“You’re…twins?”
Rafi relaxed, then grinned in greeting.Stepping forward, he extended a hand.“Yes.I’m Rafi.And yeah, we’re identical.So often the only way people can tell us apart is if we tell them who we are.”
“And sometimes, we lie,” Laith teased, pulling the woman closer.He tucked her against his side, but Rafi knew that the shock wasn’t completely over.
“This is…weird,” she whispered, then laughed, tilting her head back and looking up at Laith.“But there is something different about you.”
Laith’s dark eyebrow lifted.“What’s that?”
Her eyes narrowed and she continued to glance between the two men.“I can’t quite put my finger on it,” she finally replied.“But thereisa subtle difference.”
Rafi chuckled, but Amir stepped into the doorway, distracting him.He nodded, then turned to Laith and Andi.“I’m so sorry, but my future fiancée is missing and I need to find her.”
“What did you do to Carys this time?”Laith teased.
“Carys?”Andi blurted, her eyes wide.She stared at Rafi.“How do you know Carys?”
Rafi tensed.“Youknow Carys?Carys Remington?”
“Yeah, Carys is my best friend,” Andi replied.“What’s going on with Carys?”
“I don’t know!”He ran a hand through his hair.“I’m worried that something has happened to her.She keeps disappearing.”
“She’s not here?”Andi asked, looking around as if Carys might be hiding in a corner.“But… she worked in this building.We went to college together and both applied to work here right after.”
Rafi sighed, and Laith kissed the top of her head.“My brother was supposed to meet up with her on Saturday, but she didn’t show.She’s been missing all weekend, but showed up at work this morning.Apparently, she then she left for lunch and hasn’t been seen since.”
Andi stiffened, looking between her fiancé and his brother.“Carys was supposed to meet me for coffee on Saturday morning but she didn’t show up.”She looked up at Laith.“Youwere there, but Carys didn’t sh…!”Her mouth formed an “O” and she turned to look at Rafi again.“Oh no!”she whispered.
Rafi stepped forward and even Amir looked worried.
“What?”Rafi demanded, his eyes sharpening.“What do you know?Is Carys okay?Is she in trouble?”
Andi shook her head, placing a hand on Laith’s arm.“No, I don’t think she’s in trouble.”Then she paused, her brows furrowing.“Correction, something weird is going on with her, but I don’t know if she’s in trouble.”When she looked up at Rafi, she explained more patiently this time, “I was supposed to meet up with Carys for coffee on Saturday morning.”She looked at Laith.“At the exact moment you found me on the pathway.”She looked at Rafi now.“I was standing in front of the coffee shop when Laith walked up and kissed me.”
There was silence in the room now.Then Rafi put the puzzle pieces together.“She saw you kissing Laith and thought it was me!”Rafi turned, muttering several curses under his breath.When he turned back to Andi and his brother, he said, “You said that something weird has been going on.What did you mean by that?”He waved Amir forward.The security guy moved to face Andi now.
“Someone has been breaking into her apartment and stealing odd things.Just weird things like a missing toothbrush.”She paused, letting that information sink in.“And even more bizarre, whoever is breaking into her place, that person is cleaning stuff.It’s fairly alarming.”
“When?”
Andi shrugged.“She doesn’t know.It’s been happening for a while now.At first, Carys thought she was just misplacing stuff.But it seems as if the thefts have become more obvious.”
He frowned at her, then at his head of security.“Why the hell would someone try and steal something small?What are they going to do with a person’s toothbrush?”
“Oh, and a single water glass.”Everyone turned to look at Andi.She shrugged again, then her eyes brightened.“Um…, and all of her potholders.”
Rafi frowned, stunned and confused.“That’s bizarre.”
“Carys has been having a hard time lately.I don’t know why she didn’t tell you about this.”She turned to Laith.“I definitely would have told you if a weirdo was stealing random stuff from my apartment.”
Laith leaned in, kissing her forehead.“And I’d tear apart the bastard who tried to scare you, love.”
Rafi sighed.“I know why she didn’t come to me,” he muttered.“She doesn’t trust me.”When Laith lifted an inquiring eyebrow, Rafi continued.“After her father’s disappearing act, Carys thinks men aren’t reliable.She also doesn’t think she’s worthy of love because her father abandoned her for his new family.So, she tries to be independent and figure everything out on her own.”
One side of Andi’s full mouth went up and she nodded.“Yeah, that’s Carys.She thought about changing her last name to her mother’s maiden name, just so she could sever any connection with her father.”
Rafi stopped for a moment.“She didn’t even want to be a Remington?”
