Remember Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #3)(15)

“At least she said she didn’t love him.”

“I’m going to kill him!”

“Look, we’ve got her back now. We’ll get it all straightened out.”

“That lying little jerk kidnapped her for six months and never told her who she was. She called him her boyfriend. She thinks they’re engaged!”

“Ryan!” Tyson shouted. “Get it together!”

“HE STOLE MY FIANCéE!”

I gasped. I was Ryan’s fiancée? So many things fell into place. The strange looks and reactions from Ryan. Why he was so upset right now. Even a lot of Tony’s behavior over the last six months, and why I could never make myself love him again. I didn’t love him now, because I never had.

“She had no memory!” Ryan shouted. “He didn’t just lie to her; he took advantage of her.”

All the blood drained from my face, and my eyes started to burn as the horrible truth of what really happened settled over me. How could Tony do that to me? He claimed he loved me, but then he lied to me about everything. He manipulated me. He took advantage of my memory loss. The betrayal was so severe I didn’t even feel angry. I was too hurt to be mad.

“If he touched her…if they…if he laid a single finger on her, I’m going to…AGHHH!”

“Ryan, you have got to keep it together right now,” Tyson said again in a much calmer voice. “For Jamie’s sake.”

The stomping and crunching sounds stopped, as if Ryan had quit pacing and was at least standing still now.

“That girl back there has to be so confused, and when she learns how much she’s been lied to by the only person she knows, she’s going to freak. It’s messed up—majorly messed up—but you can’t fall apart. She’s going to need you. She’s going to need all of us, but you’re the one who knows her.”

“Angel?”

I jumped, startled by the voice so close to me, when I’d been concentrating on the conversation far away. Major Wilks was standing at the back of the truck, looking for answers, but it was the cute Hawaiian guy sitting across from me that had spoken. He was frowning in concern. “Are you all right?”

“I…” I realized I was shaking, and couldn’t make myself stop. “I—superhearing,” I whispered. “I know what Tony did.”

I stared at my lap, not wanting to see whatever looks of pity were on all of their faces. I heard my new friend’s soft “I’m sorry,” and my eyes finally brimmed over with tears. Everyone stayed silent after that. There was nothing but the sound of my occasional sniffles.

“Would someone care to explain what is going on?” Major Wilks asked.

A redheaded man cleared his throat and braved answering the annoyed major. “Sir, the Angel just informed us she’s been living with another Visticorp subject since the explosion—Teodoro Vivenzio. He’s been less than truthful with her about who she is, where she came from, and…” The soldier’s eyes flicked to me, and he gulped. “…who she was engaged to prior to the explosion.”

“Romeo didn’t take that news very well,” another soldier muttered.

They were all staring at me, but I couldn’t meet any of their gazes. I may as well have been sitting there naked in front of all of them. I felt humiliated—violated—by what Tony had done. And what was worse, I couldn’t stop the tears from spilling down my cheeks. Now they were all witness to my insecurity, too.

“Angel,” Major Wilks began quietly.

I stopped him before he could say anything. “Don’t.”

Everyone stayed silent after that. When Ryan and Tyson reappeared a few minutes later, my heart stopped. They both took one look at me and froze. Ryan glanced over his shoulder out the back of the truck and turned a sickly green, realizing I’d heard every word. Tyson quickly came to the same conclusion, and cursed under his breath.

“Jamie, I’m so sorry,” Ryan said. “I didn’t want you to find out like that.”

He reached his hand out toward me, and I was so freaked out that I flinched away from him. As a result, I watched his heart break. He tried to bury his pain before I could see it, but he wasn’t quite fast enough. There was a second there where I saw everything he wouldn’t say written on his face.

Ryan loved me. This stranger who I’d only met maybe half an hour ago was in love with me—and not the kind of love Tony claimed to be in, either. With that one devastated look, I knew Ryan’s pain was a million times greater than anything Tony had ever expressed on the many occasions I’d rejected him over the last six months. Tony may have wanted me, he may have been infatuated with me, but Ryan was truly in love with me. Desperately, painfully, tragically in love.

I hadn’t felt more vulnerable since the moment my memory began. Seeing Ryan’s pain, and knowing that he knew so much about me, had a million memories of me that I didn’t have, felt things for me that I couldn’t reciprocate, and had expectations that I could never fill, was all too much. The walls started to close in on me. I was going to burst—explode the way I should have half a year ago.

“We can fix this,” Ryan whispered. “We’ll get it sorted out.”

He sat back down next to me and offered his hand, but I couldn’t take it. I shook my head. I had to stop him before he asked me to live the life Tony had asked me to live six months ago. Before he told me he loved me and asked me to give him a chance even though I couldn’t remember him. I couldn’t do that again. I couldn’t get into another relationship on such unequal footing. I couldn’t give a stranger that kind of power over me again. I wouldn’t.