Page 30 of The Ghost

I removed my hand again, tactfully, but listened with renewed interest.

“There was a lot of physical therapy, because I was banged up pretty good. They retrained me, and by the time I got my memories back, they were more interested in the things I could tell them about Ashcroft than they were about letting you and me get back together.”

“How long?” I demanded.

“How long?” he asked, brushing a lock of hair off my shoulder.

I snarled. If I didn’t know any better, I would have sworn he was doing it on purpose. He was trying to get under my skin so that I wouldn’t look at his story too closely. I didn’t know what more I could do to broadcast that I didn’t appreciate these romantic gestures. It made me wonder again what I had ever seen in the man, aside from his obvious good looks.

“How long did it take for you to recover your memory?” I elaborated.

“Years,” he said quickly. Almost too quickly.

“And you still didn’t make yourself known?” I snapped.

“I’m here now, aren’t I?” he questioned, as if I had just been waiting around all this time.

“Yes, but why are you here?” I asked him, certain that it was more than serendipity that brought us together again.

“We’re fighting New Dawn,” he replied. “It’s an all hands on deck situation.”

“And how long have you been in fighting condition?” I continued.

Ryan sighed, finally looking away and keeping his hands to himself. “I should have come forward earlier, that’s true. But by the time they let me back into the field, you were wanted for murder. I only heard later that you had hooked up with your MI6 agent.”

“His name is Theo,” I said.

“Right,” Ryan agreed without saying his rival’s name.

“So you’re saying they only let you out a few weeks ago?” I clarified.

“Baby, that’s all behind us now,” Ryan replied, not specifically answering the question.

I straightened in my seat, feeling the heat of anger rising in my belly. This explanation was almost as bad as the Russian one. If he thought I was going to swallow it hook, line, and sinker, he had another think coming.

“Why did you lie to me?” I asked. “Why did you say you were being held by the Russian mob?”

“That was my mistake,” he said. “I thought it would be easier for you if you thought I was being held by hostile forces. I was wrong. I admit that.”

It was a classic bluff. Admit to something less outrageous than the truth and you could steer people away from what was actually going on. The problem was that I knew every bit as much about interrogation techniques as he did. If he thought he was going to bat his eyelashes and get away with anything, he was sorely mistaken.

I shook my head, deciding to level with him. I owed him that much. He had been a big part of my life, and for some reason, I still felt like I should be able to trust him.

“I don’t believe you,” I said, putting my cards on the table.

“Honey,” he began.

“Don’t call me baby, or sweetheart, or honey,” I pushed back. “We’re not together anymore. I’m with Theo.”

“Do you love him?” Ryan asked, as if he really cared.

“Yes,” I asserted. “I do.”

Ryan smirked, as if there was something funny about that. I held my tongue, but inside, I was screaming at him. He shouldn’t be allowed to play with my heart that way. Either be honest and accept the fact that I’d moved on or ask me to reconsider, but it was irresponsible of him to pretend that my new boyfriend was a joke.

“Theo has never once let me down,” I said, trying to sound more authoritative than I felt. “If he had been injured, he would have found me.”

“That isn’t fair,” Ryan objected. “Didn’t I just tell you that I had amnesia?”