And it was evident that the guy truly believed Jim hadn’t been with his girlfriend—at least, that was what Jim’s instincts were telling him, and as they rarely were wrong, he was inclined to trust them. But how long would that last?

Christ, if only he could go back to the night before and leave Devina in that parking lot. Or…shit, just walk her inside where it was warm and let her find some other guy to work out her confusion and sadness with.

Jim shrugged. “You can’t be sure she was with someone.”

A shadow passed over Vin’s face. “No. I can’t.”

“You ever cheat on her?”

“Nope. I don’t believe in that shit.”

“Neither do I.” Strange…for once, lying sent a shaft through Jim’s chest. In truth, he hadn’t cared at the time that Devina was with someone else.

As silence flared again, Jim knew the guy was waiting for another revelation so he sifted through his life, looking for ready-for-prime-time details. Eventually, he said, “I also speak Arabic, Dari, Pashto, and Tajik.”

Vin’s smile was part Cheshire, part respect. “Afghanistan.”

“Among other places.”

“How long did you serve?”

“A while.” He hadn’t been kidding about having to kill the guy if the information exchange went any further on his part. “And let’s end the conversation there, if you don’t mind.”

“Fair enough.”

“So, how long you been with your woman?”

Vin’s eyes went over to an abstract drawing that hung on the wall by the desk. “Eight months. She’s a model.”

“Looks it.”

“You ever been married, Jim?”

“Fuck, no.”

Vin laughed. “Not looking for Ms. Right?”

“More like I’m the wrong kind of man for that sort of thing. I move around a lot.”

“Do you. You get bored easily?”

“Yeah. That’s it.”

The sound of high heels on marble brought the guy’s eyes to the study’s doorway. It was obvious when Devina made her appearance, and not just because that faint, flowery perfume wafted into the air: Vin’s stare went slowly down and then up, like he was seeing her for the first time in a while.

“Dinner is ready,” she said.

Jim looked into the bank of glass across the room and studied her reflection. She was, yet again, poised under a light, the radiant glow making her stand out against the backdrop of the night view—

He frowned. An odd shadow floated behind her, like a black flag waving in the wind…as if she were being trailed by a ghost.

Jim whipped around and blinked hard. As his eyes searched the space behind her…they found a whole lot of absolutely nothing. She was just standing beneath a light, smiling at Vin as the guy came up to her and kissed her mouth.

“You ready to eat, Jim,” the man said.