Novels by brownienina81

Tristan’s POV“Damn, Tristan. I thought you were better than this,” Daniel snapped. “We’ve known each other for years, and you didn’t think I deserve to know?”“What difference would it have made if you’d known, Daniel?”“I don’t know.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But this is bad. You have a whole human in your house. Held him captive against his will for eight fucking months. That’s kidnapping, Tristan.”Before I could get a word in, Daniel continued. “And before you give me the bull, ‘he deserves it. He hurt you.’ You have this habit of taking the law into your own hands. I understand what he did, but what if your brother—”“Half brother,” I corrected. “Brother. Half brother. Does it even matter?” Daniel fired back. “What if he had reported you to the authorities? Would you even be standing here to correct me?”“If he wanted to inform the authorities, he’d have done that by now,” I said. “Sure. He would have.” Daniel crossed his arms. “But help me here, Tristan… imagine if h

Natasha’s POVThe chime of the overhead speaker pulled me out of sleep. “Ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to be starting our descent shortly. Please fasten your seatbelts. Flight attendants, prepare the cabin for landing.”I must have been asleep for hours. I glanced at the tracker screen. 11:50 a.m. Groggily, I put my phone and earbuds away. Then I adjusted my seat and fastened the seatbelt. My ears popped painfully as the cabin pressure changed. Out the window, the sky vanished as we passed through the clouds. A few minutes later, the plane taxied and the seatbelt signs went off. I reached for my carry-on and followed the slow line of passengers off the aircraft. Passport control was long and tedious. Afterward, I headed to the baggage claim, found the carousel for my flight, and waited. Twenty minutes passed. Then thirty. Other people’s suitcases kept appearing. Mine didn’t. I checked the tag number again, walked the length of the belt twice, then spoke to an airline agent

Tristan’s POVThe house had felt wrong since the party.I pulled into the driveway later than usual and sat in the car for a moment before getting out. Inside, the dining room was dim. Patricia was the only one there, seated at the table. She wasn’t eating. She pushed around her food with a fork, rearranging peas she probably wouldn’t eat. She lifted her head the moment she noticed me. Her eyes were red and swollen. She pushed her chair back. It scraped harshly against the floor. “Patricia.”She didn’t answer. She just turned and started walking away. I dragged a hand down my face. Natasha’s words echoed in my head. Maybe Patricia needed to know the truth. Maybe not. It had been sixteen years since Julio left her and…A sharp breath escaped me. I climbed the stairs and headed toward Patricia’s room. Knocked on the door a few times. No response came. As I was about to leave, the lock clicked. I slowly pushed it open, stepped in and stood in the center of her room. “What do you wa

Natasha’s POV After my conversation with Tristan yesterday, I’d spent the rest of the day following up on all the emails I’d sent to the Italian brands. This time, it was to request an emergency showroom slot. Only two reached out. Minotti put me on for the Friday slot. Cassina put me on the following Monday. And it was just Tuesday. My flight was three hours away. The cab was already outside when I brought my luggage down. Gary stepped closer. “Don’t worry, Gary,” I told him. “I’m good.”“But ma’am—”“Like I said, Gary,” I cut him off gently. “I’m good.”He nodded once. I rolled the luggage outside. The cab driver helped load it into the trunk. “One minute, please,” I said to him before disappearing back into the house. Back in the bedroom, I slipped my phone, laptop, card and sketchbook into a carry-on bag. Then I went downstairs. I was at the bottom of the stairs when Patricia’s voice stopped me. “Natasha?” I turned around. “Yeah?”Her brows furrowed. “Is everything okay

Natasha’s POVThe last of Mom and Richard’s luggage was tucked into the trunk. Richard insisted I stay home. Mom turned to me. “Do take care of yourself, okay?”“Of course, Mom.” I nodded, then turned to Richard. “Thank you for everything.”He pulled me into an embrace. “Oh, dear. What are you thanking me for? We are family, remember? I just need you to be careful.” He broke the hug and smoothed my hair. “I see there was a lot of tension yesterday. Just remember what I told you. Don’t—”“Lose myself while trying to hold everyone else,” I added. “I hear you.”“Good.” Richard gave a small smile. “And as for Tristan, he’s hurting. From what I heard, he’s had a really rough past, on top of losing his grandmother. That alone is enough to make anyone spiral, but it gives him no right to physically hurt you. So, love, if it ever gets to the point where he—”“No.” I shook my head. “Tristan would never hurt me.”Would he? I didn’t even know what to think anymore. “Of course.” Richard nodded

Natasha’s POVTristan didn’t move at first, then slowly he got to his feet and turned to me. His expression was void. Calm. Too calm. A slow smile crossed his face, like any of this was normal. “My wife is here.” He walked over, pulled me further in and helped me sit. “I need you to meet someone.”My eyes stayed on the man struggling with the chains as I sat. My heart thundered in my ears. Tristan crouched beside me. “Natasha—”“Please, Tristan,” I whispered, tears burning my eyes. “Let him down.”“I haven’t even—”“Please,” I urged.Tristan slowly rose to his feet and made his way toward the man. “I’m only doing this because my wife asked me to.”I didn’t know what Tristan did. All I knew was the man started descending to the ground. The moment his body hit the floor, I sucked in a sharp breath I didn’t know I was holding. The man was breathing harshly. I had so many questions, but right now, I was more terrified of Tristan. He loosened the metal around the man’s neck and looked