“Not true. Rider only had to pull the drug voluntarily. The FDA is nice like that. Then it was just a matter of playing the waiting game for a few years and reintroducing it onto the market. I just had to make sure that reporter was handled. But then you didn’t die in the crash.”
A look of disappointment crossed his face and he shrugged nonchalantly. My living through the plane crash had put a damper on his big plans. At least I could know that even though I didn’t know about it at the time, I’d been a thorn in this fucker’s side.
“But then you disappeared a few months ago and all my plans could be set in motion once again. It was like God was smiling down on me from Heaven. So Cardiell was born, and I had it all, but once again, one of you fucking Stones ruined it.”
Karl’s face turned bright red, and he jumped up from his chair to begin pacing as he rambled on about how he’d been treated unfairly, first by my father and then by me. With every word, he sounded more and more like a madman out of his mind.
It didn’t matter, though. None of his men had returned to report their success in finding Nina and Varo, which meant they’d found a way to escape. As long as she was safe, I could handle anything Karl did.
As long as I believed I’d protected her, I could die with some sense of peace.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Nina
No matter how hard I tugged my arm, I couldn’t break Varo’s hold on me. I had no idea where he was taking me, and with each step away from Tristan, I feared I’d never see the man I loved again. I tried once more unsuccessfully to yank my arm free from his hand around my wrist, but he pulled me harder down walkway, hurrying me to some unknown place.
“Varo, you’re hurting me! Let me go! We need to go back to help Tristan.”
“We’re going to the plane. He’ll meet us there,” he said coldly.
I stopped walking, forcing him to drag me. “No! I won’t go without Tristan.”
For the first time since we left Accademia Bridge, Varo stopped walking and turned to face me. “Nina, I gave him my word that I’d keep you safe. That’s what I’m doing.”
“I don’t care what he made you sign when he hired you. That means nothing to me. We need to go back to help him.”
“I can’t let you do that. This has nothing to do with anything I signed for a job. He asked me before you left to come here to promise that I’d protect you if he couldn’t. I made that promise, Nina. You just have to trust that he’ll be okay.”
I hung my head in frustration. “He’s not going to be okay. Karl’s going to kill him. Why don’t you see that?”
“I can’t help that. I have a job to do, so let’s go.”
There had to be a way to get through to him. I knew he wasn’t the heartless bastard he seemed to be at that moment. That sweet guy who’d helped me when I didn’t think I could pretend to move on had to be in there somewhere.
“Gage, I know this is more than a job to you. You’re a good guy. I believe that in my heart. Please help me save Tristan. He needs us.”
“Nina, I can’t. Tristan needed to be sure you’d be safe. Just trust that he’ll be okay.”
I couldn’t fight him like this. “Do you understand what it’s like to be so in love with someone that you don’t feel like you can go on without them?”
He looked away and said in a low voice, “Don’t.”
“It’s like if they’re not in the world anymore, you don’t want to be either. Like if you lose that part of you, you’ll never be whole again.”
I saw by the look in those dark blue eyes that I was getting to him. He knew what it felt like to lose someone from when he lost Angela. It was a shitty thing to do, but I needed to manipulate that soft spot in his heart if I ever expected to get him to help me.
“Tell me you wouldn’t have given anything to save Angela if someone was trying to kill her. I know you would.”
“Nina, it’s not the same thing.”
“Yes, it is! You loved her, and if she was ever in danger, you would have given your life to save hers. How is that different from this? I’m not asking you to sacrifice yourself, but don’t tell me it’s wrong for me to do. I love Tristan more than I ever thought I could love anyone. Just help me find him. Please.”
He let out a heavy sigh and shook his head. “I can’t let you get hurt, and I have no idea how we can help him. I don’t even know where they took him.”
The thought of Tristan already dead and floating face down in a side canal somewhere made my chest hurt. He might be dead already, but I had to try to find him. I had to save him, if I could. “There has to be a way for us to find him, Gage. He needs us. Please. There’s got to be a way.”