Who Wants to Marry a Billionaire? (20 page)

       Nina
packed up her few things, and started to head down to the road.  She was going
to take her time, and had told the resort not to bother sending a car.  Now
that she knew the way, it was only another hour’s walk to get back to the
resort. 

       Somehow,
she felt lighter, Nina thought, maybe even happy.  It had been such a good idea
to come out in nature to clear her head. Sometimes one needed to strip life
down, to get rid of all the things people use for distraction, all the things
that create confusion.  Just the essentials: enough food, enough shelter,
enough.  Life wasn’t improved by excess, she realized.  Life was improved by
doing meaningful things—and life was improved by love.  That was it.  She felt
hope rise up in her heart, and began skipping and leaping down the rocks.  The
world was a beautiful place again. 

Chapter Thirty Eight

       Arturo             was
glad to have his wife, Isadora, back home, and over lunch had poured out his
heart about all the sad goings on, and how disappointed he was in Daniel, and
how sorry he felt for Nina.  He told her about his job offer to Nina, and then he
realized he hadn’t seen Nina since walking her back to the cabaña.  Kissing his
wife, he told her that he was going to go check on Nina and invite her to come
have dinner with them that night.

       Not
finding Nina at her cabaña, Arturo wandered by the pool, although he didn’t
really expect to find her there.  He asked at reception and the restaurant if
anyone had seen her, and everyone shook their head no.  Then he thought perhaps
she’s gone to do something to take her mind off things and went to the
activities office.  The manager told him that Nina had gone out on an overnight
backpacking trip, but that she was due back at any time.  Satisfied, Arturo
went to check on other business around the resort, and it was nearing dark when
he decided to go look for Nina again.  He stopped first at the activities desk
to see how long she’d been back, but the manager admitted that it had slipped
his mind, and that he hadn’t seen her. 

       Thinking
perhaps she had gone straight to her cabaña before returning her equipment,
Arturo went there, but found it dark and locked.  Once again he called and
wandered around, but still no one had seen her.  He called Isadora and relayed
his concern, and she cautioned him to not jump to conclusions, but if she
wasn’t back within the hour, someone should go looking for her.

       Arturo
went to the veranda of the restaurant to have a coffee and wait, as it afforded
a good view of the road.  An hour had almost passed when someone else came up
the road in a jeep.  It was Daniel DeVere.

       Feeling
his temper starting to burn, Arturo tried to calm himself and see what Daniel
wanted.  Perhaps he was merely coming for his belongings and would be gone
again.  But when Daniel saw Arturo, he walked straight to him.

       Looking
up at Daniel, Arturo face was a carefully composed blank.  “I think you need to
leave Daniel.”

       “Arturo—Señor
Calderon, I’d like the chance to explain some things to you.”

       “I don’t
think there is anything more to discuss.  And frankly, I’m quite concerned
about Nina.”

       “I know
her heart must be broken.”  Daniel felt a steely chill whisper through him.

       “Don’t
flatter yourself so.  She went out backpacking yesterday, and she hasn’t
returned.  She should have been back several hours ago.”  Arturo stood up.  “I
need to go find her.”

       “Please—let
me come.  If she’s in trouble…I couldn’t bear it.”  Daniel’s voice cracked.

       “Maybe
you should have thought about that before you made a fool of us all in my
pool.”

Arturo wasn’t
giving Daniel an inch.   “Now if you’ll excuse me.”  Arturo turned to leave.

       “Wait,
please, please let me go.  I have to make things right.”  There was such an
edge of agony in Daniel’s voice that it made Arturo stop. 

       “You have
one chance Daniel—one chance to make things right with Nina, and then you are
gone.”  He studied Daniel’s crumpling face unsympathetically.  “Stay here.  I’m
going to go get some flashlights.”

Chapter Thirty Nine

       Boris
poured himself a shot of vodka and held it up to the light.  It looked so pure,
so innocent, just a clear liquid, but it was a liquid that could fuel a merry party
or cause the destruction of lives; a liquid to sip alone as one contemplated
difficult things, or a liquid one used to make a Molotov cocktail.  Things are
never exactly as they appear, and it was a fact of life that Boris detested. 
He hated secrets.  Secrets were what drove him from his native land, his secrets
and those of others.  Most secrets were less damaging in the clear light of
truth, but some, some secrets perhaps needed to stay buried forever.

