Page 3 of Lie to Me

Oh fuck, I feel sick.

This can’t be happening.

The guy sitting next to the patient, the guy Skye’s been bitching about, is none other than Marco Romano.

I glance down at the paperwork once more and see that my patient is Robyn Romano, who’s also currently pregnant. I look back at her for a second before my eyes settle on him once more.

I can’t help it. I can’t stop it. I can’t speak. All I can do is fucking stare at him as I stand, frozen in place and helpless to do anything else.

He’s different since I last saw him. He looks older, his dark hair a little longer than it used to be. He’s filled out more, looking perfectly pristine in a no-doubt very expensive suit.

His eyes meet mine and I watch as shock and disbelief take over his face. His eyes widen slightly and his face pales a little, which is basically a full-on meltdown for Marco. He was always good at hiding his emotions, just not good enough. Not from me, anyways.

We stay like that. Eyes locked on each other, no one in the room speaking, no one moving. No one doing a fucking thing but watching each other.

It’s not until the bathroom door opens and a guy walks out that I come to my senses and am snapped out of my reprieve.

“I… um, I… sorry. I’ll be back in a moment,” I mutter before turning and fleeing from the room, getting as far away from Marco Romano as I can get.

Chapter Two

Marco

Present

Istare at the woman in front of me, not sure if this is an illusion and I’ve finally lost my fucking mind or if she’s really here, standing just a few feet away from me.

It’s been ten long years since I’ve seen those piercing blue eyes. Ten years since I’ve heard that angelic voice. She’s the same, yet she’s different.

She once had a lightness about her, a spark in those eyes of hers. Now there’s only something that looks a lot like pain. Probably the same pain that can be seen in mine.

I can’t do anything but stare as she stammers out an excuse to leave before she bolts out the door. And even then, I’m left staring at the spot she stood in as I try to figure out what the fuck just happened.

I made a decision a long time ago that I’d do everything in my power to never lay eyes on her again, because I knew that if I did, I’d never be able to let her go.

“Marco,” my brother barks, pulling me out of my stupor. I turn my head to look at him where he stands at the end of Robyn’s bed. “Fuckinggo.”

Those words finally clue me in that this is, in fact, real and that I need to move.

I spring from my seat and jog out of the room into the hallway. I look both ways, but she’s not out here. I knew the old Sloane better than I knew myself. And if the new Sloane is anything like her, I know she’ll be hiding away somewhere, trying to pull herself together so she can put her masked persona back in place.

I find the nearest women’s restroom and knock on the door before opening it a crack.

Sloane stands at the sink, hands clutching the ceramic as she tries to control her breathing. I step inside the room, but she doesn’t look up to see who’s joined her. She doesn’t need to; she knows exactly who’s just walked into the room.

“Sloane,” I say, my voice a deep rasp even to my own ears. It’s been years since I’ve said her name aloud. Her eyes close as she tips her head down, as if she’s trying to compose herself before she finally straightens and turns to look at me.

I shove my hands in my pockets to keep from reaching for her. It takes everything in me to not just sayfuck itand pull her into my arms.

“What are you doing in here?” she whispers, as though she doesn’t trust her voice not to crack if she speaks at full volume.

“You really think I’d just let you run away without speaking to me?” I ask with a raised brow. “You look good… how are you?”

“I’m fine. You should get back to your wife,” she says and waves towards the door.

Wife?

What the fuck is she talking about?

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