He didn’t analyze why that thought pissed him off as much as the thought of her and Sam together, and he frowned before he said, “You are a hard woman to persuade.”
“Not really,” Alina said slowly and thoughtfully. “I am honest to myself about certain things and I don’t expect anything that I know is beyond my reach.”
Her words stilled any other comments that he would’ve made so he squeezed her hand and continued driving wondering how much of what she said was the truth, or a lie.
They returned back to the hotel two hours later and they both were smiling as they entered the lobby.
Trystan was immediately called by the front desk clerk as they entered and Alina said, “I guess Mr. Tyeson has been looking for you. Thanks for the fun we had today.”
Trystan looked at her in surprise at her words before he remembered the lie he had been telling her and said, “I will call you later.”
Alina nodded her head a smile in her eyes knowing that his mind had already left her to business and she chuckled as he walked away to the desk wondering way he looked surprised at her comment.
She shook her head at her thought as she headed for the stairs deciding to avoid the elevator at the moment as she noticed the crowd of people around them.
She headed up the stairs slowly as she thought about the changes in her life and as she reached her floor, she shook her head with a rueful smile wondering what would happen next, which made her wonder about her brother’s stalker.
The smile slipped off her face as another thoughtful look came on it and she reached her door still thinking when she reached into her purse for her room key and noticed that her door was slightly ajar.
She hesitated only briefly before she pushed the door open not stepping farther into the room as she listened for any sounds coming from inside.
After not hearing anything, she stepped forward quietly closing the door behind her before she adventured forward her eyes narrowed. As she went farther into the room, her mouth tightened at the mess as she stopped by the bed. Her clothes were strewn around the room and the bed was tipped off its springs on to the floor. The sheets were thrown over the table and she noticed that someone had taken time to write something on it, and she sighed as she put her purse down on the edge of the bed. She turned slightly and took a look in the bathroom observing how everything was pulled out and spilled all over the counter.
She shook her head leaning lightly against the doorframe thinking about her uncle’s words and with a nod of her head she walked over to the phone and dialed the front desk.
When they answered she said clearly, “Can you send hotel security up to my room please? Someone trashed it.”
She listened for a few seconds as the woman said she would get someone up there as soon as possible and Alina hung up looking around the room glad that she had taken most of her important papers with her to Tiers not leaving anything in the room to be found or taken.
A knock sounded on the door a minute later, and Alina didn’t move as she called out, “It is open. Come in.”
The door opened and Alina turned her head as the security guard walked into the room a frown on his face.
“When did this happen?” He asked taking out a notebook from his shirt pocket.
Alina shook her head folding her hands in front of her as she answered truthfully, “I don’t know. I went out to lunch with a friend and just returned about ten minutes ago when I noticed that my door was open although I was sure that I closed it firmly behind me.”
The guard listened intently noticing the sheets that had been placed on the table and after a nod from Alina he walked over and picked them up.
Written on the sheets in a red paint, or something similar, was the words, you won’t win.
The guard looked at her with raised eyebrows and Alina only shrugged her shoulders as she told him, “I honestly don’t know what it means.”
She had a suspicion, but unfortunately it couldn’t be supported and she would only voice it after she talked with Sam first.
“Has any other incidents occurred?” The guard asked, and Alina closed her eyes on a sigh before she started to tell him about the accidents that had happened to her within the last month.
“I think we need to call the cops,” he stated looking at her intensely and Alina nodded her head.
He made the call using her hotel phone and he asked after hanging up, “Can you please step outside the room?”
Alina nodded her head as she headed for the door leaving her purse where she placed it and stepped outside her room. She leaned against the wall next to her room door as she made a phone call to her uncle.
The security guard followed her out and looked at her oddly as she told him, “I am calling my uncle.”
As the phone was picked up and her aunt answered, Alina said, “Hi, Aunt Theadora, is Uncle Sarette in?”
“No sweetie, he had an appointment at the court house,” her aunt said. “Is there a problem?”
Alina sighed silently before she told her what happened and she did as Uncle Sarette suggested. She was hanging up when the police arrived followed by Trystan who asked with a frown, “What happened?”
Alina let the security guard explain as she leaned against the wall noting the curious stares she was getting so she smiled and said, “I am sorry for the disturbance. Someone doesn’t like me and trashed my room so…”
Trystan watched as the other guests shook their head at her frowning as they went back into their rooms or headed downstairs. He frowned as he realized she put herself in a bad light just to stop them from being curious and he asked softly, “What are you trying to hide?”
She didn’t look at him as she stared at the wall opposite of her, but she responded abruptly, “Many things, but don’t we all have things that we hide from each other.”
“Miss Barks,” the police officer called from the room.
