Descent (Black Heart Romance presents Heaven & Hell)

That is very much not the case.
Unfortunately for her—and me—she goes on a research mission to uncover all the bad things
I’ve had to do to protect Hallie. It’s fucking irksome, honestly.
Jackson’s overdose—oops.
But he betrayed Hallie, and it didn’t matter that it was for me—he still betrayed her, and I
wanted him gone. Now he is, and everybody’s happy.
Then she discovers I purchased Hallie’s mother’s house long before Hallie thinks I did. That
was a little too close to a lie, but I didn’t lie, technically. When I asked Hallie if she wanted me to
buy her mother’s house, it just seemed simpler than explaining I had already purchased it in case I
needed it for blackmail, but since she’s such a loyal friend and sweetheart, I hadn’t needed to use it.
It was an omission that didn’t really matter, but now when she shows it to Hallie—because
that’s obviously what she’s planning with all this—it’s going to look bad.
She keeps digging, chasing a couple of roads I never took—a couple because I didn’t know
about them, a couple because I’m not that much of an asshole.
But then she gets on the right track. That’s much more unfortunate because Arson was involved
with all of that, and if Nick gets wind of this nosy lawyer poking into Arson’s business, he’ll kill her,
plain and simple.
That would upset Hallie terribly. Me, not so much, but I don’t want Hallie to mourn
unnecessarily, so I decide to be the good guy for a minute and intervene before Charity gets out of
hand and ruins everything.
Unfortunately, Charity tells Hallie she has to see her about an urgent matter before I can
accomplish that. Hallie is working when she gets the call, so she’s wearing around the house clothes
and messy hair. She’s trying to work, Charity, but fucking Charity is tenacious and must be seen.
So, she invites her up. To my penthouse. How fucking fortunate.
Because Hallie told me she has a tendency to check on her “old ghosts” on social media, I
figured the day would come that she would learn at least some of the things I’ve had done for her, but
I didn’t think it would be so soon. I even thought there was a good chance that enough time would
have passed that she didn’t realize all of these things happened so close to when she told me about
them.
But fucking Charity had to interfere.
I wish I could let Nick kill her, I really do. I have a feeling she’ll be a persistent thorn in my side
for the rest of the time I have to endure her, but I can’t do that to Hallie. Not without trying to avoid it,
at least.
I cancel my afternoon appointments so I can watch without interruption.
Dread settles in my gut as I watch Charity come in. She’s still wearing a brown skirt suit from