Page 18 of The Ghost

When the elevator door opened, I found myself face to face with my newest enemy. Ryan Abrams, now dressed like a Dark Sparrow operative, stood with his hands behind his back, a stupid smile on his face.

Suspicion roiled within me. Had he been on his way to the command room? Was he following me, or did he have an appointment with the higher-ups? Neither option was appealing.

“Wells,” Ryan said easily.

“Abrams,” I growled, beyond caring if the man knew I disliked him.

“Do you have a second?” he asked, making room in the elevator.

I held my ground, not interested in being trapped in a metal box with him. He caught my drift and stepped off, leaving us exposed at the edge of the command center. It wasn’t exactly the place I would have chosen to have a confrontation. But maybe that was for the best. The presence of so much technology and manpower would keep us from going for each other’s throats.

“What do you want?” I demanded.

“I want to know the nature of your relationship with Clark,” Ryan said.

“We’re in love,” I answered. But since that didn’t seem to be as definitive as I wanted to be, I added, “She’s mine. Stay away.”

Ryan smirked. “I thought so. Not that she belongs to you, but that you were in love. Pity.”

I grabbed his collar, thrusting him up against the wall. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Do you think I haven’t been keeping tabs on her?” Ryan teased, seemingly unconcerned with my physical aggression.

“From your Russian prison?” I sneered.

Ryan shrugged, a mean feat considering that I had him pinned to the wall. “I had my sources. I’ve been aware of everyone she’s ever fucked since me. And there have been a lot of them.”

I saw red. Clark’s history was her own business, and I didn’t care how many people she’d been with. Ryan was just trying to goad me into doing something I would regret, but I couldn’t think clearly in that moment. For him to suggest that she was somehow less desirable because she owned her own sexuality was preposterous. Everyone knew that sex was part of the game. A mark would see straight through you if you attempted to stand on principle.

I wanted to punch him, to wipe that stupid smile off his face. But instead, I released him and straightened my shirt.

“I’m on to you,” I said menacingly. “You weren’t in any Russian gulag.”

“I’m back in Clark’s life,” Ryan said, maintaining his aura of superiority. “We’ll just see who she chooses.”

“She’ll never chose you,” I snapped.

“Are you sure?” Ryan taunted. “Or are you afraid she might still have feelings for me?”

“She’s smarter than that,” I asserted.

“She wasn’t the first time,” Ryan said, daring me to hit him.

I punched the elevator button again, turning away from the slithering snake in the grass. He had it coming to him, but I couldn’t very well take him to task in this public arena. Despite his claims to Clark’s heart, I knew she wasn’t an idiot. His story about being held captive for years was so obviously a lie that it was pathetic. No one with any amount of experience in the field would fall for it.

I needed to find Clark now. There was no way I was going to hop on a plane and jet off to find Regg without settling a few things first.

Chapter 9

Clark

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WHEN BOTH THEO AND Ryan were gone, I stared at Z, stunned. There were so many thoughts running through my head, it felt like a traffic jam. I couldn’t put my hands on any of them, they were such a tangled mess.

I thought I could sense a recurrence of the grief I’d felt at Ryan’s passing. There was suspicion, of course. Ryan’s statement about being imprisoned by the Russian mob didn’t make sense. There was literally zero chance of him being underground like that for three years, and I found it hard to believe that he wouldn’t have tried to contact me.

My love for Theo was getting in the way. It had taken me a long time to put Ryan aside and allow myself a chance at new love. I hadn’t expected to be forced to choose between them, although my decision was obvious.