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He reached out, gripping my elbow to stop me. “Wait, you’re not driving, are you?” he asked.

“No, of course not,” I said. “I’m going to call a Lyft.”

He shook his head. “No. I’ll drive you.”

I wanted to leave, clear my head after our conversation, and wait until my body finally snapped out of the nonsense I felt when I was close to him. However, Dorian was being a gentleman, and I couldn’t argue with that.

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WE DROVE INsilence to my place, and before I stepped out, I turned to Dorian.

“Thank you,” I said. “And not just for the ride, but for everything.”

He bit his bottom lip and placed his hand on mine. “Call me if you need us,” he said. “I’mnottexting you anymore, Mercy. I’m in your life whether you like it or not.” A playful smile pulled at his lips. “Noah and I live near Goddard Park.”

My eyes went wide. “You moved here?” I asked, surprised.

“We’ve been living here since Tatyana rescued us.”

He had been living less than ten minutes from me this entire fucking year, and I hadn’t a clue. I never saw him in town, so he must have gone out of his way to hide from me. Dorian was respecting my wishes but still, that hurt to know.

I nodded and exited the car, watching him drive away until he turned the corner at the end of the street. Dorian was back in my life, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it. Did I want this? Sure, I was happy to see him today, but I didn’t know what that meant.

CHAPTER 8

“THEY FOUND ANOTHER body,” Leah told me as I climbed out of the shower, pulling my robe tight around my waist.

“What?”

“In East Greenwich again, right in the middle of Main Street. It happened last night when you were out with Dorian. We didn’t find out until this morning,” she explained.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand, and there weren’t any missed calls or texts from Caleb. “Does Caleb know?”

“He’s the one who told me.” She looked uncomfortable, avoiding eye contact. “He left early this morning to meet with Melissa.” Leah looked up when I scrunched up my face, and her shoulders slumped. “Sorry. I thought you knew until I realized you were taking a shower instead of joining him at the morgue.”

Waving my hand in the air, I said. “Caleb’s been doing that a lot lately. I don’t fucking care anymore.” It was a lie, of course. I hated being left in the dark. “Thanks for letting me know, at least.”

I quickly got dressed, jumped in my car, and headed to Lily’s

Once I reached a stoplight, I grabbed my cell and pulled up Sarah’s number.

Me:Hey, I know we didn’t get to chat on the phone yesterday. I’m heading to Lily’s, then the morgue, to see what information we have about this new body found on Main. Are you doing okay?

The light turned green, so I put my phone down, but I heard a message come in a minute later.

Once I reached another light, I looked down.

Sarah:I’m still shaken up, but I’ll be fine. Please tell Caleb thank you for helping us that night. Let me know what you find out.

I sucked in a breath, relieved that Sarah was okay, and then dialed Lily, who picked up on the first ring.

“Mercy,” she said, almost sounding out of breath. “Did you hear what happened? There’s been another murder.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m almost to your house, and then I’m heading to the morgue to meet Caleb. Are you even home?”

“Yeah, we just got back. Bradley and I were on our way to the post office this morning, and they had blocked off Main Street. We jumped out and walked over to a police officer on the scene, and it was just like last time, except the body had already been taken away. They were taking pictures and trying to clear the street of pedestrians lurking around,” Lily explained.

“Who was the victim?” I asked, my stomach twisting in knots, praying it wasn’t someone I knew.

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