7. Ryder

7

Ryder kept the receipt and dumped the food into the trash. The order had come from the Wok 'n' Roll Chinese restaurant—steamed dim sum, satay chicken, special fried rice, fruit salad with lemongrass syrup, and a styrofoam cup of oolong tea. And there was another love note at the bottom.

My Dearest Queen,

As I send this Chinese feast to your palace, I can't help but think of your regal charm, just as I was captivated in ancient times. May this meal bring a touch of joy to your evening, and I hope it's as delightful as your company.

Until our next encounter.

With love,

Mark A

This guy was out of his fuckin' mind.

"Hey!" Luna pushed past Ryder and began rummaging through the trash. "I'm hungry."

"Then I'll buy you dinner. You're not eating that."

"Why not?"

"Because he could have tampered with it."

"I ate yesterday's food, and I'm still alive."

"This time. You're still alive this time. And don't go downstairs to collect food again."

"I should get the drivers to come upstairs?"

Give me strength. "No, you tell them to leave and take the food with them, and if they dump it on the doorstep like the last guy, that's where it stays."

"Don't you think you're overreacting a bit? I know I was scared when I called you, but if all he's doing is ordering dinner for me…"

"He's not just ordering dinner; he's establishing a pattern. He sends food three, four, five times. You get used to going downstairs and seeing different vehicles, different delivery drivers. The sixth time, he picks a quiet moment, shows up himself, and bundles you into a van. Or slips a sedative into your meal, waits for you to eat it, and then pays a visit to your apartment."

"Thanks, now I'm not just scared, I'm freaking terrified."

And Ryder hated that. But he'd hate it more if she let her guard down and ended up in danger again.

"A little fear is a healthy thing. It keeps you alive. You want Chinese?"

"You're going to invite yourself over for dinner like all that stuff in the restaurant in San Gallicano never happened?"

"I hoped we could talk about it."

"What is there to talk about? You lied about your sexuality, knowing how sensitive I am when it comes to that sort of thing."

"Technically, I never said I was gay."

"Oh, don't you dare." Luna put her hands on her hips, cheeks reddening. With fury, unfortunately. "Don't you dare make this my fault. I remember the whole conversation. You said you and your boyfriend shaved off your beards for a charity fundraiser, I said, ‘You're gay?' and you said, ‘Is that a problem?' And it wasn't a problem, it was actually a relief, and then I find out you were married?"

"I wanted to tell you."

"Really? Was that before or after you let me share your bed under false pretences?"

"Before."

"Then why didn't you? Wait, wait, do you really have three kids and a dog? They live with your wife, but they stay with you on the holidays?"

"I don't have any kids. There was a cat, but my ex-wife kept her."

Luna turned away with a huff, and Ryder felt helpless. Helpless, the same as he had eleven years ago when he'd been trying to hold on to the last woman he'd loved with his whole heart. He'd lost Neve, and although he'd never truly had Luna, the crushing pain in his chest at the thought of losing her made the situation hard to bear.

"Moon…"

Slowly, she turned to face him again, arms wrapped around herself. Defensive.

"When I was little, I always wanted a cat," she said softly. "But Mom's allergic. Or at least, she says she is, but I've never seen her sneeze or come out in hives or anything. I think she just doesn't like animals."

Or they didn't like her. Amethyst Puckett had the personality of a hand grenade.

"Do you still want a cat?"

"Honestly, I'd prefer a dog. They show unconditional love, right? But they need walking, and what are the chances of you letting me go outside?"

"Alone? Not good right now," Ryder admitted, beyond relieved that Luna was talking to him.

"And I don't even have a yard anymore."

"What's happening with your house? Your mom's still living there?"

"And Jubilee. Mom put everything in her name, and now that she's lost her living, breathing ATM, she's digging her claws in and holding on to everything."

As Ryder had known she would. Amethyst was a real bitch, and he was honestly surprised that Luna's psyche had survived the first twenty-six years of her life as intact as it was.

"You have a good lawyer?"

"Emmy found one for me. A woman. I like her."

If Emmy found her, then she'd be no slouch. "If there's a way to get the house back, she'll find it."

"I don't think I'd want to live there again, even if it was possible. If Ron hadn't stolen my money, I'd just buy a new place and move on."

Ryder considered updating her on the Hill situation, but he didn't want to get her hopes up. And when he'd checked in with Ana earlier this evening, they still had no leads on Irina.

"Use these months at the Nile Palace as breathing space. There's no need to decide on your future right away."

