Page 56 of My Ghost

“Why, Matteo?”She doesn’t back down, and I am impressed by her grit.“Why me?Why now?”

Because you’ve been haunting me from the day I saw you and I’ve been unable to think about anyone else.

Because you drive me fucking insane.

Because I need you more than the air I breathe.

I’ve tried to stay away, to leave you untouched by the darkness shrouding my life.But now that I have you in my grasp, I can’t let you go.

Because you have been mine since the moment I laid eyes on you.

“Why not?”I shrug.Coward.

“Because…” She lets out a long breath, as if preparing to explain quantum mechanics to a toddler.“For one, it’s illegal to detain people against their will.Secondly, what you are imagining, this”—she waves her hand from me to her—“thing between us, it’s not real and it’s wrong.And thirdly, it’s even more immoral with you being in a relationship.So let’s stop this before someone gets hurt.”

Me in a relationship?What does she mean?I frown.

“I don’t have anyone except you, little ghost.”How could I?She’s the only one I want.

She sends me a cool look.“You really think I’m dumb, don’t you?Don’t lie, I saw you with Jade.I saw all her clothes in the closet.”

“Jade?I’m not in a relationship withher.Why the fuck would I?”I am getting fucking pissed.

She is glaring at me again.“Well whatever you label your…arrangement, bottom line is, you have someone.And it’s none of my business, unless it makes me the other woman.And I won’t do that.”

“There is no other woman, goddamnit,” I grit out between my teeth.Then it hits me.She saw me coming out of Jade’s apartment the other night.Jesus Christ, what a fucking idiot.Jade was right.

“What you saw the other night was me leaving after updating her on something I’m helping her with.I’m not sleeping with her, if that’s what you’re thinking.She’s my employee and a friend.”

She narrows her eyes at me, and suddenly my heart kicks in my chest.

Is she…jealous?I want to grab her, kiss her, fuck her until she sees that she is the only one for me.

She snorts.“You sure looked cozy for just a work relationship, and you keep her clothes in your condo.”

That’s it, my patience snaps.

I jump up, round the kitchen island before she can move and grab her arm to drag her after me through the bedroom into the closet.I release her so suddenly she stumbles back a step.My hands fly to the rack of clothes, yanking them off the hangers and throwing them to the floor at her feet.

“Do they look like Jade’s clothes to you?”I snarl, my voice low, dangerous.She freezes, wide-eyed and wary.

I can feel myself spiraling, but I can’t stop now.“Look at the goddamn labels, Erin.Jade is, what?Five-seven, five-eight?Does this look like something that would even fit her?”

Her gaze flickers to the tags but she doesn’t move to touch them.

“These,” I hiss, my voice breaking into something rawer.“I had them brought here the day after I found out you were the Ghost.The damn labels are still on.”

She gapes at me now.

I need to fucking breathe, to clear my head before I do something I might regret, like showing her just how deep my obsession with her goes.So I turn on my heel and stalk out of the room and out of the condo.

Chapter Thirty

Erin

I gape at him in shock, mind reeling from what he just told me.

Then he spins around and stomps out of the closet.Seconds later, I hear the front door slamming shut.