“What about it?” he asked flatly, his eyes boring holes in me with their accusatory stare.
“Don’t look at me like that. You’re the one who made me do it.”
“I really don’t want to talk about that, Nina. The idea of another man kissing you isn’t something I ever want to think about again.”
“Fine. I can certainly understand. I don’t like thinking about you kissing that cheap waitress at Top that night either.”
I was messing this up big time. Instead of simply telling him I’d kissed Gage and it meant nothing, I’d ventured into the jealous waters of “you did this and I did that.” Never a good place to stumble into.
Tristan simply continued to stare at me as he waited for me to continue, very wisely saying nothing about the Brandi kiss. “I just want to clear the air so we never have to talk about this again. You kissed her, which bothers me, and I kissed him, which obviously upsets you.”
“Then we never have to speak of it again. It was only once, and I didn’t even kiss her back. Gage was only once, and it was just acting, so that’s that.”
I nervously bit my bottom lip and struggled to work up the courage to tell the man I loved that I’d kissed another man and it had nothing to do with acting. “It happened another time. Neither one of us meant it. I was upset about you finally texting me back only to tell me to kiss him. It meant nothing, but I don’t want this to be between us.”
When all the words had finally left my mouth, I held my breath and waited for their meaning to sink in. Tristan said nothing, but stared straight ahead, his face emotionless. I knew he’d heard me, but his lack of response confused me.
Finally, after what seemed like hours of waiting for him to say anything, he turned toward me and took a deep breath. Letting it out slowly, he shook his head. “I know I put you in that position and I know I have no right to be angry, but I am. I can’t stand the idea of you with him. I need to know just one thing. Did you sleep with him?”
“No. I swear, Tristan. It was one kiss. That’s it.”
“Then I don’t want to hear about it again.”
Never before in my life had any words sounded so final. His expression hardened for just a moment, as if he were working it out in his mind, and then he was back to being that same man I’d fallen in love with.
So ready to move on, I asked, “So, what should we do today?”
Tristan brought my hand up to his lips and kissed the back of it. “I think it’s time for my resurrection, don’t you?”
***
I followed him through the front door of the house, noticing he stopped for just a moment to look around the enormous entryway. Quickly, I headed to our room to change into some fresh clothes. Tristan changed into his usual suit and tie and waited for me. When I was ready, he grasped my hand, clutching it as if for support, and guided me to his office where Daryl, Jensen, West, and Varo sat waiting for us. Tristan took his place behind his desk, and I stood beside him as each of the men in front of us waited for him to begin. Pulling me close so I sat on the arm of his chair, he rested his hand across the top of my thigh. “Surprised to see me, gentlemen?”
I scanned each of their faces, and except for Daryl, all of them looked stunned to see Tristan sitting there before them. Daryl must not have let them in on the secret.
“We didn’t realize you were back,” Varo said quietly.
Smiling, Tristan directed his attention to the man I’d explained less than an hour earlier was the one I’d kissed. “Well, I am back, so you can go back to being merely the bodyguard. Thanks for your service, though. I’m sure Nina appreciates your diligence.”
And with that, I knew Tristan wasn’t quite as comfortable with my confession as I’d hoped. Varo understood his meaning instantly, if the look of shock all over his face was any indication. I felt bad about that. He’d been a good guy about everything. He hadn’t even been the one who did the kissing. It had been all my fault. I gave him a weak smile, hoping it made up for Tristan’s sharp words.
“And West, I’m concerned with how you guard Nina. I’ve told both of you I want you to stay in the background.”
West looked to Varo on his left and then back at Tristan. “We always are. If she hadn’t been told that we were guarding her, she still wouldn’t know.”
“Really? I watched you and your giant form spy on me behind trees half your size one afternoon recently. Didn’t realize I was Ethan, the gardener, did you? If that’s any indication of how you stay out of sight, I’m not impressed.”
West grimaced as if in pain as Tristan dressed him down. I considered coming to his defense since I’d never noticed either him or Varo around me any time I went out, but the sharpness of the rebuke told me to not get involved. Tristan continued to explain how clumsy West had been one day as he’d attempted to spy on the new gardener, delineating each problem he’d seen as the bodyguard’s embarrassment and anger simmered.
“From now on, gentlemen, you are to be neither seen nor heard as you guard the most important person in my world. Am I clear?”
Both Varo and West nodded their understanding of Tristan’s decree and quickly rose to leave when he waved his hand to signal they were dismissed. As they reached the door, he snapped, “And make sure the hole in the fence at the back of the property is fixed. You’re supposed to be our security here.”
Leaning down near his ear, I whispered, “Was it necessary to be like that with them? They’re supposed to want to save me, if I ever need it. I’m not sure after that little pep talk they’d want to get me drink of water if I was in the middle of the desert.”
Turning his face toward me, he smiled. “Don’t worry. They just hate me right now. They’ll get over it.”
I leaned away from him and studied this new Tristan. “Are you always like this with the people who work for you, Mr. Stone?”
Arching one dark eyebrow, he grinned. “Only with the ones who don’t understand my orders and those who’ve kissed my fiancée without my permission, Ms. Edwards.”
“Tristan…”
He angled his head toward Daryl and whispered, “Nina, we still need to talk to Daryl and Jensen.”
“Then we’ll discuss the whole situation with West and Varo later?”
“We can discuss my issue with West later, princess. Right now, we have two people waiting.”
Usually when Tristan called me that nickname, I took it as a term of affection, but now the edge in his tone said princess was just his way of expressing his jealousy over Varo. Getting the hint, I looked over at Daryl and pasted a smile on my face.
Grinning back at me, he asked, “So how are the happy couple doing today?”
