His Sister's Return

by Mary Goldberger

  After one last look, he left the room closing the door firmly behind him listening for the lock to click before he headed for the elevator. Once in the elevator, he dialed a number of a friend that he trusted as a brother and as he answered, Trystan said quietly, “Can you do a favor for me and get all the information you can on one Alina Barks?”

  He was silent as the person on the other end asked him some questions, and he answered truthfully, “I know she is 26 and has pretty hazel eyes with dark hair, but that is all I know about her.”

  The voice on the other end said a few more things before Trystan said, “thank you” hanging up a second before the elevator doors opened on his floor and he stepped out heading for his office. As he stepped in, Trudy looked over at him and he nodded his head to let her know that Alina was okay, and he watched as a look of relief crossed her face before she excused herself.

  “Did you solve the emergency?” Bea asked from where she was sitting in the chair by the couch a bottle of water sitting on the table next to her as she slowly uncrossed her long legs meant to entice the man in the room with her although Trystan wasn’t paying any attention as he walked over to his desk.

  “Yes,” he told her shortly as he picked up a file that Trudy had left.

  Bea watched him for a few minutes her eyes thoughtful before she said, “Is there something bothering you, Trystan? Maybe I can help you with it.”

  He glanced up at her briefly before he smiled and said, “No, I just have a lot on my mind at the moment, but it’s nothing that you need to worry about, Bea.”

  A confused look entered her eyes as she opened her mouth to say something, but she stopped herself in time as she changed the subject. “Where are we going for dinner tonight, Trystan?”

  Trystan settled down in his seat as he told her, “I will have to cancel tonight, Bea, as something has come to my attention that needs to be fixed by tomorrow.”

  Bea looked at him in astonishment before she stood suddenly. “Trystan, what is with you all of sudden?”

  Trystan looked up from the file he was reading as he told her with a frown between his eyebrows, “Nothing, Bea. I have a business to run and unfortunately, some emergencies have come up that I have to deal with.”

  Bea calmed herself down hearing the defensive note in Trystan’s voice as he looked at her, and she said with a hint of shame in her voice, “I’m sorry, Trystan. I know that you have a business to run, but I just want a little of your time.”

  Trystan nodded his head to show understanding although his mind was flickering to what Alina had told him in her semi-conscious state as he said to Bea, “Once things calm down and I can clear up all these problems, then we will go somewhere just the two of us for a weekend.”

  Bea’s eyes sparkled with triumph as she smiled at him. “Can I choose the place, Trystan?” she asked with enthusiasm.

  “Of course,” he told her watching her closely as her eyes sparkled with a light that cautioned him to be wary. He wondered what she was planning as she stood up suddenly allowing her dress to slide down her legs before she blew him a kiss and started for the door.

  “I will leave you to your work then so you can clear it up and we can go on our weekend,” she told him as she looked back before exiting the room. “Maybe we can even talk about our future at that time.”

  Trystan leaned back in his chair long after she was gone repeating her last words in his head as a grim look crossed his face. He had a good idea of what she was planning now, and he didn’t like the fact that she thought she could maneuver him like that.

  He shook his head as his jaw clenched before he leaned forward refocusing on his work although in the back of his mind another woman lingered longer than any woman did before even Bea.

  “Why does this damn woman have so much luck?” The woman screeched as she sat on her queen bed. The phone in the room rung and she answered it with a snappy, “Hello.”

  “So you failed again?” A taunting voice said, and the woman scowled knowing full well that the woman who the voice belonged to was using her, but in the end she was the only one who would have him.

  “The damn woman has the luck of the Irish,” she muttered crossly. She got up and started pacing. “I have you learned anything else about this new woman in his life.”

  “No, although he contacts her daily even though he just got engaged to another,” the voice said hoping to create some trouble as her own eyes gleamed with plans only to be disappointed when the other one responded calmly even smirking a little.

  “I’m not worried about that one because she will be easy to take care of,” she said without fear. “It is this one that I need to get rid of because there is something special about her, and although I don’t know what it is, she needs to go before he becomes any more attached to her.”

  “What about the other one, the one he is engaged to marry?” The voice said sharply her anger evident and the woman smiled at the loss of temper.

  “As I said, I’m not worried about her. Taking care of her will be easy,” she said with a smile. She knew that she was pissing off the woman on the other end but she didn’t care because when she had her goal almost in sight, even her accomplice would have an accident.

  She wanted him and she was meant to have him even if that meant killing off everyone he cared about, then she would do it because they were meant to be together. She was certain of that since the first time she met him even though another claimed him as hers.

  She hung up the phone even though the other woman was still talking, and she walked over to the vanity mirror she paid good money for and where she had full sized picture of him taped.

  “We will be together soon, my love,” she said stroking a finger down the smiling face of Samuel Blairson with his arm wrapped around another woman, but the face had been cut out if you looked closely enough and its place another one was glued in.

  The same dark and scary eyes that looked out from the picture studied the face of the man she loved running a finger down the figure in the picture as a smile crossed her face making her eyes wider than they already were as she whispered again, “Soon, my love.”

