Tristan's Redemption (6 page)

Tristan pushed the chair away from his desk and blew out a weary breath. God, this was difficult. The past several weeks felt like a crash course in multiple personality disorder. He had memories of David
’s and Tristan’s lives to sort through, and had to resist acting on certain mannerisms. David would make jokes with friends and co-workers, Tristan had no use for humor. David twirled his pens over his fingers when nervous. Tristan worked with his Bonsai trees to relieve pressure. Tristan ran three miles every night. David made love to his wife for his cardiovascular exercise.

Professionally, they both had the same strong desire to succeed, but for different reasons. With Abby
’s support, David felt like he could do anything he set his mind to, but if he were honest, he’d also have admitted that he wanted to prove to his father that he could be a damned good attorney on his own. Not living under his father’s shadow. Tristan left a place where he spent his adolescence resenting his parents for their hard work. If they were going to be working long hours and not have much time for their children, then surely the family should be rich. But they weren’t and Tristan was full of hostility by the time he left for America to attend university.

Rubbing his hands over his face, he groaned.
“I have got a hell of a lot to make up for.”

“
Sir?” Alice, his secretary, stood just inside the doorway with a confused look on her face.

She must have heard me.

Tristan motioned her in and
she brought a steaming cup of coffee over to his desk. He needed the coffee, having slept very little the night before. The woman anticipated his every move. She was quiet, efficient and he grimaced as he realized he knew very little about her.

As she walked toward the doo
r, Tristan cleared his throat. “Alice, do you mind waiting a moment?”

She turned on her heel, surprise in her expression.
“Not at all, Mr. Ramirez.”

Tristan walked over to his desk to take a sip of his coffee.
“Thank you for this.”

Her eyes widened more.
“My pleasure, Mr. Ramirez.”

“
Mmm.” He sat in his chair and gave her an appraising look. Her stance was rigid, as if she were poised to carry out his requests in the blink of an eye. Her shirt was perfectly tucked in. Her heels looked polished with military precision. Her jewelry was simple. Her black hair, with subtle strands of gray, was styled with utmost care.

Her desk was neat, clutter-free and the only personal touches she allowed herself were a few small photographs of grandchildren. Tristan didn
’t even know their names, and Alice had been in his service as long as his Atlanta office was open. Eight years now?

“
School’s over for the year, isn’t it?”

“
Um, I’m sure summer terms are starting, sir, but our continuing education department should handle that. Shall I call—”

“
No, the elementary schools. Aren’t they done for the year?”

“
Yes, sir, they are.”

“
Are your grandchildren currently playing sports?”

Alice looked completely bewildered by this line of questioning.
“Joseph plays baseball. Josie is in gymnastics, but that’s more year round.”

“
Yes, well, good. And do you get to their events very often?”

Alice curtly shook her head.
“No sir.”

Because she was always doing something work-related. She
’d even been to his house to make arrangements for private dinner parties. The woman had precious little time off.

“
When is the last time you took a vacation, Alice?”

She wringed her fingers together and Tristan heard a sharp intake of breath.
“Sir?”

“
Vacation. Time away. With the family.”

“
I took a week off when Josie was born.”

Tristan stifled a curse.
“How old is she now?”

“
She just turned six.”

Tristan took a deep breath and opened his internet browser.
“Alice, do you like the water?”

He watched her neck work as she swallowed hard and her brows furrowed. He realized that she was probably questi
oning his sanity at this point. “I love it.”

“
Good.” Tristan dug for his wallet and pulled out his Black Amex. He motioned to the chair. “Have a seat. I’m going to need details.”

Alice
sat, not taking her eyes off Tristan. “Details about what, sir?”

“
Just some names and birth dates.”

He looked up from his screen and saw Alice gaping, looking a little pale.

“Mr. Ramirez, are you okay?”

“
I’m fine. This is something I should have done long ago, Alice.”

Fifteen minutes later and Alice could no longer hide the surprise. Tristan had the travel itinerary, which he retrieved from the printer himself, and everything arranged for Alice, her husband, son, daughter-in-law, and grandchildren to enjoy a two-week vacation on a private island they would reach by cruise liner.

She didn’t even rise out of her seat as he walked up. Tristan must have shocked the hell out of the poor woman. “Sir, you didn’t have to do this.”

