Chapter 35
Lucia
Two Weeks Later
My mobile rings and I grin. I’m sitting at the bar, by myself once again, drinking a hot chocolate to warm up from the chilly December day while sharing the occasional comment with William. It’s a Friday, and it’s late Kehlani’s time.
“Happy Friday,” I answer.
My gaze flits to the television screen. A scroll on the bottom of the screen reads that the CEO of GSK Pharmaceutical has resigned. She’s the second pharmaceutical CEO to resign in three days.
An investigation into Lumina International is ongoing. Rumors are rampant, but thus far, the truth has yet to be released to the media.
“Happy Friday to you. What fabulous ritzy dinner am I interrupting?”
I snort. It’s true, Tristan has upped his game with reservations at a couple of swanky high-priced, impossible-to-get-into restaurants.
“I’m with William. Want to video?”
“Oh gosh, no. I went to the gym earlier and I’m a sweaty mess. But tell William hello.”
“Khelani says hello.”
He brightens and says, “Tell her to get her skinny arse back here.”
“Did you hear that?”
“Tell him I would if I could.”
“Huh. Still not loving New Jersey?”
“It’s no Geneva. But, I don’t want to talk about me. My life is boring. I want to hear about what new gift you received.”
Every day, I get a new gift. It’s unnerving. For one, I suspect he has an assistant somewhere doing all the shopping, and two, it tells me he comes from a world where money buys forgiveness. That’s not the world I come from.
“Yesterday’s gift was an outfit from Opia, this swanky store?—”
“I know what Opia is. Give me some cred.”
“Yes, well, I didn’t. Anyway, haven’t seen him yet today, but he’s supposed to be meeting me here. Assuming his flight gets in on time.”
“He’s swamped with the case?”
“He is.”
“Hold on just a second…someone’s on the other line.” A click sounds and I sit, stirring the whipped cream in my cocoa.
After we returned home, we both stayed in his apartment and he’d spend the day working from home or at the police station. At Tristan’s insistence, I didn’t go into the office. He said that until all involved parties are identified, he wanted me safe in the security of his building.
Swiss authorities assured him all involved parties have been identified. Mr. Peltz visited us at Tristan’s home and swore he wasn’t involved. However, it wasn’t until a banker by the name of Mr. Haussler was apprehended and Tristan interrogated him that he deemed it safe for me to return to the office.
Tristan’s mother passed away in transit to the hospital. His father has yet to plan any arrangements. Tristan shared others would be in charge of investigating his father’s role, which is a godsend because I don’t believe he has the stomach to investigate his father. I certainly couldn’t investigate mine. Tristan believes his father’s claims of innocence. For Tristan’s sake, I hope his father was blissfully unaware. He has apologized profusely for ever sharing the news of my pregnancy with his mother.
I’m still blown away by it all. Swiss investigators have set up camp in Lumina’s headquarters, and it’s my understanding a similar encampment is occurring in our offices around the world. Company moral has bottomed out. We’re no longer the scientific leaders we once believed we were. Some of us are criminals.
It’s amazing to me the entire story has yet to be leaked to the press, but the details are still being gathered and understood.
A business man in a trench coat sits two barstools down and sets a rolled paper on the bar. He gives me a curt nod.
“Still there?” Khelani’s voice comes through.
“Yes.”
William approaches the man to take his order.
“I’ve got to run.”
“Who’s there?”
“Someone.”
“Khelani!”
“Call me tomorrow and I’ll fill you in.”
“Khelani!” I say, but she ends the call.
William takes the man’s order, and the man turns to me and asks, “Would you care for another?”
“She’s good.” Tristan’s voice has me spinning around and leaping onto him.
“You’re here!”
He catches me and presses his face into the side of my neck, squeezing so tightly it’s hard to breathe. When he sets me down, he cups my cheek. “Can we get out of here?”
He looks absolutely haggard. “Yes, let’s.”
He lays down a bill, far too much for my one drink, utters a greeting to William, and lifts my coat, holding it for me.
The man who offered me a drink watches the rugby game on the screen. He looks like an American business executive.
Tristan ushers me into a car waiting on the curb.
“You have a car?”
“Came straight from the Aéroport. If you don’t mind, can we go home? To my flat?”
“Certainly. You looking to avoid Emelia?”
“Can’t say she crossed my mind, but now that you mention her, no, I’m not quite up to her inquisition.”
“She hasn’t said a thing to you.”
“She says it with her eyes.”
He points his fingers at his own exhausted eyes, and I push up into his side. “I’m glad you’re home.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes. I don’t sleep as well when you’re away.”
“Ditto.” He presses his lips to my temple, nods to William, and leads me to his car.
He takes a call in the car, and the last thing he tells the person on the phone is he’s tapping out for the night. Once home, he toes off his dress shoes and helps me with my coat.
“How have you been feeling?”
“Alright.” I’ve been wearing a bracelet that presses the side of my wrist and it’s done wonders for the nausea.
“Hmm.” He looks down at my middle. “Have you decided?”
I have, but I don’t want to tell him quite like this, standing in his foyer with our shoes splayed out on the tile.
“There is some need to decide.” He takes my hand and leads me down the hallway.
“I know.” I am having the child. We are having a child. But he asked me to move with him, away from Geneva. I would feel more comfortable doing so if I had an income, and I wasn’t dependent on him.
He pulls out a barstool next to the kitchen island, sits and pulls me to stand between his legs. With both hands, he cups my cheeks, then brushes my hair back, and pulls me in for a soft, sweet kiss. He breaks it with a sigh.
“We need to talk.”
I tilt my head, uneasy about where this is headed.
“I wrapped my part of the case today. Others are taking over. I’m based out of London. I can theoretically live anywhere, but London is easier and more central. Move with me. I’ll help you find work. Whatever you want to do. Interpol is an option. Nothing dangerous but there’s office work. Interesting work.” His brow crinkles. “But if you want?—”
I stop him with two fingers over his lips.
“Why nothing dangerous?”
“Because I love you.”
“Is your work dangerous?”
He says nothing, but holds my fingers in place while he playfully bites.
“Double standard is your thing?”
“When it comes to my future wife, yes.”
“I haven’t decided.” Obviously, I’ve decided. I think I knew in my heart I’d move anywhere he asked me to, but everything has happened so fast and I’ve needed to weigh the decision carefully. To watch him, us, as we wrapped our heads around this unexpected event. A commitment. It’s one I’m ready for. A change I’m at a point in my life where I can make, and it’s a decision I believe would earn my mother’s approval.
“Doesn’t matter what you decide. It won’t change the fact I want a life with you. I didn’t have much of a life before you. If you want to stay in Geneva, I’ll make it work. I’ll just have more travel, but we’ll make do.”
“I’ll move.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” We’ve had so many decisions to make, this last one feels remarkably easy. Now. Maybe I needed to hear he was willing to adjust his life for me.
My fingers tousle his hair. He captures my wrist and presses his lips to the inside of my wrist.
And now it’s me kissing him. For the first time in so long, I feel like I’m home.