Page 54 of Indecent Demands

I slipped out while their backs were to me, focused on the bathroom, and then I took the elevator down.

Ambulances should get there on time. It was easy to learn how to kill, and kill cleanly. Harder was learning how to take someone to the brink without sending them over. I felt bad for making Jackson sick, but it was better than being executed by a hitman.

Damien would’ve been to Jackson’s place at some point or another. Antifreeze poisoning tended to be done over time, and with his hairs in place, and the public offering about to happen… then the proof of the stealing he’d been doing, all of it mysteriously disappearing into cash…

My work here was done.

Chapter22

Ariana

Iwoke up to arms sliding around me and I stretched, opening my eyes. “What…?”

“Morning.” Seth kissed my neck, warm and affectionate.

I rolled over and stared at him, my brow furrowing. “You seem… oddly cheerful.”

Not that he hadn’t been in a good mood last night, it was just that the general mood had been more… well. About love. But bittersweet love. Not this cozy happiness. Seth seemed incredibly relaxed.

I sat up. “Is everything okay?”

Seth grinned. “Everything’s great.”

“What happened?”

Seth sat back against the pillows. He was dressed, all in black I noted, and looked like he’d been out with his hair slightly wind tousled. “I took care of things. You don’t have to worry about going to jail.”

My head spun. “How—what?”

“I took care of it. Damien will be blamed for the thefts.”

My jaw dropped. “Wh-what?”

“It took some work—”

“No.” I pointed my finger at him. “No, that is not some work, okay? You’re fucking with the blockchain itself to do that, you would’ve had to—to—to rewrite the entire system—the amount of electricity and—”

Seth just stared at me, waiting, and my voice eventually trailed off. “You—you did that?” I squeaked.

Seth nodded slowly.

“But—the money—the cash he took out for the hitman—”

Seth’s face grew grim. “It’s not going to happen. Right now, Jackson is fighting for his life in the hospital. It’s not going to be fun, but he’s going to pull through. When experts analyze his coffee, they’ll find that it has antifreeze in it. And they’ll find hairs belonging to Damien Harcourt on the antifreeze bottle and the coffee can.”

My blood ran cold. “What?”

“Then they’ll look at the financials and see that Harcourt was stealing from the company and that all this money was turned into cash and is now missing. Between that and the botched murder attempt, they’ll be sending him to prison for life.”

I stared at him like an absolute moron, my mouth open and eyes wide with shock. “You just set a man up.”

“I did,” Seth agreed amicably, then shrugged. “He deserves it. Now that I’ve moved against him, the hitman can’t do anything, so he’s going to just take the money and run. Damien’s in hot water, framed for murder and embezzlement, as he should be. No hired gun is going to show loyalty to a sinking ship, especially when he’s already been paid.”

“But… but what if it came to light?”

“It won’t,” he said confidently.

“But what if it does?”

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