AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“She’s Mrs. Lawson, and just who the hell are you?” Jack’s words are rushed as he steps in front of Andrea.
The man extends his hand to shake Jack’s. “My name is Donovan Blake. I was Jonathan Swank’s bodyguard. I met Andrea once, long before she was your Mrs. Lawson. I urged her to stay away from Mr. Gates. I gave the same warning to Jonathan Swank, but he wasn’t smart enough to listen.”
Jack doesn’t offer his hand, but he steps out of Andrea’s way to allow her to step forward again.
“Well, you did a shit job protecting Swank,” Nathan says with raised eyebrows.
A giggle escapes Addy’s lips as she lightly taps him on the hip in silent warning.
Blake holds his hands up in protest. “Wait a minute. Swank insisted he didn’t need protection on Saturday nights when he went to his poker games. We had many discussions about it, but ultimately, he was the boss, and I worked for him. Like I said, he wasn’t smart enough to listen.”
“How do you all know each other?” I ask as the shock of this situation lifts.
SJ chuckles, his deep voice filling the room. “Blake and I are colleagues. We all work for the same security firm. Dunn Security Group. Donovan helped me track down Colin.”
“And thank goodness for that. I went dark after things went sideways, per protocol. Donovan was the only person who could reach me when the news broke about the case. When I found out Andrew was alive and Malcom had been taken into custody, I wanted to help any way I could. I got all the messages from SJ and immediately got in touch with him,” Colin says.
“Thank you for everything, Colin. Truly, I couldn’t have done any of this without you,” I say sincerely.
Andrea steps forward, her eyes still on Donovan Blake. “You followed me to the train station that day.” It isn’t a question, but her curiosity is clear.
Blake nods. “I did. I saw you leaving the brownstone with a suitcase. I hoped you were getting away from Gates. I’m glad you did, and I’m glad I was there to see it. I never meant to scare you, Andrea. I only wanted to see you get away from Christopher, so I followed you to make sure you got out safely. Forgive me?” Blake takes a step closer to Andrea and extends his hand.
Andrea eyes his hand for a moment before shaking it. “You’re forgiven.”
Addy makes her way to Andrea’s side, her eyes zeroed in on Blake. “You know you could’ve just told her all of that straight out without the scary guy bullshit.”
All of us laugh at her sassy comment, and after all the turmoil and tragedy, it’s music to my ears.
Charlie steps into my view and presses herself onto her tiptoes. She kisses me gently on my lips.
I keep my lips near hers when I whisper, “We’re free, Mrs. Shaw, and I can’t wait to spend every day of the rest of our lives together.”
THE END
