“You liked that? I can be commanding in other places too.” His gaze dropped to her lips.

She flushed. “Behave. We’re with your family.”

“So?” He grinned, then straightened. “I’ll have the seasonal special,” he told the waiter. He had no idea what it was, but it didn’t matter. It was going to be great.

* * *

The dinner went well from then on. The food at Éternité was to die for. Shane could see why it was such a success. Mark was a freaking genius, although he was sure tons of work had gone into creating a restaurant of this caliber.

He stared at the empty dessert platter. Red and purple berry sauces streaked the pristine white china. “Mom, would you disown me if I licked my plate?”

“I very well might,” Ceinlys said, arching an eyebrow. “I taught you better.”

“Gotta tell you, I’m tempted.” He licked his lips. “So tempted.”

“I’d give you mine,” Vanessa said, her tone serious. “But I’m eating for two now.” She patted her belly.

Justin pushed his dessert her way. Iain made a whip-cracking noise; Vanessa threw her napkin at him, then yelped when he snapped it out of the air and threw it back at her. The table dissolved into general mirth—although no more napkins were launched.

Shane relaxed against the back of his chair. This wasn’t as terrible as he’d thought it might be. Was it because his dad was missing? Or was it something else? His mother was different from what he’d expected. He’d thought she’d be demanding and stiff. Instead, she seemed warm and genuinely happy.

Maybe he’d been wrong to judge his family without giving them a chance.

His phone vibrated. He picked it up and saw the name Dane flash on the screen. What the… He’d left a message days ago, and he was getting a call back now? “Excuse me,” he said, then got up and went to the hall. “Took you long enough.”

“Unlike you, I actually have responsibilities,” came a cold voice. “Now that you’re home, I can cross ‘babysitting Shane’ off my list.”

Shane’s shoulders tightened. “Don’t strain anything with all this brotherly love.”

“Love has nothing to do with it. We’ve all been suffering at home over family dramas. It’s only right that you share in the pain.”

“Asshole.”

“Very original. Now if you’re done with the juvenile insults, I was calling to make sure you’re where you should be, and not lost somewhere in L.A.”

“I’m fine. I’m at Éternité right now.”

“Good. I can’t be there, so I’m sending you a Macallan Sixty Year Old in Lalique. I hope you haven’t lost your palate along with your memory.”

“I’m fine, and the memory’s starting to come back.” Not that he needed it to know that Dane was a dickhead. “Ginger’s been helping.”

“Tell her she can go now. My assistant’s going to set you up with Dr. Marsh.”

“Ginger’s not going anywhere. She’s my fiancée.”

“Ex-fiancée.”

“It was a misunderstanding. We’ve reconciled.” Giving her the ring again would be a perfect finale to the process.

“Really. Because she wasn’t there to work out a misunderstanding or reconcile. She’s already dating somebody else.”

Sudden jealousy exploded in Shane’s chest, stealing his breath. Clenching his hand around the phone, he managed, “You’re lying.”

“Why would I lie about something like that?”

“For shits and giggles? To revel in someone else’s torment? To meet your daily quota of unpleasantness?”

“Fine. Ask Vanessa. She saw Ginger out for a stroll with her new boyfriend.”

Vanessa had seen Ginger with another man? Shane concentrated on breathing slowly as a vein throbbed at his temples. He undid another button on his shirt. Suddenly it was hot in the restaurant.

“But who cares?” Dane was saying. “If you want to take her back, you take her back. None of my business.”

“If she was dating somebody else, why did she agree to come out to be with me?” Shane ground out between his teeth.

“Money. Didn’t she tell you?” Dane named a sum that made even Shane’s mouth drop. “Very few women would say no that.”

Shane ran a thumb roughly across his eyebrow. Of course. Fucking money. Lots of it.

Dane was still talking, but all Shane could hear was a bunch of gibberish. He hung up in the middle of it and pressed his fists against the wall, desperate to punch something.

The idea of Ginger dating somebody else felt like a spike through his heart. The ache in his chest intensified, and he rubbed the spot with the heel of his palm. Why hadn’t she said something? Was money such an overriding motivator for her?

He dug his hands into his hair. Damn it. He should’ve never answered Dane’s call. Then he wouldn’t have known. He could’ve been happy.

Happiness built on a lie of omission.

Another set of images flashed through his mind. His mother in a gorgeous dress… Her hand on another man’s shoulder. She looked up, her mouth curved in a seductive smile. The man responded in kind. She was stunning. What man would say no?

His father watched. His eyes held black rage and pain, but he watched, then pulled another woman into his arms and kissed her like he didn’t give a damn who saw.

His mother saw. Her face twisted. Bleak bitterness filled her eyes. But after she blinked a few times, it was gone. She was again the ever-perfect, ever-beautiful Ceinlys Pryce. She whispered something into the man’s ear. The man put an arm around her waist and pulled her away…

Shane’s gut twisted so hard he almost gasped. Anger and jealousy surged inside him, a powerful and ugly tsunami of bile that threatened to drown him. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think. The walls seemed to close around him.

He had to get out of there before he got sick.

His legs carried him away from Ginger…outside, to where the city lights obscured the stars. He looked up at the hazy night sky and focused. There was a sweet sanctuary where nobody could bother him. He knew it. He could sense it. It was just at the edge of his memory, teasing and tormenting him.

But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t remember how to reach it.

Chapter Ten

“Where’s Shane?” Ceinlys asked.

Ginger shook her head. “He had a call and went out to take it,” she said.

“What could take so long though?”

“Let me check.” Iain left.

After the door closed behind him, Vanessa said, “So Ginger, what are your plans? You’re still with the guy I saw, right?”

“No. We broke up.”

Vanessa opened her mouth a couple of times, then closed it. Justin said, “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I’m not. Dating Robert was a mistake. I realize that now.”

“Before or after Dane contacted you about going to Thailand?” Vanessa asked, apparently having recovered.

Ginger forced a smile. If Vanessa kept treating her like a hostile witness, she wouldn’t be responsible for her actions. “I don’t exactly recall, counselor. Dane had been trying to get in touch with me for a while before he finally succeeded, and I wasn’t keeping track.”

Vanessa rested her jaw in her palm. “I can’t decide what to think of you anymore.”

“What do you mean?”

“You guys were so in love. You were sane and normal, and I was convinced Shane was the perfect guy. Like Dane, Iain and Mark were just practice.”

“Geez, thanks, Vanessa,” Mark said dryly. “You wanna do the ‘Gangnam Style’ song and dance?”

She waved him away. “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but—”

Mark snorted. “Lawyers.”

“Whatever. If it wasn’t for Hilary, you’d still have the romantic attention span of a teenager.”

Ceinlys sipped her wine and said nothing. Ginger blinked. That was so…odd. The Ceinlys she used to know would’ve given Vanessa a tongue lashing in that horribly stiff upper class diction for dissing her precious sons.