I let that sink in for a second. “Someone actually was after him. It’s not a misunderstanding.”

The thing is, I already knew that, but it doesn’t mean I wasn’t holding on to the scraps of hope. The need for him to be okay overrode common sense. “If he’s made my brother disappear, not being a good dude checks out.”

“No, but …” Perry sets the sandwich down on his plate and turns to me. “He’s apparently very, very not good. Yanni doesn’t even want to fuck with him.”

Great. That’s even worse than I thought.

“Just …” His tone goes gravelly. “Are you sure you didn’t know about this? Yanni said he took out a loan …”

I narrow my eyes. “What are you saying?”

“I’m scared he’s the one after you too.”

The fight rolls out of me. I’m suddenly very hungry and very tired. “I didn’t.” My voice drops. “I have no idea what the hell he’s done.”

“Shit.” Before I know what he’s doing, Perry wraps a long, warm arm around my shoulders and hugs me into his side. “We’re gonna find him.”

He sounds just like Lars.

I wish I could have their positivity, but this experience is draining it out of me.

He pulls back, rough fingers running over my jaw, thumb scraping the skin by my mouth. “Don’t give up on me. We’ve got this, okay?”

That draws a hesitant laugh, and as I look at him, all positivity and endless optimism, my mouth moves before I can stop it. “I missed you.”

His eyes light up. “It was only, like, a day.”

A whole day of separation and worry and this edge of restlessness I couldn’t shift. “I’m starting to think any day without you in it is a day wasted.”

His exhale is a puff of disbelief, and I can’t tell how I’m looking at him, but I’m struggling to believe the way he’s looking at me. Like clouds parting over the sun. The tide drawing back on a sandy beach. A moment where everything feels exposed and too much, but even if my brain doesn’t understand what’s happening here, I can feel it. Deep and consuming. The kind of knowledge that makes me overly aware of my heartbeat and the way my hands are clenched back into fists.

The corner of his lips twitches. “I’m starting to think you might be right on just about anything.”

“I like you having a high opinion of me.”

“You don’t give me a choice to think anything else.”

CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

PERRY

St. Clare is so … so … Before I can sink into that handsome face and his pretty words, the conversation I overheard earlier comes back to me.

About Yanni.

And them swapping me for Colin.