Images of them pressing their hands hard over her mouth to stop her from letting me know where she was raced through my mind, filling me with the purest fear I’d ever felt. I saw her blue eyes wide with terror begging me to find her. I had no idea who they were or why they wanted to hurt her, but I knew they would.
I tore down the hallway toward our bedroom, but as I turned to enter the room, the door began moving away from me. I stuck my hand out to turn the doorknob, but it was just out of my grasp. “Nina! Come toward the door!”
Suddenly, her voice became clear, and she screamed, “Don’t let them take me, Tristan! Save me!”
I ran full speed at the door, but it continued to move away from me, always just out of my reach. Nina still screamed her plea for me to help her over and over, but I was powerless. No matter how fast I ran, the door never came any closer. I pushed my legs to their limits, my muscles feeling like they were about to explode out of my thighs, but I was too slow.
Finally, a piercing scream stopped me dead in my tracks, and I looked down at my feet to see Nina’s broken body lying there in a heap. Her blue eyes looked up at me so full of pain, still pleading with me to save her. She was so small there, so in need of my protection, and I’d failed her. Her dress hung flat against her hips, a sign that our children were no more.
I’d failed them too.
I fell to the floor and took her in my arms, but she was limp. They’d killed her and our children. They killed them and I couldn’t stop them. Pressing my lips to her cold cheek, I kissed her and as the tears rolled down my cheeks, I whispered, “Nina, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I tried. I swear I tried. Don’t leave me like this. I tried. I tried.”
Chapter Five
Nina
I watched as Tristan gradually began to look like all my pregnancy books said women typically felt. He never seemed to sleep, even though he came to bed each night exhausted. Every day I felt more wonderful than the day before, and he grew more and more worn-down. Finally¸ after weeks of him doing his walking dead impression, he came home with a renewed love of life. He sat down next to me on our bed, barely able to contain his smile.
“Hey, baby. You look like the cat that ate the canary. Did Stone Worldwide’s stock go through the roof or something like that?”
Beaming, he shook his head. “No, nothing like that. Something even better. I have to go to London to handle some business, and I thought it would be a perfect trip for us to take together.”
Tristan began to explain all the places we could visit after he finished working each day. I’d never really had any interest in London, but he made it sound so incredible that I couldn’t say no, even though I wasn’t sure a pregnant woman in her second trimester should be flying halfway around the world.
I took his hands in mine and raised them to my lips in a kiss. “Okay, you’ve convinced me. London it is. When do we leave?”
A look of complete relief washed over his features. “We’ll leave tomorrow. The pilot already has his orders. All I needed to do was convince you. We’ll be there for a week. I can’t wait for you to see the London penthouse. It’s in the West End and surrounded by great museums you can visit while I’m working, accompanied by bodyguards, of course. You’ll love it!”
I hadn’t seen him this excited in nearly a month. This was the side of Tristan I adored more than anything else in the world. When I saw those soulful brown eyes light up in delight like this, I couldn’t help but love him even more. I wanted to make every day as good for him as life was at that moment for me.
“Then I can’t wait! I’m wondering if I should contact my doctor first, though. I am carrying twins, and that isn’t something necessarily commonplace. I don’t want to put them in danger, Tristan.”
Nodding, he appeared to get lost in thought. “Of course, of course. We need to call him tonight and find out. I can assure him that unlike on commercial airlines, I can have a doctor there for you every step of the way, if that’s what you need.” Jumping up from the bed, he moved toward the door as he continued, “I’ll find out who can travel with us right now while you call your doctor. That way, no matter what he says, we’re covered.”
In seconds, excited Tristan seemed to turn to almost frantic Tristan. This wasn’t like him at all. Standing, I grabbed hold of his arm before he raced out the door. “Hey, relax. We’re good. I’m sure the doctor will say everything’s a go. Just give me a little bit since I’m sure I’m going to get his service.”
Taking my face in his hands, he nodded quickly. “This is going to be great for us. Just what we need. Some time away never hurt. I’ll make a few calls so if your doctor says he’s concerned at all, I can assure him it will all be okay.”
