All of Me (Heart of Stone Book 11)

by K. M. Scott

  They hadn’t been right about me, and they weren’t about him either.

  My son and I had knocked heads more than I cared to admit. I’d tried to make him into another version of me, and his mother never failed to remind me that just like I had differed from my father, Ethan differed from me.

  But my situation hadn’t been the same. At least that’s what I always told myself. My father was a wicked man who reveled in hurting others to get what he wanted in life. I wasn’t like that. I just wanted my son to be the kind of man I was, and for a long time, that meant a businessman just like me.

  Every time I gave that excuse, Nina shook her head in disbelief. Of what, I could never understand. What father doesn’t want his son to be like him?

  “He’s got a lot of you in him, Tristan, but he’s a lot like me too. Why can’t you see that?” she asked more times than I wanted to remember.

  I couldn’t see that, though. All I ever saw was my son looked just like me.

  Looking over at him, I cleared my throat. “Ethan, I didn’t tell you often enough how proud I’ve always been of you. I think I convinced myself that because your mother told you that was enough. I was wrong, son.”

  He smiled, and at that moment, I saw his mother in him. “She always told me she knew how proud you were of me. Whether it was after we won a football game you didn’t make it to or when she and I were just starting me out with my first camera, she always made sure to say, ‘Your father and I are so proud of you,’ and I knew she meant it.”

  “Your mother never failed to remind me that as my son you didn’t just look like me. She always says we’re more alike than different. I’m sorry it took me so long to see just how right she was.”

  “That’s Mom. She’s always the biggest defender of those she loves.”

  I paused, afraid if I spoke at that moment that I’d get choked up by his words. Nina never backed down from a fight when it came to her children or me.

  Swallowing hard, I said, “Your mother’s a fighter, Ethan. She’s going to get past this.”

  Ethan nodded, but tears filled his eyes. “I can’t imagine a world without her in it, Dad. I don’t even want to think about it, but I’m worried.”

  “I know you are. I saw it in your eyes when you walked in. I can’t thank you enough for keeping it together for your sister. But you just have to believe me when I tell you the doctors and I are going to do everything in our power to get her well again.”

  Standing from my chair, I walked over to him and took him in my arms. “She’s going to be okay. She’s strong. She’s your mother, so you know what that took.”

  Ethan leaned back away from me and smiled. “I know. Whatever this is, it can’t be tougher than the woman who told off old Mr. Harvey and then threatened me with military school.”

  I had to laugh at the idea of her ever sending him away. His mother loved being around him far too much to send him anywhere.

  “Let’s go down to join your sisters. This looks like it’s going to be a long night, so we’re going to need coffee to stay awake.”

  We glanced at the space in the room where we last saw Nina, and I smiled at how happy she’d be to see Ethan and me together like she always wanted. Funny how something so terrible like what had happened to her had been what we needed to be more than the father and son we’d always been.

  Chapter Nine

  Tristan

  While the kids called everyone we knew Nina would want to know what happened to her, I returned to her hospital room to be alone. Sitting there, I thought about all the patients who’d occupied that room before Nina. What were their lives like? Were they wives and mothers like her, or husbands and fathers like me?

  My mind naturally formed an idea of them around her and all she meant to me, making each of them good and kind, even though I knew in the back of my mind that couldn’t be true. In this space, a murderer or rapist may have lay unconscious and getting the same attention she was at that moment.

  That reality made my thoughts scatter, and in their place came the single thought I’d had since seeing Nina lying on the stair landing gasping for air and pleading for my help. I couldn’t lose her. We didn’t have enough time together yet. There was so much I hadn’t said to her, so much I wanted her to see in life by my side.

  So much I’d planned to give her and hadn’t because I’d gotten distracted by work or the kids or day-to-day life that seemed so important until a few hours ago.

  The harshness of that room pressed down on me. Memories of the time I spent in the hospital after the plane crash that killed my parents and brother crept into my head, things I hadn’t thought of in years. Back then, I spent my days and nights in shock at how one moment I’d been one of four, and then the next, I was alone and fighting for my life surrounded by the wreckage of the plane and my life.

  I hated hospitals because of that. They were places I associated with loss. When I woke up after the crash, I was alone. Everyone in my family had been taken away. Now I feared this time would be no different. The mere thought of falling asleep while Nina was here terrified me. I might close my eyes and when I woke up, they’d tell me she was gone.

  Looking around at the cold walls of this ICU room, I silently cursed how we’d gotten here. I must have missed some sign, some clue at how Nina was truly feeling. She said it was just the flu last week and that she felt better. Should I have pressed her further about it?

  She would have just told me to stop worrying again. Shaking my head, I cringed at how easily I let that answer stay when she said it.

  “I’m fine, Tristan. Stop worrying.”

  At the time, I didn’t think I was worrying, but perhaps something deep inside me knew she wasn’t fine. She didn’t look sick. Not for the last few days and certainly not tonight. We’d had such a good time with date night. For the first time in too long, we’d acted like we did right after we got married.

