Page 21 of Perfidious Passion

Aaron

FEB. 14TH - FRIDAY

Dinner has long since gone cold. Our phones haven't left our hands in over an hour, and tabletops have been punched numerous times.

"WHAT THE FUCK!?" Caleb shouts, running outside once again to look down the busy roads.

"Aaron." I turn to find Dean watching his brother through the window with fear in his eyes. "Where is she? Lilly should have been here like an hour ago."

I don't know. I don't know what to say or what to do because fear is clogging my ability to think logically. "I?—"

"Still no answer..." Dean mutters brokenly to himself.No answer. No... answer.

Son of a fucking bitch!Cursing myself, I punch in Brett's contact and call him.

"Who are you calling?" Caleb asks, running back inside with enough terror in his eyes to make my heart skip a beat. I so badly want to draw him into my arms and kiss away his struggles, but I, too, am panicking. The only thing that's going to help us is figuring out where the hell Lilly is.

"Brett," I answer my husband. He nods encouragingly and stays close. But the voice we're all waiting to hear on the line never comes. "Brett's not answering either."

"Well, what is he doing tonight? This is an emergency. Maybe we can go find him wherever he's celebrating Valentine's tonight," Dean rambles, his cheeks turning an angry shade of red.

Caleb nods. "Yeah, is he taking his wife or someone out for dinner? Do you know?"

Once again, I don't fucking know. "No. Fuck! No. I didn't ask. I was so focused on figuring out our plans that I didn't?—"

"FUCK!" Caleb roars, spinning away from me.

I grit my jaw against his outburst, not needing him to make me feel like the piece of shit I know I am. "We need to get home," I finally declare.

"But what if she shows up here?"

I look at Dean, appreciating his thought process. "We leave a note. And on the way home, we keep our eyes peeled for signs of an accident."

They both gulp, and I know exactly what they're feeling.Please be okay.

"She's not fucking here!"Dean yells from upstairs. Caleb comes running up from the basement, pale and scared, with a shake of his head.

Checking my phone for the billionth time, I see no new messages. I said fuck Valentine's Day and haven't stoppedcalling Brett. That bastard set this whole date up. The limo driver washisguy.

Dean called the cops on the drive home with hardly any help offered. We had to dial911on what was supposed to be a beautiful night of romance and reconnecting.

How did this go so wrong?It's been almost two hours, and still no hint or even an idea of what happened to Lilly. Well, thereareideas, but each one makes me want to throw up and burn the world to the goddamn ground until I find her.

Stumbling down the steps, Dean looks the opposite of his twin with sweat dripping from his hairline and fury plastered on his face. They've swapped roles, one going from angry to scared and the other shifting into rage instead of concern.

One twin pale, one fiery red, and me in the middle... the one who put this whole thing together.

This is my fault. I may not know what's going on, but whatever it is, it's on me.

Where are you, Lilly?

Lilly

FEB. 14TH - FRIDAY

The brute force in which Brett rips my jacket off of me throws me into a panic. "NO!" My frantic cries come out warbled like I'm underwater. "PLEASE S-ST-STOP!" I fear my words aren't even forming, but what does it matter?

The cool office air slithers up my ass and wraps around my hips. When heat engulfs my waist, I jerk, thrusting into Aaron's desk and jarring my teeth.

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