Fall Into Me (Heart of Stone) (24 page)
Read Fall Into Me (Heart of Stone) Online
Authors: K.M. Scott
It
seemed like I had men everywhere to take care of me except for the one I truly
wanted standing next to me. The memory of those pictures of Tristan came back
to me as I sat alone, and I found myself in the attic next to the trunk that held
those images from so long ago.
I
sat down on the wood floor and lifted the lid. Inside were letters and pictures
from years before. I recognized the large portrait that sat on the bottom of
the trunk. Pulling it out, I propped it against the inside of the lid and
studied it in the faint sunlight streaming into the attic. Instantly, my eyes
were drawn to the left side of the picture where Tristan's father and brother
sat. Hatred coursed through my veins as I stared at their faces. Even though Taylor was just a small child, I hated him. It was almost as if he wasn't Tristan's
identical twin. Nothing about him reminded me of the man I loved. All I saw was
the man who was to blame for that poor girl's death.
Victor
Stone sat behind Taylor smiling and happy. I hated him even more. My hands
began to shake as they clutched the sides of the picture containing the two
people responsible for my father's death. Not just death. Murder. They'd
murdered my father to save themselves. I wanted to scream—to find them and hit
them until they felt like I did when I first heard my father was gone.
But
I couldn't. Fate had punished them before anyone else could. They were gone,
taken from this Earth, and I'd have to learn to live with how much I hated
them.
I
couldn't look at them anymore. My eyes filled with tears at the hatred inside
me. This wasn't who I was, though. I didn't want to hate. I forced my gaze to
the right side of the portrait where Tristan sat in front of his mother. Her
face was placid, but something in her eyes made her look sad. She was
beautiful, her eyes so much like Tristan's now as I stared at them. They seemed
to speak from the silence of the image. Had she known what her husband was
like? Did she ever find out what Taylor had done, or had she remained
blissfully ignorant like many women in her position?
I
understood wanting to be ignorant of the painful facts of life. I couldn't
blame her if she had chosen to believe her husband and son weren't the monsters
they were. I just prayed that she knew how good Tristan was.
Unable
to look at the ones responsible for all this heartache anymore, I placed the
portrait back in its spot in the trunk next to a stack of letters tied with a red
silk ribbon that reminded me of all the notes and letters Tristan had written
me. I ran my fingertips over the handwriting as I read the name they were
addressed to.
Tressa.
Had
they been love letters from Tristan's father to his mother? Tossing them back
into the bottom of the trunk, I closed the lid. I couldn't think about Victor
Stone being someone good and kind. He was a monster, and that was all there was
to it for me.
I
walked back to my room, still determined to at least let Tristan know that I
forgave him. Grabbing my phone, I laid back on my bed and texted him a message,
my fingers saying what my voice couldn't.
I
wish you hadn't left. I wanted to tell you this myself, but I'll have to do it
this way instead. I forgive you. Please tell me where you are so I can come to
you. I don't want this house and the money if you aren't with me. I love you.
For
more than an hour I waited for him to text me back and tell me he loved me too.
He never answered my text.
Tristan
The
sun was just setting as I watched the blue sky change to a deep purple shade I
hadn't seen since my last time here. I'd only visited this place once when I
was a boy. My mother had brought me here with my brother to see a hotel my
father was considering buying. She fell in love with its old world charm, but
he dismissed it out of hand, knowing full well how much it meant to her to play
some part in the business.
The
building had fallen into disrepair in the years since, and it was nowhere near
as beautiful now. No longer a hotel, it was merely a home under construction.
It was the first purchase I made after becoming CEO of Stone Worldwide. I
bought it sight unseen and immediately set about reconstructing it. I'd always
planned on bringing Nina here once the home was finished. I'd had this fantasy
that this could be our summer house and we'd bring our kids here. They'd play
in the yard while she and I watched them from the balcony.
As
I sat in the livable part of the house admiring the darkening sky, I tried to
remember that all those dreams were gone now. Nina had reacted just as I feared
when she heard what I'd done. I didn't blame her. How could I? While my crime
wasn't the same as my father's or brother's, it was still a betrayal and I'd
knowingly committed it, no matter what my intentions had been.
Rogers had been right.
My
chest felt like a weight was pushing down on it every time I thought about him.
As much my father was Victor Stone, he'd been the one I'd turned to for so long
I hadn't seen what he'd become. That he'd chosen Karl and the world I'd sworn
to never be a part of over me and had tried to hurt the woman I loved hurt more
than I could express.
But
his death was as much my fault as the one who'd run him down that night. I
wanted to kill him right there in his room in my home, my hands tightening
around his neck until there was no more life left in him. I wished him dead for
what he'd done—for his disloyalty when I needed him most. For threatening to
hurt the one soul on this Earth I'd ever truly loved.