  Chapter 9

  Alina woke up slowly as her body felt sore, and she pushed down the blankets hissing at the sudden movement causing her palm to throb from encountering the blankets and her side to throb with soreness.

  “How did I get covered with blankets?” She asked aloud her brows puckering with a frown before her memory of last evening returned to her and she groaned as a blush went up her cheeks.

  “Damn it, damn it,” she mumbled as she forced herself to get out of bed. She had just gotten to her feet when her cell phone rung and she pushed back her hair looking at her phone ruefully before she reached over and picked it up a frown coming to her face at the number she didn’t know.

  “Hello,” she said warily as she answered it.

  “Hello, my dear, how are you feeling?” A familiar voice said, and Alina’s frown disappeared as she recognized it.

  “Ma’am,” Alina said in a delighted voice that held confusion.

  “It is Delissa Santos, Miss Barks,” the shop woman said in her heavy accent.

  Alina suddenly chuckled as things fell in to place. “So that is why you recommended that place,” she said shaking her head.

  “I actually do love that house,” Mrs. Santos said, “but my family has spread out over the years so when we have our get-togethers I actually did need a bigger place.”

  “It is beautiful,” Alina admitted.

  “My husband bought it for me on our first anniversary before our first child was born,” Mrs. Santos said with a caring note in her voice. “We lived there for over fifteen years until it became too small for our family. I kept it even though all my children are grown with their own children, and all though my children loved it, they don’t want to live there so I decided to rent it out.”

  There was silence when she asked although Alina had the impression that she already
knew the answer, “So do you want to rent the house, Miss Barks?”

  Alina didn’t even hesitate as she said, “Yes, I do.”

  There was soft laughter on the other end before they discussed the rent along with other things that both sides needed to know.

  Alina grimaced as she admitted, “I won’t be able to come to Tiers until probably the end of the week at the latest. I got into an accident and although I am okay, I think I should be careful of driving such long distances until some of my bruises heal.”

  “You have bad luck,” Mrs. Santos said.

  Alina laughed as she said, “I don’t think bad lucky actually covers it.”

  Mrs. Santos heard the note of bleakness in her voice before Alina said, “Thank you so much for letting me rent the house, Mrs. Santos. I was worried that it would already be rented before I had a chance to talk with the owner.”

  Mrs. Santos laughed not commenting on that statement as they chatted for a little longer before they hung up.

  As Alina hung up, she sighed softly in happiness knowing that it could change in a heartbeat, but right now she was happy.

  Her cell rung a few minutes later and she glanced down at it, and her smile grew wider as she read the caller id.

  “Sam,” she said answering it with enthusiasm.

  Samuel laughed as he entered his office. “It sounds like something good happened, Alina.”

  He didn’t know that Marla had been waiting for him in his office so when she gasped after he said Alina’s name he turned around to look at her.

  “Marla,” he said with affection as he walked over to her. In the phone, he said, “I will call you back later, okay, Alina?”

  “Of course, your fiancée comes first,” Alina teased before he said, ‘bye’ and hung up on her.

  Samuel flipped his phone close as Marla looked up at him with shielded eyes. “I didn’t know you were going to be here this morning although I don’t mind the surprised visit,” he said as he leaned over and kissed her sweetly.

  Marla didn’t know what to think as she kissed him back and he deepened the kiss before he pulled back.

  “Marla, I…” he started only to be interrupted as his secretary knocked on the door a few seconds before she opened it.

  “Yes, Miss Nels,” Samuel said his gaze not leaving Marla.

  “You have an appointment this morning at nine-thirty, sir,” she informed him.

  Marla saw something flash in his eyes at her words before he said calmly, “Thank you for reminding me, Miss Nels.”

  Miss Nels nodded her head smiling impishly at Marla when she glanced over at her before the woman walked out of the office, and Marla turned back to Samuel as the door closed behind her both noticing that the lock didn’t click.

  “Samuel,” Marla began softly only to stop when Samuel shook his head.

  “I know,” Samuel said leaning his forehead against hers. “I know, but what do I do about it?”

  Marla wrapped her arms around his neck as he took a deep breath before letting it out fanning her face.

  They stood like that for a few more minutes until finally Samuel stepped back after kissing her on the nose. “I need to get prepared for my appointment, but how about we meet for lunch?”

  His words were quiet and Marla nodded her head pushing his phone call to the back of her mind knowing right now, he was focused on her and only her. As for the other woman, she frowned slightly a few minutes later as she headed out of the building she wondered what could she do to get her out of Samuel’s life completely.

  Trystan was already in his office when Trudy arrived that morning, and she looked at him in surprise as she went into his office when he called her.

  “You are early this morning,” she said coming over to his desk with his early morning correspondents.

  “I slept in the suite last night,” he admitted taking the correspondents from her and going through them.