“
Actually, it’s a damned shame I didn’t do it sooner. You deserve this and so does your family for all the time I’ve kept you away from them.”

Alice watched in amazement as Tristan placed the papers in her hands.
“Go home. Spend the rest of the week shopping, packing, doing whatever. You leave on Sunday.”

“
But, sir, everyone will need to take time off work—”

“
Don’t your husband and son still work for me?” Tristan was grateful he remembered that as Alice nodded. “Good. What about the daughter-in-law?”

“
She’s a teacher and is off until August.”

“
Then do this. I’ll handle arranging time off for your husband and son. Go.”

Alice looked up at Tristan with the biggest smile he
’d ever seen on her face. “Thank you, Mr. Ramirez.”

Her excitement warmed him and he felt happy.
“Thank me by having a wonderful time. “

Alice left and Tristan called his security team, instructing them to deliver traveler
’s checks to Alice’s home and her son’s home. He wanted them to be able to buy anything they desired without having to worry about money. Tristan hung up the phone with a smile on his face.

One act of repentance down, countless more to go.

Abby glanced up at the door to the meeting room and checked her clock again, bewildered by her fascination. She was a widow, and hadn’t been one for very long. Yet she waited for Tristan like a schoolgirl with a crush.

Two trimesters of nausea and vomiting were waning and the table of snacks served as a temptation. Abby took a few grapes and cookies, grateful to be hungry. She looked over her shoulder at the door and frowned when she saw no one.

“Looking for someone?” Tristan purred from behind her.

“
Tristan!” Abby spun around, a radiant smile on her face despite her hand clasped to her chest. “You scared me!”

“
Sorry.” Although the gleam in his eyes and his amused expression said something else.

Abby picked up a few more grapes.
“So, how have you been?”

“
Busy.” Tristan took two bottled waters from the table and followed Abby to her chair. “I’ve been swamped with meetings.”

“
Oh, I’m sorry.” She sat, turning so she would face him. “I noticed you weren’t here Tuesday.” Abby felt her cheeks flush in embarrassment.
Did I just admit to looking for him?

He rubbed his hand over the back of his neck
, and she noticed that he looked tired. “I was in New York, just flew back in Wednesday.”

“
Do you travel a lot?”

“
Actually, I’m playing catch up, connecting names with faces. Or, I should say, reconnecting.” Tristan smiled at Abby’s questioning glance. “I took a sabbatical from work and I’m re-familiarizing myself with everything.”

“
Is everything okay now? I mean, with work?”

“
It’s fine. Actually, I’d say that things are looking up.”

“
Oh. That’s good.” More people were coming in for the meeting and Abby lowered her voice, so she wouldn’t be overheard. “Feel free to tell me it’s none of my business, but people don’t usually take sabbaticals for vacationing purposes.”

“
Actually, it was more of a journey of...self-fulfillment.”

She smiled, feeling relieved with his answer.
“That sounds rather Zen.”

Tristan
’s eyes sparkled with laughter. “Zen. That’s one way of putting it. I was basically recovering. When you’re a workaholic, running on three, maybe four, hours’ sleep a night, your body bears the brunt.”

“
David,” she paused, feeling odd discussing him in the past tense with Tristan, “my husband, used to work a lot. Of course, he was working up to becoming partner in his firm, so eighty hour weeks were fairly common.”

Tristan nodded, and his eyes looked haunted.
“I’ve done my fair share of sixteen-hour days.”

“
But no more, right? I mean, you look very
healthy
, post-sabbatical.”

“
Clean bill of health. Ten hours of work, max, and I run three miles every day. Six hours’ sleep a night.”

“
Not bad, especially for a reformed workaholic.” She glanced toward the front, Julie still wasn’t there. They had a few more minutes to talk. “What’s your mile time?”

“
Seven minutes, fifteen seconds.” He pulled his chair closer so that they touched, her knee resting against his thigh. “Are you a runner? I mean, pre-pregnancy?”

Abby shrugged.
“On a completely amateur basis. I wanted to see if I
could
do it. I mean, all these people talk about running being fun. I didn’t see the appeal. Then I started and found out I loved it.”

He nodded his approval.
“Good for you. What was your mile time?”

