Colin paces to one side of the room and back again. “Yanni. He was a problem, and I needed that problem to go away.”

I’m still so fucking confused. “Start from the top. It’s been a long few weeks, and I’m struggling to work out how the fuck you’re hanging out here okay.”

Onyx pats the spot on the couch to their left. “Might as well sit down. I’m going to bake some cookies in the hope you won’t hate me after you hear this.”

“Hate … you?”

“Just listen. I’ll be back once he’s done.”

Onyx leaves, and Colin takes the place left behind.

“Where are we?” I ask.

“Onyx’s place.” Colin twists his hands in his lap. “They’ve been hiding me here. I didn’t know where else to go.”

“What kind of shit have you gotten yourself into?”

He clears his throat with the dry snap of a twig and leans back. “Yanni and his people from Rev cost us too much money and stress with their threats and holdups. I needed a way to make him back off, and since it’s not like I could borrow money against Saint Clare’s, I asked around. Found Carson. He was shockingly really nice, set out the contract clearly, no gimmicks—it’s clear he’s been doing this for a long time. Anyway, we signed off on the loan, cash payments only, a year timeline, which I knew wouldn’t be an issue once we started selling out.”

I almost choke. “You assumed a hundred grand in a year was no big deal?”

“I’ve already run the numbers.”

“And what if they’re wrong?” My voice is getting steadily higher.

“Numbers don’t lie, Reilly.” If his tone weren’t so flat, I’d have sworn it held an edge of duh to it.

“And you used that money to hire a PI?” I ask, moving on.

“Yes. He was great. Got me exactly what I needed. Yanni is very good at keeping his books updated with every transaction. Showed a lot of drug trade … that linked him with Carson Alexander.”

“Oh, fuck.”

“No wonder he warned me off dealing with Carson.” He nods sadly. “I sent a picture to Yanni, telling him to back off or I’d go to the cops.”

“I thought he was after you because you didn’t pay him back.”

“Nope. He found out I knew too much, and next thing I know, Onyx showed up at my place, all but kidnapped me, and brought me here.”

“What the fuck? Why?”