Page 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

ST. CLARE

Perry tugs up his pants, then turns and slumps against the tree trunk before sliding down it to land on his ass. Before I can suggest getting him cleaned up, he pats the place beside himself.

His cheeks are flushed, and the way he looks at me makes it difficult to meet his eye.

“That was new.”

“For you,” I point out.

Perry gets this cute little frown that shouldn’t be cute or little for a guy with a presence as chaotically large as his. “You don’t need to be thinking of all those other times. This was new for us. And honestly, I’d kind of like to make a habit of it. Maybe it can be our new morning ritual.”

The us thing throws me as well. Sure, I want to do that again. I didn’t make a secret of it with how much we talked about me fucking him one day, but I don’t think we’re at the level of talking it out casually yet.

“What’s your favorite sex position?”

Or maybe we are. “They’re all good.”

“I think I’d like to try riding you.”

My brain checks out for a second. “You what?”

“Yeah, well, I love being ridden. Looking up at all of … that. It’s hot. I’m curious about how it feels the other way around. ”

“You want to sit on my cock?”

“Sure.”

Once again, I still don’t know what to make of Perry. “You’re interesting.”

“ Me ?”

“No. Sweet, open guys regularly wander into a life of crime. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

He picks up a twig with his good hand and taps it against the ground. “I think you’re interesting too.”

I take a minute to think that over. Outside of the club, I don’t think I do all that much. I’m not interesting. I don’t have fun little “things” about me that are interesting to find out. I work a lot, I drink a lot of coffee, I’m a sucker for a guy with pretty eyes and a big smile, and I still share an apartment with my best friend. “Tell me more.”

“Well, I never know what you’re going to say half of the time?—”

“Likewise.” In fact, more with Perry because he’s never on the same wavelength as the rest of us.

“But whatever you say, I dunno, it usually makes me feel good. I like when you talk.”

I like when you talk shouldn’t be a huge compliment, but it’s a different one. And somehow, that makes it feel more genuine. “Okay.”

“You always feel like you have a purpose. Nothing gets to you. Sometimes it’s like life is a huge joke to you, and I want to be in on that. Sometimes the smallest things trigger me to panic and get so in my head that I’m in my own way a lot of the time.”

I never would have guessed that about Perry. If either of us is a go-with-the-flow kind of guy, it’s him. The panicky thing … I wouldn’t have guessed that either, but I guess it makes sense. It’s what had him jump into this hitman thing without stopping and thinking it through.

“And then the other thing,” he continues, throwing me a sly look. “Is your name. ”

I try to figure out where he’s going with that and come up empty. “My name?”

“Yeah. I can’t for the life of me figure out how someone that’s as filthy as you are was sainted.”

I stare at him, waiting for the meaning of what he’s saying to sink in. I’m still lost. “What?”

“Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s awesome. Ah—both things. How amazing you are at sex and being recognized in that way.”

“Recognized?”

“Yeah.” He turns curious eyes on me. “How did it happen anyway? I didn’t even realize saints were still a thing these days.”

Saints. How did it happen? Does … holy shit. Is he saying …

I stare at him, waiting for him to drop the act. He doesn’t. He just goes on waiting for an answer, and it slowly sinks in that I’m the one who has to give it to him. “Perry … do you, umm …” How the fuck do I even ask this? “Do you think my name is Clare?”

His eyebrows crumple in confusion. “Yes?”

“Clare being my whole name. And saint being the title?”

His lips twitch, but not like he’s about to shout, “Got you,” and more like he’s worried about my mental well-being. “Yes. That is what you’ve been answering to.”

“My name is St. Clare .”

“I know.”

“ Reilly St. Clare.”

The shadow of a smile evaporates, and his face scrunches up. “Reilly?”

“And my brother is Colin St. Clare.”

“ Reilly ?” His tone inches louder.

“That’s the part you’re stuck on?”

“You don’t look like a Reilly.”

“That doesn’t make it not my name.”

He turns away, lips parted, staring at the cabin like he’s waiting for aliens to jump out of it. Then, his good hand goes to his head. “What is happening right now? ”

That, more than anything, makes me laugh. How the fuck is Perry so … Perry.