She straightened up from the wall and walked back inside with Trystan frowning after her as he made a quick call to Trudy to let any guest know that they were having a security check and one guest had volunteered her room for its completion. After hanging up with Trudy, he went into the room as the police officer finished questioning Alina who looked calm and collected as she sat at the table.
“If we have any more questions, we will give you a call Miss Barks,” the officer said as the security guard offered to escort him to the entrance the sheet set settled inside a plastic bag under his arm.
As they left the room, Trystan closed the door and Alina got up beginning to gather her clothes.
“I will call housekeeping for you,” he offered already pulling out his phone.
Alina shook her head as she put the clothes in a pile on the table. “Don’t bother them with this extra work. I can clean the room Trystan,” she stated before she looked up giving him a bewildered stare before she shook her head and focused back on her task.
He watched her walked around the room picking up clothes and putting them on the table before she started lifting the mattress to put back on the bed frame.
“Let me help you with that,” he offered sticking his phone in his pocket before walking over to help her lift the mattress back up.
Within twenty minutes, he and Alina had the room back in some sensible order. Trystan walked into the bathroom and stopped when he saw the mess that the person had created.
“I need to go to the store later,” Alina commented from where she was remaking the bed.
Trystan frowned as he watched her until he remembered. “Why did the officer take the other sheet set?”
Alina glanced up at him before she returned her attention to the bed she was making and she quickly changed the subject. “Did Mr. Tyeson have an emergency for you?”
Trystan’s eyes narrowed as he walked over and grabbed her by the arm causing her to lose her balance and they both fell on the bed.
They had fallen sideways and Trystan looked over at Alina as she tried to untangle the sheet from
around her, which was hindered by his hold on her arm.
He released her arm to untangle the sheet and Alina froze as his fingertips lightly grazed her knowing that there was nothing sexual about his touch even though her body wasn’t paying attention to her reasoning.
“Thank you,” she murmured once she was free, and she began to get up only to have Trystan pull her down on top of him.
Trystan wrapped both arms around her waist settling her against him as she braced herself on her forearms against his chest.
“Trystan,” Alina said staring down at him.
He smiled up at her and lifted a hand pulling the ponytail holder from her hair as he commented, “I think you should leave your hair down.”
Alina shook her head as she tried to sit up but he only tightened his hold and she subsided still leaning up on her forearms.
“Why?” She asked shaking her head lightly to loosen her hair up.
Trystan ran his hand through it as he remarked, “I think it’s pretty when you leave it down.”
Alina’s eyes widened down at him before a red tint covered her cheeks and she mumbled, ‘thank you’.
His cell rung in his pocket as they lay there looking at each other and he groaned closing his eyes as Alina giggled down at him.
“Why is it that people tend to interrupt at the worst time?” He asked as he loosened his arms allowing her to sit up, and return, she helped him to a sitting position.
He kissed her quickly before she could move away and then he smiled getting to his feet.
“I will talk to you later,” he told her heading out the door.
As the door closed behind him, Alina touched her lips were his light kiss still lingered and she closed her eyes in defeat.
“You are crazy,” she said to herself. “You are twenty-six years old and you are falling in love with a man you know nothing about.”
She shook her head as she headed for the bathroom to clean it up Trystan’s kiss still lingering on her lips for the rest of the evening.
As she lay in bed that night, she sighed staring up at the ceiling wondering what to do with these feelings she had. Trystan already had a girlfriend and although Alina was falling in love with him, she knew that there was something he was keeping from her. It was a feeling she got when he looked at her sometimes although she had nothing to back up her feeling.
She turned over punching the pillow as she focused her mind away from Trystan and on to the problem of the stalker. Alina knew that the woman had to be someone that Sam had come in contact with and for some reason; she had a feeling that she had met the person.
She shook her head at that crazy thought before she snuggled down in to her pillow trying to let sleep claim her when memory of the kiss invaded again.
“Damn it,” she groaned. “It was only a peck why the hell won’t it leave my mind?”
She squeezed her eyes tight before she mumbled, “Safer to forget it even these feelings because in the end, the only thing that can come from it is unhappiness…for me.”
Trystan closed the folder with a slight yawn before he stretched looking over at the clock noticing how late it was. After leaving Alina, he had been busy with appointments before coming back to his office to work. He also called his friend who was helping with information about Alina, but he hadn’t answered his phone.
Getting up from his chair, he shook his head and headed for the door where he turned off the light. It was too late to go home, he surmised as he started for his suite. He closed the door behind him as he unloosened his tie and took off his jacket heading for his bedroom. The phone went off in the bedroom just as he entered and he went over to answer it throwing the tie and jacket on the bed.
“Hello,” he said unbuttoning his shirt.
“Trystan,” Bea pouted in low tone, and Trystan hid his sigh at her tone.
“It is late, Bea,” he told her slipping off his shirt and throwing it on the bed. The mirror on the closet door showed his lean physique as he started to unbutton his pants with one hand.
