Chapter 156
Bright and early the next morning, I awoke to a knocking at my door. Reluctantly, I slid out of bed, threw on a robe, and went to answer it. I was only mildly surprised to find Andrew on the other side, a bag of donuts in one hand and a cupholder with two coffees in the other.
“Good morning,” he said, a little too cheerfully for me. “May I come in?”
I was tempted to say no, but the donuts smelled too good to do so. I merely nodded and stepped aside to let him in.
“How did you sleep?” he asked as he made his way to the dining table.
I closed the door and followed him.
“Horribly, thanks for asking.”
“Sorry. You want a donut? I got jelly-filled.”
I sighed.
“Andrew, why did you really come here? I know that it wasn’t just to bring me breakfast.”
Andrew set the donuts and coffee on the table before turning to face me.
“No, it wasn’t.” He didn’t look me in the eye. “I want to talk about last night.”
I crossed my arms over my chest.
“What about last night?”
“I think that you should apologize to Frederick.”
My mouth gaped.
“Me?Apologize tohim?”
I shook my head and laughed dryly.
“No. There is no way that I’m going to apologize to him, not after how he treated me.”
“How did he treat you?” Andrew leaned back against the table. “I don’t understand.”
I rubbed my eyes. Of course, he hadn’t heard what King Frederick had said. He had been too busy talking with Head Wolf Antoine about…whatever he had been talking about.
“He kept pressing me relentlessly to talk about what happened at your coronation, and he called me your freakingdamsel in distress!” I curled my hand into a fist. “I am no one’s damsel in distress!”
His eyes softened, and he grabbed my fist in both his hands.
“I am so sorry, my love. I had no idea. I assure you, I will find a way to make King Frederick pay for his rude behavior.”
He paused, deep in thought.
“We still need to maintain positive relations with him, though,” Andrew reasoned. “If he cuts off ties with us, then humanity will follow suit with werewolves. The fate of werewolf/human interactions depends on this.”
Andrew was right. I didn’t like it, but he was right.
I groaned and stormed toward my room to get dressed.
“Are you going to apologize to him?” Andrew called after me. “Crystal?”
I got the address and room number of where King Frederick was staying from Andrew. The Lexington Hotel, the presidential suite. I cringed at the memories I had with Andrew there, my failed attempt at seducing him.
Dear Goddess, how times had changed.
I shook my head to clear it as I gave my keys to the valet. I certainly did not needthosememories on my mind while visiting King Frederick.
I had no problems getting to the top floor. As I crossed the hall to the presidential suite, though, I was blockaded by two burly men in tight-fitting black suits.
“State your name and business,” said the man on the right.
“I’m Crystal Blanchard, girlfriend to Alpha King Andrew Dubois,” I began. “I am here to see King Frederick—”
“Where is His Highness Andrew Dubois?” asked the man on the left.
“I-he’s not here right now,” I said. “I’m here to—”
“I’m afraid that you are not allowed to see King Frederick without Alpha King Andrew,” said the man on the right, without looking at me.
I clenched my fists and forced myself to take deep breaths to remain calm.
“I’m sure that he will want to see me once he hears—”
The man on the left held one hand up to silence me while he pressed his other index finger against his earpiece. He nodded to himself, then lowered his hands as he turned to me.
“King Frederick says that he does not want to see you under any circumstances.”
I shifted back and forth on my stilettos and pulled on my ponytail. His guards saw that I was not going to leave on my own and stepped forward to move me. I had only one more chance to get this out.
“I’m here to apologize!” I shouted.
The man on the left stopped in his tracks and put his finger to his earpiece once more. His companion followed suit. After listening briefly to his earpiece, the man on the left took out a keycard, swiped it, and opened the door to the presidential suite.
“King Frederick will see you now,” he said.
The suite was just as I remembered it, enormous with black-and-red furnishings. The sitting room seemed even larger than before. Yet despite the fireplace roaring, it felt oddly cold without Andrew’s comforting presence.
Out of one of the four doors branching off the sitting room, King Frederick sauntered out in only a bathrobe, a cocktail glass in each hand. I blushed at the sight but did not otherwise make it known that I had noticed.
“Here,” he said, shoving one of the glasses into my hand. “You look like you could relax.”
“Thank you,” I said, sipping at the cocktail. I suppressed a cringe at the high amount of gin he had mixed into it.
King Frederick threw back the entire concoction, his eyes never leaving me. I would have assumed that he was only assessing how well I could handle my alcohol if it weren’t for the fact that his eyes started wandering uncomfortably lower. I squirmed, feeling as though I were in Bob’s presence all over again—only this time, there was even less that I could do about it.
“So, you said something about apologizing?” King Frederick said, licking his lips for any trace amount of liquor might have remained.
“Yes, of course, straight to business.” I took another sip of the disgusting spirit to appear polite. “I wanted to apologize for the way I spoke to you at the feast yesterday.”
King Frederick continued to stare at me, as though waiting for something more.
“It was very inappropriate, and I should have known better than to speak to someone of your status that way. I’m sorry.”
King Frederick watched me for a moment longer, then turned on his heel and walked back through the door that he had entered from minutes before.
My free hand curled into a fist, but I waited for him to return.
Five minutes later, he came back with a fresh cocktail in hand. He arched a brow at me.
“Is that it?” he asked.
“What do you mean?”
“That was hardly an apology. All you did was state the facts of the matter. I don’t believe for a moment that you’re sorry for what you did.”
Because I’m not,I thought, but I held my tongue.
I knew what he wanted me to do. He wanted me to grovel. He wanted me to humiliate myself for his pleasure; I could see it written all over the smirk dancing across his face.
I mentally sighed and bowed my head.
“Please, Your Highness, I am so very sorry for how I treated you last night,” I said, forcing myself to appear as submissive as possible. “I regret it with all my heart and soul. Please, please do not take it out on me or mine.”
A minute of silence passed. Then another.
Finally, King Frederick said, “How could I turn down such sincere effort at an apology?”
He all but laughed as he spoke.
“Please, Ms. Blanchard, raise your head and finish your cocktail. It’s five o’clock somewhere, right?”