       Tossing
the vodka back, Boris splashed a little more in his glass.  He was not proud of
what he was doing, but it had to be done.  Daniel and Nina had to be reunited.
He had let Elsa stew in her own juices all night and all day.  Now it was time
for the coup de grâce.

Chapter Forty

       Nina felt
a bit of dried blood at the back of her head and realized that she must have
been unconscious, as it was almost dark.  She had a splitting headache, and her
ankle was throbbing like the dickens.  She sat up gingerly, and drank some
water, then found her flashlight.  She pulled up her pants leg to look at her
foot, and the amount of swelling was frightening.  She tried to stand up, but putting
the slightest bit of weight on her foot sent her into agony.  She lurched over
to a rock and sat back down.  What to do now?

       The
activities office knew where she was, and they knew when she was expected
back.  Someone was sure to notice eventually, Nina told herself.  The main
thing was not to panic.  Even if she had to spend another night out, she
certainly wasn’t going to die.  She had plenty of water, and a couple of cheese
sandwiches.  Things could certainly be a lot worse.  She propped her swollen
foot up, and tried to remember what had happened.  Her last memory was flying
down the rocks.  She must have slipped and hit her head.  Her fingers gently
probed the knot at the back of her head, and she wondered if she might have a
concussion.  She didn’t feel sick to her stomach, so that was good, but she
seemed to remember that you shouldn’t go to sleep if you’ve had a head injury. 
At least she’d brought her book, and some extra flashlight batteries.

       For the
moment, though, Nina sat with her chin in her hand.  She wondered what the
universe was trying to tell her.  Not that she really believed in fate, but she
wondered if she should be hitting the pause button to reconsider her future. 
She closed her eyes and the image that came to mind was that of Daniel brushing
her hair.  He had been so sensitive and comforting; why would he ask her to
trust him if all along he intended to be involved with other women?  She didn’t
want to believe he was that shallow and cruel.  And she didn’t want to believe
that she was that much of a fool.

Chapter Forty One

       Daniel
didn’t know how to start with Arturo, but he thought the entire truth was
probably his best bet.  If he could convince Arturo to see that he really had become
the man that Arturo wanted to run Eco-Resort Calderon, perhaps Arturo would put
in a good word to Nina on his behalf.  Deal or no deal, he wanted Nina back.

       “I’d like
to share some things with you, Arturo, and try to separate fact from fiction. 
Believe me I understand that you have reason to not believe a word that comes
out of my mouth, but ask me anything, and I promise I will answer truthfully.”

       Arturo
ruminated on that for a moment.  “Cannes—the donkeys and clowns…”

       “Fact. 
Guilty as charged.  I did absolutely everything they said I did.”

       “The
strip club in Panama City.”

       “That was
a set-up.  Some paparazzi jumped me.  I was out just trying to find someplace
to eat.”

       Arturo
nodded.  “Nina was the girlfriend you told me about the first time we talked?”

       Daniel
cleared his throat.  “That was a lie.  I didn’t meet Nina until later.  I was
freaked out and was trying to make a good impression, so I made up having a
girlfriend.”

       “But Nina
is…was…really your fiancé?”

       This was
the question Daniel was dreading, but if he was going to man up, he had to go
all the way.  “This is…complicated.  I don’t want you to think less of Nina
because of what I’m going to say, and it makes me look like a terrible person.”

       “But?  I
hear a ‘but’ in there,” Arturo said without humor.

       “But I
really do love her.”  It was the first time, Daniel realized, that he had
admitted it.

       “But
you’re not engaged?” 

       “It’s
like this—I wanted to impress you because I like you and respect you, and
because I wanted this deal so maybe my father would respect me a little more. 
That meant looking like I was settling down, so I used Nina’s family and
financial predicaments as leverage to get her to pretend to be my fiancé in
exchange for a cash settlement.”

