Chapter 95

Chapter 95

I knew that Jeffrey was right. No matter how I was going to get out of this, it would only be with Andrew’s help. I didn’t want to get Andrew involved, but he was already involved; in fact, it was as much his problem as it was mine.

I looked from Jeffrey to the door and back again.

“Can you check to make sure that there’s no one out there to eavesdrop on me?”

Jeffrey nodded. He did a quick sweep of the shop, then returned and shut the door behind

him.

“All secure.”

“Thank you.”

I pulled out my phone and dialed Andrew’s number.

“Hello? Crystal?” Andrew answered.

“Hi, Andrew. Is now a good time to talk?”

“It’s always a good time to talk for you. Is something wrong?”

“Yes, there is,” I replied. “Someone knows.”

“About last night?”

“Yes. I received a letter. They want $1 million, or they’ll tell the world about our part in the fight.”

Andrew paused.

“And you’re sure that they know? Truly?”

They said that you were the attacker and that the fight was over me. I think they know.”

“Okay, okay. I had to be sure.”

He took a moment, seemingly to gather himself.

“What else did the note say? Anything about a place or time to meet for the money exchange?”

Tomorrow, 11:59 p.m., outside of Ever After Weddings.”

#And?”

heditated.

Chapter 95

“They said that I should come alone.”

I felt my resolve breaking down. My chest shook as I took a deep breath.

“I don’t know what to do, Andrew. I don’t have a million dollars. I don’t want this to ruin your reputation-”

“It’s okay, Crystal. It’s going to be okay.”

I wished that I could believe him, but after everything that had happened to me up to that point, it was getting harder and harder to think that things were going to be all right.

“Here’s what’s going to happen: I’m going to get the $1 million. You’re going to meet with the blackmailer. Then we’re going to take this person down.”

“But how?”

I could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

“You leave that to me.”

I met Andrew at his mansion the next day after work to go over the plan for the meeting. It was simple enough: I would meet with the blackmailer and give them the money, and then we would nab the blackmailer as they were leaving. It seemed almost too simple.

Andrew, his financial advisor, and his personal guards were the only ones to know–besides.

jellrey and me–about the blackmailer. Andrew didn’t trust anyone else, even his des

advisors, knowing about what had happened. According to him, anyone could be a suspect.

Andrew and his financial advisor rounded up the funds for the blackmail, to make it look real. His most trusted personal guards, meanwhile, would be shadowing me at the meeting.

Supposedly, the blackmailer would never see the guards coming. Still, I could not get my mind past the part of the letter that explicitly told me to come alone. Being accompanied by a half dozen guards was a far cry from coming alone.

“Don’t worry,” Andrew told me as I was leaving the mansion. “These men are professionals. They know how to go unseen.”

“I don’t know”

Do you ever see them around me?”

He had a good point.

I smiled and k*ssed him gently.

I love you*

Chapter 95

“I love you, too.”

Just my luck. it was raining when I arrived at Ever After Weddings at 11:57 p.m. I stayed under the awning, hoping to keep dry, and waited anxiously for my blackmailer. I hoped that they were just as miserable in this weather as I was.

I searched the darkness for Andrew’s personal guards. Even with the occasional streetlight and my enhanced half–werewolf vision. I could not see them, just as Andrew had promised. So long as the same were true for my blackmailer, then everything would be all right.

Maybe.

I started to shiver as I waited. Chills ran up my spine. I could not stand being alone in the dark, not anymore, and especially not here.

I couldn’t help the visions of Bob assaulting me as they flashed into my mind. His hot breath. on me as he towered over me…his hands wrapped around my throat and invading my b*dy… his scent, filling my nose and taunting me, identifying him for me but never providing me with the evidence that I needed to prove that he was my attacker…

I had the urge to get into my car and drive as far away as possible. I fidgeted with the keys in my jacket pocket, feeling the jagged edge as though to assure myself that that was still a possibility, but I forced myself to stay. I owed it to Andrew to see his plan through.

It was 12:05 a.m., and the blackmailer still had not shown up. I contemplated calling Andrew, asking him what to do, when a male voice startled me from behind.

“It looks like you can follow orders,” the voice said.

I jumped. When I turned around, I saw an unassuming man in a trench coat, bowler hat, and medical mask. Beneath the hat, he stared at me with intelligent brown eyes, calculating my every move–and that put me on edge.

“I–I have your money,” I said, offering him the large manila envelope.

“I know.”

He took the envelope with his gloved hands. He opened it, removed some bills, and fl*pped through the stack, as though that act alone would let him know if all $1 million were in there. “And you won’t tell anyone about our part in the fight, right?” I asked. “Especially Andrew’s?”

The blackmailer did not answer for a moment. Just as my anxiety had reached its peak, he nodded

Your secret is safe with me. For now.

Tears of frustration pricked the edges of my eyes.

Chapter 95

“Why are you doing this to us? To me?”

“It’s nothing personal,” he said as he put the money back in the envelope. “Money is money.”

“But this could ruin people’s lives-”

“More than you and Andrew ruined Samuel’s life?”

I cringed.

“He’s a werewolf,” I argued. “He’ll heal.”

“You keep telling yourself that. Ask yourself this, though: if Andrew got this out of control in

his wolf–man form, how bad will he be at the full moon?”

The blackmailer’s eyes dug deeply into my own.

“After all, you’ve heard the rumor about his previous Lunas.”

I swallowed against the knot in my throat. My heart beat loudly in my ears.

“No.” I replied. “I don’t believe those rumors. That’s not the Andrew I know.”

The blackmailer shrugged.

“Believe what you want. It will be your funeral.”

He tipped his hat to me.

“Nice doing business with you, Crystal Blanchard.”

As the blackmailer turned to make his exit, three guards appeared behind him. He turned again, and three more guards, including Jeffrey, showed up behind me.

“Give it up, Thomas,” Jeffrey said as he stepped in front of me. “It’s over.”

The blackmailer removed his mask and hat to reveal Andrew’s top advisor.

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