Fall Into Me (Heart of Stone) (17 page)

As
I drove up to the house I shared with Nina, the realization of what I'd learned
hit me. How could I face her after everything I now knew about why her father
had died? It was worse than I'd ever imagined. Joseph Edwards hadn't just
uncovered some shady land deal or my father's philandering ways. He'd pulled
back the protective cover shielding my father and my brother and their
unspeakable actions. Nina's father had been murdered to protect Taylor's despicable acts with a teenage girl and my father's callous desire to have the
world bend to his orders, no matter how terrible or depraved they were.

I
shut off the car and sat back in the seat, drained from my trip. I'd flown
halfway around the world at times and not felt this exhausted. I didn't know
how I'd face Nina now. She had no idea of the kind of people I came from. How
would she ever forgive me for what my family had done to hers?

I
sat there staring into the darkness until I knew I couldn't avoid facing her
any longer. As I walked through the door, Rogers met me, almost as if he'd been
waiting for me. His expression was stony, instantly making my blood run cold. Had
something happened and Nina was already gone?

"Tristan,
Jensen needs to speak to you. He's waiting in my part of the house."

"What's
this about? I'm tired, Rogers. I'll deal with him tomorrow," I said as I
brushed past him to see if Nina was still there.

"She's
in her room, Tristan. That's what Jensen needs to talk to you about. He's
worried you're going to fire him this time."

I
spun around to face Rogers, my heart racing wildly in fear. "Did something
happen? Is she hurt?"

He
slowly shook his head. "No. She's fine. I think it would be better to hear
what Jensen has to say before you speak to her."

"Rogers, what the fuck is wrong? If Nina isn't hurt, then what could Jensen be worried
about?"

I
turned to leave and he caught my arm. Surprised, I turned my head and looked at
him and saw a look of concern I hadn't seen on his face since those days when
he was rescuing me from my self-destructive behavior.

"You
need to speak to him. Take a few minutes before you go to her to hear what
Jensen has to tell you."

Something
in his voice convinced me and I followed him to his part of the house. I found
Jensen a worried wreck pacing the floor of Roger's personal study.

His
usually calm expression twisted into one full of fear. "You told me to
make sure she was safe, and I know the bodyguards are always there, but I
thought I should step in. I meant no harm, Mr. Stone."

"Stop.
Tell me what happened."

Jensen
took a deep breath as he quit his pacing. Hanging his head, he said, "I
took Miss Edwards to pick up her friend Jordan and then took them to a
restaurant. When West and Varo told me her friend had left, I pulled the car
around to pick her up, but instead another person joined her. A man she
obviously knew. I didn't want to intrude, but as I watched, she gave him money.
I finally did interrupt them to tell her the car was ready because I was afraid
he was going to take even more money. I'm sorry if I was out of line. I was
concerned she was giving this strange man so much money."

So
this was what Daryl was talking about when he texted that he had interesting
pictures of Cal. Nina had met him again, and now he was busy trying to con her
out of money, as he had with other women, and doing it quite successfully, it
seemed. On top of everything else I'd felt that night, jealousy and rage now
burned in my gut.

Struggling
to hide my feelings, I patted Jensen on the shoulder, thankful for his attempt
to keep Nina safe. He'd done the right thing.

If
only Nina had.

Chapter Seventeen

Tristan

Instead
of going to see Nina after hearing Jensen's report, I went to my room alone,
thankful in some ways for having a reason to avoid seeing her. On the floor
just inside the room lay an envelope with my name written in her handwriting
and a tiny smiley face drawn on the front. As with her other letter, fear
flared inside my mind at the thought of what she might have written. Maybe
she'd confessed to giving her ex-boyfriend money while they sat at a restaurant
earlier that night. Or maybe she'd remembered something and this was the letter
in which she finally told me she couldn't forgive me for what my father had
done.

Fuck.
Not knowing was like torture. If only I could dismiss her as easily as I'd
always been able to dismiss the rest of the world, but I couldn't. I loved her
to distraction, and even the unknown words she'd written on a sheet of paper
inside that envelope could tie me up in knots.

I
slid my finger under the flap of the envelope and tore it open, unable to wait
any more. Unfolding her letter, I silently prayed for some release from all of
this soon.

Dear Tristan,

I like our letter
writing back and forth. It feels like we're romantic pen pals separated by some
huge distance and someday someone will find our letters and see that no matter
what separated us, we ended up together because we loved one another. What can
I say? I'm an incurable romantic.
Y
You didn't answer your phone, so I'll
tell you what I wanted to say here. I hope your day was good. I missed having
you near me. Come find me when you get home. I'll be waiting up for you.

                                                     I
love you.

                                                     Nina

I
didn't go see her right away. I needed to be able to look at her without
feeling guilty, but that wasn't going to happen without at least taking a
shower. Maybe if I did that I'd find some way to wash off some of the ugliness and
be able to deserve someone like Nina.

