Page 15 of Playing With Fire
“Good morning,” I say leaning forward to peck him on the lips.
“Alex,” he says in warning.
“He’s my friend and he’s harmless. I’ve known him for years.”
“Alex,” he says again.
“He only acted that way because he was drunk. I swear, he won’t do anything,” I tell him. He still doesn’t look convinced.
“I’ll be fine.”
“We still don’t know who the blackmailer is,” he reminds me.
My chest tightens at that but I can’t live my life in fear. Whoever the blackmailer is, I can only hope he has given up on me.
“I’m still going,” I tell Ritchie.
He opens his mouth like he wants to argue but I lean forward and stop him with a kiss. The kiss makes me feel heady with desire and I find myself wanting more. But I can’t, so I pull away.
“I’ll be back soon. And then we can talk for as long as you want.”
I clean up and get dressed, and after giving him one last kiss, I leave. The address Wesley gave me is of a house that’s an hour away, I take Ritchie’s car per his request. I’m not sure why Wesley wants me to meet him at a house when we’re going out for breakfast though.
When I get there, he answers the door with a bright and friendly smile.
“Hey, Alex,” he says, opening the door wider and gesturing for me to go in.
“We’ll leave soon, I’ve just got to grab something in the bedroom really quick,” he tells me and I nod. I take a seat on the couch in the living room.
When Wesley reemerges, he isn’t alone. He’s flanked by three other men.
“Wesley,” I say laughing nervously.
“Who are they?” I ask.
Their presence wouldn’t be so worrisome if it wasn’t for the pure menace wafting off all three men. They’re all huge and bulky like wrestlers and one of them even has a skull tattoo peeking out from between his open shirt lapels.
Wesley flashes me a wry smile. When I catch sight of the cold, detached look in his eye, I finally get enough sense to be afraid.
“No hard feelings Alex but I’m only doing this to survive.”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“This would have been over yesterday if you hadn’t shown up at the premiere with those men,” he says.
I start thinking and come to only one conclusion.
“You’re the blackmailer,” I say.
“Yes and no,” Wesley says. He’s acting unlike the person I knew. My friend that I could count on if I needed anything is nowhere to be found.
“There are a lot of people who want to meet you, Robin X.”
A chill sweeps through me. I didn’t want to believe it was him. Ritchie was right. I shouldn’t have come here alone. I’m such an idiot. How could I have been so stupid? The first thing I do is turn around and sure enough, one of the men is blocking the door, barring my way out. My breathing turns erratic but I try my best to calm down.
“How did you know?” I ask him quietly.
“I got suspicious when I saw a text from a woman named Selena about a year ago. You came to L.A and you left your phone on the dresser. The text said something about Robin X but at the time, the name didn’t mean anything to me. Until about a month ago when I heard all about the famous hacker Robin X, known for stealing money from rich people. I still wasn’t sure it was you so I got the idea to call your actual number, accuse you of being Robin X and ask you to the premiere. If you agreed, I would know it was you. You agreed, and I knew I’d hit the jackpot. I knew a lot of people who would pay good money to know your real identity. When you called me asking to be your date, I considered myself lucky. It was also confirmation for me but my employer needed to draw you out so I went along with it. We hoped you would come to the premiere alone.”
