Page 36 of Ghost
“Thank you,” she said, as her fingers brushed his.A thrill raced over her flesh.
He moved around the island with his plate piled full and pulled up the stool next to her.
Her stomach rumbled again, but nerves and anticipation shook her fingers as she picked up the piece of toast.It seemed the safest thing to eat until her stomach settled.“Are you going to eat all that?”she asked, nodding at his plate.
Ghost scooped scrambled eggs and a piece of steak into his mouth, chewed, then washed it down with coffee.“Probably.Do you have enough?”
“I’m fine.That’s a lot.”
He chuckled.“I’m a little bigger than you.”
“A little” was an understatement.Even the fork looked ridiculously small in his hand.
She gazed at his knuckles.“What’s that tattoo for?”
He turned his hand over, and she pointed to the paw print.
As if acting on reflex, he balled his hand into a fist.“Nothing.Just an old pet.”
“A dog?”
He nodded, his head down.He scooped another forkful of meat.
Sadness crawled around her heart.She took a cautious bite of egg, trying to imagine this mammoth of a man with a dog.He was so abrasive and cold—surely he didn’t have enough heart to care for an animal.But clearly he had at some point.
“I’m sorry,” she finally said.He hadn’t said the pet had died, but it was obvious something had happened.“I always wanted a dog growing up.”
Of course, as an adult she couldn’t fulfill that wish.Not with her career.Not when she could be gone without warning for days at a time, or hell, killed, like she’d almost been.
Might still be.
Though that was appearing less likely by the hour.
He took a sip of his coffee.“You mean to tell me you didn’t have a normal childhood?”he said mockingly.
A knife twisted in her stomach.“Not really.”
He was silent a moment.He set down his cup.“Let me guess.Dad left home and your choice of work is your way of rebelling?”
She lowered her gaze, ignoring the mockery in his tone.“Why don’t you tell me about your childhood?I doubt yours was normal.Someone wants you dead, so you’ve done something to piss people off.”
“I’ve pissed off a lot of people.Killed more, I’m sure.But that’s different.I did five tours in Afghanistan, so I guess you could say I’ve got the stomach for violence.”He dipped his chin.“You don’t see women on this side of our business very often.”
She kept her gaze down.In the last couple of days, she’d been assaulted by more memories and emotions than she’d ever faced in the years since she gave up hope of finding her family.Closing that door had been an act of survival.Now that she’d faced death directly, it was almost as if her brain didn’t want to protect her anymore.
“It’s fine.You don’t need to respond to that.At the end of the day, it doesn’t really matter what brought you here.”He cleared his throat.“I’ve been thinking about your question upstairs.About where things go from here.”
She lifted her head sharply, her breath stuck in her throat.
“I plan to let you go.But I need your help.”He leveled his stare at her.“I want you to help me find out who issued the hit.If that means calling—or paying a visit—to your handler, then that’s what we’ll do.I don’t want—”
“Okay,” she breathed.
Ghost cocked back his head and blinked.“That easy?”
She swallowed, nodding.
“Why?Is this some way to trap me?”A laugh rolled from his mouth.
