by K. M. Scott
"Nina, what's wrong? You look like you've seen a ghost."
Staring at the letter that lay near the edge of the bed, I reached over and picked it up. "Tell me you had nothing to do with my father's death. Tell me whoever wrote this letter is simply being cruel."
Tristan's face grew ashen as he stood staring at me, his eyes wide. "What are you talking about?"
"This letter. Someone says you know who killed my father. Do you?" My voice cracked as I pleaded for his answer.
He walked toward me and tried to take the letter from my hand. "What are you saying?"
Jumping to my feet, I pulled the letter from his hold and pressed it close to my chest. "Do you know who killed my father? Tell me!"
"Nina, calm down. Let me see the letter."
I backed away from him, shaking my head. "No! Just answer the fucking question! Do you know anything about who murdered my father?"
His silence was deafening as he remained staring at me, hurt filling his eyes.
"Oh, my God! You do!" I cried. "How could you? Get away from me!"
He followed me and gently touched my arm. "Nina, it's not what you think. Calm down and take a seat."
Pushing his hand away, I screamed, "I will not calm down! Tell me what you know! Who killed my father?"
"Please sit down. I promise you I had nothing to do with your father's death."
Tears rolled down my cheeks as I let him lead me over to the bed. I wanted so much to believe he hadn't been a part of taking my father away from me. Tristan was the man of my dreams and now it seemed like everything we'd had was tainted by this one letter.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and watched him kneel down in front of me, just like he had days earlier when he'd made me the happiest woman in the world. He looked up at me with those brown eyes that spoke volumes even before the first world left his mouth.
He knew. He knew who'd killed my father.
Holding my hands in his, he brought them to his mouth in a kiss. Quietly, he said, "Nina, I never met your father. I need you to believe me. I didn't harm your father."
"Why did the person who wrote that letter say you'd know?" I asked, praying to hear that he knew nothing about my father's murder.
"I need you to understand. Until my father and brother died in that plane crash, I wasn't part of the business. I hadn't found what I wanted to do, but I knew I didn't want to run hotels or anything else they did. I was your typical wealthy kid in his mid-twenties drinking and jamming whatever I could up my nose. I'm not proud of that, but I need you to know I wasn't part of what went on with them."
The man on the floor in front of me seemed so strange now. I'd never known anything about him like that. "Tristan, I need to know what this is all about."
He squeezed my hands and continued in a shaky voice. "When my father and brother died, I was thrust into everything with the business. I had to be that person I'd never wanted to be on top of learning how to run all the businesses, particularly the Richmonts. I had no idea what either of them had done. For months, I found out things about my father and Taylor that I'd never imagined they could do. Then one day I began sifting through documents related to a real estate deal my father and brother had been involved in." He stopped a moment and then said, "I didn't know why, but your father's name was on one of the documents."
Documents? "Why would my father's name be anywhere in papers of your father's?"
Tristan began to speak but his voice cracked and he stopped. "I didn't know. Then when I began digging, I found a slush fund my father used to pay for things he didn't want some on the board to know about. It wasn't until I dug into the money he spent there that I found out why your father would be involved in anything with my family's company. I swear I wasn't involved in what my father did."
"No, don't tell me your father was part of why my father died. Please don't say that."
"I'm so sorry, Nina. He must have been investigating a real estate deal and my father..." He couldn't finish his sentence, so I did.
With a sob, I said the words that broke my heart. "Your father had my father killed because he was getting too close to something he was doing."
Tristan buried his face in my lap and pleaded, "I swear I didn't know. I wasn't part of the business then. If I was, I wouldn't have let that happen. I couldn't get your father's death out of my mind. I wanted to do something to try to make up for what had happened."
I looked down at his head in my lap and realized what he was saying. "It wasn't a coincidence that we met, was it?"
He said nothing but lifted his head to look up at me, and I knew the answer. "No. I was sickened by what my father had done. I needed to do something, so I researched everything about your father and found out about you and your sister. I knew you lived right in Brooklyn and found out you worked at a gallery in SoHo. I just needed to try to fix what had been done, to see if I could help any."
His sorrow touched my heart, but then all my insecurities blew up inside me. "So you thought you'd just come by and see what the child of the man your father had murdered looked like? Maybe throw some money at her to make yourself feel better."
"Nina, I swear I didn't mean any harm. It's all I had to give and I thought if I could help you, then maybe some part of your life could be better."
I pushed him away in disgust and leaped up off the bed. "So that first night you didn't like me or want to spend time with me? You just wanted to take me for a ride in your expensive car and foist some cash on me to ease your conscience?"
He sat hunched over on the floor with his back against the bed. In a quiet voice, he admitted what I already knew. "It wasn't like that. I didn't set out to look for anything romantic. I swear. But then I talked to you as we drove up here and you were unlike anyone I'd ever met."
"So that's what this whole art curator charade has been about? That's why you've been dumping money into my account all these months? To make you feel better?"
