explain it and I can’t make it any clearer than what I’ve already tried to say. I just know that if I go with him, I’m lost. There will be nothing left of me when he’s done.”
She could see the disbelief in Ryan’s eyes. She knew that at that moment he believed she was lost to him, that she’d drifted away and lost touch with reality.
Tess felt as though her heart might shatter into a million pieces of fragile glass. There was no way she was going to be able to reach him. “It’s all right, Ryan. I appreciate all you’ve done for me up to this point. I’ll take it from here.”
She brushed past him, headed for the front of the house and freedom. Ryan fell in step behind her.
“Running isn’t going to solve anything, Tess. They’ll only come after you. Can’t you see that they’re concerned about your welfare.” He grabbed her shoulder, halting her retreat.
Tess whirled around, anger replacing the pain she’d felt a minute ago. “My welfare? You think that man out there, the one claiming to be my father, cares one whit for my welfare?”
She could see a flicker of something, perhaps confusion, maybe even uncertainty, cross Ryan’s face. She knew, without him saying anything, that he was bothered by Flynn’s attitude, too.
“You have to help me understand, Tess. Help me support you. I can’t do that unless you spell things out.” Frustration clouded his face. “All you’ve given me are a bunch of vague, unsubstantiated reasons for believing that Flynn wants to harm you. You have to know on some level how crazy all of this sounds. Give me some hard facts to hang those feelings on.”
But Tess didn’t have anything to give him other than her raw emotions, her deep-seated fear that if Flynn managed to get her to go with him, he’d destroy her. She would cease to exist.
She turned and put her hand on the doorknob, pausing for a moment. “Can you honestly tell me that you trust those men implicitly?” Her voice trembled slightly. “Can’t you put aside your skepticism, your suspicions, for one minute and
Ryan reached out and covered her hand with his. She felt his sincerity, his need to make things right pulse with the heat of his hand. “I want to, Tess, I really do. But you haven’t given me anything. I know you’re hurting right now, but you’ve said yourself that your memory is gone. Wiped clean. How can you trust the feelings you’re having, knowing those feelings could be flawed?”
Tess shook her head, a deep sadness threatening to swallow her whole. He couldn’t trust her any more than she could trust him.
She reached up and touched the side of his face, the briefest brush of her fingertips along the roughness of his jaw. “You should shave,” she whispered.
He reached up and covered her hand with his, holding it to his cheek. The roughness of his skin scraped as he turned his head, his lips pressing intimately against the center of her palm. She felt the scorching heat of his mouth touch the center of her hand, his tongue lightly tracing her lifeline as if memorizing it.
She closed her eyes, savoring the feel of him, knowing that it might be the last time she ever felt his lips on her skin.
She leaned her head forward and touched her forehead to his chest. “Is your job so important to you that you can’t believe what your own heart is telling you?” she asked. “Is it really that easy to sell me out?”
He had no answer.
Tess slipped her hand from his, opened the front door and walked out onto the front steps.
RYAN BRACED HIMSELF against the surge of pain that raced through him at Tess’s comment. His hand dropped to his side. How could he make her understand that he wasn’t selling her out? That he wanted with all his heart to believe what she was saying to him.
He heard the patio door slide open.
“Stop right there, Tessa. Don’t even think of running.”
Ryan saw Tess’s spine stiffen in response to her father’s demand. Obviously Flynn had gotten impatient.
“Stop her, Donovan!”
She shot Ryan a quick glance. “Decision time, Doc. Whose side are you on?”
Ryan held her gaze but addressed Flynn, “I thought I made it clear that you were to wait outside, General. Tess needs to make this decision on her own without any pressure from you. Now back off.”
He could see surprise register on Tess’s face, the slight widening of her eyes and the small arch to one eyebrow. She hadn’t expected him to stand up for her. She had expected him to simply step aside. It hurt to know that she expected him to feed her to the wolves.
He moved to block Flynn.
“There are no decisions to be made, Doctor. Tess is leaving
The arrogance of the gesture grated on Ryan’s last nerve. If the man
When she didn’t immediately obey, a silvery flash of anger darted into Flynn’s eyes. “There’s no need to make this more difficult than it already is, Tessa.”
“This isn’t going to be difficult at all, General,” Ryan assured him. “Mainly because Tess will be leaving with me. If you’re set on her going to see a doctor of your choosing, so be it. But I’ll accompany her to that appointment.”
“Get out of our way, Donovan,” Flynn said curtly. He snapped his fingers at Bloom, and Ryan watched his boss move up to stand next to Flynn. There was a syringe in his hand.
Rage heated Ryan’s insides and he stepped out onto the steps, sheltering Tess with his body. “All right, this has gone far enough. You are not going to take her by force.” He pointed at Bloom. “Put the syringe away. This is not the way to handle things.”
Beside him, Tess’s hands tightened into fists, and he felt her body shift, her weight coming forward onto her toes. She was going into fight mode. The situation was escalating out of control. He needed to get everyone to calm down. To think things through.
“You had your chance to convince her to come quietly. Now we’ll take over.” Flynn’s cold eyes settled on Tess. “Don’t fight me, Tessa. Just let Dr. Bloom give you some medication to help you relax.”
“If you come any closer, I’ll shove that medication where it’ll do the most good,” Tess snapped, moving backward, one step at a time.
The two men lounging against the side of the limo straightened up. They were big, muscular and decidedly mean looking. Ryan didn’t need anyone to tell him that they were the two goons hired to handle Tess if the situation turned physical. Although they were both probably trained in nonviolent-restraint techniques, they looked a little too eager to mix it up.
Tess moved out onto the lawn, and the two men split up, started circling her from opposite directions. She was effectively surrounded, hemmed in. But she didn’t appear overly apprehensive. Perhaps she had no idea what was about to happen.
“Tess, stay near me,” Ryan warned. He glanced at Bloom. “This does not have to happen like this.”
Bloom ignored him, his attention focused on Tess. “Your part in this is over, Ryan. Get out of the way.”
Both men moved toward Tess, but Ryan stepped between them. “Look, I think everyone needs to just chill out.” He motioned again for Tess to step behind him. “You’re scaring her, making things worse. Back off and let me deal with this.”
“I’ve already told you we’re done doing things your way, Donovan,” Flynn snapped. “If you continue to interfere, I’ll have the Chief arrest you. Now move!”
Ryan shot a glance in Chief Cole’s direction. Was the lawman really going to allow this insanity to continue?
Cole stood off to one side, his expression mildly amused. Apparently he wasn’t about to jump into the fray, but he also wasn’t about to put a stop to it. He shrugged. “Sorry, Doc, but the general’s got a point. His papers are in order. Totally legal. He’s got the right to insist that his daughter accompany him. So I suggest you move aside and let him get about his business.”
Flynn darted out a hand, reaching around Ryan and grabbing Tess’s forearm. He yanked her toward him. She screamed and kicked out, her foot connecting with his shin. Flynn grunted but hung on.
Ryan tried prying the general’s fingers off Tess’s arm, but he found himself grabbed from behind, a beefy arm
