West grimaced as if in pain as Tristan dressed him down. I considered coming to his defense since I’d never noticed either him or Varo around me any time I went out, but the sharpness of the rebuke told me to not get involved. Tristan continued to explain how clumsy West had been one day as he’d attempted to spy on the new gardener, delineating each problem he’d seen as the bodyguard’s embarrassment and anger simmered.
“From now on, gentlemen, you are to be neither seen nor heard as you guard the most important person in my world. Am I clear?”
Both Varo and West nodded their understanding of Tristan’s decree and quickly rose to leave when he waved his hand to signal they were dismissed. As they reached the door, he snapped, “And make sure the hole in the fence at the back of the property is fixed. You’re supposed to be our security here.”
Leaning down near his ear, I whispered, “Was it necessary to be like that with them? They’re supposed to want to save me, if I ever need it. I’m not sure after that little pep talk they’d want to get me drink of water if I was in the middle of the desert.”
Turning his face toward me, he smiled. “Don’t worry. They just hate me right now. They’ll get over it.”
I leaned away from him and studied this new Tristan. “Are you always like this with the people who work for you, Mr. Stone?”
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.”