Lachlan relaxed. The less anyone knew about Gina the better her chance of hiding from the people trying to kill her. And if Elissa knew her true identity, it saves him having to waste time disclosing it, time they were already wasting, since he wasn’t out tearing down the world trying to find her.
“Of course. Shouldn’t have doubted you.”
Elissa rolled her eyes. “Seriously.”
“So how do you know who she is?”
“Because she told me.”
At that point, you could have knocked Lachlan over with a feather. Gina told no one about herself. The only reason Lach knew her identity was because…
It doesn’t matter. Not right now. He had more important things to focus on, like determining how much Elissa knew and how it could benefit Gina.
“When did she tell you?”
“Well, we were at my place finishing off a couple bottles of wine as one does with a friend, when I got the hankering for cookies, which, sadly, I did not have in the pantry. Nash was out on a job, neither one of us was in any shape to drive anywhere, and I wasn’t going to embarrass myself by having a delivery service only bring me a box of cookies. Again,” she mumbled the last as she cleared her throat. “And that’s when my girl Gina says she’s got us covered if I have half a pound of butter and some flour and sugar lying around, which I did. So, she proceeds to whip upthe bestdamn shortbread I’ve ever tasted. So of course I asked her where she learned to make it, thinking I’d get the standard and trademarked Gina Smith response of, ‘I can neither confirm nor deny where I got the recipe.’ But then she goes and blows my mind when she tells me that she learned it from the chef at, not kidding, Buckingham freaking Palace when she was a kid.”
Lachlan smiled to himself. He knew that story well.
“Musta been the wine,” Elissa continued, “because when I asked her how the heck she pulled that one off, she actually told me who her dad was.” Elissa’s eyes got big. “Mind blown again, but it sure did explain a lot for me.”
“It wasn’t the wine, lass,” Lachlan said. “She trusted you.”
“Trusts. Trusts, Boss. Not gonna talk about her in the past-tense.” Elissa suddenly brushed at her eyes. “And she’s still trusting me to help her, even if she’s too stubborn to ask for it.”
“So, once you knew who her parents were, you put everything else together, didn’t you?”
“I did. I know her real name, I know all the places she lived, right up until I assume she went to the Farm. After that, things get murky, at least for,” she lowered her voice, “Regina Sparda. Though,” And here Elissa’s eyebrows drew together, “Gina lied to me. Like, outrightliedto me back in Hawaii.”
“About what?” Though the boulder forming in Lach’s gut told him exactly what she’d lied about.
“About being married. She said she was never married, but Fia insisted she had an ex, and that he was alive. Once I found out Gina’s real name, it was easy enough to look up marriage records. She was married to a guy named Jeremy Smith but then any mention or traces of Regina Sparda and Jeremy Smith disappear off the internet not long after. I know what happened to Gina obviously, but I’ve been trying to track Jeremy down and I can’t find anything.”
Lachlan clenched his fists. His body shook as he felt heat flush his face.
Elissa nodded. “Yup, thought so.”
“What?” The word came out harsher than he’d intended.
“You’re madly in love with her.”
Why lie?But he knew why—out of old habit.
“Time to cometotallyclean, Boss.”
Lachlan nodded once. Elissa’s smile was full of satisfaction.
“Did you know about this ex?” she continued.
“Yeah, lass, I do.”
“Why did she lie to me about him?” Elissa asked, looking hurt and anxious and scared. “No, wait, don’t answer that. She did it to protect me.”
Lach smiled. “Aye, she did. And if it’s true that he’s alive, it’s up to us to find him before he finds Gina, or she has no hope of ever coming home.”
“Then help me, Lach. Whoisthis guy?”
Lachlan reached for his substitute cigarette. “That’s a long story.”
