Just Deserts - Brenda Jackson [44]
Danielle raised a brow. “How exclusively designed?”
“To the tune of a half million.”
“What!”
“Yes, I understand it was six carats.”
Danielle shook her head. Tristan could tell she didn’t want to believe it. “Where on earth did he get that kind of money?” she asked, stunned.
“Chris and I figured it was part of the loot that he embezzled from Alex’s family’s company.” Tristan paused before adding, “The jeweler was also paid to design his wedding band and hers.”
He knew Danielle was taking it all in before she asked, “Was the jeweler able to provide Chris with the woman’s name?”
“No. But he was able to provide him with the name of the restaurant where Marc told the man he’d proposed to her. Because of his own wedding and then the honeymoon, Chris wasn’t able to follow up on that until this week.”
Danielle inhaled deeply. “And?”
“He visited the restaurant and the man remembered Marc. It seems Marc paid him a large amount of money for the restaurant to be closed that night at a certain time so that only he and his lady friend would be there.”
Danielle blinked. She found it totally unbelievable that the man she thought was her husband for five years and who’d stopped having a romantic bone in his body for the last three of them, had wined and dined this woman. “The restaurant’s in Costa Woods?”
“No, it’s in Dallas.”
Danielle shook her head again. “Marc certainly got around a lot, didn’t he.”
“Apparently.” After a few moments Tristan continued, “The restaurant owner remembered the woman, too. In fact, she patronizes his establishment on a frequent basis. And he’s certain that’s where she and Marc met, which was why he was so adamant about proposing there.”
Silence stretched for a long moment before Danielle spoke. “Okay, just who is this paragon who deserved all of this lavish treatment?”
Tristan studied the contents of his coffee cup for the longest moment and then he looked at Danielle. “Her name is Catherine Hodges and she runs a school not far from the restaurant.”
Danielle was staring at him as if she expected to hear more. He could tell she knew there was more. “Ms. Hodges runs a school for the deaf and blind,” he added.
She raised a brow. “And?”
“She’s blind, Danielle, and has been since birth.”
Danielle paced the kitchen. She was livid. How could Marc stoop so low? Her heart went out to Catherine Hodges, and she couldn’t help but wonder how badly the woman had gotten taken in.
“Dani, you’re going to wear a hole in the floor.”
She stopped and glanced at Tristan. They stared at each other for a long moment and then he stood with open arms and she wasted no time going into them. He held her tight, rubbed her back and whispered that things would be all right.
And then she cried.
He continued holding her, his arms enfolding her in his warm embrace, and she felt comforted in a way she never had before. And then she was scooped up in his arms and he carried her to the bedroom they were now sharing. When they got there, instead of placing her on the bed, he sat down and held her in his arms to let her continue to cry.
He rocked her and whispered that things would be okay and that in the end Catherine Hodges would be okay. Danielle wanted to believe that. She wanted to believe him. When she didn’t have any more tears left to shed, Tristan placed her on the bed and undressed her before undressing himself. Then he pulled her into his arms again.
That was when Danielle realized just how much she loved him. How could she not love a man who handled her with such loving kindness? Such warm and tender care? She had fallen in love with Tristan Adams, her very best friend.
His hands moved all over her with both comfort and passion, and each stroke on her skin unleashed desire of a deeply potent kind. She felt her body tremble in anticipation, felt the area between her legs become heated with a need only Tristan could quench.
Then he lowered her to the mattress