This has to be God's answer. This has to be.
The familiar wailing of police sirens began to reach her ears, and Monique regained enough of her senses to switch her phone off.
What she had seen mustn't be seen by anyone else...for now.
By the time someone came up to knock on her window, Monique was once again the saint everyone in Corpus Christi thought her to be, with her eyes filled with tears, and her smile valiant but vulnerable.
"I'm so sorry, Officer."
The middle-aged law enforcer turned out to be one of the beneficiaries of her father's foundation, and in mere minutes, Monique was allowed to drive away without a single report being filed.
You're a good woman, Ms. Pratt. Thank you for all that you do.
Officer Desmond's parting words were still on her mind when her phone buzzed with another message, and Monique's heart started thundering against her chest with a mixture of guilt, fear, and the most terrible sense of anticipation.
$1,000,000.
Monique's entire body went cold while her fingers once again tightened around the steering wheel. Whoever this person was obviously thought she would be willing to pay a fortune to save Andreus from being ruined.
24 hours.
The air inside her car still reeked of burnt rubber, and it perfectly matched the stench of evil that tainted every word in the message she had just read.
Or the whole fucking video goes viral.
But what this person didn't know was that a good woman...would not allow herself to be blackmailed.
A good woman believed in the power of truth setting people free...from those who might not love them as they deserved to be loved.
A good woman like her...believed that this was God answering her prayers and putting things to right.
SECURITY ALERTED ANDREUS the moment Monique arrived at the estate as his invited guest. He excused himself swiftly from his friends, not wanting to leave anything to chance. A life with Hallie was all he had ever fucking wanted in this life, and he would not let anyone - not even someone innocent like Monique - ruin this.
Dozens of guests were busy milling about and having their selfies taken by the sweeping staircase when he reached the Great Hall, and Andreus spotted Monique standing by the doorway. The way her face lit up left several male guests in the vicinity spellbound, but while Andreus himself had never been blind to her beauty, neither had it stirred anything in him.
It had always been Hallie alone who, with a mere glance from her violet eyes, had been able to easily set his body on fire.
Monique walked forward to meet him halfway, her expression unusually apprehensive. The main reason he had been able to enjoy her company over the years was how she had stringently avoided making things uncomfortable between them.
Regardless of the countless times he had politely turned down her overtures to take their relationship to another level, Monique had always been polite and gracious, and for her sake, it would be best if she remained as such, even if he was now planning to tell her that Hallie was the woman he intended to spend the rest of his life with.
Monique stood in front of him now, poised and elegant, but with worry still noticeably furrowing her forehead. "Andreus..."
Her voice was openly distraught, and Andreus' lethally powerful build went rigid under his suit. "What's wrong?"
Her lower lip started to tremble, and Andreus' instincts went haywire.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
Something was wrong.
And whatever that something was, his instincts were telling him it could destroy his entire world.
"I'm so, so sorry." The unshed tears coating Monique's shaken voice drew the attention of the other guests, but Andreus didn't give a damn. He could already feel his face turning white as he gazed down at the video Monique was showing him on her cellphone.
And when he spoke, his voice was low and devoid of emotion. "How?"
"I'm so, so sor—-"
"How, dammit!"
Monique jumped away from him, and Andreus fought to regain control of himself when he saw the terror in her gaze.
"I'm sorry," he forced himself to say. "I—-"
Monique cut him off with a shake of her head. "N-No. I s-should have expected you'd react that way, and when I tell you...w-when I tell you the truth, you'll h-have every right to get angry."
She bit her lip as it started to tremble, but seeing this only had Andreus wanting to shake the fucking truth out of her.
"I'm so sorry."
It was the third fucking time she had apologized to him, and he still didn't give a fuck. All he wanted to know was how.
How, dammit.
How had she gotten hold of a video that the FBI had sworn to him was no longer in existence?
"I t-thought it was fake."
Andreus' whole world went dark as Monique told him of how someone had attempted to blackmail her about the video, and how she had completely dismissed the threat because she had thought the video was faked.
"I j-just d-didn't think it could be real."
Andreus could only stare at her...even as all he could see in his mind was Hallie.
"But I was wrong, w-wasn't I? It's r-real...isn't it?"
"Yes."
Her hands flew up to cover her mouth at his answer, but Monique's obvious shock meant nothing to him.
Nothing mattered except the only girl he had ever loved.
Hallie.
This was the reason he had pushed her away.
This was the reason he had hurt her again and again.
And this...
This was something he should've seen coming, from the very start.
I'm so fucking sorry, Hallie.
Why had he allowed himself to forget that it could never be good for people like him?
"Andreus?"
His body reacted involuntarily when Monique tried reaching for his hand, with Andreus unthinkingly flinching and stepping back. Hurt flashed over her features, but Andreus couldn't make himself feel any kind of remorse.
He would always belong to Hallie. He knew that now, and it would never change, even if this finally made her realize that she could no longer love someone like him.
"Andreus? Are you angry with me?"
"No." A monosyllabic reply for someone or anyone who was not Hallie already took too much effort, and without another word, Andreus strode past Monique and walked out of the house.
He had to think fast, and act fucking faster.
Any moment now, more and more people would see the video that Monique had been blackmailed with, and he knew in his guts that this was only the beginning.
Regardless of how Hallie would react to a video showing his teenage self sucking another man's dick, something a lot worse existed—-and it was something he didn't ever want Hallie to be involved with.
Andreus was already behind the wheel of his car when the passenger door suddenly opened, and Monique had jumped into the seat next to his.
"Please let me help you."
Impatience reared its ugly head inside of him, and Andreus barely managed to control himself from telling her to get out of his car and stop wasting his time.
"You don't have to be guilty about this," he grated out. "This isn't your fault—-"
"But it is my fault—-"
Monique's voice faltered when Andreus suddenly swore.
"I appreciate your concern," Andreus tersely expelled, "but right now, all I care about is protecting Hallie and making sure the press doesn't think she's involved with me in any way. So if you don't fucking mind—-"