“I can come over there,” she added in a seductive tone and he knew that she was hoping for an invitation.
Trystan heard it but was not enticed by her seductive tone as he told her, “Bea, I have meetings all day tomorrow so let’s call it a night. I will call you tomorrow.”
He said a tired ‘good night’ before he hung up and he shook his head before heading to take a shower and then to bed only to go to sleep with one woman on his mind.
The next morning, Trystan headed out of his office with a smile on his face that Trudy noticed immediately as he left for an appointment he had about a new project.
As he exited the hotel and got into his car, though, a frowned crossed his face as his cell rung a few seconds after he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Hello,” he said in clip tone, which his friend laughed at before he responded.
“I am guessing you didn’t have such a great evening,” his friend said still laughing.
Trystan only smiled as he asked, “Did you get any information on her?”
He heard his friend sigh heavily before admitting, “Unfortunately, I just returned to the country after getting an emergency call from my older sister.”
“Is she okay?” Trystan asked worry evident in his voice.
“She is fine,” his friend explained. “Also, I am going to be an uncle soon would you believe that?”
Trystan laughed as he replied, “Your sister should seriously rethink letting you babysit anytime soon.”
“Thanks,” his friend said gruffly although there was no real anger in his voice. “As for that information on Alina Barks, I will get to it as soon as I take a shower and a few hours of sleep. I don’t think it will take me long though so I should have something for you by the end of the week.”
“I will be going out of town over the weekend so just send the information to my secretary,” Trystan told him.
“Will do,” his friend responded on a tired note.
Trystan snickered before telling him, “Get some sleep before you are no good to anyone including your girlfriend.”
His friend grumbled as he hung up and Trystan merely smiled as he hit the ‘end’ button a thoughtful look on his face as he pulled up at a new restaurant that was in the last stages of completion. He parked the car and stepped out looking at the restaurant with hope and pride as he had the idea in the works for a while now because of what some of his customers who stayed at the hotel had commented over the years. Although Witt was a well-known city, it had few attractions that kept people coming back except for some of their shops and as some customers had pointed out, most of the restaurants were more geared to couples than families with children. Trystan hoped that this restaurant would change that as he looked it over before he smiled and turned around looking at the empty lot across from it. If Samuel did well with his proposal then there would be another family place adding to Witt’s charm real soon and with that thought in mind, Trystan turned and headed inside the restaurant.
As Trystan entered his restaurant, Samuel looked over the last minute details of the proposal he was planning on presenting to the board that would aid Witt in bringing more families to their town. It was something that he and Trystan had talked about within the last year, and when Trystan earned his permit to build his restaurant, Samuel knew that he had to add to it so here he was hoping that his proposal would be met with approval.
A knock on the conference door had him lifting his head briefly as the door opened and his father walked in as Samuel made a few notations on his computer before jolting something down on the papers in front of him.
“Hard at it,” his father stated walking over to the table where Samuel was working and he only nodded his head as he looked back at his computer screen.
His father didn’t comment as he sat down next to him and he observed the concentration on his son’s face, and he smiled hoping that his proposal was approved by the board. He knew what Samuel was p
lanning on proposing to the board even though he didn’t know all the specifics, and yet he agreed with his son completely on it. He had listened when he and Trystan had talked about trying to make Witt more family oriented and after Trystan started building his restaurant, he had seen the determination in Samuel to add to it.
As he thought about Trystan’s restaurant, a frown came to his face and he said in a blank tone, “I got a weird phone call not too long ago.”
Samuel looked up with a frown as he asked, “Who called?”
“Janice,” his father said abruptly and Samuel froze in his chair unaware that his father had observed his sudden stillness at the news.
“What did she want?” Samuel asked in a hard tone as he turned his attention back to his work saving his extra notes and corrections before shutting down the laptop. He looked up at his father as he flipped closed the file he had been writing in at the same time.
“Nothing much,” his father remarked leaning forward on his elbows a frown settling between his brows. “She asked me if I had seen Alina recently.”
Samuel watched an expression of sadness cross his father’s face and it shocked him that he didn’t have anything to say as his father said softly, “I haven’t heard from her in twenty-two years, but I have seen her.”
At this news, Samuel looked at his father in shock his brown eyes wide as his father stared off in the distance unaware of his son’s reaction to his words.
The silence in the room after his statement caught Trace’s attention as he turned his head to look at his son noting the stunned look on his face.
“When?” Samuel asked in a rush as his father turned to him. “When did you see Alina?”
“When she graduated college, I went to see her after Sarette called me and told me she was graduating,” his father revealed with a smile. “I don’t think I had ever been prouder except when you graduated college.”
The smile turned to a look of confusion as he asked, “Why do you ask, Sam?” Suddenly his eyes narrowed as he said, “Have you been in contact with Alina?”
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