Chapter 66

Chapter 66

My breathing quickened. My pulse raced. I stared into Bob’s eyes, and I didn’t need Susan’s ability to assess people’s affinity for me to know that he was dead serious about his threat.

If I didn’t do as he said, Bob would find a way to kill me.

I backed away slowly, not caring that Bob still had my phone in his pocket. I needed space from him, for just a moment, to think. There had to be a way out of

this.

I couldn’t think of any.

He watched me expectantly, waiting for my answer. I swallowed hard, trying to relieve the sudden dryness in my throat. I didn’t want Bob to think he had won, but I had to be realistic about my options.

“Bob,” I began, “I—”

“Will do no such thing,” Jeffrey said as he put himself between Bob and me.

“Jeffrey! Where in the Goddess’s name did you come from?” Bob exclaimed.

“That doesn’t matter,” Jeffrey said, stepping closer to Bob and placing his hand casually on the handgun at his side. “Now, you will leave Crystal alone, or I will tell Alpha King Andrew about what has transpired here. Do you understand?”

Bob’s eyes widened. He looked from Jeffrey to me and back again. Ferocity crossed his face, but he nodded reluctantly.

“Fine,” he spat. “You won’t be hearing from me again.”

Bob backed out the door, his eyes never leaving Jeffrey’s gun.

Jeffrey continued to watch Bob until he had left the shop and was firmly out of sight. Then he turned to me and gave me the once–over, examining me for any injuries.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“Yeah. You got here before he could do anything. Where were you hiding, anyway?”

Jeffrey’s l*ps twitched momentarily before his face returned to its normal stony neutrality.

Chap 60

ed 3 Jan F.D

A magician never reveals his secrets,” he said simply. He gestured toward the nearest seat. “Why don’t you sit down?”

I nodded and took a seat. I trembled much harder than I thought I would be. Jeffrey remained standing, alternating between watching me and keeping an eye on our surroundings.

“Do you need anything?” he asked. “Water? Food?”

I shook my head. My stomach was in knots after that encounter, and I didn’t think that I would be able to hold down any food or drink, no matter how dry my throat

was.

“Do you….want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Well, there are some things about it that we need to talk about.”

I cringed. Of course, he would have questions. He just caught Andrew’s future son- in–law threatening me if I didn’t leave the city and stop contacting them.

“What do you want to know?” I asked quietly, not looking in his direction.

“How long has Bob been trying to threaten you?”

I thought about telling Jeffrey the truth, about Bob trying to bribe me into becoming his mistress, about my suspicions regarding him being the one behind all the attacks on me. Then I thought about the fight that Andrew and I just had and how worried Andrew had been about someone making him choose between Lisa and me. I didn’t want to cause any more tension between us, not after that.

“This was the first time,” I lied.

I could feel Jeffrey’s eyes boring a hole into me. He must have known that I had lied, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Do you know why he would want you out of the city?” he asked instead. “Or why he wouldn’t want you to contact him or the Duboises ever again?”

I shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant.

He’s my ex. Things didn’t end on very good terms. I guess that he just doesn’t want me in his life anymore.”

So badly that he would threaten to kill you?”

3/26 Wed,

I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. Jeffrey was too perceptive for my liking, but I had to answer his questions. If I didn’t, it would get back to Andrew, and Andrew would ask me more questions that I couldn’t answer.

“Maybe he’s gotten wind of how close Andrew and I seem to be getting.” I admitted, hoping that he would accept a partial truth. “Maybe he finds that threatening, somehow.”

I looked up at Jeffrey through my eyelashes. He nodded, seemingly taking my reasoning at face value. I let out a small breath of relief.

“No matter what his motive, we need to tell Andrew what happened,” Jeffrey said. “He will want to know the kind of man that Lisa is about to marry.”

My b*dy stiffened. On the one hand, Andrew might be more likely to believe one of his personal guards and me if we told him what Bob had done. On the other hand, Bob had fooled Andrew into trusting him thus far, so why wouldn’t he be able to charm his way out of this situation, too?

Besides, Bob had Lisa on his side. Lisa meant more to Andrew than anyone or anything. There wouldn’t be any changing Andrew’s mind if Lisa got to him first.

But would Jeffrey keep this a secret for me?

I looked into his eyes.

“His affinity for you is 80%,” Susan said with confidence.

Good. Maybe I could get him to bend the rules, at least this once, and not report this incident to Andrew.

“Please, Jeffrey, can we not tell Andrew?” I asked.

Jeffrey’s brow furrowed.

“Why would you not want to tell him? He would be able to ensure that Bob never does this to you again.”

“I don’t want to cause any tension with the upcoming wedding,” I said in a half- truth. “If Andrew finds out what Bob did, then it will only cause problems between Andrew and Lisa, and I don’t want to be responsible for that.”

“But that’s even more reason why we should tell him. He wouldn’t want his daughter to marry someone who makes threats like that, especially against women he cares about

I blushed at the last sentence, but I needed to persist.

“But is it my place to put a wedge between Andrew and his daughter, especially over my problems?”

“Bob made it Andrew’s problem when he tried to dictate whether you could contact him or not.”

I mentally cursed Jeffrey’s logical mind. No wonder he was one of Andrew’s personal guards. His mind was as sharp as his physical capabilities.

I reached over and grabbed Jeffrey’s hand, hoping that the platonic gesture would be enough to break through to Jeffrey’s heart.

“Jeffrey, I don’t want to tell Andrew, not yet. For reasons that I can’t explain right now, it’s really important to me. Can we keep it to ourselves for a while?”

Jeffrey stared at me hard enough that I instinctually wanted to look away. However, I did not back down from the challenge, and eventually, Jeffrey closed his eyes and bowed his head briefly.

“Very well, I won’t tell him…for now. If I see anything like that happen again, though, I will not hesitate to report it and this incident. We will both have to answer to Andrew then, but it will be for your safety’s sake.”

I knew that was the best that I was going to get from him, so I nodded.

“Of course, Jeffrey. Do what you have to do.”

“I always do.”

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