Half
an hour later I'd stood in the shower until my fingertips wrinkled but it
hadn't worked. The reality of what I was—the son of the man who'd done so much
to hurt so many—couldn't be washed away, no matter how much I tried.

The
story Jensen had told me rattled around in my head as I walked over to her
room. I didn't want to be jealous, believing the whole thing had been just
another example of Nina's goodness in helping that manipulative fuck of an ex.
I couldn't help it, though. Anything that made me feel like it would take her
away I hated instinctively.

She
was already asleep when I reached her room, but I quietly slipped in and stood
beside her bed watching her as she softly breathed in and out, her mouth in
that beautiful pout she hated and I loved. I wanted to kiss that mouth and wake
her up, my Sleeping Beauty who I could whisk away to another kingdom and take
care of forever.

Nothing
was stopping us. I had enough money to last for this lifetime and the next. We
could run away and never be found again, just the two of us living for love. No
more of Karl and the Board. No more Cal. No more anyone but us.

That
wasn't right, though. There would always be something we couldn't run away
from. Someday she'd remember who I was and what part my family had played in
taking her father from her, and then there would be nowhere in the world I
could go for forgiveness.

I
had to tell her what I knew. I had to tell her why her father had been taken
from her. I had to tell her everything.

As
I stood there watching her, she stirred awake and smiled up at me. She had no
idea the man she was happy to see could very well be the one person she'd never
want to lay eyes on again.

"Hey,
what are you doing there staring at me as I sleep?" she jokingly asked.
Stretching her arms above her head, she pushed away her drowsiness. "I
missed you."

"I
missed you too. I got your letter."

Nina
sat up and rubbed her eyes. "Did you like it?" Looking up at me, she
held out her hand. "Sit down. Tell me about your day."

I
sat down beside her and ran my fingers through her hair. "I'd rather hear
about yours. Jensen tells me you and Jordan had a girl's night out."

"I'm
guessing he told you about me seeing Cal too."

"He
did," I said flatly, hoping to hide how jealous it made me.

She
squeezed my hand. "Don't be angry, Tristan. He's down on his luck and I
did him a little favor. That's all."

"I
don't think you know your friend Cal very well, Nina. What you call down on his
luck is actually his con. He does this to women all the time."

"No,
you're wrong. Remember, he didn't come looking for me. I found him after all
these years. He's just going through some bad stuff now. You'd help someone
like him too. I know you would."

I
lifted her chin with my forefinger so her gaze met mine. "You're too nice.
I know all about him and I'm telling you he's playing you."

"I
don't believe it. No girlfriend cheating on him and leaving him with an
expensive apartment to pay for? He told me his mother died too. Was that a
lie?"

Shrugging
my shoulders, I admitted I knew nothing about either of these things. "But
I can find out. Whatever he's claimed, I'm guessing it's a lie. He does this
all the time, Nina. You're going to have to be careful now that you have
money."

"About
that. Why do I have all that money? You can't be paying me that much to be your
private art curator."

"I
can pay you whatever I want."

Nina
pulled me by my T-shirt until my mouth was next to hers. With a smile, she said,
"Well, I guess that answers that, now doesn't it?"

I
kissed her lips and whispered against them, "Now promise me no more money
to Cal."

"If
what you say is really true, I won't give him any more."

"You
doubt me?" I asked, half-teasing and half bothered that she might not
trust me on this.

"You
know I like to question everything. I thought you liked that about me."

"I
like you questioning other people, not me."

"Cro-magnon
much?" she said with a giggle. "Somebody has to keep you on your
toes, Mr. Stone."

"On
my toes?"

Nina
playfully ran her tongue over the seam of my lips. "And all those other
fine body parts."

My
cock stiffened as she teased me, and for at least a little while I wanted to
believe I could forget all the bad I needed to confess and get lost in her. Fisting
my hand in her hair, I tugged her head back and covered her mouth with mine,
thrusting my tongue into her mouth to find hers. I wanted to escape inside her
body.

"I
want to be inside you so bad," I groaned as I trailed kisses down her neck.

She
arched her back, rubbing her breasts against my chest and cooing as she wrapped
her legs around my waist. Looking down at the silk pajamas I wore, she licked
her lips and slid her forefinger just under the waistband. "Then get these
off."

Not
waiting for my answer, she tugged them down over my hips while I pulled her
shorts and panties off. I threw them away from me and watched as she did the
same with my pants.

"Didn't
we buy you something nicer to wear to bed?" I asked as she stripped off my
T-shirt.

Nina
skimmed her hands over my stomach and looked up at me, her eyes sparkling with
desire. "Uh huh, but what's the purpose of wearing them if it's just
me?"

I
tore her shirt from her and pulled her to me. "It's never just you. I'm
always nearby, even if I'm not right next to you."

Her
teeth nipped at my collarbone as she mumbled against my skin, "I like it
better when you're right next to me."

I
loved the feel of her mouth on me, exciting me as she showed how much she
wanted me inside her. Slipping my hand down over her stomach, I probed between
her legs, loving when I found her dripping wet.

