Page 43 of My Ghost

“Try me,” he snarls.

“You are insane!”

“You think that I’m insane?Maybe.But I’m protecting you from the ones who want to take you away.”

My fury is now boiling over and I am shouting at him.“I don’t need protection from you.I need space.I need to breathe without you ruining my friendships because you can’t handle someone else talking to me.”

He recoils like he has been slapped.He looks at me with his chest heaving, face grim.“Then maybe you don’t know what you mean to me,” he replies coolly.

That makes me freeze.My hot anger has been replaced with bone-chilling rage.Is he serious?I give him the coldest stare I can muster.“I know exactly what I mean and what Idon’tmean to you.You’ve made that very clear.I’m yourconsultant,that’s it.So back off, you’ve got no say in my life.”

Not waiting for a reply, I brush past him and yank the door open.I need to get out, need to breathe.Preferably not the same air as him.

I don’t look toward Dave when I stomp through the office to the elevator.

On the ground floor, I storm across the lobby, my steps echoing like gunshots.The moment I push through the glass doors into the open air, I suck in a lungful of oxygen.My heart is still racing, my hands trembling, adrenaline fizzing through my bloodstream like poison.

The confrontation keeps replaying in my head and my brain is too fried to make any sense of what just happened.I walk fast, half-jogging down the sidewalk, needing motion, distance, anything to outrun the heat still burning my skin.After a block or two, my pace slows.But the storm inside me doesn’t.

That man…he is robbing me of my last shred of sanity.I can’t do this, I can’t keep—

“Ms.Skye?”someone behind me calls out.

I freeze.I turn around slowly, my stomach flipping.A man in a dark suit approaches.He looks like he is in his late-forties and his strides are purposeful as he steps closer.

“Who are you?”I ask, pulse spiking again.“How do you know my name?”

“Agent Adam Rourke.Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston field office.”He flashes his badge and credentials, then holds out his hand for a shake but I don’t take it.

I scan the ID.It looks real.My blood goes cold.My thoughts fragment.Shit.Shit.Have they found me?

I force my face into a neutral mask.“Is there a problem, Mr.Rourke?”I ask him as calmly as I can manage.

He holds up his hands in a placating gesture.“I want to talk, nothing more.”

“About what?”

“You recently started to work in the building over there, right?The Bastion.”

I nod, careful not to let my face show any emotion.

“We’re looking into the man who owns it.”He lowers his voice.“Matteo Di Rossi.”

Every nerve in my body goes still.

“I’m listening,” I say, flatly.

“We’ve been trying to build a case against him for years.But until now he has been careful, or very lucky.”Rourke leans in slightly.“You’re inside.You might even have access to sensitive information.You can help with the investigation.”

My mind is reeling.The FBI is investigating Matteo.Not me.

“Let me get this straight.”My voice is brittle.“You want me to spy on my employer?”

He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes.“You don’t know who you are working for.”

I almost snort.Of course I know!

“This man is dangerous,” he goes on.“And we believe he’s connected to a trafficking syndicate that calls itself Manticore.”