Chapter 185

I stood at the door to Bob’s apartment, Jeffrey behind me. His eyes burned a hole in the back of my skull. I didn’t need to talk to him to know what he was thinking: Do you really want to be doing this?

It was a question that I had asked myself a million times on the way from the mansion. I had told Andrew that I trusted him on this Bob matter, but I couldn’t leave it alone, not when our friends were getting hurt. Something had to be done.

I didn’t feel good about lying to Andrew, again, or sneaking around on him. It was just what I had to do.

I had waited until I was certain that Andrew was busy at the office before I left for Bob’s apartment, but I also ensured that it was early enough that he wouldn’t come home prematurely. The last thing that I needed was for anything to raise his suspicions. Hopefully, Jeffrey and the Special Guard would keep their mouths shut.

Taking a deep breath, I raised my hand and knocked on Bob’s door.

Lisa answered.

“What do you want?” she asked, her voice nearly a growl. She certainly had her father’s temper and protective streak.

“I want to talk to Bob.”

“Why?”

“I think that’s best for me to—”

“Who’s at the door, Lisa?”

Bob’s voice automatically made my body stiffen. I rolled my shoulders, trying to loosen my tight muscles, but I could not put myself at ease. Jeffrey subtly patted my arm but quickly retracted his hand.

Before Lisa could answer, Bob sauntered up to Lisa’s side. He wrapped his arm around her waist possessively and pulled her close to him. He gave me a once-over and sneered.

“What are you doing here, Crystal?” he asked.

“We need to talk,” I said, trying to maintain my composure.

“I don’t think that there’s anything we need to talk about after how you and Andrew have been talking to Lisa.”

I narrowed my eyes at Bob.

“There was nothing wrong with what Andrew and I said to her. We only reminded her that she has other options.”

“You told her that I was dangerous!” Bob snapped.

I flinched.

“You told her that I put a bomb in her car and that marrying me would ruin her life. How is that ‘reminding her that she has other options’?”

“It’s reminding her that she doesn’t have to marry you just because she said that she would.” I took a deep breath, centering myself and reminding myself of why I was really there. “But that’s not what I came here to talk about.”

“Well then, out with it.”

My hand clenched into a fist. I hid it behind my back so that neither Bob nor Lisa would take it as a sign of aggression against them.

I looked at Lisa, contemplating whether I wanted to have this conversation in front of her. Perhaps it would convince her that Bob was up to no good, to hear the accusation and see his reaction to it firsthand. I decided to plow forward.

“You sent someone to beat up and intimidate a dear friend of mine,” I began, “Eliza Vanderbilt, wife of the elderly dressmaker Nikolas Vanderbilt. She received several bruised ribs from the attack, and her dog nearly died trying to protect her.”

Lisa’s hand flew to her mouth as she gaped in shock. Wide-eyed, she looked up at Bob, as though begging him to tell her that it wasn’t true.

Bob jutted his chin out defiantly.

“How do you know that the attack had anything to do with me?” he asked.

“The attacker left a note saying that Andrew and I should stay out of yours and Lisa’s relationship.”

Lisa paled.

“I’m so sorry. Your friend and her dog, are they going to be okay?” she asked.

I nodded.

“Like said, she got several bruised ribs, but she’s going to be fine otherwise. Her dog was shot, but he’s going to survive. Everyone involved—the police included—think that they got lucky.”

Bob’s eyebrows twitched at the mention of the police, but he hardly reacted otherwise.

“I still don’t understand why you think I’m involved,” he said.

“The note warned us against getting involved in your relationship,” I said, appalled that I had to spell this out for them. “Who else would be threatening us over that?”

Bob shrugged nonchalantly.

“I don’t have any idea, but I can assure you that it wasn’t me.”

A dark shadow crossed Bob’s face. He leaned in close to me, so that our faces were but inches from each other.

“I can tell you one thing, though,” he said, his voice menacingly low. “That note had a good point. You and Andrew really should keep your noses out of mine and Lisa’s relationship, if you know what’s good for you.”

My heart beat hard against my ribs. I swallowed against the knot forming in my throat.

Jeffrey stepped up to my side and pushed Bob back away from me.

“Watch your personal space,” Jeffrey said in the most threatening tone I had ever heard him use.

Bob appeared about to defy Jeffrey and get in my face again. Then he took another look at Jeffrey and his intimidating form, and he fell in line beside Lisa. The arm he wrapped around her waist seemed to tighten, and I winced just watching it.

Bob turned his attention to me. His eyes narrowed into a glare.

“I think it’s time that you leave,” he said. Although his voice remained neutral, it still sent chills down my spine.

Something fluttered in my stomach and esophagus. I nodded, trying to maintain my composure in the presence of his menace. I just kept reminding myself that with Jeffrey by my side and the Special Guard in the shadows, there was no way Bob would be able to get at me…for now.

“I think you’re right,” I replied. I gathered up the last of my courage to add, “Just leave my friends alone.”

Bob’s lips curled in a malicious grin, exposing his canines.

“I already told you, I had nothing to do with that,” he said, “but I’m sure that if you leave Lisa and me alone, there won’t be any problems.”

Another chill went through me, and I did my best to shake it off.

“Come on, Jeffrey,” I said in my most neutral voice, “let’s go.”

I turned to leave, and Jeffrey followed suit. I had only walked a couple feet down the hallway before I looked over my shoulder back at Bob’s door.

Lisa stood there, alone. She stared back at me, and for a brief moment, our eyes met. My heart broke at what I saw.

Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears. Her legs trembled, as though hesitant to carry her back into the apartment. Along her chin, I could see whispers of bruises scarcely covered up by mounds of makeup.

Then she retreated into the apartment and closed the door behind her.

“Crystal?” Jeffrey asked. “Are you okay?”

I nodded.

“Yeah,” I replied. “I’m fine.”

Still, as we walked out of the apartment building, I wondered how I could leave another innocent young woman alone with that monster.