Page 5 of Ghost
My attention narrows in front of me at a man tucked away at a table. Half of him is hidden behind a laptop. When he straightens, my next breath catches in my throat.
I don’t notice his green eyes or his sharp jawline. Instead, I’m eyeing the scarring on his throat, pale marks that travel beneath the neckline of his tank top, spreading to his shoulder in violent-looking gash marks.
He looks like he met the Grim Reaper and came back from the dead. Is that why he’s called Ghost?
Then, he gets up, and I see there’s more damage. Wearing a pair of shorts, one of his legs is fine. The other, nonexistent. Replaced with a chrome-like replicant.
“What the fuck?” His face warps into anger as he storms in my direction. Glaring past me at my captors, he reaches out without warning, capturing my wrist between his fingers. For the first time in the last hour, I feel warmth, and my heart does this little flutter at the growl that brews in the back of his throat. “You didn’t have to be rough with her.”
“Diesel got kicked in the dick.” Kansas explains my struggle like it’s an excuse. When Ghost glares at him, he stumbles on his words. “We got her here, didn’t we?”
While the man in front of me ignores them, I feel his eyes on my wrist. His thumbs graze the red lines from how tight my bindings were.
Thisis the guy who had me kidnapped? He’s not like anything I’ve seen before, and that’s not just because my father purposely kept me away from men.
I have no idea what is happening, but this person will help me piece the mystery together.
3
Ghost
She’s more beautiful in person. Her ocean-colored eyes are wide like a doe’s, and there are a few strands of hair clinging to her cheeks that I desperately want to tuck behind her ears. The best I can do is fold my hands together, barely stopping my fingers from twitching as they’re intertwined together.
I don’t want to scare her, not any more than these two have already done.
Diesel takes Kansas with him, not staying long enough to hear any form of appreciation. Then again, I’m not exactly thankful after watching the scene of them manhandling her in front of the cameras.
Thin red lines glow in my peripheral, and I just want to rub them until the marks on her pale skin disappear.
“Where am I?” Gaining strength in her voice, her brows pinch together as she settles uncomfortably on the other side ofthe table. Now that she doesn’t have two walls of muscle behind her, she freely looks around, drinking in our surroundings.
Rubbing the back of my neck, I hesitate to answer her. Information is everything, and giving it freely has never been a habit of mine. Will the truth even matter to her? She’s where she needs to be, the best place she can be.
“You’re safe,” I tell her first, grimacing at the irony with injuries contradicting me. “From your father and your fiancée.”
God, the word makes my blood run hot. I don’t even want to call him that. Nothing’s set in stone, not without a ring on her finger.
“How do you know about that?” Her eyes widen, and she looks startled. Is it because I know more than she can imagine, or because the man she’s promised to scares her? If she knows anything about Blaze Walker, then sheshouldbe scared.
Our relationship will not start with lies. Not while she’s looking so lost, ready to cling onto whatever information she can get her hands on.
“I’ve been keeping tabs on Pete for a while after we crossed paths in the past to make sure we wouldn’t have anything to worry about, and I happened to discover your existence.” Clearing my throat, heat crawls up my throat. “I’ve kept my eye on you since.”
Her brows lift in surprise, but it’s not disgust that takes over her expression. Twin patches of pink form on her face. “The cameras. Oh my… they’re everywhere. Mybedroom.”
And now, if she didn’t see me as a creep, then she has the right to. “I made sure to give you your privacy.”
Not that she ever did anything. If I could watch her, then so could that bastard father of hers. She always slipped in her bathroom to change or hid inside if she ever needed a moment to herself.
My words aren’t enough to help reassure her, and she hides her face behind her fingers. “How did you know about the marriage?”
Getting back on topic, I wait until she drops her hands into her lap so I can look into those gems again, even if they’re filled with embarrassment.
“After tapping into Pete’s phone, I kept a close eye on who he was talking to. I just happened to hear the conversation between the two.” Straightening my face to keep my expression from souring, my finger taps against the table. Am I saying too much? Not knowing what Eliza will do the next time she leaves the clubhouse, I’m sure I’m setting myself up for some serious trouble.
If I get locked up, who is going to get me out?
Does she know what Pete is even getting out of this trade? The greedy bastard has to be unhappy with his gracious salary, so he just wanted to wait for the highest bidder to take notice of his sheltered daughter. That, or he owes something to the Crimson Road MC. I’m still trying to put the pieces together.
