So, yeah, it's been a while everyone, but I'm back! Don't know for how long tbh, but I'll try to start writing again and update from time to time. I guess I just needed a little break. I hope you still enjoy reading this book tho.💙

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The next morning I get into my car and drive over to Tristan's house. I pull up in front of his house with the tires screeching. Someone opens the door before I even get the chance to pound on it.

'Three is expecting you.' Bakker says when I look at his face.

I roll my eyes and walk past him, making sure to walk into him. He stumbles and I find my way to the living room. Why the fuck does he keep Bakker around?! 

Tristan is sitting on the couch with a glass of scotch in his hand, staring out of the window, wearing his perfect suit as always.

'What is wrong with that sick fucking brain of yours?!' I snap, standing still in front of him.

'I think Liz quite likes it.' He looks into my eyes.

'Don't fucking talk about her!'

I see Sven taking a step forward from the corner of the room. I raise my eyebrow a little and smirk.

'What is he going to do? Kill me so you can take my girlfriend?'

'Why do you always assume I want to kill you?' Tristan puts the glass down and stands up. 

'As I said before, if I wanted you gone, you would be dead.' He pauses. 'Sven, pat him down. He's nervous. He has something on him.'

I freeze. I have a gun shoved in the back of my pants in case I needed to shoot anyone today. I take a step back from Sven and pull it out of my jeans, throwing it on the table in front of us.

'I was not planning on shooting you unless you kept pissing me off.' I tell Tristan honestly.

He chuckles and rolls his eyes. We get into an argument and as soon as he mentions Beth, I start to shout at him.

'She was drunk, Tristan!' I bite my lip. 'I need you to leave her the fuck alone!'

'I told you I would leave her alone if you did the job I gave you, but you refused so I got to know her a little better. You know, the places she likes to visit when she's alone... One moment I was quite surprised about the fact she didn't want to kill me or anything, with her reputation and all...'

'Contact her one more time and I will kill you myself.'

Tristan inhales sharply.

'All this talk about killing!' He puts his hand on Sven's shoulder. 

'It makes me want to kill someone.' He smiles at me.

He is a psychopath. I start to get nervous, I don't want him to kill anyone, not even Bakker. He has done enough killing and cutting off body parts for a while. Tristan's laugh fills the room and I look down at the gun on the table. How could the world not be a better place with Tristan gone?

'If you kill me, you're the one taking over. And I don't think Lizzie would like that very much, would she? Her boyfriend dealing drugs while she defends criminal after criminal until you're seated next to her in handcuffs and she has to defend you.'

His words hit me hard and I decide to just listen to what he wants me to do. I have to continue lying to Beth, this is the only way to keep her safe. I ask him what he wants me to do and his eyebrows shoot up, surprised by how fast I gave in.

'You're good with technology, right?' Tristan asks, pouring me a drink.

'Are you seriously asking me that?'

'No need to be arrogant. Are you really good?'

'Yes, I am.' I answer.

I wait for him to tell me what job he wants me to do. My jaw drops when he tells me. Fucking hell, it's against the law and if I get caught... No. I'm not going to think about that. I'm good with technology so I can do this. Security systems are not that complicated, right?

'How many and from whom?' I ask.

'Seven. Rich people. Different cities and... don't... get... caught.' Tristan says. 'Sven will give you the things you need and if you can pull this off I might consider giving you two years of peace with your girl.'

'If they put me away for this, I will take you down with me this time.' I say before grabbing the gun and walking out of the living room.

Before I leave the house I look at Bakker standing at the front door and I push him against the wall with my arm on his throat.

'Get the fuck out of this country.' I inhale sharply. 'Before I erase you from this planet.'

He nods and I close the door behind me, walking to my car with my heart pounding in my chest. I need to get rid of this gun. I'm not allowed to have one in this country, let alone have one on me.

Elizabeth's POV

I wake up with a headache given to me by the devil himself. I groan as I sit up in Shawn's bed. Faint memories of what happened last night after I brought the first glass of tequila to my lips come back to me and I rub my temples. 

Why do I always have to make a mess of everything? Why did I drink with Tristan, I don't drink. Fucking hell, Shawn must be so mad at me.

'Shawn?' I say as I get up out of bed, immediately regretting that I spoke.

I walk around Shawn's house, looking for him in every room. He didn't leave me again, did he? I'm in his house and everything is still here, so I guess not.

