“Are they okay?”
Daryl chimed in. “They’re fine. The girls love playing on the beach and your sister and brother-in-law are enjoying a much needed vacation. By the way, I found out that their house has been broken into in the past few months too.”
Tristan started to say something, but my phone vibrated in the pocket of my yoga pants. Taking it out, I saw Jordan’s name flashed across the screen. Showing it to Tristan, I whispered, “I have to take this. I hope you understand. I haven’t heard from her since she left.”
Smiling, he slid his arm from around me. “We’ll wait for you. Tell Jordan I said hello.”
I jogged out into the hallway, eager to hear Jordan’s voice again. “Hello?”
“Hey you. What’s up?” she said with hesitation in her voice.
“Tristan’s back. We just got home.”
“Oh, that’s great, Nina!” The phone fell silent, and after a long pause, she said, “I’m so sorry. I don’t know why I said what I said that night. I was so out of line, sweetie.”
I couldn’t stay angry at Jordan. I just couldn’t. She was closer to me than anyone but Tristan. “It’s okay. I understand.”
“When I finally pulled my head out of my ass, I knew I was wrong. I just didn’t know how to fix it. We’ve never fought over a guy, and I had no right to accuse you of something with Varo, especially since he never even gave a damn about me.”
“That’s not true. In fact, I think he does like you. I have to get back into a meeting with our favorite mountain man, but what do you say to meeting me later this week? We can catch up and put all this in the past.”
“I’d like that a lot. Thanks for being so cool with me since I was the world’s biggest asshole to her best friend.”
I chuckled at her attempt at being self-effacing. “Don’t say that. Anyway, I guess we were due for a big fight. Most friends don’t go years and years without one, so it was time. Let me call you later and we’ll set up a time to get together.”
“Okay. I love you, Nina. Life just wasn’t the same without you.”
“Ditto. I missed you, Jordan.”
As I hung up, my heart swelled from the return of the other person so important to me. My mind raced with all the details I had to tell her, especially about Gage, who I hoped would now have the chance to ask her out. First, though, I had to be at Tristan’s side as we figured out what the hell Karl was up to and how to stop him.
Chapter Thirteen
Tristan
Daryl pointed at me and shook his head. “No more beard. What a shame.” His frown deepened and he continued, “You planning to keep the hair?”
“No,” I said as I smoothed my hair back off my face. “There’s no way I can speak to the board looking like this.”
A deep laugh exploded out of his face. “No Bieber hair for you? So how’s the homecoming? All better now?”
“I’ll be all better when Karl is out of our lives for good. I’m hoping you have something to tell us today because I’m ready to get on with my life and that doesn’t include this bullshit with him.”
Nina returned to stand next to me, and I wrapped my arm around her again to pull her close. This time it wasn’t to make a point like it had been earlier but because I wanted her with me in this. When she’d asked to be treated like an equal partner, I’d immediately dismissed the idea, even if I hadn’t told her that. Equal partner with me meant she was going to have to deal with the vipers and sharks that made up my world. I didn’t want her around them.
The problem was that she was going to be around them as long as she was by my side. The people who would see me out of power at Stone Worldwide would use anything and anyone to achieve their aims, and that included the one person who meant more to me than anyone else in the world. So if she was going to be my wife, I had to let her in and make her my equal.
Looking up at her as she sat on the arm of my office chair, I watched her sweet expression as she talked with Daryl like they were old friends. As closed off and cold as I was, she was open and kind—the type of person the bastards I dealt with every day loved to devour, using her gentle nature against her. Even the thought of that happening to her made my blood nearly boil, and I instinctively squeezed her closer to me.
She looked down at me and smiled. “I guess Tristan is ready to go, Daryl.” Leaning down, she whispered, “And I think you look more like Johnny Depp than the Biebs with your hair like that.”
“What?”
“You know. In that movie Chocolat. He wore his hair like yours is now.”