Page 80 of Crossing Lines

“Now that, I can do.”

When Zeki hangs up, I go to the pool house to find Nate. He looks up from the screens when I enter.

“Everything okay?” he asks.

“Do you have any update on the repairs on my house?”

“Yes, everything is going according to plan, but we’re still a month out, if not more.”

Shit. If she doesn’t want to be with me, I’ll have to move somewhere temporarily while the repairs finish.

I mutter my thanks and head for the kitchen to wait for Zeki. On the dining room table, something catches my eye—a folded piece of paper. I quickly read the note from Nina, noticing the ink smudged in random places, as if she was crying while writing it. A rush of relief sweeps over me. At least she wrote and didn’t leave without a goodbye. But even with the note in hand, there’s still a weight in my chest, an emptiness. I don’t know where we stand, or what’s even wrong. It kills me to think that she doesn’t trust me enough to tell me what’s happening.

With a sigh, I send her a message asking her to call me when she lands.

Chapter 21

Nina

Elodie and Aria keep shooting me concerned looks while we sit around a table on Aria’s private jet. Looks I conveniently ignore.

“You’re going to have to tell us eventually what happened,” Aria says.

“No, I really don’t,” I say.

“Nina,” Elodie says seriously. “We’re worried and need to know what’s going on.”

I sigh and close my eyes. “I’m not ready to talk about it right now.”

“Did Evren hurt you?” Elodie asks.

“What?” My eyes pop open. “No, he didn’t do anything.”

“Then how did the presentation go?” Aria asks casually.

I wince, and they both zero in on myexpression.

“It was bad?” Elodie asks, surprised. “Glam Pop is stupid if they can’t recognize your talent.”

“I don’t know what they think of my designs.”

“What do you mean?” Aria asks.

“I left before I could give the presentation.”

“And why the fuck would you do that?” Elodie asks.

“I’m not ready to talk about it. Let’s wait until we’re with Stella.”

After that, I pretend to sleep so that I don’t have to talk anymore. Eventually I must fall asleep for real, because I jolt awake when we land.

A car whisks us from the airport and to the city. I’ve never been to Europe before and Berlin doesn’t disappoint. It’s a mixture of sleek and old all at the same time.

“Where are we?” I ask as we walk up to a neoclassical apartment building complete with security, a doorman, and a sleek lobby.

“Mitte,” Aria says. “It’s where Berlin began in the twelfth century. In my opinion, it’s the best part of the city. Come, Stella’s already at the apartment.”

We enter an elevator where Aria swipes a card on a keypad before pressing the button for the top floor. When the doors open, I suck in a sharp breath. Sometimes it’s easy to forget that Aria is a billionaire, but not in moments like now.

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