  Back then it was just the two of us, two people who couldn’t get enough of one another. Every minute we spent apart, I thought of Nina and how much I loved the life we had together. Each day she coaxed me out of being that aloof and distant person I’d always been to protect myself. I didn’t even realize how successful she was until one day the walls around me no longer existed.

  Nina had that way about her. She could be stubborn when she truly believed in a cause, but the way she showed me what love could be if I gave it a chance was quiet and constant. A smile to show me how much I meant to her. A hug when she knew I needed it most.

  And one day, I realized I couldn’t do without her, and not because of any reason other than she made me happy. It was that simple and that pure.

  I’d never experienced happiness like I had with Nina. Sometimes I’d sneak a glance at her while we watched TV or ate dinner and wondered how many others in the world had been touched by the way she cared about them. I envied them because they had gotten her special brand of good before I did. I wished she’d stayed in my life after those few times we met as children.

  But that wasn’t what fate had planned for me or for her.

  Instead, we had to endure pain and loss in both our lives before we could be together. I hated my family for what they did to her. They took her father away without a care or even a thought at what harm they were doing. Her father was just another body to be added to the pile of people who crossed Victor and Taylor Stone and paid the ultimate price.

  When I lost my parents, I lost the people I was supposed to be close to but wasn’t. When Nina lost her parents, she lost the two people she loved the most in the world. The thought of our children going through that now made my chest ache. All three of them turned to her for that special way she had that never failed to make them see how unique they were and how much she loved them for it. They deserved to have that in their lives for so much longer.

  A noise outside in the hallway tore me from my thoughts, and I turned to see the orderlies and nurse wheeling Nina back into the room. I quickly stood and moved
the chair out of their way while I scanned their faces for any clue as to what the doctors may have found in those tests they were running.

  Did they figure out what was wrong? Was it something she could be cured of?

  I studied the two men, their expressions and their body language. They didn’t seem to be frowning, but neither one of them appeared happy either. Did they know something terrible I’d soon hear from the doctor?

  The nurse smiled at me when I moved the chair and said, “Thank you, Mr. Stone. Sometimes these beds are hard to maneuver.”

  Her words seemed innocuous enough, but in my desperate need to know something, I dissected every syllable. She had smiled, so maybe that meant good news. My brain instantly launched into overdrive. Nurses knew as much or more than doctors about a patient’s status. They were trained to be helpful and kind to those they cared for, so her smile likely meant nothing. She was just being nice.

  “When will the doctor be in?” I asked, needing more than just my assumptions to go on.

  The petite woman with the nametag that said Andrea smiled again. “He’ll be in shortly, Mr. Stone.”

  With that, they left, and I pulled the chair next to Nina’s bed again to be close to her. Looking down at her placid face, I said, “Nothing ever moves as fast as you want it to in hospitals. Remember when Diana was in here? It’s like time slows down to a crawl.”

  I waited for Nina to reply like she always did when I spoke about something that bothered me. That’s how we did things. I’d comment, and then she’d comment. But as I sat there in silence because she couldn’t speak now, I couldn’t help but marvel at how much I valued that simple back and forth with her. It was the rhythm of our life, and it had been suddenly disrupted.

  And I didn’t want to get used to not hearing Nina’s opinions and ideas. I couldn’t let myself get lulled into that being a habit, so I continued to talk to her.

  “While you were gone, I was thinking about right after we were married. Do you remember that time? I had to work every day, but it was pure torture every time I had to leave you. Then I’d spend all day distracted when I was supposed to be fixing all the mess Karl had created at the company because I couldn’t get my mind off you.”

  I leaned over and kissed the back of her hand before resting my cheek against it. Nina would call me throughout the day to say how much she missed me or to tell me about an idea she had for what we could do that night. Needless to say, hearing about some new thing we could try in bed didn’t make focusing on work any easier. Sometimes I’d sit in meetings not hearing even half of what was discussed because I’d be daydreaming about the time when I got to be near her again.

  Closing my eyes, I let my mind drift back to those wonderful days. “I don’t think two people were ever more in love than we were, you know that?” I whispered, looking up at her and wondering if she could truly hear what I was saying.

  The man seated on the other side of my desk continued to talk about the need for Stone Worldwide to be insulated from the kind of malfeasance Karl had inflicted on the company. I knew everything he said was right and agreed to mostly everything he suggested, but as the minutes ticked by, I had to fight my urge to look at my phone to see if Nina had messaged. I’d told her I had an important meeting, but I knew that wouldn’t stop her from texting.

  “So I think you need to make sure to take the utmost precautions this never happens again, Tristan. Stone Worldwide can’t afford to have a cancer form inside it a second time,” Mitchell Benjamin said in the most serious tone he’d ever used in any conversation with me.

  Nodding, I answered, “I agree. You’ll get no fight from me. There can be no repeat of Karl here ever again. I want to assure you and the rest of the board of that. I know how to clean house when I have to, and all of his cronies have been removed from this company.”

