Fall Into Me (Heart of Stone) (20 page)

His
eyes sparkled as he smiled broadly, looking more gorgeous than I thought I'd
ever seen him look. "I'd like nothing more in this world, Nina, than for
you to agree to marry me again."

Even
as he smiled and told me he wanted more than anything to hear me say I wanted
to marry him, his voice was still weighted down with a sadness that made me
wish he would tell me whatever was eating him up inside. I so wished I could
make him as happy as he made me.

"I'd
like to wear the ring again too."

"You
don't remember this, but we were supposed to get married on December 14."

"Are
you asking me to run off and elope, Mr. Stone?" I said in a playful voice.

"Yes.
Marry me. We can leave tomorrow from here and go wherever we want."

I
leaned back away from him, shocked that he was serious. "You're not
kidding? Can you do that? Don't you have to run a huge company?"

"Nina,
I can do what I want. Part of being the CEO. Marry me."

I
couldn't say no. Looking down at me, he was so cute I didn't want to say no.
"Okay, let's do it! I need to go back to the house, though. I only need a
few things and we can leave right after that."

"I
can get you whatever you need so we don't have to go back. We'll leave from
here tomorrow morning."

"Tristan,
it will only take me a few minutes at the house and then we can go wherever we
want. I promise I won't be long."

"Okay,
but we'll go back and leave tonight."

I
stood on my toes and kissed the tip of his nose. "You drive a hard
bargain, sir. You have a deal."

"Good.
Pack your things and I'll let the pilot know we're leaving."

Tristan
headed into the other room to get things ready for us to fly back to New York, and even though things felt like they were moving a hundred miles a minute, I was
ready to do it.

I
was ready to marry Tristan and begin our life together.

Chapter Twenty

Nina

My
hands shook as I gathered up my makeup and dumped it all into my suitcase. I grabbed
a few dresses from my closet, folding them hastily, and stopped to take a deep
breath. Tristan and I were eloping in the middle of the night like two kids in
love. This was really happening.

 It's
not that I didn't want to marry him or that I wasn't in love with him. I was
crazy about him and nothing had ever felt as right as when I said yes to
becoming his wife. But my sister's scolding echoed in my mind, sowing the seeds
of doubt like they always had. I didn't want to think like that, though. She
wasn't me. She'd never fall for someone like Tristan and elope in the middle of
the night. It was far too risky for her.

But
I wasn't her.

I
wanted to take a chance and be daring. I'd never really done anything wild or
crazy. I'd been the good daughter, always getting good grades and doing just as
my father told me to. Even that hadn't been enough for Kim, though. My artistic
side had always made me "flighty," according to her. She didn't
understand viewing the world through eyes that wanted to see beauty. All she
wanted to see was the bad—bad people, bad situations, and mostly, bad men.

Whatever
she thought she knew about Tristan, I knew in my heart he wasn't a bad man. Did
I know everything about him? No. But who knew everything about the man or woman
they loved? I accepted the reality of his life, and that meant I might never
know more than I did now about him. That was okay.

What
I knew, I loved. What I didn't know, I'd have to deal with if and when the time
came. That was part of what you did when you loved someone.

Zipping
my bag, I took one last look at my single girl face in the mirror. Oh my God! I
hadn't told Jordan. I grabbed my cell phone and quickly called her, not caring
that it was ridiculously late to be calling anyone with a job.

She
answered in a groggy voice. "Hello?"

"Jordan,
it's Nina. I'm sorry for calling so late, but I wanted to tell you that Tristan
and I are eloping. We're leaving in a few minutes for an island in the Caribbean."

I
heard her make a noise like she was sitting up in bed. "What? Who calls
someone and says something like that? I thought you were still planning on a
big ta-do on the island like before your accident."

"He
asked me tonight if I'd elope with him, and I said yes. I didn't call anyone
else but you. Please don't tell me not to do this. I already know Kim would say
that."

"I
would never do that, Nina. Tristan is crazy about you, and you're crazy about
him. I'm just bummed that I won't get to do the whole island thing."

"Thanks,
Jordan. We'll do the island thing another time, I promise. I'm just glad you
aren't trying to talk me out of it."

"Oh,
honey, I wouldn't do that, and don't let Kim do that to you anymore. You live
your life and know that I'm here in good times and bad. Now go get married, you
crazy kids, and call me when the honeymoon haze wears off."

I
choked up at Jordan's words and swallowed hard. "I love you, Jordan. I
wish you were my sister instead of Kim."

"I
am in every way that's important. A sister from another mother, like we always
said. Now go enjoy yourself and don't give Kim another thought. Got it?"

