Love and Sin (2022)

Chapter 10

"Oh, this?" Aleksei laughed. "No, no." He tried to wipe off his face. "It was from something personal I had to take care of." Something he had to keep secret from Tai otherwise she'll know exactly why he had to hurt someone. He did tell her he wouldn't do anything to him. Well, he was already used to telling little white lies.

"What about the blackmailer?" Nikita asked impatiently.

"He said he will apologize tomorrow. He said he felt ashamed about the whole thing and the only reason he did so is that he felt jealous and wanted to hurt you in some way."

"Huh?" Nikita couldn't believe what he was hearing. "He almost ruined my life, because of that?"

"You can punch him tomorrow if you want. He is for sure going to come to apologize or he won't be able to go to this school." Aleksei explained pulling up his sleeves to his elbow. "I'm going to wash up. Let's eat afterward okay."

" I'm not hungry." Nikita rushed upstairs, slamming the door upstairs.

"Was that really what the guy said?" Lev asked, placing the food on the counter.

"You don't buy that pathetic excuse either?" Aleksei asked.

"You think he's lying?" Lev turned towards him.

"I think he is covering up for someone. All of the blackmailings were organized. Getting into our trap was way too easy and everything this student told me seemed rehearsed. Like he was told to say that."

"So we're not telling Nikita?" Lev took out plates and placed them on the counter.

"I think it's better to play along for now and investigate from the side after everyone thinks this is over. I don't like it that there is someone in this school able to hide from us. I think once he or she learned about our involvement after the roommate incident, they decided to stop the blackmail and lay low. They're most likely scared of us. The kid we caught is just collateral damage. But I don't think he knows the person personally. I think he was blackmailed into doing this too."

"So we are dealing with someone who is blackmailing more than one person?" Lev didn't like the sound of that.

"Most likely. I think there are many more students being or that were blackmailed at one point. I think we should look into it a bit more and do some background checks on the guy we caught."

"Alright. I'll get on it tonight."

***

The next morning Tai couldn't believe what had happened. Nikita gave her a quick rundown on recent events with the blackmailer and then later a student came over to apologize to Nikita. After a brief conversation, Nikita left the student in good faith and then came back to Tai mad as a hornet.

"So?" Tai waited.

"He apologized for blackmailing me and gave me the same speech he told Aleksei yesterday."

"What does that mean?"

"It means something is off. This person doesn't seem like someone who could blackmail me. He could barely look me in the eye while apologizing."

Tai crossed her hands. "I mean from what you told me it's obvious your roommates are hiding something. Maybe they know more than they are telling."

Nikita suddenly smiled.

"What?" Tai asked.

"You know just now, neither me or you for a second thought that the sinners talked this student into apologizing to me just to wrap up the whole thing. They could be lying to me for all we know."