One Month Later

On a Monday morning, I make my way to the office, walking through the hallways of the big building. I have to grab some files before I make my way to court. 

Shawn has been on my mind a lot these past few weeks. I haven't seen much of him lately. He says it's because of his new job, but I think he's still mad at me because of the time I spent with Tristan. I try to take Shawn off my mind by thinking about the trail I have in a few minutes.

A client of mine has been accused of stealing cars - extremely expensive cars - but he swears on his life that he didn't do it. The strange thing is that they have him on camera, they say, but I can't determine anything before I see the footage.

'I will see you there, is that alright with you, Miss McCullen?' He says, standing next to his car.

I nod and quickly run home to get my car and drive to the courthouse. 

The only other evidence besides the footage is the fact that my client works for a company that developed some sort of device that makes it easy to steal cars like Maserati's en Bentley's.

When I arrive at the courthouse I sit down behind the desk, looking over my files one more time.

'Are you sure you have no idea who might want to frame you for this?' I ask him one last time.

'No, I already told the police it wasn't me or any of my colleagues, nor was the device our company made used by any of its employees.'

I nod and wait for the trial to start. Just like the judge had warned me, the other attorney presents the footage as evidence. I wait until the footage is played and look at the person in it, searching for anything that I can use to prove my client isn't guilty.

The man on the video is wearing all black and walks up to a black Maserati from one of the ambassadors visiting the Netherlands. What moron steals a car from an ambassador?! 

The man grabs a device out of his pocket, putting it on the door of the car. He knows where the cameras are because you can see him keeping his face hidden.

The man slowly lowers himself down to his knees and I recognise his movements, the way he walks, his hands, his body language, I know this person. 

I jump up from my chair when I realise who it is, my breath hitching in my throat. It can't be. I stare at the screen, hoping I'm wrong. I close my eyes and my heart sinks. 

I'm not wrong... my boyfriend is the one stealing expensive cars all over the Netherlands.

'Is everything ok, Miss McCullen?' My client whispers when he sees the judge staring at me.

I slowly sit down again, looking down at my lap. I assure him I'm fine and we continue watching the video until the car opens and Shawn drives away in it.

I have watched him one too many times going down on his knees. I know how his body works, how his fingers move. It is him. I know it.

The trial ends quickly, the verdict postponed for one month. I have one month to make sure my client doesn't go to prison for something he didn't do and keep Shawn from going to prison for something he did do. 

How am I going to do this?

The judge who told me about the footage walks up to me after the trial, softly putting her hand on my shoulder. She wasn't allowed to tell me about the evidence, but she still owed me a favour and I'm glad I knew about the camera footage before the trial. 

It still shocked me to see what was on it, but at least now I can do something about it, like stopping Shawn from stealing any other cars. Why is he even stealing cars?! He is a billionaire!

'Are you ok, Liz?' She asks.

Her words snap me out of my thoughts. She is an old friend from law school and maybe she can help me relax a little.

'I'm fine.' I shake my head a little.

'I don't want to pressure you or anything, but I couldn't help but see that you recognized someone on that footage.' She says with a calm voice, pointing at the courtroom.

'I didn't recognize anyone, but it suddenly came to me that my client couldn't have been the thief.' I pause for a moment, seeing the frown on her face. 'I will prove it to you and the other judges next month, just trust me ok?'

She nods, studying my face. She knows I'm lying. Right about now, I'm relieved she decided to become a judge instead of a detective. I say my goodbyes and rush out of the courthouse, making my way to Shawn's apartment.

I park my car in a rush, almost running into a tree. I am so fucking pissed right now! How dare he?! Lying to me again after he told me to trust him! This whole month he's been acting weird and now I know why. I am so done with all his fucking lies!

When I'm standing in front of his door I take my suit jacket off, pounding on his door with my fist.

The door swings open, a flushed Shawn standing in front of me with a big smile on his face that turns into a frown as soon as he sees my face. My anger takes over and before I know it, my hand hits his face.

'How dare you!' I shout, a little shocked by the anger in my own voice.

His eyes flash with confusion as I see his cheek getting red. He frowns and waits for me to say something else.

'Why the fuck are you stealing--' I start, but Shawn puts his hand over my mouth, cutting me off.

He wraps his arms around my body and pulls me inside his apartment, still covering my mouth. 

Thank you for reading!

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