"okay , what the hellis going on?" i shouted, trying to tamp down the flames already leaping inside me.

"keep your voice down," john, my boss, said, shaking his head in exasperation.

"your walls are soundproof so there's no need for quiet." we were inside his office at psi headquarters, lexis, cody and tanner with us. everyone was seated. except me. i was pounding from one wall to another, too agitated to stay still. "if i don't get some answers, i'll do more than shout!" and they all knew it was true.

so far, i'd managed to keep a tight leash on my super-reactions. maybe because i was numb. a numbness that was due to shattering disbelief. i was a freaking stranger to my own fiance.

i kept replaying his rejection through my mind, trying to make sense of things.

"stop kidding and give me a hug," i'd said to him after his "who are you?" crack. lexis had already taken off to find john, so it was just the two of us. we should have been making out by then.

"i don't want to hurt you, lady, but if you don't move away from me i'm going to snap you in half." he'd ripped free of my grip and gritted out, "john." he looked past me to the door, searching for any sign of our commander.

"rome," i'd said shakily.

he ignored me. "john! get in here. what's going on?"

"rome, you're scaring me." even when he'd planned to neutralize me, he hadn't spoken so coldly.

his irritated gaze swung back to me. "is this a joke? who the hell are you?"

"i'm belle." my chin quivered, the words emerging as a horrified whisper. "your belle."

"you aren't my anything."

he meant it. more than his voice, there was a coldness in his eyes i'd never seen before. well, not directed at me. scrims, yes, but never me.

icy tears ran down my face. "how can you not know who i am? we're getting married!" he stared over at me, the coldness finally melting - only to spark into anger. "the joke is now officially old. you can leave."

at last, john entered the room, an annoyingly triumphant lexis beside him. "you rang?" he asked drily.

"must say, i'm glad to see you're awake, but your timing stinks. i was in the middle of an interrogation."

"why is this - " when rome noticed lexis, he smiled slowly, happily, his question clearly forgotten. it was the kind of smile i'd dreamed of receiving. "there you are," he said. he even held out his arm for her, and she rushed over to twine their fingers. "i've been worried about you." nausea churned in my stomach as they cooed at each other, doing all the things rome and i should be doing. what was happening? i almost couldn't process it.

"you were worried about lexis?" john asked, as confused as i was.

"of course." rome's gaze never left his ex as they continued to coo.

john cleared his throat. "okay, you two. that's enough. do you know who you are, rome?"

"telling him his name kind of defeats the question," i muttered. i wasn't in a good mood.

"of course i do." he cast a pointed make-her-leave glance at me. "and i'd like to talk to you.

privately."

me, leave? i wanted to die.

"she's one of us." john pursed his lips. "she stays. now tell us who you think you are."

"it's okay, darling," lexis said, petting his bare shoulder. "you can speak freely." i wanted to kill.

rome nodded stiffly. "who am i, you asked. i'm agent rome masters, psi elite."

"excellent." john clasped his hands behind his back. "and you remember lexis." that earned another earth-shattering, "of course," which caused lexis to exhale with relief. and smug satisfaction, if i wasn't mistaken.

"but you don't remember belle?"

"who?"

oh, god, oh, god, oh, god.

"i'll explain later. first tell me if you remember tanner bradshaw," john said.

again, "who?"

clearly not.

as john continued to question rome, it became all too apparent that the only things he'd forgotten were me and all things pertaining to me. it was as if i'd never entered his life. as if he'd never loved me.

why? it made no sense.

john propped his elbows on his desk, the ensuing thud jolting me from my terrible thoughts. he rested his chin in his flattened palms. he had thinning gray hair, wore thick bifocals when he forgot to apply his contacts and had a slightly rotund belly. despite all of that, he managed to radiate intense power.

he probably had a superpower, but i didn't know what it was. and yeah, i'd pestered him for the info about a million times, but he was the most secretive man i'd ever met. which was smart, i guess. if you didn't know what he could do, you couldn't guard yourself against it.

