“That’s the part we need to figure out. Did the people after him see you?”

I think back to the alleyway. The door was mostly between me and the direction the shots came from, but I don’t think it would have blocked enough of me from their sight. “Probably.”

“Damn.”

“So, how do we do this? Call Yanni and tell him we’ve got his man, and if he wants him, he owes us Colin and needs to promise to leave me alone?”

Lars runs both hands back through his tight curls. “When you put it like that …” He glances at my office door. “They’ll never go for it.”

“Why?”

“You really think he’s worth all that?”

“Depends how much they paid him for me.”

Lars’s expression tightens as he thinks, and I give him space to do it. He’s a smart guy, and I’ve always appreciated his opinion on things, but trading Perry? Just handing him over to someone who wants him killed?

“It also might not be Yanni …” Lars mutters. “God, there are so many fucking variables.”

“Unfortunately for us, we need to figure it out because there’s only so long we can keep him handcuffed to that chair.”

“You’re right.” I’m almost shocked that he agrees. “We’ll move him to your desk next.”

That checks out. “I mean that we can’t leave him handcuffed at all.”

“You want to let a murderer free?”

“I doubt he’s ever murdered anyone.”

Lars’s eyes bug out. “How the hell can you know that?”

“He told me.”

“We believe him now?”

“I’m sorry, did that guy in there scream criminal genius to you?”

That derails some of Lars’s confidence. “Maybe not, but he’s proved he’s capable of anything.”

He has, which is why I’m so fucking at war with myself. The obvious answer to all of this is to get rid of him before he gets a chance to kill us first, but it feels like the equivalent of offing a helpless animal. A baby animal, which makes it even worse.

“Fucking hell, Reilly.” Lars laughs. “You still want to sleep with him, don’t you?”

I shrug. “Silver linings and all that?”

“So, what? He fucks you, then kills you?”

I frown, disturbed by that image. “Come on. That man is clearly a bottom.”

“My mistake. You fuck him, then he kills you.”

“Give and take is important in a relationship.”

Lars groans, then turns around and face-plants into the wall. “Was I getting too good at my job? Is that why you’re testing me?”

“We could argue that both times, I’ve needed saving, I’ve had to do it myself, which would tell me that you’re actually the opposite to being good at your job.”

“Fuck you.”