  I sounded far more focused on the issue than I truly was. In fact, I’d given almost that exact same answer to every member of the board who’d come to see me after what Karl did came to light. It’s not that I didn’t mean every word of it. I did. But at the moment, the man who had to lead Stone Worldwide after its greatest corporate attack from within had a hard time focusing on work because he had a new bride at home, and what she offered tempted him far more than rehashing the business nightmare the entire Stone Worldwide company had just lived through.

  Mitchell stood from his seat and extended his hand to shake mine. “You look like you’re recuperating nicely, Tristan. Is that eye patch going to be a permanent thing?” he asked with a chuckle.

  “No, I don’t think so. The doctors think I’ll make a full recovery,” I said as I began to escort him toward the door of my office.

  “It’s got a good look to it, though. Makes you stand out from the rest of the pack of corporate leaders,” he said, chuckling once more.

  I patted him on the shoulder and shook my head. “My new wife likes it too, but I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint everyone when I go back to having two eyes like an average man.”

  Stopping in the doorway, he nodded his head and smiled. “Marriage looks good on you, Tristan. Your father would approve.”

  His mention of my father meant my smile changed from genuine to forced. My father never approved of anything I did, and when it came to Nina, I hated even thinking of them in the same thought after what he’d done to her family.

  “Thanks, Mitch. I’ll see you next month.”

  My phone vibrated in my pants pocket, and I eagerly fished it out to see a text from Nina. Just what I needed to push any thoughts of Victor Stone out of my mind for the day. My gaze rolled over her message, and I smiled at how cute she could be.

  I just wanted you to know that I have something incredible planned for us tonight. It involves food, something new I bought at a boutique Jordan told me about, and you naked. Interested?

  Checking my watch, I saw it was nearly four o’clock. I had no more meetings for the day, and I probably wouldn’t be much good at anything involving work since my new wife had just sent me that text, so today could be an early day.

  I’ll be home in a few minutes. Food can come after the naked part. I love you.

  Ten minutes later, I walked out of the elevator at the Richmont penthouse and hurried into our temporary home to find Nina standing half-dressed in a white lace baby doll negligee. She’d only gotten the top half on by the time I walked in, but I didn’t care. Already hard, I didn’t need her to wear anything special to make me want to be with her.

  “Tristan! I thought I’d have a few more minutes to get ready,” she cried and then gave me that pout that was so quintessentially Nina.

  I didn’t care about ruining her plans. Filling my eyes with how beautiful she looked standing there only half-dressed, I walked toward her as I quickly slid my tie from around my neck and unbuttoned my dress shirt.

  “Let’s just say you started early and I’m catching up,” I said with a smile. “Give me three seconds and I’ll be half-naked too.”

  “I bought this thinking you’d love it.”

  “I do. Now take it off,” I ordered as I tossed my jacket, shirt, and tie onto the back of the couch.

  “You have no respect for presentation, Tristan.”

  Sliding my pants off, I chuckled. “I have a great respect for it, but at this moment, what I care about more is getting to make love to my beautiful wife. This is just the natural effect of your text. You said you wanted me naked, so I’m just fulfilling that request.”

  Nina rolled her eyes and walked toward me where I stood in the living room. “I did want you naked. That’s true.”

  I spread my arms out wide and smiled. “I’m all yours. Do with me what you want because I plan to do the same with you. But since you had a plan, here I am.”

  She ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “You’re sort of making my plan fall apart here. I wanted to seduce you, but now that you’re naked, I don’t know how much seduction is going to happen.”

  Snaking my ar
m around her waist, I pulled her to me and kissed her long and deep. She tasted sweet, like sugar, and I feasted on her mouth. When I broke our kiss, I slid the top of the baby doll over her head so she would be nude too.

  “I missed you. You’re all I thought about all day,” I groaned in her ear.

  Nina raked her fingernails across my shoulders, sending shivers over my skin. “This whole working thing is definitely getting in the way of us having sex twenty-four seven.”

  “Maybe I’ll quit my job,” I said, lifting my head to see her reaction.

  Again, she rolled her eyes. “You know you aren’t going to do that, and anyway, you’d get bored not working. What would you do all day? I was only kidding about having sex twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.”

  “I wasn’t.” Easing her back onto the couch, I lowered myself down on top of her. “Maybe I’ll just take a leave of absence for a couple months.”

  “You aren’t going to do that either, Tristan. You’d probably get sick and tired of me if we were together all the time,” she said and then kissed me softly on the lips. “I’d hate for that to happen.”

  “That will never happen, Nina. Never,” I whispered as I slid into her body in one long push.

  Her legs moved up along my sides, and she wrapped them around my waist to dig her heels into my lower back. “I don’t want to talk about that. All I want to do is enjoy how incredible this feels after missing you all day.”

  The two of us got lost in each other, a man and a woman blissfully happy at the beginning of their life together. She had no idea how serious I was about quitting my job to be with her all the time. Even though I never could, I wanted to because every minute I spent around her was one I was truly happy.

  I opened my eyes and looked up wishing I could see her beautiful blue eyes at that moment. “I love thinking about those early days of us married, Nina. I never knew I could be that happy before.”