  They got to work as they went through the correspondence together before his accounting meeting that afternoon concerning the budget for the new hotel going up in Tiers, and he frowned as he went over the paperwork wondering if it would be built by the end of next year.

  “Hopefully, we can have it up by the end of next year,” he said speaking his thoughts aloud.

  Trudy, who was thinking the same thing, nodded her head as she commented, “So far, there have been no problems and the crew broke ground a few days after you viewed the site.”

  Trystan nodded his head as her words had him thinking about Alina and he lifted his desk phone making a direct call to her room.

  The phone rung for a few minutes until it was picked up by Alina.

  “Hello,” she said with a touch of wariness, and Trystan held back his sigh not knowing why he was upset that her wariness had returned.

  “I just wanted to see how you were feeling this morning, Alina,” he told her softly only to be met by silence.

  He frowned and was about to speak again when suddenly Alina said quietly, “I want to thank you for staying with me until I fell asleep last night, Trystan. I hope I didn’t cause you any trouble.”

  “No, you didn’t cause me any trouble,” he told her not admitting that was why he stayed at the hotel last night even harder to admit it to himself.

  “Good, because I really don’t want your girlfriend to be upset with either one of us,” she told him.

  Trystan’s frown deepened on his face at her words especially as his office door opened and his sister walked in her eyes filled with tears.

  “I will call you back later, okay,” he told her before hanging up not even waiting for her to answer. He was up out of his chair as he hurried over to Marla who collapsed into his arm.

  “Marla what is wrong?” He asked wrapping his arms around her as she began to cry.

  “I went to go surprise Samuel at work this morning and when he came into his office, he was on the phone with that woman,” she began. Her tears were for real as she told him this but he didn’t see the manipulative look that entered her eyes as she continued on, “It sounded like he was arranging to spend the weekend with her, Trystan.”

  Trystan’s whole body froze at her words and his face turned into a dark angry mask as he thought how he almost believed Alina when she seemed worried about interfering with his relationship with Bea.

  “Cunning bitch,” he muttered low enough that Marla didn’t hear him.

  Marla knew he spoke because she heard his voice if not the words and she tilted her head back looking up at him. “What should I do, Trystan?” She asked not knowing how her exaggeration would affect her brother.

  “Don’t worry, Marla, I doubt that they will have their weekend,” he assured her. “In fact, why don’t you invite Samuel to that annual charity you do every year?”

  “But that is…” she began only to stop as understanding dawned.

  “It is for next weekend,” Trystan reminded her. “Also if I’m not mistaken, he has his meeting the end of the following week so it gives him a chance to relax before that meeting.”

  Marla nodded her head as she admitted, “My show is in a few weeks so I think we can both use this time together before our life has dramatic changes.”

  Trystan laughed at that before he teased, “Only you will make it seem more dramatic then it will be.”

  She scrunched up her nose at him as she stepped back from his arms and he said, “So do you feel better now?”

  “Yes,” she said nodding her head. A frown started to take place and he asked, “Now what?”

  “What if he asks her to go with him?” She asked in a fearful voice only to watch as a smile crossed Trystan’s face.

  “Don’t worry about that, Marla,” he assured her with a wink and a nod.

  She laughed lightly before she hugged him telling him, “You are the best brother ever.”

  He only laughed as he hugged her back, but there was a hard light in his eyes as he looked over her head staring unseeing at the wall.

/>   Alina sighed in satisfaction as she settled herself in the tub after being put off by both men in her life, and she chuckled closing her eyes.

  “Well, they both have women in their lives that they care for more so it can’t be helped,” she mumbled to herself allowing the warm water to ease her sore and bruised flesh. Although she was envious of both those women, she wouldn’t hold it against them because she actually thought they were damn lucky to find such men.

  Her face became dreamy as she thought about Trystan from his rugged good looks to those gorgeous grey eyes of his that could scare someone to death if they became cold with anger.

  “Gorgeous eyes,” she said aloud startling herself as she sat up in the tub. Her face paled as she gripped the edge where her injured palm sat and she flinched at the pain, but she didn’t release her hold. “I didn’t,” she moaned her voice trembling at the realization she just learned.

  “How long have we known each other?” She said trying to calculate the time from her first day until today. It had only been two months at the most she thought to herself as she eased back down into the water.

  She shook her head at her sudden imagination. “It is only attraction,” she told herself letting her eyes close although she had a feeling that she was lying to herself.

  She lay in the tub until the water was past cool and she drained it as she pulled herself up before turning on the shower. This was the difficult part trying to wash her body including her hair without getting her palm wet, but she managed it somehow.

  Thirty minutes later, she was running a brush through her hair when her cell rung and she glanced at it before she answered.

  “Is something the matter, Sam?” She asked putting it on speaker so she could finish brushing her hair.

  “I am having trouble with the proposal,” Samuel admitted in a tired tone.

  Alina continued brushing her hair as she offered, “Run it by me, Sam, maybe I can help you.”

  He started to say something when suddenly he stopped his eyes widening before he started laughing. “I forgot,” he said in an apologetic tone.