"i've talked to rome some more, explained who you are to him," john said. "at first he thought i was doing some sort of test, trying to gauge his reactions. but there at the end he accepted what i was saying as truth. that didn't change his mind about you, though. you're a stranger to him. a...nothing, much as i hate to say it. i'd lock you guys in a room, force you to talk it out, but a simple conversation or even a knock-down-drag-out fight isn't going to fix this. his memory of you is gone, which means his feelings for you are, too."

i nodded for him to continue, though i hated his every word. sadly, everything he'd said i had already figured out.

"the man lexis saw jump inside rome's body, well, we think he was a memory eraser."

"that would explain why i lost some of my memories, too," cody said.

i stopped pacing for a moment and gaped at him. "you don't remember the man, but you do remember me."

two damn days had passed since rome had woken up and looked at me like i was a strange horned alien. two damn days of john promising to learn more, to provide me with new information but getting nothing. finally, i'd called this meeting because - my hands fisted at my sides - rome had been released.

physically, he was fine and yeah, he'd been quite vocal about getting back to work. but had he come home to the woman he was supposed to cherish for eternity? no! he'd remained on the premises to be close to lexis. god almighty, that still hurt.

"besides that," i added through clenched teeth, "rome remembers lexis." the way they'd comforted each other those first few moments after he'd woken up...my hurt sharpened around the edges, slicing me so deeply i knew i'd bear the internal scars for eternity. "why doesn't he remember me? " from the corner of my eye, i saw lexis peer down at the floor, perhaps hoping to hide her smugness.

lately, she wore it like a cloak.

tanner, bless his heart, looked ready to bitchslap her.

"belle, listen to me." john's eyes were like lasers as they pinned me in place. "i've spoken with him at length. i think the memories of you were somehow tangled with his memories of the man who attacked him and when one was taken, the other was dragged along for the ride." my stomach twisted into itself, squeezing, churning. "no way. no damn way that's what happened.

one, there's no reason good enough to make me believe every single memory he had of me was tied to that case. two, memories or not, rome should feel something when he looks at me. something besides disdain, that is." more than not remembering me, he seemed to hate me and i didn't know why. if i was a stranger to him, why show me such hostility?

john splayed his arms. "fine. you're right. i was grasping, trying to buy time to sort this out before you cause some kind of disaster."

"you want to avert a disaster? give me something helpful!"

a moment passed before he said pointedly, "there's only one sure way to find out what really happened."

i knew that. all i had to do was find the man responsible and ask him - before i burned him alive. or froze him. or buried him in a mound of dirt. maybe a combo of all three. the nice thing about having power over the four elements was that i had a smorgasbord of choices when it came to torture.

rome would not like these thoughts, young lady. they're violent, and that isn't like my sweet baby belle.

uh, what was my dad doing inside my head?

didn't matter, i supposed. i need you, daddy. i wanted to crawl into his lap and rest my head on his shoulder like i'd done every time a boy had broken up with me in junior high (not that i'd had many boyfriends back then, ugly duckling that i'd been). he was a big teddy bear and when his arms were wrapped around me, i felt invincible. not helpless and alone and tormented.

"i'm sure you've already done this, but if not, send a team back into the warehouse," i told john. "have them search every inch and bring us everything they find. a scrap of paper, a twig, doesn't matter. we need everything." dr. roberts, the scientist who had infected me with my superpowers, had hidden his

"magic" formula on wooden floor planks, the ink invisible until i'd frozen them, causing some sort of chemical reaction. if he'd taught me anything, it was to dig beneath the surface. i'd use my powers on every grain of dirt brought to me if necessary. anything to help rome.

john glared at me. "what am i? an idiot? of course i've already sent a team to the warehouse. they're bagging and tagging every speck of dust as we speak."

"good."

"i wasn't done. furthermore," he continued, "we'll see if i allow you to go through the evidence. you're not objective where rome is concerned, and let's face it, your abilities have been more unstable than usual lately."

