I apologized for bumping into the woman and saw the hollow look in her pale blue eyes. Instantly, I knew what she was there for. She and her son were to be the day’s poster children for the success of the Stone Foundation. Cleaned up from what her life was in reality, she was there to act as much as I was.
Looking down at her son, I smiled. “What’s your name, little man?”
“Michael,” he said sweetly. “Michael Williams.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Michael. Are you having a good time?”
“Yeah. We’re going to have lunch soon,” he said with a grin, proudly showing off the space where his missing front tooth used to be.
I lifted my head and smiled at his mother. “Thank you for coming. The Stone Foundation appreciates it.”
She smiled at me and extended her hand to shake mine. “Thank you. I’m Gloria Williams. My son and I are thankful for all the help your foundation has given us. We’re getting back on our feet now, and it’s the help of the people with the Stone Foundation that’s made that possible.”
I didn’t know why, but I felt the need to tell her the truth about how much the foundation wasn’t mine. “It’s actually my fiancé’s family’s foundation. I’m sure he’d be happy to see that it was doing the work it was meant to.”
“Please tell him thank you for us.”
I smiled at the thought of telling Tristan anything. “I promise I will.”
A hand gently touched my shoulder, and I turned to tell Gage that I was fine and didn’t need to be rescued from this woman and her son. I knew he was just doing his job, but neither of these kind souls were a danger to me in any way. Ready to chase him away, I saw instead Karl Dreger standing there looking down at me, one eyebrow arched and making his expression sinister looking. His snakelike eyes peering out of his large head instantly terrified me.
“It’s lovely to see you again, Nina. When do you think you’ll be able to tell your fiancé about the good work the foundation is doing?”
Swallowing hard, I struggled to form any real answer to Karl’s question, my mouth suddenly too dry to allow my tongue to work. Everything we’d done—all the playacting and being seen by the press that had made me feel like a traitor to the man I loved—all of it had been for nothing.
Gage swooped in to whisk me away seconds later, acting more like a lover than a bodyguard and saying something about looking forward to when we got home, but it was too late. I’d ruined everything with my stupid slip up.
By the time we reached the car, I could barely hold back the tears. Gage tried to follow me into the back seat as Jensen started the engine, but I pushed him away.
“Nina, I should be seen leaving with you so people keep believing we’re together.”
“No!” I cried as I tried to close the door. “It doesn’t matter now. I’ve fucked it all up. Karl knows I’m not with you and Tristan isn’t gone for good.”
“It doesn’t matter what he thinks. We need to keep up the act,” Gage protested as I continued to tug on the car door.
“Let me go! It’s over now!” I screamed, forcing him to back away enough to allow me to grab the door from him and slam it shut. Slumping back against the seat, I closed my eyes as the tears began to roll down over my cheeks and sobbed, “Jensen, please take me home. I want to go home.”
As he raced over the roads of Dutchess County, I texted Tristan the bad news. I’m sorry I messed up. I didn’t mean to. Wherever you are, please know I love you and never meant to ruin everything. I’m sorry.
For the first time in all of this, I was scared.
I expected to see Daryl waiting for me when I got back to the house, but there was no one except Ethan who stood trimming the shrubs on the side of the house near my bedroom. Even though I had no idea why, I was drawn to where he was, needing to talk to someone about all the emotions tearing through me after my encounter with Karl. I knew it was ridiculous. He couldn’t even hear me, but it didn’t matter. Maybe it was better he couldn’t hear what I had to say.
He watched me as I walked toward where he stood, putting down his clippers when I stopped in front of him. For a moment, he looked confused, but then he just smiled and I could have sworn he reminded me of Tristan.
God, I was losing my fucking mind.
Signing, I asked, Do you mind if I sit here with you while you work?
He shook his head and smiled again. Very slowly, he finger spelled, T-h-i-s i-s y-o-u-r h-o-u-s-e.
It was. Actually, without Tristan, it felt more like my prison than my house. I still loved it for the memories we’d made here, but now it felt empty without him.