I Spy

Chapter 13

Seeing Ryan again was a colossal shock to my system, to say the least.  And with everything that had happened to me that night, I was a complete wreck when his beautiful face popped up in the car with my capturers. 

By the time we reached wherever it was we were going, I had a hoarse voice from screaming so much and I had cried so much that I was having trouble seeing straight.  However, we still arrived wherever we were meant to be and Ryan still followed me up to the room where I was dragged to.  Once there, I was able to shove in the chest three times with all my strength before slapping him several times. 

“You little bitch!” I screamed.  “What the hell is your problem?  How can you actually have the nerve to bring me here after everything that you’ve done to me?!” 

“Marley, you don’t understand,” he said calmly with total control. 

“No, I don’t understand,” I spat.  “I don’t understand how someone can be so truly terrible that they would go against everything they’ve ever learned, go against their school, manipulate someone into falling for them and then leave them on a train filled with people trying to kill her after confessing that he’s working for the assassin who has her dad.  Care to fucking explain that?” 

“I’m sorry!” he screamed, finally letting go of his emotions and throwing his hands in the air.  “Do you think I wanted it to be that way?  Do you think that when I got told to make friends with George Jones’ child, Marley, that I knew it would be a girl?  Much less a girl that I would end up falling for?  Do you think I wanted to leave you on that train?  No.  I was terrified, Marley, but it was the only thing I could do.” 

“No it wasn’t!”  My voice raised an octave with rage.  “You could have stayed or tried to help me or something!” 

“If I had stayed I would have had to kill you.” 

“Well I almost did get killed so congratulations,” I said sarcastically. I crossed my arms across my chest.  

“I was going to leave the day you found out about Ant’s ‘death’, but I didn’t know that Mr Grey was going to send me on a train with you to Scotland, Marley.  I wasn’t going to come until Labelle told me that he would personally accompany you to Oban and kill you himself if I didn’t.  I left you on that train to protect you.” 

“I think my near death experience would beg to differ.” 

“I knew Ant was there!  I knew you wouldn’t die and that’s why I left.” 

“I thought you left to protect me?” 

“Do you want to know how much trouble I got in for not killing you?  Do you want to see the scars that Labelle left me?  Hey?” he demanded. 

“You deserve every one of them.”  The resentment in my voice surprised me.  Clearly it surprised Ryan too, because he took a step back and grew silent, every bit of anger on his face replaced with raw pain. 

“I know,” he said softly.  “I deserve to die for everything that I’ve done to you.  I’m a flipping wreck, Marley, and I’m so, so sorry for everything I did.” 

I didn’t know what to say.  I stared at him while he rested his forehead against a wall and banged his fist against the hard surface, sops escaping his mouth every few seconds.  His chest heaved up and down and finally it rose once more as he sighed.  He turned his back to me. 

“Where am I?” I asked softly, sitting down on a chair in the room. 

It seemed to be a kind of meeting room, with about ten chairs in a circle.  The walls were painted grey and a big window was letting in the moonlight; the only other light was a small lamp in the corner of the room on a small table.