"that's because - "

a hard rap suddenly reverberated throughout the room, saving me from having to defend myself. i whipped around, my heart stuttering to a stop. maybe rome had remembered me. maybe he was here, searching for me. i licked my lips, once again barely able to stand still.

behind me, i heard a rustle of clothes. john must have pressed the enter button, because the door slid open.

a uniformed guard stepped inside, a protesting sherridan dragged behind him. my hope burned to ash, leaving a hollow chasm of disappointment in its wake.

"i caught her wandering the halls, sir," the guard said. "what would you like me to do with her?"

"she's with me," i said on a sigh. "let her go."

she spotted me and stilled, her anger fading to relief. "oh, thank god i found you. i can't believe you left me sleeping at home."

no, i'd left her wallowing in her happy place. again.

"i got tired of waiting for you to return, so thought i'd do you a solid, hunt you down and allow you to give me some answers. most of the security guards here are nice, by the way. they recognized me and wanted to help. which isn't asking too much," she threw at the one still holding her. before i could comment on how sweet she was to "allow" me to give her answers, her eyes scanned the room, and she added, "hey, tanner. you look as tense as those marines we saw on those commercials. it's hawt."

"thanks," tanner replied.

her gaze continued to shift before stopping abruptly and narrowing. "lexis, i wish i could say you look hawt, as well, but you don't. actually, the sight of you sickens me." that made two of us.

lexis brushed an invisible piece of lint from her shirt as if she hadn't a care.

"let her go," i repeated to the guard.

bastard waited for john's nod before releasing his charge.

"yeah, that's right." scowling at him, sherridan rubbed her arm. "you better release me or you'll feel the wrath of wonder girl."

wonder girl, another of rome's nicknames for me. my chin trembled.

before john could tell me to tell her to beat feet, i said, "she's now a member of my team. let her stay.

please," i added to placate him.

he opened his mouth to protest.

"i need her. she'll keep me calm since rome can't." or wouldn't. "and don't tell me tanner can do it.

like you said, i'm more unstable than usual. i need all the help i can get." rome had once told me i had hair-trigger emotions. and he'd said it with affection, the sweetie, as if it was part of my charm. oh, god. rome. tears burned my eyes, and a raindrop splashed from the ceiling.

"see!" i croaked to john. "i need help." i had to stop reacting like this, charming to rome or not. it wasn't healthy for me, and it wasn't good for the case.

"we need her, john," tanner said. what he meant was, i needed her. but he loved me enough to fight for me. i wanted to hug him.

several minutes ticked by in silence as john mulled things over. he was a pros and cons man; in this case there were probably more cons. sherridan wasn't trained for covert missions or even combat (to be honest, neither was i) and would therefore be in danger. everywhere we went. she might even place us in danger. but keeping me composed was important.

"lexis?" he finally said.

"she'll survive, she'll even aid," was all lexis said, though her tone was curt.

john nodded, satisfied. "fine. she stays."

as happy as i was that john had just relented, i refused to be grateful to lexis for her part in it.

"have a seat, miss smith. nothing you hear goes beyond this room. understand?"

"yeah, hello. i've seen this movie."

such disrespect. she'd learn. as for john, i wasn't surprised he knew her name, even though i'd never introduced them before. john knew everything. everything except why the love of my life no longer knew who i was.

"wow. the inner sanctum. never thought i'd be allowed here." sherridan's shoulders were squared proudly as she scanned the spacious office, probably noting the expensive oak desk, the plaques on the walls and the massive bookshelves. "hey, there's not a chair for me."

"you can sit in my lap," tanner said. "you know you're always welcome there." i blinked in surprise. that had sounded like the old tanner, the tanner i knew and adored. was he finally healing? or was this an act for lexis's benefit? either way, i was proud of him.

lexis stiffened. cody frowned.

"best seat in the house." sherridan grinned and plopped herself on tanner's lap. "someone catch me up."

i did, and her expression of sympathy nearly undid me, thereby completely obliterating my claim to john that she calmed me down. somehow, i maintained a neutral facade, my tears drying. i'll do whatever it takes to remind rome of our love. this is just a minor setback.