Nina.
My
thoughts always came back to her. Thousands of miles separated us, yet I could
still smell her perfume each time I inhaled, could still feel the touch of her
hand on mine when I closed my eyes.
I
wondered how she looked when she read my letter, her gentle blue eyes taking in
my words like she had that first night home from the hospital. Had it made her
happy when she found out that she owned that house she loved so much, or had
she thrown the paper away from her in disgust, unwilling to listen to my
apologies even in that form?
Looking
around at the almost empty room I sat in now, I accepted how it all had ended
up. I was supposed to be alone. I'd told shrink after shrink that, trying to
convince them of the reality of who I was while they tried their damnedest to
persuade me to believe that no person was meant to be alone, not even someone
as fucked up as I was.
That
all souls deserved love.
I'd
lost my family, Rogers, and now Nina. Whether or not I deserved it, I was
alone.
I
looked down at my phone, a new one I'd gotten just days before. I knew it was
impossible since she didn't know the number, but every so often I checked anyway
to see if she'd texted to tell me she'd forgiven me, she loved me, or even that
she missed me.
It
was better this way. Nina was safe with West and Varo. She had Daryl looking
out for her and Jensen at her beck and call. She had as much money as she'd
ever need and a home she'd said she'd loved.
Pushing
the phone away from me, it slid across the table and I told myself this was how
it had to be.
It's
better this way.
Even
if it wasn't better this way, this was how it was.
I
slipped one of the letters she'd written me out of my pocket and ran my
fingertips over the words, imagining her hand holding the paper as she wrote
the lines that I read and reread every night. I missed her so much my body actually
hurt. I missed her voice as she asked me dozens of questions and her smile when
she tried to bring me out of my shell. I missed the softness of her lips against
mine when she kissed me and the feel of her cuddled up next to me as she
drifted off to sleep.
How
was I going to live like this for the rest of my life now that I knew what I
missed?
I
leaned over, pulling my phone toward me, and turned it on. I ran my finger
across the screen, but it didn't change the picture. Maybe it was a sign.
Staring at it, I tried to talk myself out of what I was about to do.
But
it was no use. I had to try.
I
lightly dragged my fingertip across the screen, bringing it to life this time,
and pressed until the only contact I had saved came up.
Nina.
I
miss you.
Pushing
the phone away, I watched it, my eyes fixed on it for her text back. I hadn't
told her who I was, so she might never reply. Maybe that's what was supposed to
be.
I
waited for what seemed like hours, although it was likely just a few minutes,
before I gave up hope and closed my eyes, silently telling myself this was what
I deserved. This was my punishment for my crimes.
Pulling
the phone back, I opened my eyes and saw a message come in.
Please come
home. Don't leave me here all alone.
I
didn't think it was possible for my heart to break more, but just seeing those
words made it feel like someone was tearing it out of my chest. She forgave me,
yet I couldn't go home now.
I
love you. If I could return, I would.
Texting
Nina had been a mistake. Wishing for something that couldn't be was bad enough.
Wishing for something that could someday happen was worse.
My
phone lit up with another text.
I love you, Tristan. I don't know why you
left, but whatever it is, we can handle it together. Please come back to me.
I
didn't answer her. I couldn't tell her I wasn't coming back, as much as I
wanted to. I couldn't hurt her again. As I beat myself up for wanting what only
she could give me, my phone lit up again with her final message.
I'm
not letting you go. I won't let you give up on us, Tristan. If you won't come
to me, I'll come to you. Even if no one helps me, I'll find you again.
TRISTAN AND NINA'S STORY CONCLUDES IN
GIVE IN TO
ME
COMING SOON!
Be sure to visit K.M.'s Facebook
page at
https://www.facebook.com/kmscottauthor
for all the latest on Tristan and Nina, along with giveaways and other
goodies! Check out her
blog
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Other books by K.M. Scott:
Crash Into Me (Heart of Stone
#1)
Love sexy paranormal romance? K.M.
writes under the name Gabrielle Bisset too! Visit Gabrielle's
Facebook
page
and her website at
http://www.gabriellebisset.com/
to find out about her books.
Vampire Dreams Revamped (A
Sons of Navarus Prequel)
Blood Avenged (Sons of Navarus
#1)
Blood Betrayed (Sons of Navarus
#2)
Longing (A Sons of Navarus
Short Story)
Blood Spirit (Sons of Navarus
#3)
The Deepest Cut (A Sons of
Navarus Short Story)
Blood Prophecy (Sons of
Navarus #4)
Blood & Dreams Sons of
Navarus Box Set
Stolen Destiny
Destiny Redeemed
Love’s Master
Masquerade
The Victorian Erotic Romance
Trilogy
