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She nods, “Yes, that’s exactly it.”

“He was always really good at that.” I nod.

“Gaslighting 101,” Havoc adds.

“The thing is, you don’t see it when you’re in it. And, like, Citi was naive about a lot of the world, given what happened to her. My upbringing left me somewhat socially stunted, too. We were the perfect victims, even if our roles were different.”

I run my finger down the slope of my nose. “He chose this face. And I trusted him because I knew no better. He chose my clothes, my hobbies, my friends. And if I veered off course from the one he set, he would use manipulation to steer me back. And if that didn’t work, guilt. I had no clue what a functional relationship was meant to look like. He told me he loved me, and I loved him back, so perhaps this was how it was supposed to be. I was lucky—everyone told me that. He was such a catch, such a handsome man to fall for a nobody like me. Even that was its own kind of manipulation. It made me feel selfish and ungrateful if I felt even a moment of unhappiness. Looking back, when I was caught up in the ever-spinning chaos around me, I know now that he never treated me like he loved me, like he wanted the best for me, and for me to be happy. I was his favorite toy. No, I was his shining achievement. A doll he shaped and molded, void of personality. I felt like a puppet, waiting for the moment my strings would be cut, and I’d be disregarded. I was worried that he would realize one day I wasn’t worthy of him. I didn’t understand that he wasn’t worthy of me. When I found out he reconstructed my face to look like his missing wife’s, it was as if a veil was pulled from my eyes, and I realized just how expendable I was.”

“I don’t think he would be doing all this for someone he considers expendable,” Citi points out.

“But it’s not me he’s after. Not really. It’s the illusion he built. In my head, I thought it was all about his wife, Lilian. How he couldn’t let her go, and he was so obsessed with her that he tried to make me in her image. And to an extent, that was true. But when I met her…I don’t know. It felt like I had the bones of a story, but the skin didn’t fit.”

“He knows his real wife is dead now for sure. I told him that, and if he’s half as tenacious as we believe him to be, then he’ll have verified that information for himself. So why still come for you? It makes me think of Jasper and how he referred to Neveah and me as a set. Are you part of some kind of collection?” Citi’s mouth snaps shut when she sees the look on my face. “Sorry, that was insensitive.”

“No, it’s not that.” I look at Havoc. “I think it’s bigger than Lilian and me. That’s the part I’ve been struggling with. Those other women, who filed complaints against him, specifically the ones who have gone missing…do you have photos of them?”

Havoc frowns but doesn’t dismiss me. “Let me text G. He’s upstairs working on something. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

“I’m not sure. But maybe the reason why we’re finding it so hard to follow along is that we’re starting in the wrong place.”

Citi gasps. “You don’t think Lilian was the first he did this to. She was just the one unfortunate to marry him.”

“Yeah, this kind of behavior rarely comes out of nowhere. There must have been signs before then—complaints, perhaps from medical school or something.”

Havoc’s phone chimes. He looks at the text and nods. “He’s on his way down. Either of you ladies want a drink or something?”

I shake my head no.

“I’m good, Havoc, thanks. I need to grab Star soon, though.”

He looks at his watch. “We’ll see what G has to say, and then I’ll drive you myself to pick her up. Neveah is on a Zoom call with her publishing team, and I’ve been given strict instructions to stay out of the room so I don’t distract them.”

I grin, picturing Tink saying just that.

“I’m here. Okay, tell me what you need,” G says, sitting in the last seat next to Citi, who tenses for a second. I reach over, grab her hand, and squeeze it. She gives me an embarrassed smile, but she relaxes.

G looks over at her, and I see the moment it clicks. “Shit. Sorry, Citi. I can move.”

“No, please don’t. You didn’t do anything wrong. You just startled me, is all.”

“You sure?”

She nods, but he watches her for a beat more before he concedes. “Alright.” He turns to me. “So this is what I have so far. These are the photos I pulled from employment records, so obviously, there are more out there. But this is a good place to start.” He spins the laptop so I can see.

There are a lot of women on there. Holy shit.

“Can you remove some if I give you certain parameters?”

“Sure.” He pulls the laptop back toward him.

“Can you get rid of all the complaints that were not sexual in nature?”

He types and then nods. “What else?”

“Remove all the people whose location is known.”

He does that and then grits his teeth. “Shit.”