“I’m not completely certain, meaning I don’t have any concrete proof or anything, but Izzy may be in danger because of something that I did. It’s possible someone’s mistaken her for me.”
Warrick’s prosecutor voice came out when he said, “Explain. What are the circumstances?”
She huffed. “No. Sorry. Can’t do it.” She looked resolute. He’d seen a similar expression on her sister’s face when she kept things to herself.
“Okay. You said she may be in danger. Give me a percentage. Is it more like ten percent or closer to one hundred percent?”
Ari pushed out a long sigh. “Eighty percent. Maybe more.”
Warrick ground his back teeth together. That was way too fucking high for maybe.
Chapter Thirteen
Colton drove past the Trail’s End Tavern on the way to the compound and saw Warrick’s car still parked there. He pulled his truck into the lot, parked it, and walked inside.
He searched the room, finally seeing Warrick to his right in the front booth. Across from him was Isabelle. She was turned away studying the side wall. The glorious fall of her honey red-gold hair in full view hanging down her back. He loved the color of her hair.
A quick glance at Warrick and he saw that his friend looked really angry. That didn’t bode well. Time to liven things up a bit. Perhaps he could talk them out of any hurt feelings because of Warrick’s family generally being class A pricks. He had to at least make an effort.
Colton hurried over to the booth, slid in next to Isabelle, put one arm around her, and moved in for a quick kiss as she turned to face him. He fielded her sharp elbow slamming into his ribs before realizing that this woman wasn’t Isabelle. Not at all. What the fuck?
“Get off of me!” Isabelle’s doppelganger said, rather loudly. Her hand came up to her guard her mouth as if she wanted to ensure he didn’t kiss her.
Colton leapt out of the booth, rubbing his side where she’d likely left a bruise. “Who the hell are you?” He glanced at her hair again, then her face, then her hair again, feeling betrayed by the identical color. How could someone else have that exact hue?
Warrick said, “Colton, this is Isabelle’s sister, Ari. Ari meet my friend Colton.”
Colton straightened and stared at her. She looked quite a lot like Isabelle. “It’s her twin sister, right?” he heard himself ask.
“You noticed. Yes. Our girl has a twin.”
“The hair color is exact.”
“You’re right. It is.” Warrick made room for him and he sat down across from her. Colton didn’t mean to stare, but he was so surprised.
“Stop talking about me like I’m not sitting here. Who the hell are you? And explain to me what you meant by our girl has a twin?”
He and Warrick exchanged a glance. What to say? How to explain to someone who didn’t live here or have knowledge about the ménage lifestyle prevalent in this area?
Would Isabelle want them to explain? Maybe not.
Colton said, “Maybe she’s also my friend.”
“You were about to kiss me!” she accused.
Colton shrugged. “Well, how about I promise not to in the future?”
Ari looked at Warrick and then at Colton and then back at Warrick. “Wait a minute. I saw you kiss Isabelle.” She looked at Colton and then back at Warrick. “So…are the three of you—?” Her eyes widened and she looked around at who else might be listening into their conversation.
Warrick said, “No. Sorry. Can’t explain that.”
Ari’s eyes widened and a smug smile shaped her familiar lips. “Touché.” She soon nodded. “Wow. Izzy sure turned out to be the wild twin in this case. I like men, but only one at a time, thank you very much.”
“You aren’t going to make her feel guilty or poorly about us, are you?”
“No. No. Not at all. Actually, I’m…proud of her. For a lot of reasons. I came to warn her about a possible threat, but also to tell her some personal things that I’ve needed to express for a lot of years. I’ve put it off over time. Now, as often happens when you don’t pay attention, way too much time has gone by.”
“Possible threat?” Colton promptly repeated out loud. They were the only two words he heard in of all she said.
Warrick said, “I’ll explain that to you later. Why don’t we exit the largest gossip mill this town has to offer next to the local grocery store, and resume our conversation where no one can hear us? What do you say?” The three of them were garnering lots of looks since Colton entered.
“I say, I’m tired.” Ari slid out of the booth. “Let’s talk tomorrow. Nothing can be done tonight that isn’t already being done.”