Nikolas by Faith Gibson Page B

complete. He opened the window and studied the photo associated with the passport. The woman in the picture was an American, but she was not Sophia. Instead of Sophia’s light brown hair and vibrant blue eyes, this woman had both dark hair and eyes. If this was a disguise, it was a damn good one. While Nik waited on the information from the bed and breakfast, he called his brother.
    “Nikolas, how are you?” Julian asked instead of saying hello.
    “Same as I was earlier. No closer to finding Sophia. At least I don’t think I am.”
    “What does that mean? Did something happen to make you believe otherwise?”
    Nik explained the honeysuckle, fully expecting his brother to give him shit about following a floral lead instead of a tangible one.
    “Don’t dismiss the possibilities just yet. You don’t truly know your mate or what she is capable of. If, like Tessa, she has been influenced by one of the greatest minds the world has ever known, we have no idea what she has in her bag of tricks.”
    “That is true.” Nik’s computer sounded letting him know the other search was complete. “I have some information to go over, so I’m going to let you go. I’ll talk to you later.” They said goodbye, and Nik focused on the guests at the bed and breakfast. There were no young, single women registered. The only single woman was an older lady named Beatrice Nightingale. She, too, was an American, but she was old enough to be Sophia’s grandmother.
    Nik wasn’t ready to give up, though. He searched the airline logs for Clara Fort. If that didn’t pan out, he would expand his search to neighboring countries. For now though, he was going to take advantage of the small gym in the hotel and hit the treadmill. His shifter was ready to exert some energy, and he couldn’t take to the skies. It was going to be hard to keep the beast at bay until he found his mate.
     

     
    Beatrice was once again enjoying the company of the Waterfords. Everyone except Yvonne. She was being her usual catty self, and Sophia was doing her best to ignore the woman. Garret and Millicent were filling her in on their trip to the pyramids when Sophia became light headed. She took a sip of water and fanned herself as best she could with her cloth napkin, but the feeling wouldn’t go away. The few times she’d felt that way before were when Nik was close by. No frickin’ way.
    “Beatrice, are you okay?” Millicent asked.
    “Yes, please excuse me. I need a bit of fresh air.” Sophia pushed back from the table and hurried to the door of the inn. When she reached the sidewalk, she looked both ways. Nik wasn’t short, but he wasn’t overly tall. Not like some of his cousins. Still, she didn’t see his sandy brown hair walking away. “Get a grip, Brooks,” she chided herself. When she returned to the dining room, Yvonne and Fred were the only ones there. “The youngsters retiring early, huh?” she asked Yvonne with a grin.
    The older lady made a rude noise and continued to sip her coffee. Fred gave Sophia an apologetic look, but she just smiled at him. If he wanted to live with her crappy attitude, that was on him. She knew relationships were hard work, and couples wouldn’t always see eye to eye, but to marry a person knowing they were a miserable human being? That was insane.
    She was lucky, though. The fates had found the perfect life partner for Sophia. Even if they hadn’t spent any time together, she had followed Nikolas Stone around without him knowing it. She watched every news program his family was featured in, and she read every article in which he was mentioned. The only time she didn’t follow was when he went on a date. The last time he’d taken another woman out, Sophia had nearly lost her mind and interrupted the evening just to prove a point. Had she strolled into the restaurant where Nik and the blonde were dining, he would have figured out then and there who his mate was. At that point, she was still under JoJo’s