A familiar blacked-out SUV rolled to a stop in front of me as soon as my feet touched the sidewalk, and Pietro stepped out of the passenger side. Without a word, he opened the back door for me. Grinning at the guard, I told him where I was going and got a simple nod to confirm he’d heard me.

On the ride to that morning’s interview location, I texted Emmie to let her know I was on my way and how sorry I was for oversleeping.

Emmie: Your mom explained everything just now. I’m just glad you are okay, but next time, I need a heads-up.

Relieved that she wasn’t angry with me, I sat back and tried to relax. Stuffing my hands into the pockets of my brother’s coat, I snuggled deeper into it. The smell of his cologne lingered on it. It was a nice scent, one I remembered from when he used to live at home, and it reminded me of when he’d been at least somewhat nice to me.

My fingers came into contact with something in one of the pockets, and hesitantly, I pulled it out, curiosity and dread both twisting in my gut. Knowing my brother, it could have been just about anything.

When I opened my palm and saw it was a business card, some of the dread eased…until I saw what was printed on it.

Cherry Bomb Gentlemen’s Club

Muttering under my breath, I pulled up the contact information for Cali on my phone and shot her a quick text.

Me: Have you seen my brother recently?

Those three dots popped up moments later, but there was a long pause before her reply came through.

Cali: I might have seen him…every night for the past two weeks. He sits in my section and flirts like crazy. But

I swallowed my groan at the open “but” and waited impatiently for her to explain what she meant. Cali had let me know she was safe and had found a job once she’d gotten back to New York. She’d waitressed at a local diner near her apartment for a short time, but she’d told me that hadn’t paid the bills as she needed it to. Her roommate knew one of the bouncers at Cherry Bomb and got her the job. She wasn’t stripping at the gentlemen’s club, only serving drinks and appetizers, and the tips were triple what she’d gotten at the diner.

Cali: But he doesn’t know it’s me. I knew I had makeup skills, but I didn’t realize they were so good my second-biggest archnemesis doesn’t even recognize me.

I couldn’t help snickering at that. Garret tended to see only what he wanted to see. He’d never mentioned Cali to me after I’d confronted him about his behavior on her social media. But I knew for a fact that he’d stalked her on there religiously. If I had to guess, I would say he’d had a crush on her back then, but because she was Ramirez’s stepdaughter, he’d told himself what he felt was disdain rather than affection. He’d bullied her so often that even her followers at the time had taken notice.