Shaking his head, he said, "No. Money's all I ever had to give anyone, so it's what I fall back on. All I wanted was for you to happy."
My heart hurt hearing all of this, but I needed to know everything. "Why did you make up that whole contract thing if you didn't care for me then? Why make me stay here if you didn't even like me?"
He quickly stood and moved toward me, his eyes filled with pain. "That's not true. I did like you and I fell in love with you. I love you, Nina. I'd never do anything to hurt you intentionally. Please believe me."
"But why, Tristan? Why bring me here?"
Letting out a deep sigh, he said, "When my father died, there were still people in the company who had been part of what happened. I realized right after meeting you that they think you have information your father left you that can implicate them. I couldn't stop them from killing your father, Nina, but I could stop them from hurting you. So I came up with the contract and made it a requirement that you live here so I could always watch out for you, either myself or Jenson and Rogers. I figured if I had six months, I could find a way to make sure they knew you had nothing on them."
"And you figured I'd just jump at the chance to live in this great house with you?" I snapped. "Poor, pathetic girl who loved art. It couldn't be hard to convince her to live in a place like this with someone like you, right?"
He cupped his hands against my cheeks. "It wasn't like that. Please listen to me."
"Your father killed my father and you've known every moment you've been with me. How can I believe anything you say to me?"
"Nina, I'm begging you. Listen to me. It wasn't like that. I fell in love with you like you fell in love with me." Tristan's dark eyes pleaded with me as he tried to make me believe him. "This doesn't change anything. I love you. Please tell me you love me."
That was the problem. I did love him. I adored him. If I didn't, then everything he'd just said wouldn't have hurt so much. My heart felt like he was tearing it out of my chest, and the only one who could make me feel better had done the damage.
"Never. I never thought of how much money you had or didn't have. It didn't matter."
"Spoken like someone who's always had money. And the test at your penthouse? Why?"
"I can't help who I am, Nina. The doctors say it's probably because of the accident, but I don't trust easily anymore."
"Then why did you return the next night if I obviously hadn't passed your test?" I asked, afraid to hear his answer.
Quietly, he said, "I found out you were in danger. I couldn't let them hurt you like they'd done to your father."
"Did you even like me, Tristan? We slept together that night," I sobbed, the pain of this whole thing settling into my mind.
He leaned down to kiss me, but I turned away.
"I did like you from the moment I began talking to you that night after the art show. You weren't like anyone I'd ever met. I wanted to try to be someone you would want."
"And what about all the possessive stuff? The feeding me. The bringing that couple here for me to paint for you. All that business about you not wanting other men to see me like you do? Was that all because of some faceless people wanting to hurt me?"
He shook his head slowly. "No. I've always been that way. I won't apologize for that, Nina. You're the woman I love, so it's my responsibility to take care of you. It's who I am."
I looked down at the gorgeous diamond ring on my left hand and then back up at him. "When did you love me, Tristan? When did you stop seeing me as someone you could help or protect and really fall in love with me?"
I let him kiss me tenderly, and he pressed his forehead to mine. "Don't do this to us. I love you. You're everything to me, Nina. Don't do this."
I heard all his words but could only focus on the ones he didn't say. I didn't want to be someone's charity case, even one for someone I loved more than I'd ever thought I could love a man.
Pulling away, I backed up toward the door. "You've lied to me from the moment I met you. How can I believe what you're saying now? How do I know the last six months haven't been about making you feel less guilty for the awful thing your father did to my family?"
In a voice that almost tore me apart, he pleaded, "Nina, don't leave me. I can't lose you."
I couldn't answer him. I needed to get away from all the words he was saying and all the emotions he was causing in me. I heard him call my name as I ran through the house to the garage, unsure of where I was going but knowing that I needed to go.
Four cars sat parked in the garage, but the only choice was the BMW because I didn't know how to drive a stick shift. I'd noticed Tristan kept the keys in the cubby under the dash once and as I climbed into the car, I saw he hadn't changed his habit, thankfully.
I hurriedly started the car, turned the heat up high, and drove away as fast as I could, shivering in the late fall weather in just my shorts and t-shirt. My mind was racing faster than the car was tearing down the deserted dark road that led away from the house. Everything I'd thought I'd found in Tristan had been a lie. I'd let myself believe that a man like him would want to be with someone like me just for being me.
What a fool I'd been!
I looked over at the passenger seat and rummaged through my bag for my cell phone. A swipe of my finger across the screen showed me I still had no service. Tossing the phone back onto the seat, I pressed my foot on the gas, taking the car to sixty and then past seventy.
I didn't know where I was going or how to get there. As much as I wanted to go to Jordan's, it wasn't like there were parking lots or parking spaces all over Brooklyn and I didn't know where I'd park the car. The thought of driving around for hours hoping to find someone going out in the middle of the night was definitely not what I needed at that moment.
The car was equipped with GPS, so at least I was able to find out how to get to my sister's. Kim's house was further away, but I needed somewhere to go and hide out while I tried to figure out what to do about Tristan. How could I ever believe anything he said after what he'd done?
