“It was a misunderstanding. We’ve reconciled.” Giving her the ring again would be a perfect finale to the process.
“Really. Because she wasn’t there to work out a misunderstanding or reconcile. She’s already dating somebody else.”
Sudden jealousy exploded in Shane’s chest, stealing his breath. Clenching his hand around the phone, he managed, “You’re lying.”
“Why would I lie about something like that?”
“For shits and giggles? To revel in someone else’s torment? To meet your daily quota of unpleasantness?”
“Fine. Ask Vanessa. She saw Ginger out for a stroll with her new boyfriend.”
Vanessa had seen Ginger with another man? Shane concentrated on breathing slowly as a vein throbbed at his temples. He undid another button on his shirt. Suddenly it was hot in the restaurant.
“But who cares?” Dane was saying. “If you want to take her back, you take her back. None of my business.”
“If she was dating somebody else, why did she agree to come out to be with me?” Shane ground out between his teeth.
“Money. Didn’t she tell you?” Dane named a sum that made even Shane’s mouth drop. “Very few women would say no that.”
Shane ran a thumb roughly across his eyebrow. Of course. Fucking money. Lots of it.
Dane was still talking, but all Shane could hear was a bunch of gibberish. He hung up in the middle of it and pressed his fists against the wall, desperate to punch something.
The idea of Ginger dating somebody else felt like a spike through his heart. The ache in his chest intensified, and he rubbed the spot with the heel of his palm. Why hadn’t she said something? Was money such an overriding motivator for her?
He dug his hands into his hair. Damn it. He should’ve never answered Dane’s call. Then he wouldn’t have known. He could’ve been happy.
Happiness built on a lie of omission.
Another set of images flashed through his mind. His mother in a gorgeous dress… Her hand on another man’s shoulder. She looked up, her mouth curved in a seductive smile. The man responded in kind. She was stunning. What man would say no?
His father watched. His eyes held black rage and pain, but he watched, then pulled another woman into his arms and kissed her like he didn’t give a damn who saw.
His mother saw. Her face twisted. Bleak bitterness filled her eyes. But after she blinked a few times, it was gone. She was again the ever-perfect, ever-beautiful Ceinlys Pryce. She whispered something into the man’s ear. The man put an arm around her waist and pulled her away…
Shane’s gut twisted so hard he almost gasped. Anger and jealousy surged inside him, a powerful and ugly tsunami of bile that threatened to drown him. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. The walls seemed to close around him.
He had to get out of there before he got sick.
His legs carried him away from Ginger…outside, to where the city lights obscured the stars. He looke
d up at the hazy night sky and focused. There was a sweet sanctuary where nobody could bother him. He knew it. He could sense it. It was just at the edge of his memory, teasing and tormenting him.
But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember how to reach it.
Chapter Ten
“Where’s Shane?” Ceinlys asked.
Ginger shook her head. “He had a call and went out to take it,” she said.
“What could take so long though?”
“Let me check.” Iain left.
After the door closed behind him, Vanessa said, “So Ginger, what are your plans? You’re still with the guy I saw, right?”
“No. We broke up.”