Chapter 23
Hannah knocked on Marcus Chesky’s door again, then glanced over her shoulder. His front door wasn’t visible from the street, thanks to landscaping. There were so many trees and bushes on his property that it was impossible to see anything through them.
There were also a handful of cameras. She’d spotted at least three on her walk up the drive and had no doubt there were more. So he knew she was here. And if he was home, he was ignoring her.
She didn’t have to be at the Scotts’ house for another hour, so she’d arrived in the neighborhood early because she had a couple stops to make first, including Chesky’s place.
Because he’d been screening her calls. And that wouldn’t do. She’d made a mistake with him, but she could still remedy it, even if her partner disagreed with her.
She pressed the buzzer again and didn’t let up.
To her surprise, the door swung open and Marcus in the flesh glared at her. Shirtless, hair wet, with a towel slung over his shoulder—she guessed he’d been swimming in his indoor pool. “What?”
“You’ve been ignoring my calls.” And her texts. Unacceptable. She was not used to being ignored.
“And?”
She blinked, unsure of how to react for a moment. Normally when she demanded payment in exchange for being quiet about something, her marks acted quickly. And they never knew her identity.
But Chesky hadn’t seemed like he cared about her blackmail, even when she’d sent him pictures.
He’d simply told her to fuck off. And he’d made it clear that he knew she was the one blackmailing him.
So showing up in person had been her next move.
She needed to make it clear she wasn’t afraid of him.
“I’m not the kind of person you want to ignore.” She had to choose her words carefully, especially if his cameras were active. Extortion and blackmail were illegal, though she didn’t like to use those words anyway.
He crossed his arms over his chest, and she tried not to stare at the expanse of muscle.
She’d known he was strong, but looking at him without a shirt on…
Maybe she’d made a mistake in coming here alone.
Maybe…she should have done this in a more public setting.
She hadn’t even told her partner about her plans to approach Marcus—because he would have strongly protested. So no one knew she was here.
She cleared her throat. “I thought we’d come to an understanding.”
“You thought wrong.”
Again, his attitude threw her. He was just so…
unflappable. That was a word her mother would have used.
“So you don’t care about what I know?” That was as close as she could get to saying what she wanted, when in reality she wanted to demand that he pay her or she’d release all the juicy pictures she had.
She’d gone to a lot of trouble to get them and this was supposed to be one of her payouts.
“Nope.”
Her stomach tightened. “You’re making a big mistake.”
His blue eyes turned to flecks of ice as he took a step forward. “Am I?” His voice was as cold as his expression.
She didn’t know much about him, just that he was relatively young to be living in this exclusive neighborhood that seemed to be packed with couples and families involved in the tech industry. But not him. Trying to keep her expression neutral, she nodded. “Yep. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
He grinned at her, and looked a bit like a tiger playing with its prey as he stepped back. “Right back at ya.” Then he slammed his door in her face.
She jumped at the impact, then shoved out a breath, felt a bit like a balloon deflating as she turned and headed back up the drive.
It took everything in her not to sprint away, but just in case he was watching her on one of his cameras, she held her head high.
She couldn’t let him know that he’d scared her.
Even though he had.
She thought about releasing the pictures she had of him to call his bluff, but… Jesus, his eyes. Maybe she would just hold on to them and do nothing for now.
Her mom had always told her to research her marks, and until today she’d always done that.
And she’d always been careful not to let anyone know she was behind her blackmail schemes, but she’d slipped up with him somehow.
Clearly she should have looked deeper into Marcus Chesky.
She shouldn’t have assumed that he was like all the other rich assholes who lived in Emerald Queen Gardens.
Marcus Chesky was dangerous.