Chapter 6

The man saw me. His eyes widened in recognition and fear. He turned and fled, disappearing into the shadows.

I tried to follow, my hands fumbling with the wheels of my chair.

"Alyssa!"

Brennan' s voice stopped me. He stood in the doorway, blocking my path, his face a mask of annoyance.

"What are you doing out here?" he demanded.

"I saw him," I said, my voice shaking. "Gianna's brother. He was here. He was talking to Debbi."

I grabbed his arm, my fingers digging into the expensive fabric of his suit. "Brennan, you have to believe me. He's back."

The memory of that man's face, of his cold, dead eyes as he held a knife to my throat years ago, sent a wave of nausea through me. Brennan had almost killed him for that. He had sworn the man would never set foot in this city again.

Brennan' s face darkened. "That's impossible," he said, pulling his arm away. "I have men watching him. He's in another country. You're just trying to make trouble."

"I'm not!" I insisted, tears streaming down my face. "I saw him, Brennan. Please. She's working with him."

I was begging, my voice raw with a desperation he no longer cared about.

He looked at me with cold impatience. "I have him monitored 24/7. It's impossible. You're seeing things."

Just then, Debbi appeared, gliding to Brennan' s side. She wrapped her arm around his, pressing herself against him. "Brennan, what's wrong?"

"Who were you just talking to?" he asked her, his voice still hard, but without the bite it had when he spoke to me.

Debbi blinked her wide, innocent eyes. "Just a waiter, darling. I was asking for some water." She tilted her head and looked at me, a flicker of triumph in her eyes.

Brennan' s shoulders relaxed. He looked from her innocent face to my tear-stained one, and his expression hardened into one of final judgment.

He believed her.

I felt something inside me die. He chose her word over mine, without a moment's hesitation. The last ember of hope, the tiny, foolish belief that some part of the old Brennan still existed, was extinguished.

I let go of his arm. My hand fell to my side, limp and useless.

I turned my wheelchair and left them there, a perfect couple framed against the city lights.

As I wheeled away, I heard Debbi's sweet voice. "Who was she talking about, Brennan?"

"Just an old ghost," he replied, his voice dismissive.

A ghost. That's what I was to him now. A painful memory he wanted to erase.

A cold, mirthless smile touched my lips. He had no idea how right he was.

I made my way to the front of the hotel, my heart a block of ice in my chest. I waited.

My phone vibrated. It was Carroll.

"It's time," he said. "The car is waiting at the north entrance."

Freedom. It was so close I could taste it.

I was about to move when a cloth was pressed over my mouth and nose from behind. A sweet, cloying smell filled my lungs. The world tilted, the city lights swam before my eyes, and then everything went black.