With that, he was off and tearing down the hallway to arrange everything for our trip. His enthusiasm was contagious, and as I dialed Dr. Michaelson’s number, sure I’d get his answering service, I had to smile. I was damn lucky to have a husband who surprised me with gifts and trips like Tristan did.
“Hello?” a male voice intoned into my ear.
“Dr. Michaelson? This is Nina Stone. Do you have a minute?”
“Of course, Nina. Are you feeling all right?”
“Oh, yeah. I’m fine. It’s just that my husband wants me to go on this trip to London with him, but I wanted to make sure it’s okay. I mean, I feel fine. I just don’t want to do anything to endanger the babies, that’s all. He said he can have a doctor with us for the trip, if you think that’s necessary.”
“Well, you’re around five months pregnant. Usually I don’t suggest my patients take long trips like that, especially with multiples, because it puts a lot of strain on your legs and feet.”
“Oh. We won’t be traveling commercial, so I’m sure I’ll be able to get up and stretch whenever I need to.”
As I said those words, I cringed a little. They sounded so pretentious. Traveling commercial. Who said that? Before I met Tristan, I’d never even flown on a plane, commercial or otherwise, and now I sounded like some Park Avenue snob.
“I was thinking that might be the case,” Dr. Michaelson said with a chuckle. “I’m doubting the doctor will be necessary, but I think I’d feel better if I knew you had them along. How long will you be gone?”
“Just a week, so not too long.”
“Okay, check in with my nurse when you return, and if you run into any problems, I want to hear from the doctor traveling with you. Other than that, take it easy, rest when you need to, and enjoy your trip.”
“Thank you! I’ll be sure to call the nurse as soon as I get back. Have a great night, Dr. Michaelson.”
I ended my call feeling good about our mini-vacation. If my OB-GYN had been concerned, I would have reconsidered the trip, as much as I knew it would disappoint Tristan. The two souls I carried were everything to me, and if that meant I had to stay home, then I would have for their sake. London would always be there.
“Tristan!” I called as I made my way down the hallway. “Where are you?”
As the last word left my mouth, he came racing toward me with a worried look on his face. “Everything okay?”
“I’m fine,” I said, trying to reassure my suddenly very nervous husband. “You’re like a cat on a hot tin roof tonight. Are you sure everything’s okay with you?”
Shaking his head, he smiled. “I’m sorry. I guess I’m just excited about this trip. What did the doctor say?”
“He’s fine with me going. He likes the idea of a doctor being around, though, so if we have one that would probably be better. It’s the twins thing, I think.”
“It’s all arranged then. We leave tomorrow morning. I’m going to do some work tonight, but you get some rest.”
He turned to walk away, but I grabbed for his hand. “Wait a minute! You just got home. Can’t we at least have some dinner? It’s barely eight o’clock. I’m not tired yet.”
“I’m not hungry. I’m sorry, but I have a lot of work to do. I need to be up-to-speed when I get to London.”
Suddenly, a terrible thought crossed my mind. Tristan was acting weird. Was he doing coke again? Unlike the wife I knew a lot of women would be, I wasn’t going to make myself sick wondering because I wanted to avoid some silly confrontation with him. If he was going to act bizarre, I was going to ask why.
Pulling him back toward me, I asked point blank, “Are you back to doing coke again? If that’s what this acting crazy business is about, I won’t tolerate it, Tristan. I told you I can deal with a lot of things, but a cokehead for a husband and father to my children is not one of them.”
As if my words had alarmed him, he stopped moving and stared down at me. After a long moment, I finally heard him say what I needed to hear. “No, it’s nothing like that. I’ve just got a lot on my mind lately. I promise I’m not back to the coke.”
I wanted to believe him, but I knew there was something else, something more than work or things on his mind. That he wouldn’t or couldn’t tell me about what was troubling him made me sad. “Tristan, no matter what you’re dealing with, you can tell me about it. I’m always here to lean on. I hope you know that.”