I didn't know where I was going or how to get there. As much as I wanted to go to Jordan's, it wasn't like there were parking lots or parking spaces all over Brooklyn and I didn't know where I'd park the car. The thought of driving around for hours hoping to find someone going out in the middle of the night was definitely not what I needed at that moment.
The car was equipped with GPS, so at least I was able to find out how to get to my sister's. Kim's house was further away, but I needed somewhere to go and hide out while I tried to figure out what to do about Tristan. How could I ever believe anything he said after what he'd done?
And how could I ever love the son of the man who'd taken my father from me?
The thought of life without him made me feel empty inside, and I finally let out the emotions I'd been holding in. I sobbed uncontrollably as the car flew by the trees and fields near Tristan's home, the tears blurring my vision in the darkness. In one night, all that I'd had and loved had been ruined. My heart felt like it did the night I found out my father had been murdered.
Empty and numb.
I wiped the tears from my eyes as even more continued to flow. A car headed toward me flashed its high beams, startling me, and as I moved my hand from my cheek to the steering wheel, it slipped off. The car jerked into the path of the oncoming car, and I swerved to miss it, sending my car off the right side of the road. Everything flew by so fast and I was airborne before I could do anything to stop it.
And then everything went dark...
Epilogue
Tristan
"Jenson, find out where the BMW is headed. Now!" I ordered into the intercom as I dressed to go after Nina.
"Yes, sir. Immediately."
Pressing on the intercom button again, I barked, "And Rogers, I want all her favorites on the table when we get back."
"Should I order flowers also?"
"Pink roses. I want only the best and dozens of them. Do you understand?"
Rogers understood more than he let on with his simple answer of "Yes." I heard the madness in my voice and knew he did too. He'd been with me long enough to know there had never been anyone like Nina in my life. I couldn't lose her. I couldn't let what my father had done ruin the best chance I'd ever had for happiness.
"Sir, she seems to be headed toward Pennsylvania," Jenson intoned over the speaker.
Her sister's outside Philly. "Get my car out and ready for me to leave in less than five minutes."
It wouldn't be difficult to catch up to her. As fast as the BMW was, the Jag was faster.
As I thought about what I'd say to her, Rogers appeared in the hallway outside the bedroom. "Tristan, may I ask what you plan to do once you find her?"
"Bring her back, Rogers. She belongs here. With me."
Running my hands through my hair, I checked out my look in the mirror and turned to see him standing in my doorway with his arms crossed, as if he were silently judging me. "What is the look you're giving me?"
"I just have to wonder if it's not a better idea to let her go for the night. Chasing her down on a dark road out here might not be your best move. Perhaps she needs time to let everything you told her sink in."
I'd known Rogers since I was a child and knew full well the concerned tone in his voice was more for Nina than for me. My surrogate father, he'd warned me many times since this all began that she'd run away when she found out. That she had seemed to make him even more smug than he usually was.
"I know what you're going to say. You're going to tell me that I should have told her the truth in the beginning. Well, that wasn't an option. How exactly does a person inform someone that his father killed her father and certain people in his own company want her dead? I had to do it this way."
Rogers' frown deepened. "The problem is that she didn't realize this wasn't going to last forever."
"Fuck you. You don't know how I feel about her. I intend on this lasting forever, so get out of my way so I can find her and bring her back where she belongs."
Storming past him, I felt his hand grab onto my forearm. I stopped dead and stared him down. "I'm not interested in a lecture right now, Rogers. The woman I love is out there and I need to get her back."
He nodded and released his hold on my arm. "Fine. But keep in mind that no matter how much money you have, Tristan, it's not about that for her. I've tried to tell you this all your life. There are some people you cannot buy. She's not like the other women you've been with."
"Which is exactly why I love her. Why are you making me the monster here? It was my father and Taylor who had her father killed. I can't help it I fell for her."
"Tristan, sometimes it doesn't matter what you want to happen. For some, trust broken cannot be mended."
"That's fucking ridiculous. She loves me as much as I love her. I didn't kill her father and once she realizes that I was only trying to protect her, she'll be able to trust me again. Now stop giving me platitudes and make sure everything's ready for her when she returns."
I quickly got to the car and drove out of there remembering Jenson's details on where she was headed. If she changed direction, he'd call me, so all I had to do was drive like a bat out of hell and catch up with her.
The memory of our first night together in this very car replayed in my mind making me smile even as my gut churned in pure terror that what Rogers had said was true. Never before had I wanted to be with a woman and not simply have it be a fuck-her-and-forget-her thing. There was something about the way she never pulled any punches that I loved from that first night. For the first time in my life, a woman made me want something other than just a one night stand. She made me want the rest of my life with her.
That wasn't something I planned to let go without a fight.
Now all I had to do was convince her that I wasn't the bastard she thought I was.
I got the Jag up to near a hundred, letting the V-8 open up and slowing down only on the dark curves, but for miles I couldn't see her. Somehow, I couldn't picture Nina driving much faster than the speed limit, if her actions that first night were any indication, so I should have been able to catch up to her.
Tapping my Bluetooth to answer a call, I heard Jenson's voice in my ear. "She's on Longtree Road, sir. You should be able to find her easily. I believe she's stopped."
"Good! Thanks, Jenson."
A quick left and then a right and I was racing down Longtree, but I still had no sign of her. I got ready to call Jenson to see if he'd gotten his directions screwed up and my phone rang again.
"Hello? Is this Tristan Stone?" a man's voice asked.