Arching one dark eyebrow, he grinned. “Only with the ones who don’t understand my orders and those who’ve kissed my fiancée without my permission, Ms. Edwards.”
“Tristan…”
He angled his head toward Daryl and whispered, “Nina, we still need to talk to Daryl and Jensen.”
“Then we’ll discuss the whole situation with West and Varo later?”
“We can discuss my issue with West later, princess. Right now, we have two people waiting.”
Usually when Tristan called me that nickname, I took it as a term of affection, but now the edge in his tone said princess was just his way of expressing his jealousy over Varo. Getting the hint, I looked over at Daryl and pasted a smile on my face.
Grinning back at me, he asked, “So how are the happy couple doing today?”
Directing his attention to the driver, Tristan softened his voice from how it had sounded with my bodyguards and smiled. “Jensen, as always, I’m nothing but pleased with your service. I want to thank you for handling your job admirably, especially with what I’m sure was a stressful drive from the groundbreaking yesterday. I’ll be heading into the city soon, so I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”
Nodding his head, Jensen smiled meekly. “If I may say so, it’s nice to have you back, Mr. Stone.”
For the first time since he sat down, Tristan’s smile was genuine as he listened to Jensen. “It’s good to be back. Thank you.”
The driver was dismissed with another thank you, and we were left alone with Daryl, who seemed to be practically bubbling over with eagerness that morning. I hoped he had some information to help us figure out what the hell was going on and how we could stop Karl.
“Let’s get down to business. What have you found out about Cardiell?” Tristan asked, immediately confusing me.
“What’s Cardiell?”
Tristan looked up at me and smiled another genuine smile. “I forgot you haven’t been with us with all this.” Turning to face Daryl, he said, “For Nina’s sake, give us the Cliff Notes version of Cordovex and Cardiell.”
“Got it. Cordovex was a heart drug approved by the FDA a few years ago, and it seems that it wasn’t as good at keeping heart patients healthy as it was at killing them. Eventually, Cordovex was pulled from the market, but the company which produced it, Rider Pharmaceutical, still held the patent to it. Fast forward to earlier this year and now Rider has a drug named Cardiell out. The problem is they’re the same drug. Chemically, they’re the exact same, which means a drug which was killing people before is back on the market.”
“What does this have to do with Karl and why he wants to hurt either of us?”
Daryl nodded. “Good question. Your father mentioned Cordovex in his notebook Tristan has, so I began digging and found out what I told you. We think Karl is behind the break-ins at Tristan’s homes, all except here, and he’s looking for that notebook. Your sister gave him copies of the notes he had on Victor and Taylor’s wrongdoings, but she didn’t give him anything on those notes that come after in your father’s notebook.”
“Why?”
Tristan squeezed me gently. “Because your father didn’t make copies of those pages. Karl doesn’t know that, though, or doesn’t believe it, which is why I made sure Kim and her family are hidden away so he can’t find them.”
“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.”