And how could I ever love the son of the man who'd taken my father from me?
The thought of life without him made me feel empty inside, and I finally let out the emotions I'd been holding in. I sobbed uncontrollably as the car flew by the trees and fields near Tristan's home, the tears blurring my vision in the darkness. In one night, all that I'd had and loved had been ruined. My heart felt like it did the night I found out my father had been murdered.
Empty and numb.
I wiped the tears from my eyes as even more continued to flow. A car headed toward me flashed its high beams, startling me, and as I moved my hand from my cheek to the steering wheel, it slipped off. The car jerked into the path of the oncoming car, and I swerved to miss it, sending my car off the right side of the road. Everything flew by so fast and I was airborne before I could do anything to stop it.
And then everything went dark...
Epilogue
Tristan
"Jenson, find out where the BMW is headed. Now!" I ordered into the intercom as I dressed to go after Nina.
"Yes, sir. Immediately."
Pressing on the intercom button again, I barked, "And Rogers, I want all her favorites on the table when we get back."
"Should I order flowers also?"
"Pink roses. I want only the best and dozens of them. Do you understand?"
Rogers understood more than he let on with his simple answer of "Yes." I heard the madness in my voice and knew he did too. He'd been with me long enough to know there had never been anyone like Nina in my life. I couldn't lose her. I couldn't let what my father had done ruin the best chance I'd ever had for happiness.
"Sir, she seems to be headed toward Pennsylvania," Jenson intoned over the speaker.
Her sister's outside Philly. "Get my car out and ready for me to leave in less than five minutes."
It wouldn't be difficult to catch up to her. As fast as the BMW was, the Jag was faster.
As I thought about what I'd say to her, Rogers appeared in the hallway outside the bedroom. "Tristan, may I ask what you plan to do once you find her?"
"Bring her back, Rogers. She belongs here. With me."
Running my hands through my hair, I checked out my look in the mirror and turned to see him standing in my doorway with his arms crossed, as if he were silently judging me. "What is the look you're giving me?"
"I just have to wonder if it's not a better idea to let her go for the night. Chasing her down on a dark road out here might not be your best move. Perhaps she needs time to let everything you told her sink in."
I'd known Rogers since I was a child and knew full well the concerned tone in his voice was more for Nina than for me. My surrogate father, he'd warned me many times since this all began that she'd run away when she found out. That she had seemed to make him even more smug than he usually was.
"I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me that I should have told her the truth in the beginning. Well, that wasn't an option. How exactly does a person inform someone that his father killed her father and certain people in his own company want her dead? I had to do it this way."
Rogers' frown deepened. "The problem is that she didn't realize this wasn't going to last forever."
"Fuck you. You don't know how I feel about her. I intend on this lasting forever, so get out of my way so I can find her and bring her back where she belongs."
Storming past him, I felt his hand grab onto my forearm. I stopped dead and stared him down. "I'm not interested in a lecture right now, Rogers. The woman I love is out there and I need to get her back."
He nodded and released his hold on my arm. "Fine. But keep in mind that no matter how much money you have, Tristan, it's not about that for her. I've tried to tell you this all your life. There are some people you cannot buy. She's not like the other women you've been with."
"Which is exactl
y why I love her. Why are you making me the monster here? It was my father and Taylor who had her father killed. I can't help it I fell for her."
"Tristan, sometimes it doesn't matter what you want to happen. For some, trust broken cannot be mended."
"That's fucking ridiculous. She loves me as much as I love her. I didn't kill her father and once she realizes that I was only trying to protect her, she'll be able to trust me again. Now stop giving me platitudes and make sure everything's ready for her when she returns."
I quickly got to the car and drove out of there remembering Jenson's details on where she was headed. If she changed direction, he'd call me, so all I had to do was drive like a bat out of hell and catch up with her.
The memory of our first night together in this very car replayed in my mind making me smile even as my gut churned in pure terror that what Rogers had said was true. Never before had I wanted to be with a woman and not simply have it be a fuck-her-and-forget-her thing. There was something about the way she never pulled any punches that I loved from that first night. For the first time in my life, a woman made me want something other than just a one night stand. She made me want the rest of my life with her.
That wasn't something I planned to let go without a fight.
Now all I had to do was convince her that I wasn't the bastard she thought I was.
I got the Jag up to near a hundred, letting the V-8 open up and slowing down only on the dark curves, but for miles I couldn't see her. Somehow, I couldn't picture Nina driving much faster than the speed limit, if her actions that first night were any indication, so I should have been able to catch up to her.
Tapping my Bluetooth to answer a call, I heard Jenson's voice in my ear. "She's on Longtree Road, sir. You should be able to find her easily. I believe she's stopped."
"Good! Thanks, Jenson."
A quick left and then a right and I was racing down Longtree, but I still had no sign of her. I got ready to call Jenson to see if he'd gotten his directions screwed up and my phone rang again.