"here's the game plan," john said, taking over. "there are twelve victims of pretty boy and desert gal's cruelty currently in lockup. divide them up, interview them and compare notes. and be careful.

the guy who hurt rome may not be the only scrim found in those cages. it was wrong of us to assume they were all innocent. no telling who the bastard had in there."

"i'll interview rome," i said firmly. he wasn't in lockup, but he was a victim of cruelty.

"i will interview rome," lexis countered, her determination clear.

uh, what now?

"i will," she repeated. "he'd want me to, i know it."

oh, no, no, no. hell, no. she still loved him, the truth was there in her emerald eyes, and she hoped to win him back - which was the real reason she'd dumped tanner, i realized.

ho. ly. shit.

the truth slammed into me, and i sputtered for air. god, i was stupid. i should have seen this. i wasn't a psychic, but i damn well should have seen this. all along, she'd known this would happen. not because she'd dreamed it; she hadn't. despite her earlier assertion, she couldn't see the past. she only saw the future. she'd simply wanted to cover her tracks. she'd known this would happen and she hadn't warned me. she hadn't warned rome. she'd let him walk into that warehouse completely unaware. just to win him back.

that...that...there wasn't a name vile enough for what she was. how was that for love?

i opened my mouth to scream at her, maybe shoot a little fire.

"he remembers me," she said, cutting off any tirade i'd planned. her chin lifted a notch. "he's more likely to tell me what he knows."

true. and the knowledge destroyed me. well, more than i already was. "you're not going near him.

you knew this would happen, you bitch, and you did nothing to stop it."

"no," she said, violently shaking her head. "that's not true. john, you have to believe me." a muscle ticked below his eye, but he remained silent. he needed both of us, couldn't afford to anger either of us, so he was taking the coward's way out.

not me. to help lexis understand the depths of my determination to keep her away from rome, i braced my legs apart and spread my fingers at my sides. unleashing the hot tongues of my fury just then was not a problem. they swam in my blood and licked down my arms, catching fire at my fingernails.

my eyes narrowed on her, red spots forming. "just try to keep me away from him and see what happens."

she was shaking a little, but she jumped to her feet in challenge. we faced off.

"viper," tanner said. a warning. "you're edging too close to total meltdown. not that i mind your target, but still."

lexis's expression hardened.

"calm down, belle," cody said. "please."

the "please" didn't faze me this time.

"kick her ass!" sherridan whooped. "send her back to hell." out of the corner of my eye, i saw cody focus on my friend, who was looking anywhere but at him.

why? whatever was going on in her head, i'd find out later.

i blocked all of them from my mind, focusing on lexis even though my next words were not for her.

"john. what's it going to be? i talk to rome, and everyone walks out of this room alive. or she does, and everyone says hello to third-degree burns."

"or," lexis gritted out, "belle, who has worked for you for only a few months, goes to lockup, where she belongs for threatening us. i've been with you for years. i've proved myself and my capabilities over and over again, and i've never questioned your leadership. more than that, rome now responds to me.

me. "

one more word, and she would be eating fire. i wasn't even going to try to control myself. even now, steam curled from my mouth, wafting toward the ceiling.

there was a long, protracted silence. heavy, tension-filled. lexis and i never turned away from each other, not even to face john. our gazes were linked by invisible chains. we were panting. ready to leap at each other.

"belle," john said with resolve, "you're up. i'm putting you in charge. of the case, of our new prisoners.

maybe your lack of objectivity will actually help. i've never seen you so determined. just don't let me down."

maybe he wasn't a coward, after all.

lexis gasped.

"i won't," i said, and now it was my turn to be smug. "you have my word."

"good. but for the record, you need to go in there, forget this love nonsense and be professional. do your job. be the agent i know you're capable of being."

forget this love "nonsense"? i knew john was married because cody had once made a reference to his wife, but wow. the poor woman, to be saddled with a husband who eschewed love.

"but if you fail," john added, "i'm sending lexis in and placing her in charge. that means she'll be your boss."