"Got
it. I'll call you soon."

"I
love you, Nina. Tell Tristan I said congratulations."

I
hung up and told myself Jordan was right. No more thinking of Kim and all her
negativity. This was my life, and I was going to live it the way I wanted to.

Dropping
my bag off in the entryway, I looked for Tristan in his office and his room but
didn't find him. I'd taken longer than I'd promised, but I'd expected he'd be
waiting patiently for me at the end of my hallway. When I didn't find him in
the kitchen, I began to wonder where he was and why no one else seemed to be
around either. Where was Rogers and his popping up out of thin air trick?

A
noise that sounded like angry voices hit me as I turned to make my way down to
the pool area. Rogers' area of the house was directly to the left of the stairs
to the lower level, and I stopped to listen, straining to hear if the voices
were someone in the house or on TV. I couldn't decide which, so I slowly walked
down Rogers' hallway, uneasy since I'd never felt welcome enough by Tristan's
butler to visit him in his private quarters.

"There's
only one way Karl would have known I was in Atlanta. You told him, didn't
you?"

The
rage in Tristan's voice was unmistakable as he accused someone of betraying
him. But was it possible he was talking to Rogers, the man who'd been with him
since he was a small child?

I
listened outside Rogers' door as he denied telling anyone where we'd gone, but
I knew guilt when I heard it. He had told that awful man where Tristan and I
were. But why? Why would he betray Tristan?

"I've
told you that I don't care what you think of Nina. I don't care if you think we
should be together or not. I've tolerated your sideways looks when we're
together and your opinion on how I should handle my life. I won't tolerate you getting
into bed with the man who wants to ruin my happiness. When you put Nina in
danger, then I fucking care what you're doing."

"I
would never do anything to cause hurt to come to you, Tristan. You know
that," Rogers said in his stiff, official style.

"What
I know is that I have a traitor in my house. Are you going to tell me why? I
deserve to know at least that."

"I've
never done anything but protect you."

"By
putting the woman I love in danger? How does that protect me? How does that
show your loyalty to me?"

What
did he mean by danger? Karl had made me uneasy, but was I truly in danger from
him? My mind raced as I jumped to conclusions. Had my car accident been
something else and were Karl and Rogers to blame? Bursting into the room, I
pointed at Rogers. "He's never liked me, Tristan. Did you cause my
accident, Rogers?"

"Nina,
wait outside. I don't want you around this," Tristan ordered.

"No.
I want to hear from him why he hates me—why he wants me out of your life. And I
want to know if he tried to hurt me already."

We
stood there staring at each other in Rogers' plain white room, and I saw
Tristan consider what I'd just accused his butler of. His expression morphed
from one full of rage to one of hurt as he looked over at Rogers.

"Answer
her. Was her accident something else?"

"Karl
is only looking out for your welfare, Tristan, as I am."

His
lack of denial sent a chill up my spine. Was he saying he'd intentionally set
out to hurt me or worse, kill me?

"You've
been like a father to me. How could you do this to someone I love? I trusted
you!"

Rogers tilted his chin up in a gesture of defiance. "I'm proud to say that as much as
you're a Stone, Tristan, you've been like a son to me. I've watched over you,
protecting you for years. When your father chose Taylor over you, as he always
did, I was there to watch your football games and hockey matches. It was I who
was there with your mother to cheer you on, to take pictures of you with your trophies.
Never your father. When you got into trouble, I cleaned it up for you. I cared
for you. I'm doing that now. This is no different."

His
mention of Tristan's trophies hit me like a slap to the face. Suddenly, I had a
memory of me looking at pictures of him as a child. Everything around me faded
away as I struggled to place where and when I'd seen the pictures. I could see
in my mind Tristan as a young boy holding a trophy high above his head, smiling
as his mother stood nearby gazing at him in adoration for his accomplishment.
But none of the pictures in the house were of him as a child, so where had I
seen this image?

I
was torn from my memories as Tristan's voice grew increasingly louder at Rogers' continued denials of doing anything wrong. "Answer the question Nina asked
you. Did you have any part in her accident?"

"I
would never physically hurt her, Tristan."

"Did
Karl do something to the car with your help?" he barked at the older man.
"Tell me!"

"Her
accident was not due to anything I had any part in. What Karl did is something
you need to ask him."

Tristan
lunged at Rogers, grabbing him around the neck as he yelled, "I trusted
you! You know how much she means to me! You know!"

Rogers clawed at his forearms to pull him off him, but he was no match for Tristan, who
was much younger and stronger. The strangled cries of the butler filled the
room as he was slowly being choked to death. As much as I hated Rogers for what he'd done to me and Tristan, I couldn't let the man I love kill someone.

