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It also became clear that Mayor Isaacs had paid them off, and when Helen had responded that she would delete the video, the second anonymous email responded with their first and only message.
Make a copy.
Helen had responded:I already deleted it.
It took longer than I would have liked to backtrack the anonymous email to an IP address of a cyber cafe in Quinn's neighborhood. I'd already put together the pieces to figure this out, but now everything became clear.
He'd been hired to help them, and when Helen deleted the video, Quinn had hired me to make a copy.
But there was also a new email in the chain that Helen had yet to open. It was from Jessie Isaacs.
The doorbell echoed through the house, and my heart raced. Fuck. I needed to hurry.
I quickly opened the email.
You got your money, you deleted the video—and that's why you're alive. Quinn couldn't stay quiet. He wanted to keep this up. And look at what happened. If you know what's best for you, you'll never contact me again, or you'll face the same fate. Don't fuck with me.
So there it was...holy shit.
Jessie had connected everything back to Quinn. The video of him had eliminated me from his suspicions, which meant I was in the fucking clear.
The front door opened, and Rachel's voice echoed through the house. "Lucas, so good to see you."
I typed in a quick code that reversed the timestamp on the email so that Helen would never see that anyone had opened it.
With that, I darted out of the office, slipped into the bathroom, closed the door, and flushed the toilet. When I emerged, Lucas was standing right in front of me. My heart leapt, and I leaned back, startled. I didn't regret skipping the press conference, not with the information I'd just discovered...I was finally in the clear! But I still hadn't prepared myself for what I wanted to say to him.
The expression on his face was nonplussed, his eyes narrowed. "Hey."
I blinked, lipping my lips. "Hi. Listen, I'm—"
He lifted his hand and shook his head. "Not here. Let's just go home, okay?"
An inkling of fear bubbled inside me. He was pissed I'd ruined the press conference. Had I ruined his opportunity for good? As we collected Claire and said our goodbyes, Rachel did a poor job at hiding her dismay. Blackmailing the mayor and catching her husband cheating wasn't enough.
She wanted a straight shoot to the White House and intended to use Lucas and me to get there. Still, that was the least of my problems.
When we returned back to the Penthouse, Claire went to her room to start working on her homework. Lucas hadn't spoken a word the entire drive, and my nerves were steadily building. I'd never heard him so quiet.
Having decided that I wasn't going to wait around to hear what he had to say, I wandered into the bedroom to change out of my new clothes, eager to get the heels off. I'd just hung up the outfit and was standing inside the closet in a new pair of lacy underwear and a see-through bra when I felt his breath on my shoulder.
"You look beautiful."
I twisted around to face him, and his eyes immediately drifted to the transparent fabric of my bra, studying my nipples as they hardened.
"I'm sorry I missed the press conference. I just needed some space."
His eyes lifted to meet mine. "I understand why you did that. I'm the one who owes you an apology. I should have told you about my past with my ex-girlfriend."
It felt like so much had happened that I'd completely forgotten about that. I didn't even care anymore. Not when I was no longer running the risk of Jessie or Lucas discovering that I'd stolen the video. Still, his stoic reaction surprised me. "So...you're not angry."
Holding eye contact, he reached up and tweaked my left nipple through the fabric. "No, not at all."
Something about his touch felt stiff, tense, but as he leaned down and started kissing my neck, my eyes closed, and I fell against his chest. Maybe I was just imagining it.
He kicked the closet door shut with his foot, cloaking us in darkness. My heart started to race, and as he slid his hand down the front of my lacy panties, my knees buckled. I gripped his shoulders for support, but he reached up, took my wrists, and spun me around.
A gasp escaped me as he pinned my hands behind my back and pressed my body against the wall. All the while, his lips kept roving the skin of my neck, slowly making their way up to my ear. Suckling on my lobe, his tongue circled the inside of my ear, the sensation making my pussy go wet.