Abby pointed to herself and smirked.
“I got it down to eight minutes, forty-two seconds. But now, I waddle an utterly impressive sixteen-minute mile.”

Tristan burst out laughing
, and Abby joined in. Several of the group attendees stared in shock. She realized this must look odd to the others as Tristan was the quiet mysterious one and she often left the meetings in tears. They quickly sobered while people took their seats.

He cleared his throat and looked at her.
“I’d slow my running time, Abby,” he whispered, low and husky, “just so I could run by your side and watch you move.”

Abby suck
ed in a ragged breath as Julie walked in and called the meeting to order with a greeting.

Afterward, Abby got her keys out of her purse and noticed Tristan lingering beside her. She
’d thought of nothing but his last comment the entire meeting.

Tristan touched her arm.
“I’ll walk you to your car.”

“
Thank you.”

Tristan looked around the area as if checking for threats. Abby found his actions endearing. The parking lot was well-lit and she could clearly see St. Philips Cathedral, but she did not like going to her car alone.

Tristan stopped at her door. He fidgeted and she worried that perhaps he regretted flirting with her earlier. He exhaled a deep breath and met her gaze. “Abby, have dinner with me. I know your husband hasn’t been gone very long, but I would love to see you before next week...outside of group.” Tristan looked down at his hands, and she realized this was a nervous gesture. “If it’s too soon, I apologize.”

“
I would love to have dinner with you.” Her voice cracked and Abby clasped her fingers together so Tristan wouldn’t see them shaking.

His eyes brightened.
“You would?”

“
Yes.” Abby shocked herself with this admission. She really did want to go out...on a date...with Tristan.

He took a step closer.
“Are you busy tomorrow?”

Oh God.
“N-no. No, I’m not.”

“
I can pick you up at six thirty, if that’s okay?”

“
That sounds great.”

For a moment, Abby thought his eyes looked haunted again, but then he smiled brightly.
“Great! I’ll see you then!” He walked around to his car and Abby sat down in hers.

So many things were going through her mind. A few weeks ago, she never would have envisioned herself going on a date. She turned the key, and watched the display panel light up, wondering if his attentions were doing the same thing for her. Her moods were so dark after David died, could going out with Tristan be the right step to bringing light back to her life? Then she thought about how his eyes looked after she agreed to the time. He had recently lost someone, too. Would
this be moving too fast for him, even though he was the one who’d initiated the date?

A knock on the window shook her from her thoughts and Abby yelped.

Tristan looked repentant, mouthed
sorry
and made a circular motion with his finger for her to roll down the window. “I’m usually not so scary, yet I’ve managed to frighten you twice tonight.”

If you only knew.
“I’ve actually been deep in thought both times, so it’s really my fault.”

He brows narrowed.
“What are you thinking about?”

You.
“Our date, actually.”

“
Oh.” His facial features relaxed. “Me too, but I forgot to get your address.

She had no paper, so wrote her address down on the back of a grocery receipt.

Tristan took the paper from her outstretched hand and his fingers lingered over hers a second longer than necessary. “Thank you. I’ll see you at six thirty, now that I know where to find you.”

“
Sounds good.” She tapped the steering wheel nervously as he walked back to his car.

She drove home, knowing that there was no way she would get any sleep tonight.

~

Tristan was conflicted as he put the Aston Martin in gear. Abby was never one to hide her emotions well and he always loved that about her. There other women he dated would play coy or expect him to read their mind,
but Abby’s eyes gave her away. Tonight, he saw desire. She turned in her chair so she could watch him as they talked. She didn’t move when his leg touched hers.

Abby accepted the date.

Tristan should have been the happiest man on the planet. He had defied death—literally—for this opportunity. And come hell, high water or alien invasion, he would take Abby out tomorrow night. But he felt niggles of pain at everything that happened. Her smiles, the way she didn’t shy away from his touch, the way she’d said yes so damned easily.

He was so confused, he almost left without getting her address. That was for her benefit
, of course. How could he logically explain that he could make the drive to her house from anywhere in Atlanta, blindfolded?

His knuckles were white on the steering wheel as he turned onto the street.
What the hell is wrong with me? This is everything I wanted.

Yet, it hurt.

Pressing the gas pedal a little harder, he headed home. There was an angel he needed to talk to...now.