       Arturo
drew in his breath.  How could someone think of such a thing? “So India?”

       “Theater…except
that’s when I started to realize what a really special and loving person Nina
is…the more time I spent with her, the more I started to become the person that
you and my father wanted me to be.”  A tear started to well up in Daniel’s
eye.  “She’s the kind of woman that makes you a better man.  By the time we got
down here, I started to realize that I was genuinely in love with her.  And
from all signs, she loves me—although we’ve never actually said it to one
another.”

       “The
thing I’m trying to understand is how you could dream up such a mean and
convoluted plan?  Why would you exploit a kind and vulnerable person?  My whole
career has been devoted to trying to make things better for other people.” 
Arturo was shaking his head.

       “I know
this sounds lame, but it wasn’t my idea.  Someone exploited my trust in them
and their advice.”  Daniel wiped at his eyes.  “I can’t even begin to explain
how horrible I feel about it, except that it gave me the opportunity to get to
know Nina.”

       “And the
pool?  I know what I saw with my own two eyes.”

       “Frankly,
I don’t understand it completely.  My e-mail was hacked, and at first that
woman tried to seduce me, but when that didn’t work and I started to leave, she
told me she knew about my deal with Nina.  She threatened to tell you and my
father, and I was so angry I couldn’t see straight because I knew ultimately, I
was responsible for giving an extortionist good material.  I guess when she saw
you and Nina; she just did the most shocking thing imaginable.

I’m not sure
why, unless she was sent by someone trying to blow my deal with you.”

       “Or
deliberately trying to break things up between you and Nina.”  Arturo’s voice
had lost its edge.

       “Arturo,
I can understand if you never want to see me again, and I can live with that
because it’s my own doing.  But I can’t live with Nina thinking that I would
fool around on her.  I want her back.”  His voice broke with emotion.

       “You
swear to me that the incident in the pool was perpetrated upon you?”

       “Yes, god
yes.  I know it sounds ridiculous to say it, but I was the victim…well, and
Nina, too.”

       “But you
have no idea who would do such a thing?” Arturo probed. 

       Daniel
wiped at his nose.  His voice was barely a whisper, as he said, “No.”

       Arturo tried
to process everything as they hiked.  He was silent for some minutes.  “What
are you going to do?”               

       “You mean
with Nina?  Beg, explain, hope—whatever I can do to make her believe I would
never hurt her or cheat on her or exploit her again.”  He tried to get a grip
on himself.  “Do you think she could ever forgive me?”

       “That
depends, I suppose, on whether you can forgive yourself.”   Arturo pushed aside
a low hanging branch, “And in the future you should seek Nina’s counsel and
abandon whomever is giving you such terrible advice.” 

       “How do
you abandon someone that’s like your own mother?”

       “I don’t
know,” Arturo said, “But real love isn’t jealous.  Real love encompasses the
entire world.”

       Suddenly
they popped into a clearing, and there was Nina.  She was lying on her side,
but her eyes were open, and Daniel wondered how much of their conversation she
had heard.  He froze, wanting to rush to her, but unsure of her response.

       “We’ve
been so worried Nina, what happened?”  Arturo asked as he kneeled down.

       Nina
ticked off the events on her fingers, “Well I fell, hit my head, broke ankle,
lay unconscious, and waited for two hours for someone to rescue me.”  She tried
to smile.  “I’m glad you’re here.”

She sat up and
turned to Daniel, “Hi. I suppose I should say thanks for coming.”

       “Nina—there’s
so much I need to tell you, to explain…”

       She shook
her head, “Not now Daniel.  Now is definitely not the time.”

       Daniel
choked back his words. 

       Arturo
watched him, and then just directed Daniel to get on the other side of Nina. 
They each put an arm around her, and she hopped on one foot.  The going was
slow as it was getting full dark, but Nina didn’t complain, she just hopped
along.  After about fifty yards of this, Daniel had enough.  He pushed his
flashlight at Arturo, “For god’s sake, we’ll be out here all night, we need to
get Nina to a hospital.”  And with that, he picked Nina up his arms and carried
her down the rest of the trail.