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“I love you, too. I just gotta talk to Streak, and then I’ll be down there.”

She blows me a kiss and leaves the room. I stay in my seat, watching her leave until she disappears from my sight before sinking back into my chair for a second. My mind has been working overdrive since Sunday night, trying to figure out what the hell is going on. It seemed so straightforward until she told me that the man in her window looked like me. Why the fuck would Ian’s brother do that? Is it part of the game?

Shoving out of the chair, I slip out of my room and go down to the end of the hall where Streak’s office is set up, knocking on the door twice before I open it. He glances up from one of the three computer screens in front of him with bleary eyes.

“Yeah?”

I close the door and sit in the chair next to his desk. “Did you find any social media profiles on the brother when you searched him?”

“No. He’s probably one of the only people in the world without Facebook.”

“Shit,” I curse, running a hand through my hair.

“Why? What’s going on?”

I shake my head, trying to work it all out in my mind but it’s just not adding up for me, and that makes me uneasy. “The other night when Ali saw that guy in her window, she said he looked like me. He even had a scar through his eyebrow but his looked fresh.”

“That’s awfully coincidental,” he muses, and I shake my head.

“Or not.”

“You think someone made themselves look like you?”

I shrug. “It’s either that or it really is a coincidence, and I don’t really believe in those.”

“Yeah, me either,” he says, turning back to his computer and typing. “Well, this is interesting.”

“What?”

“I’ve been trying to access some of Ian’s medical records since you asked me but it’s been difficult. I just got one this morning from right after he was sentenced. It’s from a psychologist.”

I lean forward, trying to look at the screen, but I have no idea what I’m looking at. “What does it say?”

“It says that Ian is perfectly normal mentally except mental illness does run in his family.” He stares at the computer screen again, and I can see the wheels turnin’ in his head.

“What are you thinking?”

“Well, Ian is just an abusive narcissist, we know this, but what if his brother has other mental issues? What if the brother started following Ali and became obsessed with her himself? Whoever is sending those letters and presents clearly thinks that he and Ali were or are in a relationship.”

I drop my head into my hands and let out a breath. Jesus Christ, did I do this to her? Did I lead a crazy person straight to her door? Maybe I should have just stayed away, but even thinking that makes me feel like I’m being ripped apart. Sighing, I stand and slap Streak’s shoulder.

“Keep diggin’, yeah?”

He nods. “You got it.”

I leave his office, needing to get my hands on my girl for just a second so I can breathe again. Goddamn it, if anything happens to her, I’ll never fucking forgive myself. Stopping in the middle of the hallway, I press my forehead to the wall and pound my fist against it. How was I supposed to stay away from her? It was impossible, and now she might pay with her life. My stomach lurches violently as I think about that possibility, but I pull away from the wall shaking my head.

No. I’ll do anything to keep that from happening. My phone rings, pulling me out of my thoughts, and I answer without even glancing at the screen.

“Yeah?” I bark.

“Hey, Storm. It’s Ray. I…uh, I heard some shit, and you’re not gonna like it, man.”

The other shoe comes crashing down, and this is the bad news I’ve been expecting since the moment I gave into this. I just know it is.

“Tell me.”

“Shaun, my guy up at the prison, just heard Ian boasting that he hired some guy to take out your girl. I don’t know many details but I know he’s got enough money to make it happen.”