Page 6 of Ghost Among Lies

The woman wore her jet-black hair in a sleek ponytail. Her intense gray eyes and scowl did a good job trying to intimidate me. And that look probably worked on a majority of the population, but I had faced down scarier people in my life.

"I didn't give it," she answered dryly.

Talk about a winning personality. I think it was safe to assume whoever the woman was, she didn't make friends wherever she went. "I don't make a habit of answering people I don't know." I shrugged the situation off. Two could play this game.

"That's fine. I have other ways of getting the answers out of you."

Well now, I was intrigued. I leaned in conversationally even though I was sitting at the table, and the two women were standing over me. "Hypothetically speaking. What are these other ways you speak of?"

"I'd start by flaying…"

Sloane slapped her hand over her friend's mouth. "Nope, we're not doing this."

"On the contrary, I would love to hear what your friend has to say."

Was I purposely poking the bear? Yeah, yeah, I was.

Did I fear for my life? Not particularly.

Although, my hackles did rise when I saw the way the woman's eyes flashed with anger. Every protective instinct in my body went on high alert. If it came to it, I would step in to protect Sloane in a heartbeat. I might hate her for what she did to us, but that didn't mean I didn't love her with every ounce of my being at the same time.

"Anita, why don't you wait outside for me?"

Anita. The name suited the woman.

Sloane slowly dropped her hand. Anita didn't take her eyes off me when she answered, "I think I'll stay."

I watched with rapt attention as my ex dropped her chin to her chest and groaned. "You're just going to make this worse."

I was curious why she thought that. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long to find out.

"Most likely. Slaughtering someone tends to be a bit messy and certainly makes matters worse."

The matter-of-fact tone in which Anita responded was a bit concerning. Something told me it wasn't an exaggeration when she threw out those words.

"You do realize you're in a public building, right? Threats like that tend to be frowned upon by law enforcement. You might not want to say them too loudly."

Anita didn't appear phased by my suggestion. In fact, the next words out of her mouth were further proof she was unhinged. "Don't really care. Besides, I happen to know for a fact I have a good cleaner on retainer who would make the whole ordeal disappear."

Her words gave me pause. Did she know what I did for a living? Was that why she tossed the jab out? Was she trying to see how I responded? I was never more thankful for my poker face than I was right that moment.

"Good to know you have a plan in place." I shoved the chair back from the wooden table and stood up. "As fun as this chat has been, I have places to be." I really didn't, but it was crucial I got away from these two before Sloane realized I was evading the truth. She was the only person in the world who could read me like a book. There had been times when we dated that she knew me better than I knew myself.

Sloane stepped in my way. "You didn't answer Anita's question."

"You're right; I didn't. Nor do I plan to. Now if you don't mind, I'd like you to move out of my damn way before I forcibly move you."

Sloane stared me down. Or more accurately, she stared up at me, since I was a good head taller than her. "You wouldn't dare."

I leaned down and bared my teeth. "You sure about that? Ten years is a long-ass time, and I'm not the same boy who used to worship at your feet."

Yes, I was. I would drop to my knees right now and beg her to tell me what led to her leaving me.

She didn't know that though, and I wasn't about to clue her in.

The standoff lasted for a solid minute before Sloane stepped to the side and let me pass. It wasn't until I put some good distance between us before I spoke, "Just so we're clear. You lost the ability to question me when you walked out of my life. Think about that the next time you want to hunt me down and make threats."

I forced myself to walk away. If I didn't, I would've run back and pulled Sloane into my arms. I knew my words hurt her. That was intentional. I needed to reinforce the walls around my heart that began to crumble the moment she stepped back into my life. If I didn't, I would be setting myself up for heartbreak once again. Because there was no scenario where I got my dream girl.