Directing his attention to the driver, Tristan softened his voice from how it had sounded with my bodyguards and smiled. “Jensen, as always, I’m nothing but pleased with your service. I want to thank you for handling your job admirably, especially with what I’m sure was a stressful drive from the groundbreaking yesterday. I’ll be heading into the city soon, so I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”
Nodding his head, Jensen smiled meekly. “If I may say so, it’s nice to have you back, Mr. Stone.”
For the first time since he sat down, Tristan’s smile was genuine as he listened to Jensen. “It’s good to be back. Thank you.”
The driver was dismissed with another thank you, and we were left alone with Daryl, who seemed to be practically bubbling over with eagerness that morning. I hoped he had some information to help us figure out what the hell was going on and how we could stop Karl.
“Let’s get down to business. What have you found out about Cardiell?” Tristan asked, immediately confusing me.
“What’s Cardiell?”
Tristan looked up at me and smiled another genuine smile. “I forgot you haven’t been with us with all this.” Turning to face Daryl, he said, “For Nina’s sake, give us the Cliff Notes version of Cordovex and Cardiell.”
“Got it. Cordovex was a heart drug approved by the FDA a few years ago, and it seems that it wasn’t as good at keeping heart patients healthy as it was at killing them. Eventually, Cordovex was pulled from the market, but the company which produced it, Rider Pharmaceutical, still held the patent to it. Fast forward to earlier this year and now Rider has a drug named Cardiell out. The problem is they’re the same drug. Chemically, they’re the exact same, which means a drug which was killing people before is back on the market.”
“What does this have to do with Karl and why he wants to hurt either of us?”
Daryl nodded. “Good question. Your father mentioned Cordovex in his notebook Tristan has, so I began digging and found out what I told you. We think Karl is behind the break-ins at Tristan’s homes, all except here, and he’s looking for that notebook. Your sister gave him copies of the notes he had on Victor and Taylor’s wrongdoings, but she didn’t give him anything on those notes that come after in your father’s notebook.”
“Why?”
Tristan squeezed me gently. “Because your father didn’t make copies of those pages. Karl doesn’t know that, though, or doesn’t believe it, which is why I made sure Kim and her family are hidden away so he can’t find them.”
“Are they okay?”
Daryl chimed in. “They’re fine. The girls love playing on the beach and your sister and brother-in-law are enjoying a much needed vacation. By the way, I found out that their house has been broken into in the past few months too.”
Tristan started to say something, but my phone vibrated in the pocket of my yoga pants. Taking it out, I saw Jordan’s name flashed across the screen. Showing it to Tristan, I whispered, “I have to take this. I hope you understand. I haven’t heard from her since she left.”
Smiling, he slid his arm from around me. “We’ll wait for you. Tell Jordan I said hello.”
I jogged out into the hallway, eager to hear Jordan’s voice again. “Hello?”
“Hey you. What’s up?” she said with hesitation in her voice.
“Tristan’s back. We just got home.”
“Oh, that’s great, Nina!” The phone fell silent, and after a long pause, she said, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I said what I said that night. I was so out of line, sweetie.”
I couldn’t stay angry at Jordan. I just couldn’t. She was closer to me than anyone but Tristan. “It’s okay. I understand.”
“When I finally pulled my head out of my ass, I knew I was wrong. I just didn’t know how to fix it. We’ve never fought over a guy, and I had no right to accuse you of something with Varo, especially since he never even gave a damn about me.”
“That’s not true. In fact, I think he does like you. I have to get back into a meeting with our favorite mountain man, but what do you say to meeting me later this week? We can catch up and put all this in the past.”
“I’d like that a lot. Thanks for being so cool with me since I was the world’s biggest asshole to her best friend.”
I chuckled at her attempt at being self-effacing. “Don’t say that. Anyway, I guess we were due for a big fight. Most friends don’t go years and years without one, so it was time. Let me call you later and we’ll set up a time to get together.”
“Okay. I love you, Nina. Life just wasn’t the same without you.”
“Ditto. I missed you, Jordan.”
As I hung up, my heart swelled from the return of the other person so important to me. My mind raced with all the details I had to tell her, especially about Gage, who I hoped would now have the chance to ask her out. First, though, I had to be at Tristan’s side as we figured out what the hell Karl was up to and how to stop him.
Chapter Thirteen
Tristan
Daryl pointed at me and shook his head. “No more beard. What a shame.” His frown deepened and he continued, “You planning to keep the hair?”
“No,” I said as I smoothed my hair back off my face. “There’s no way I can speak to the board looking like this.”
A deep laugh exploded out of his face. “No Bieber hair for you? So how’s the homecoming? All better now?”
“I’ll be all better when Karl is out of our lives for good. I’m hoping you have something to tell us today because I’m ready to get on with my life and that doesn’t include this bullshit with him.”
Nina returned to stand next to me, and I wrapped my arm around her again to pull her close. This time it wasn’t to make a point like it had been earlier but because I wanted her with me in this. When she’d asked to be treated like an equal partner, I’d immediately dismissed the idea, even if I hadn’t told her that. Equal partner with me meant she was going to have to deal with the vipers and sharks that made up my world. I didn’t want her around them.
The problem was that she was going to be around them as long as she was by my side. The people who would see me out of power at Stone Worldwide would use anything and anyone to achieve their aims, and that included the one person who meant more to me than anyone else in the world. So if she was going to be my wife, I had to let her in and make her my equal.
Looking up at her as she sat on the arm of my office chair, I watched her sweet expression as she talked with Daryl like they were old friends. As closed off and cold as I was, she was open and kind—the type of person the bastards I dealt with every day loved to devour, using her gentle nature against her. Even the thought of that happening to her made my blood nearly boil, and I instinctively squeezed her closer to me.