“Please tell him that the next time you see him?” Tristan wished he could call Jax right now, but he still had more work to do.
“I will,” Angelo nodded. “Why don’t we revisit this in a few days, once I’ve done my detective work?”
“Now that you’ve confirmed the whispers, I’ll do a little digging too.” The gleam in Marci’s eye had Tristan feeling glad that she was on his side.
Despite the meeting ending in his favor, Tristan couldn’t help but slog through the day, his thoughts consistently on Jax. How did he feel? How bad was his pain? Did he miss Tristan? Was he better off without Tristan?
As The Pointe’s week rolled to a close, Tristan decided to clear his head with a twelve-mile hike in the state forest, but Jax continued to stay in the forefront of his mind, and he almost got turned around on his way back to the parking lot.
Mentally and physically exhausted, Tristan saw a sign for pizza on the way home and perked up, taking the next exit. After placing an order for pickup, he wandered through the town and into a bakery. As he stared into the display case, he tried not to look at the tiramisu because it would only make him sad, and he settled on a piece of chocolate cake.
Once outside, Tristan took a deep breath of the balmy night air. Dusk had fallen, and the streetlights were flickering on, along with the signs on the stores around him. Tristan’s eyes were drawn to the multicoloredDrink Herethat flickered above the picture window of a bar across the street, but they didn’t need to advertise because there were already tons of people inside.
Tristan’s subconscious seemed to notice before he did, because his nervous system went haywire, telling him that he needed to look more closely, and that’s when he dropped the cake.
No…it couldn’t be.
Someone passed Tristan on the street, snapping him out of his shock. Picking up the dessert, he darted into the alley next to the bakery, his hands shaking as he took out his phone and zoomed in on the window, taking several photos of Eve and Derrick kissing.
Suddenly, Tristan had the answer to all of his whys.
Derrick had been targeting Jax because Eve had told him to, and she’d seemed sly, as if she had the upper hand, because she did. She must’ve met Derrick on Valentine’s Day, when she had shown up at The Pointe, and she’d probably used him to keep tabs on Tristan.
And once Eve had learned about Jax, she’d decided to take things a step further.
Tristan couldn’t believe that she’d go so far as to wreck Jax’s job. No, wait, hedidbelieve it. She’d shown him her true colors many times, especially over their last years together, and she continued to do so. Tristan didn’t know if Eve had always been like that or if she’d become that way, but it didn’t matter.
What mattered was clearing Jax’s name and removing Eve from all of their lives.
At the thought of Jax, another wave of guilt washed over Tristan, this one so strong that he almost lost his balance.
The sabotage, lying in pain on the floor, the trip to the emergency room? It had all happened because of Tristan.Hisex had tried to ruin Jax’s career.Hisex had caused Jax all that agony, and Tristan sat at the root of it.
The pizza ad he’d seen on the way home had been a sign in many ways, but he forgot about his order as he stayed in the shadows of the alley, taking pictures and video, capturing all the evidence he thought he needed, because he’d caused this mess and now he had the answers to fix it.
But his confusion built as he watched them. Sure, there had been some canoodling and kissing, especially after a few more rounds, but Eve always initiated. Derrick didn’t seem to like her as much as she liked him, so why was he risking his job? He’d broken the law for her; there must be something else going on.
Deciding to stay until they left, he watched them go from kissing to talking, and Derrick must’ve said something that made Eve angry. Snapping at him, she dramatically put her purse into her lap and pulled out a familiar envelope.
Tristan forgot to breathe. It was the same envelope he’d given her last week, and he needed to concentrate to keep his hands steady as she opened it, handing Derrick some cash, which he quickly pocketed.
Thankfully, Tristan had managed to record the entire exchange before his stomach heaved, and he turned around, inhaling sharply and trying not to vomit in the alley.
Not only had Tristan torn Jax’s life apart, but he’d also been funding the destruction.
Sitting on the dirty concrete, Tristan put his elbows on his knees and bowed his head, taking deep breaths as the guilt tried to suffocate him. Yet he didn’t cry; he didn’t deserve to. He’d shed tearsafterhe fixed things.
He just wished that he had someone to talk to, someone who wasn’t directly involved, which eliminated a lot of people he knew. But not everyone.
Pulling out his phone again, Tristan dialed, and it only rang twice.
“Tristan! How’s it going?”
“Gideon?” he asked weakly, and thirty minutes later, Gideon pulled up behind the pizza place in a minivan filled with video equipment. Thankfully, the passenger seat had been cleared, and Tristan sat, putting his coldpizza in his lap and the disheveled cake by his feet.
Gideon looked him over. “Let’s go for a drive. I’ll take a slice of whatever that is and you can tell me all about it.”
“I still can’t believe she blackmailed you to get to me.” Rain glanced at Mason, who nodded in agreement.