Pulling
on his arm, I struggled to tear Tristan away, but I was no match for him
either. The more I tore at his arms to make him release him, the more he fought
to hurt him. I watched in horror as Rogers' face began to turn blue.

"Tristan,
don't! Let him go! Don't do this!"

He
stilled, and I was sure that the old man was next to death. Tristan slowly
raised his hands up and backed away, his face covered in revulsion at what he'd
almost done to the man who'd been closer to him than anyone else in his life.

Rogers fell to the floor clutching his throat and coughing. He sat there with tears
streaming down his cheeks as the blood began to flow back to his face. Slowly,
the bluish tint faded and he looked like himself again. Unable to talk, he
simply looked up in shock at the man he thought of like a son.

"Get
out! Take whatever you think you need and get out," Tristan growled down
at him.

A
gurgling sound came out of Rogers' mouth as he tried to protest the order, but
Tristan merely repeated himself with even more viciousness. He was cold and
distant, scaring me when he spoke.

"Leave
and never come back. You're dead to me now."

Rogers' eyes grew wide at the sound of those words. He stood on shaky legs and slowly
walked past us into his bathroom, still hunched over from the attack. I
remained there stunned at what I'd just witnessed, unsure what to say. Gently,
I touched Tristan's arm, but even that slightest contact made him spin around
to face me, his dark eyes flashing the fury that hadn't subsided inside him
yet.

"Tristan,
it's okay. It's me. Everything's going to be okay."

He
seemed to stare right through me for a moment and then his expression calmed as
he pulled me tightly to him. No words came, but I felt the tension and rage
begin to fade away as he held me in his arms.

"I'm
sorry, Nina. I had no idea. I should have known. I would have sent him away if
I'd known."

I
looked up into his troubled eyes and cradled his face in my hands. "Are
you okay? What's going on? Why would he want to hurt me or want me out of your
life?"

Tristan
looked back toward the bathroom where Rogers still remained. "I want you
to go to my room and stay there. Don't come out until I come get you. Do you
understand?"

"Why?"

He
bent down and kissed me softly on the lips, whispering, "I promise someday
I'll be able to tell you everything, Nina, but for now, please, no more
questions. All I can say is that I would never let anyone hurt you. I need you
to believe me."

Nodding,
I hugged him. "I do. Just promise me you won't get hurt."

Above
me, he said, "I'll be fine." He pushed me back from him and cupped my
chin. "Now go stay in my room and lock the door. Don't come out until I
come get you."

I
wanted nothing less than to leave him there to deal with the devastating
reality of being betrayed by the person he'd known and trusted longer than
anyone else in this world, but I was frightened enough not to fight him on
this. Quickly, I ran to his room and locked the door behind me, my hands
shaking in fear at everything I'd seen and heard.

Looking
around, I remembered the first night I'd come over from my side of the house to
pronounce my anger at being held against my will. That Nina had been so
ignorant of who Tristan really was. Never a jailer, he was my protector. I
trusted him, and now more than ever, I needed to rely on him, even though I
didn't know what danger surrounded us.

At
that moment, my memory was what could help me the most, but all I had was the
recollection of watching a cartoon with my nieces and the fleeting images of
looking at pictures of Tristan as a child. I sat on the edge of his bed and
closed my eyes, trying to piece together the memory Rogers' mention of sports
trophies had caused to become so real in my mind.

No
matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember where I'd seen those pictures. Had
Tristan shown me them before my accident, maybe as we began to learn things
about one another when we were first dating? Something about the images in my
mind gave me a sense that I hadn't seen them with him, but then how would I
have seen pictures of his childhood?

I
opened my eyes and scanned the room around me. Maybe I had seen them in this
room. He had said we'd shared this room before my accident, so that would make
sense. I knew it might be an invasion of his privacy, but I wanted to know more
about why this memory seemed so important, so I began to look through his
dresser drawers.

Running
my hands over pair after pair of black dress socks and cotton boxer briefs, I
found nothing that felt like it would be pictures. I moved through all the
drawers and there was nothing but what belonged in them. His desk sat across
the room, so I tried there found nothing that made me think I had seen them in
this room.

But
if not here, where in this house would pictures of Tristan as a child be?

A
noise outside in the hallway jarred me out of my thoughts, and I stood frozen
in place staring at the bedroom door. I listened for it again, but nothing
happened. My fear at a strange noise was replaced with concern for Tristan, so
I took a deep breath and opened the door to find him standing there.