irma had told her and focused on the most recent:
“The jeweler was here…”
No jeweler had delivered the ring. Milan shook her head. More than any of the others, she particularly wanted Irma to go down! “Don’t get me started about Irma,” Milan said, sucking her teeth. “She bought food for her family and charged it to Noah’s grocery bill. At one point, the freakin’ cook had a key to the trunk where the cash is kept! Now that’s the person you should have been interrogating, not me.”

Hayden nodded wearily. “Miss Walden, I’ve had a change of heart. I’m not interested in pressing charges against the cook or anyone else,” he said softly. “I want this entire matter to go away. I plan to sell this house as quickly as possible. Noah, you’re returning to London with me. I don’t want an ocean to separate us ever again. We’ll work out our problems together. Do you agree, dear boy?”

“Yes!” Noah said emphatically. “Yes, without a doubt. I’ll wait for you forever if I have to; I’ll be your manservant again. To be back in your good graces, I’ll even put up with your marriage to Emma. Whatever you desire.”

“Yes, you’ll return to London as my manservant. Emma will be happy to give my current servant the boot. He’s not as polite and polished as you,” Hayden said, giving Noah a nod.

Hayden turned his attention to Milan. “I’ll have my attorney draw up the paperwork. Of course, you’ll state that Noah is not the parent of your unborn child. I’ll pay you one million dollars with the expectation that you will go away and leave us alone. Forever.”

Milan stroked her chin as she pondered his offer. Hayden could afford to pacify Noah with several million. She didn’t see why she should she settle for only one mil. Her pain and suffering was worth much more than that. “Make it five million and I’ll sign anything you want.”

Hayden bristled. He raked his fingers through his thick hair, breathed in deeply, and finally nodded. “I’ll have the papers drawn tomorrow,” he said resignedly.