size, hoping that it wasn’t Varo himself. Thankfully, it was just Daryl, although the look on his face was pure confusion.
“That’s my cue to leave,” Jordan said cheerfully as she grabbed her bag. “Call me later, Nina. I’ll be in prep time right after lunch.”
“Okay. Have a good one filling those kids’ minds with knowledge.”
As Jordan passed Daryl on her way out, her gaze slipped to below his waist and she chuckled. If he had any idea what she was doing, he didn’t show it. Taking the seat she’d just left, he reached into his coat pocket to pull out his little notepad and began flipping through the pages as I sat there stifling my own chuckle.
“We have a few things to deal with today,” he pronounced ominously without looking up from his notes.
“Okay. Hit me with them.”
He continued to flip through the pages of his pad until he reached one covered in scribbles. I was in no mood to try to decipher what he’d written, so I sat back and watched his lips move as he read over his notes.
Daryl stopped reading and looked up at me. Taking a deep breath, he let the air leave his lungs in a slow sigh. “We think Karl is going to start focusing on you. He’s looking for something and we think he’s eventually going to run out of places to look other than this house.”
“Look for what? What could possibly be here that he wants? I thought the problem was the notebook Tristan has.”
“He’s looked through that tablet of your father’s over and over and can’t find anything. If what Karl is looking for is somewhere else, it’s not in Tristan’s penthouse. It’s been ransacked twice already.”
“What?” The word ransacked sent shivers down my spine. That Karl and his goons had turned to breaking into Tristan’s penthouse scared the hell out of me. It also made me feel violated. While the penthouse wasn’t exactly anywhere I’d ever called home, it bothered me that strangers may have gone through our clothes looking for whatever they wanted or trashed the picture I’d picked out for the bedroom.
“It’s okay. They didn’t do too much damage, but it’s obvious that they were looking for something and didn’t find it.”
“So you think Karl and his people are going to come looking here?”
Daryl gave me one of his rare smiles and shook his head. “Don’t worry. The security system Tristan had installed is first rate, and Varo and West are always nearby to make sure you’re safe.”
“Then why are we talking about this, Daryl? I don’t understand what the problem is if I’m safe.” He hesitated, making me nervous. “What? You just said Varo and West keep me safe. I’m not?”
“You are. We just think that might not be enough. Tristan thinks you need to make it seem like you’re, uh, living your life.”
“We think? Tristan thinks? What are you talking about, Daryl? You’re freaking me out.”
He looked away and then turned back to face me. “Tristan thinks it would be best if you made it seem like you’ve moved on.”
Daryl’s words hit my brain and suddenly it felt like the room was swimming around me. Moved on? My hands began to shake at the very thought of moving on without Tristan.
“What the hell does moved on mean?” I asked in a scared voice. “Are you saying Tristan isn’t coming back?”
“No, no, no. Nothing like that. Just that you need to pretend that you’re with someone else now so Karl can think that Tristan’s dead.”
My jaw fell open as I stared at Daryl, who acted like he’d just said something entirely reasonable. Was he saying Tristan wanted me to pretend to date another man? Had I heard him correctly?
“I can see by your face that I might have said that wrong. It’s just that Tristan doesn’t want you to be in danger and if Karl believes you’ve moved on…”
I didn’t let Daryl finish his sentence before I blew up. “I’m not doing it. I don’t care what you and Tristan think is best. I’m not pretending to be