"not gonna happen," i said with a confidence i didn't feel. still. there was a chance i'd say something to strike a memory match in rome's brain, and he would tell lexis to go fuck herself.

i left the room smiling.

rome was prowling the length of the small interrogation room when i stepped inside. immediately i smelled the earthy fragrance that always emanated from him. immediately i reacted, my legs trembling, my blood heating.

part of me expected him to stride to me and mesh his lips against mine, his tongue plundering deep, his hands all over me. that's how it would have been if he'd remembered me. but he spotted me, stopped and scowled.

"you," he said, and i could have sworn there was disgust in his voice.

don't be hurt, don't be hurt, don't you freaking be hurt.he couldn't help it, i assured myself. as john had said, his memories had most likely been wiped. this in no way meant lexis's former prediction that i might not be rome's true love was coming to fruition.

oh, ouch. i hadn't considered that angle until now.

"yeah. it's me." i was surprised at how calm and assured i sounded. maybe it was because rome was on his feet, looking healthy and as strong as ever. big and muscled, tanned and breathtakingly sexy.

the walls were plain gray, and yet, for rome, they were a complementary backdrop. even in his anger - what the hell had i done to make him mad? - his black-framed eyes glowed like magical sapphires and promised untold sexual delight. his teeth were sharp and white, ready to sink into me, to nip and nibble.

i shivered.

his nostrils flared. "stop that. now."

"stop what?" i asked, confused. i hadn't done anything.

"whatever it is you're thinking. stop."

was he kidding? "why? you have no idea what i'm thinking."

"i can guess. you want me, and i don't like it. yeah, i know we were engaged. i don't remember, but i've been told, seen pictures. that doesn't mean anything to me right now." wereengaged, he'd said. don't be hurt! "you're awfully full of yourself, aren't you?" my pride spoke for me, and i was helpless to stop it. "maybe i'm looking at you but thinking of another man. one who actually remembers me."

"fuck this. john," he shouted. he even banged a fist into the two-way mirror, rattling the walls. "get her out of here."

my jaw clenched, but i managed to say, "sit down, agent masters." remember me. please. "john asked me to speak with you and he's our boss, so we'll speak. whether you like it or not. the sooner we get started, the sooner we can part."

sadly, that propelled him into instant motion. he stomped to the table and sat, then waved his hand for me to do the same.

pretending indifference, i tossed my notebook and pen on the surface. eyes narrowed on him, i smoothed my jeans and sat across from him. "this interview isn't about us. it's about what happened to you that night at the warehouse. have you remembered anything since waking up?" i asked, getting down to business. surely something would trigger his memory as i hoped.

ever the stubborn male, he said, "i've already answered that question. several times."

"not for me."

for a long while, he simply peered over at me, expression blank. i shifted left, right, realized i appeared nervous (i was) and commanded my body to still. then rome surprised me by saying, "i broke into the laboratory with a fellow agent and helped neutralize the eighteen on-duty guards - a few with a syringe full of night-night cocktail, a few with sleeper holds and a few with gunshots. then we freed the prisoners."

when he offered no more, i arched a brow. "that's it?"

"yes."

nothing new. "well, then, you can just start over. this time, break it down for me minute by minute." he scowled again, but did what i'd asked. i learned how he'd taken the guards by surprise, tracking them through the vents and dropping onto them without them ever being aware. i learned how he'd copied data from the computer system, though the disks he'd stored that data on were now missing, gone like his memories. but i learned nothing that would help me.

"okay, then." i tried another avenue. "what do you remember doing before that last mission?"

"talking to john."

"before that? and think hard." because he'd been with me.

he propped his elbows on the table and leaned forward. there was a wicked glint in his eyes, one i knew well. he was about to provoke my fury. before, that would have excited me because i would have known we'd make love for hours afterward. now..."i kissed my daughter goodbye and left my wife sleeping in bed. very, very satisfied."

a blazing mound of dirt suddenly and unexpectedly appeared in the palm of my hand. rage and jealousy, all blended into one fiery ball. i wanted to jerk my hand under the table so he wouldn't see, but i didn't. it was better he learned what happened when people upset me.