Luna sighed as if she had the weight of the world on her shoulders. "Every time I think life is getting better, it just gets worse again. The show at the Nile Palace is the first thing I've done by myself—I mean, not completely by myself, but without Mom—and I love it. But then those notes started arriving, and… I'm sorry I called you. I probably overreacted." She blew out a shaky breath. "Man, I still can't believe you dropped everything and flew here from Virginia."

"I was in Georgia."

"Whereabouts in Georgia? Atlanta? I sang at a football game there once."

"Georgia the country."

"What?"

"Georgia the country, not Georgia the state. I work all over the world."

"Oh." She gave a high-pitched giggle. "Oh. I…I don't even know where that is. Did it take you a long time to get here?"

"Around fourteen hours. It's between Russia and Turkey."

"Oh," she said again.

"Moon, there will never be a time that you call and I don't come."

Luna stared at him for a long moment, and then her face crumpled. Fuck. A tear rolled down her cheek, and he didn't even have a tissue to offer.

"What's wrong? What did I say?"

"Nothing. Everything. It's like having my own superhero on call, except that superhero is a bit of an asshole." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "You flew fourteen freaking hours to bring me a microwave."

"I flew fourteen hours to check for myself that you were okay." Ryder wiped the tear away with his thumb, and when Luna didn't flinch, he took that as a positive. "Can we try again? Please?"

"Try again with what? I have no idea where I stand with you anymore. I know how to be friends with gay guys. Straight men? Well, I generally avoid them. The slightest miscommunication, and they take it the wrong way… It's like tiptoeing across a minefield."

"It doesn't have to be. We can just go back to the way things were between us."

"You don't want more? Because I look back now and all those hugs, the way you kissed my hair… I don't know what it meant."

Ryder was a Navy SEAL—he was used to handling the hard stuff. But an honest conversation with Luna scared the shit out of him. His first instinct was to protect her, to tell her friendship was the only thing he wanted, but he knew that if he lied to her again, that would be the end for them.

"If one day you wanted more, then yes, I'd be interested, but if friendship is all you're looking for, then I'm good with that. At this moment in time, my main goal in life is to see you safe and happy."

"Why? What do you get out of that?"

"What do I get?" It was a good question. "Over the past several months, I've come to realise that my happiness is intrinsically tied to yours."

"But why?"

"Because…" Ryder prepared for her to kick him out of the apartment. "Because a long time ago, I lost someone I care about a great deal, and you remind me of her."

Luna stared at him. She wasn't stupid, and she'd picked up enough pieces of information in San Gallicano to put the puzzle together.

"Your girlfriend? The one who died? I already worked that out."

"Her name was Neve."

"Why do I remind you of her? Do we look the same?"

"A little. She was sweet and sensitive, just like you."

"So that's why you're here? Some kind of saviour complex?"

Now Luna sounded like his therapist. "It's more than that. I enjoy spending time with you, talking and hanging out. You're good company."

"Really? Literally the whole rest of the world would disagree with you."

"Has the rest of the world taken the time to get to know you?"

"No, but…" Luna blew out a long breath. "I won't lie; it's creepy being compared to a ghost."

"Why do you think I didn't tell you?"

"Are you going to keep things from me again?"

"No." Maybe he should tell her why he'd been in Georgia? "Let's order dinner, and then you can ask me anything you want."

"This doesn't mean we can just go back to the way things were. It's not that simple."

"I understand."

But she was agreeing to dinner, and something was better than nothing.

"Don't touch me. No hugs, none of that kissing my hair and making me go all fuzzy."

Kissing her hair made her go fuzzy? Interesting.

"I promise."

"Oh, and don't think you're staying here tonight."

He had hoped, but small steps for the win. He wasn't going to push and risk losing her altogether, not when she was trying to meet him halfway.

"Fine, as long as you keep your phone fully charged and next to you, and you promise to call me if anything makes you uncomfortable."

"Okay. Will you stay nearby?"

"I'll be at the Black Diamond. Let's find a menu and order something to eat—it's getting late."

Luna cast a wistful glance at the trash, and Ryder's teeth ground all of their own accord. He needed to get those notes to Blackwood and beg Hallie to take a look at them. Who the fuck was Mark A, and why had he fixated on Luna? He thought she was Cleopatra come back to life? From what little Ryder knew about Queen Cleopatra, Luna didn't look much like her, and she wouldn't be ruling over a country any time soon.

There were two possibilities. One, the note-writer knew exactly what he was doing, and he was deliberately trying to scare her; or two, he was in the midst of a mental health crisis, and he needed professional help.

Either way, when it came to Luna's safety, Ryder wasn't taking any chances. They needed to find Mark A and remove him from the picture.