“You really thought I’d been sainted? Like … like … those old people Catholic schools are named after?”

His eyes widen a little. “Umm … no?”

Another laugh wheezes from me. “I say this with complete and utter sincerity: never change.”

His embarrassment slowly melts away until he’s smiling too. “I’m a mess.”

“You’re endearing.”

When Perry slings his good arm around my shoulders, I let him. “I think I’m scared,” he admits.

Perry and scared aren’t two things I would have put together. “Really?”

“Well, yeah. This is serious shit, and I don’t know how we fix it. Us, your brother, my sister, and Lars. I sort of feel like I’m pulling everyone into this mess, like a black hole, and no one deserves to be here.”

“Yeah, but it wasn’t you who did it. Instead of blaming yourself, blame Yanni, Luther, whoever. Not you.”

Because I won’t say it out loud, but Perry is one of those people who have the kind of soul that needs protecting. The kind that sees the best in people. The kind that doesn’t know how not to protect people and look after them.

I like that part of Perry a lot.

“I’ll try.”

My phone starts to ring, breaking up our moment, and Perry quickly pulls his arm back from me.

“I’m going to clean up and wake Lars while you take that.”

I’m about to tell him I don’t want to talk to anyone, but when I pull it out of my pocket, ready to silence it, I see the name Livy Sullivan on the display.

It’s so fucking weird to be on the run for my life and running a business at the same time.

I answer it as Perry leaves. “Hey, Livy, how are you?”

“Yeah, I’m great. Just busy.” Her voice sounds distracted. “I know your staff said you’re not working today, so I’m sorry to call, I just wanted to get these books balanced from before the opening of Saint Clare’s so I can move on to working through the last month.”

“Yeah, I’ll help however I can, but I wasn’t lying when I said this isn’t my main department.”

Her sigh is tinged in frustration. “Any idea of when your brother will be back?”

The reminder that no, I fucking don’t shifts anxiety back into my gut. “Sorry, no. He’s out of range for a bit.”

There’s a long silence, and I check if she’s hung up, but the line is still showing as active.

“Livy?”

“No, I’m here, I …”

Her tone catches my interest. “Is something wrong?”

“Potentially. It might be nothing.”

“Do you want to explain that?”

There’s some rapid clicking on her end. “Those cash withdrawals you weren’t sure about on the statements happened again.”

I’m not following all of that, but judging by the worry tinging her words, I know it’s not pointing to anything good. “Okay …”

“Yesterday, there were multiple cash withdrawals for the same amount. Here’s the thing. Large cash withdrawals for the same amount at the same time every month raises red flags. It’s either illicit substances, a loan that’s trying to be hidden, or … services people don’t want anyone to find out about. In my experience, it’s rarely a good thing.”

Okay, that I understand. Considering how preoccupied I was yesterday, I know for certain I didn’t take that money, and there’s only one other person with access to our account.

Colin .

“Can you see where the money was taken from?”

“Yeah, it’s got the ATM details there.”

“Okay …”

“Reilly, I know this is none of my business, but I’m going to be honest with you. This looks shady as fuck, and I need you to be honest with me about whether I should keep working on this? If I dig deeper and find anything illegal, I have to report it.”

Illegal. Colin? The guy who plays by every rulebook? “To be honest right back,” I say, “I have no idea what you could find.”

I rack my memory, trying to figure out if I actually do know about them and forgot.

But … this has to mean Colin’s alive. Doesn’t it?

Unless someone has his card and PIN for that account. But to have his PIN, they’d have to have had him. The amounts matching up means this wasn’t a random person stealing from us.

Shit.

“This is going to sound strange,” I say, “but can you keep working on it? Send me the ATM details. I’ll, umm, deal with it.”

“I’m not in the business of getting myself into trouble,” she says.

Neither am I, but here I am anyway. “Noted. Thank you.”

Livy hangs up, and I’m left staring at my phone, not sure whether she’s planning to look into things more or not.

“Are you okay?” Lars asks, following Perry out of the cabin.

I’m not fucking sure. “I think … I think I might have a lead on Colin.”