"you're not married," i said stiffly. "you're divorced."

"i know that," he growled. "i left my ex-wife satisfied, then. but it's only a matter of time before she agrees to marry me again." his focus never strayed from the fiery mound of dirt, and before i could start sobbing over his claim, he added, "impressive."

"thank you." so badly i wanted to remind him of all the (naughty) things we'd done together, but this conversation was being recorded. others were listening. my colleagues did not need to know the things i allowed - okay, begged - rome to do to me. then again, maybe lexis needed to hear all about it.

"now why don't you tell me why you're so angry with me?" i tossed the crackling mound from hand to hand in a mesmerizing rhythm. "if you have no memory of me, you would treat me as a stranger. polite, but distant. instead, you treat me as an enemy. why?"

one of his brows arched, a slash of black topping a barely tolerant expression. "is that an official question?"

"why not? i'm the official in this meeting, and i asked it."

"you're not going to like the answer." his gaze returned to the scorching dirt. "and i definitely won't like the consequences."

"tell me anyway."

a muscle ticked in his jaw. "i read your file and it wasn't pretty. my wife told me - "

"uh, we've already established that she's your ex-wife." and if he called her by that title one more time, something bad was going to happen. i didn't need miss know-it-all to verify that, either. already the flaming dirt ball in my hand was snapping, smoke billowing through it as it prepared to welcome another stream of fire. a fire that would not be so easily contained.

careful.any more smoke, and i would soon be coughing for hours, since pollutants were my achilles'

heel. apparently, so were gorgeous cat men.

"wife, ex-wife. it's just semantics," he said. "lexis told me you were trouble, that you burned down her entire building. do you deny it?"

one point in his favor: he referred to the building as hers, not theirs. some of the flames flickered, then died. "no, i don't deny it. i was trying to save your life." i'm sure lexis had left that part out, though.

bitch. "did she also tell you that we made out on her couch?" so much for keeping our private life private. "you had your tongue down my throat and your hands...oh, about right here." i cupped my breast with my free hand. the girls weren't big, but they were perky and i knew rome loved them.

his pupils dilated and he licked his lips, but he said nothing.

my cheeks were red as i released myself. it had been worth a shot. "your ex may not like me, but your daughter does. are you aware of that?"

he nodded stiffly. "i've talked to her, yes, and she asked about you."

"what'd you tell her?"

"that you were busy and would call her later," he said through gritted teeth.

finally! progress. "clearly, you're missing a big chunk of your life. maybe, just maybe, i was a good part of it."

"like i told you a little while ago, weather wench, i don't deny that. that doesn't mean i want you to be a part of it now."

"that doesn't mean you should go running back to your ex, either. and just a word of warning." glaring, i tossed the ball into the air, caught it. several grains of dirt scattered over the tabletop between us. "if you go near lexis again, you'll soon find her wearing one of these. and my name is not weather wench.

call me that again and you'll be wearing one of these." rather than upset him, my boast seemed to amuse him. his lips twitched.

that twitch looked good on him; maybe because it was so rome. the old rome. my stomach quivered in delight. could he be losing his animosity toward me? i decided to push a little more. what could it hurt?

with a backward-forward swing of my wrist, i launched the ball over his shoulder. it crashed into the far wall, instantly covering the entire surface in steaming mud.

at the whoosh of air, rome's head had whipped around to survey the damage. when he faced me again, shock and admiration bathed his features.

more. push more."after that," i said, "i'll seek comfort from your friend cody. you remember him, right? dressed, he's sexy as hell. undressed, i'm sure he's every woman's downfall." okay, now i was lying. only one man could tempt me to fall, and that was rome. but what if rome goes back to lexis?

bile rose in my throat. just finish this. "i hear he's an amazing lover, that he won't let his partner leave until she's so sated she can't even speak. it's been a while since i had that kind of experience." low blow - and untrue - but he deserved it.

if cody was listening, he was probably patting himself on the back and smiling smugly.

rome's nostrils did that flare thing again.

was he...could he be jealous at the thought of me with another man? even though he di-->>

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