"Tell
me what you want, baby," I whispered as I pushed a single finger inside
her eager cunt.

She
wriggled against my hand, desperate for the pleasure I wanted to give her, and
whimpered, "I want you. Inside me. Fucking me until I come and then until
I come again."

I
loved when she talked like that. There wasn't a man on Earth who didn't want
exactly this kind of woman—a lady in public any man could be proud to show off
and a whore in the bedroom who knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to let
her man know. That Nina could be both thrilled me and made me love her even
more.

Her
hand stroked my cock from base to tip, making my control ebb away. Struggling
to hold back, I had to give in and pushed her back onto the bed. I wanted to
feel her warm and wet cunt surrounding my cock as I thrust into her to reach
that place where I could give her what she wanted and find some peace from
everything that plagued my mind.

Taking
a nipple into my mouth, I sucked it hard and bit down gently until she cried
out more in pleasure than pain. Her heels pushed against my lower back, urging
me to enter her and leave the foreplay for another time.

"Don't
tease, Tristan. You always tease," she whispered in a needy voice as she
clawed at my back to pull me close.

"Not
teasing, princess. Control," I said low in her ear as I slowly eased my
cock inch by inch into her eager body.

She
thrust her hips upward to welcome me into her and pressed her fingertips into
my back. "I don't want controlled Tristan. Let me see what's inside your
heart instead of always being so in control."

"You
don't want that, Nina," I said in a strangled voice as I began to slowly
make love to her.

Cradling
my face, she stared deep into my eyes as I continued to push my cock into her.
"I do. Show me that man," she moaned.

I
slowed to a languid pace in and out of her body. I wished I could show her that
man—the one who didn't need to be in control of everything in fear that if he
didn't, his life would spiral down to nothing. Burying my head in the pillow
next to hers, I said quietly, "I am who I am, Nina."

She
stopped my motion with her heels against my back, keeping me inside her as she
threatened to tear away the walls I made sure to protect myself with at all
times.

"I
love who you are, Tristan, but I know there's someone else inside there.
Someone who has nothing to do with control or money. That Tristan wants to say
things to me. I wish you'd let him."

"I
love you, Nina. I love you with an need that scares me sometimes. I've never
loved anyone like this. I spend my days dreading that you're going to wake up
one day, realize who I am, and tell me you can't do this anymore. That you
can't live with someone who's as fucked up as I am."

She
kissed me softly on the lips as tears welled in her eyes. "I don't know
what you're talking about. You're not fucked up. Why would you say that?"

Closing
my eyes, I took a deep breath. "There's so much about me no one would want."

"That's
not true, Tristan. No matter what you think, you're wonderful."

I
stayed silent for a long time until I finally admitted the truth at the heart
of us. Opening my eyes, I whispered, "One word of rejection from you would
kill me, Nina. Please tell me that even if you ever think that you can't take
who I am anymore, you won't leave. Give me a chance to show you I love you."

No
matter how much I asked for her to make that promise, I knew there was the real
risk that she would leave again when she found out what my father had done and
how much I'd known about it all this time. This time I'd make sure things
turned out different, though. I had to.

"Tristan,
I'm not going anywhere. I promise no matter what. I love you. That means no
leaving."

We
made love sweeter than it had ever been before between us or between me and any
other woman. Deep inside, I hoped that Nina would want to live up to the
promise she'd made. The time was coming that I'd have to finally confess
everything. Each day that passed meant the risk that she'd remember everything
grew, but until I knew the whole ugly story, I had to wait.

I
just hoped that when the time came, it wouldn't be too late.

As
always, I slipped out of Nina's room after she fell asleep and returned to my
room. I'd grown used to my nightmares since the plane crash, but I knew tonight
would be filled with more than usual. Over and over, I was haunted by the image
of Taylor and my father standing over two dead bodies. I got less than an
hour's sleep total, tossing and turning until I woke up in a cold sweat twice
before I just gave up and got ready for work.

I
stood in the kitchen hoping coffee would undo what my lack of sleep was working
hard to accomplish, but even the caffeine in the special blend Rogers bought for me wasn't able to do the job. My eyelids drooped heavily as I leaned
against the center island, my day ahead and all that I'd learned in Pennsylvania weighing on my mind.

My
eyes closed, but I felt a hand touch my arm and I looked around to see Nina standing
in front of me, her expression full of concern.

"Hey,
are you okay?"

I
shook the grogginess from my head and forced a smile. "I'm fine. Good
morning." Bending down, I kissed her softly on the lips. "Sleep
well?"

She
stroked her fingertips down my tie. "Better than you, I'm guessing since
I'm not sleeping standing up. I thought only horses did that."

"I'm
fine. Long day ahead of me."

Nina
wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into her. "I'm worried about you.
Why don't you ever stay with me all night?"

I
couldn't tell her the truth—that I wasn't sure she was ready to see the real
me, the man who suffered through each night with nightmares, sometimes just one
but other times dozens. Would she even want me if she knew I was so fucked up?