Chapter 161

Andrew settled into his office chair. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. That meeting had gone excruciatingly long, and nothing had been accomplished.

Day two of discussions about pro-integration/anti-integration tensions, and the Council was still fractured over how to handle the issue. The empty seat did not help matters any. Louis had been Andrew’s unexpected pro-integration supporter, and now the vote was too evenly divided.

Andrew felt his phone vibrate. When he pulled it out of his pocket, he found several messages from Dennis.

Andrew rolled his eyes at what he was certain was only an overreaction from his social media advisor. The man knew that Andrew was going to be in a meeting all morning, but of course he thought that whatever he had to say was world-ending. Andrew shook his head and skimmed to the latest message.

The final message simply read, Look at this article. Call me back immediately.

Andrew clicked on the link that Dennis had sent him. He was immediately faced with a picture of Jeffrey with his arm around Crystal’s shoulders. The headline above it read:

CRYSTAL BLANCHARD FOUND IN ARMS OF NEW BEAU, ANDREW DUBOIS NOWHERE TO BE SEEN

His hand clutched his phone so tightly that his knuckles turned white. A low rumbling erupted from his chest. He took slow, deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down.

He knew that this picture was not what it seemed. Crystal had told him the moment that she got to the mansion what had happened in front of the hospital. The paparazzi had surrounded her, triggering a panic attack, and Jeffrey had saved her…again.

Still, Andrew could not help the anger bubbling deep within him. Seeing one of his guards with an arm wrapped around his girlfriend sent a jolt of jealousy through him unlike anything he had felt in a long time. He could not explain this painful fury gnawing at him or the embarrassment he was drowning in solely for feeling it, but they were emotions that he never wanted to feel again.

And he was going to do something about them.

I sat in the home theater, streaming a documentary about quicky weddings—and divorces—in Las Vegas, when Andrew returned from the office. I smelled him before I heard him walking down the hall. Mentally sighing, I braced myself for the subject that would inevitably come up once he came through the door.

“Hello, love,” he said as he swooped down to kiss my cheek. “What are you watching?”

“Just a documentary on weddings,” I said, pausing the program. “How was work?”

Andrew shrugged and took a seat next to me.

“Same old, same old. A lot of indecision, a lot of political games.”

I wrapped my hands around his arm and leaned my head against him.

“I’m sorry. I take that to mean that you haven’t come up with any resolution to the pro-integration/anti-integration tensions yet?”

He stroked my hair.

“Not yet, and it doesn’t seem as though we will for some time.”

“I’m sure that you’ll come up with something. You always do.”

Andrew smiled slightly and kissed me on the lips. Then he sighed and shook his head.

“Crystal, we have to talk about something.”

I nodded and sat up straight in my chair.

“I know.”

He arched his brow at me.

“You do?”

“Yes. It’s about the tabloid articles, isn’t it? And the picture with Jeffrey?”

He nodded.

“You have to know that they aren’t true,” I continued. “The articles are only rumors, and the picture was taken out of context. It’s from the hospital, when I was having my panic attack.”

My eyes widened, imploring Andrew to believe me.

“Please, Andrew—”

“Sweetheart, I know all that already.”

He grabbed my hands in both of his. I smiled at him, relieved to hear him say that. Then I pinched my brows, confused.

“So…what do we need to talk about, if you already know that none of it is true?”

Andrew ran his thumb over my knuckles.

“We need to talk about assigning you a new guard.”

I ripped my hands away from his.

“What are you saying? I don’t need a new guard! You just said that you know that there’s nothing going on between Jeffrey and me—”

“Yes, but the rest of the world doesn’t know that,” Andrew countered, his voice lower and with a hint of a growl to it. “The less you are seen with Jeffrey, the less likely people will be to mistake your interactions with him as anything more than friendship.”

He leapt out of his seat and began to pace. I narrowed my eyes at him. Something else was going on with Andrew, but I could not figure out what.

“Switching guards will only draw more attention to the rumors,” I argued. “People will think that something is definitely going on between Jeffrey and me and that you’re jealous of it.”

“I am not jealous!” Andrew snapped.

I raised my hands defensively.

“I didn’t say that you are. I said that people would think that you are if we changed my guard now.”

“If we don’t, they’ll think that I’m complicit in your alleged adultery.”

Heat rushed to my face. I slammed my hands on the arms of my chair and pushed myself to my feet.

“There is no adultery going on here,” I said through gritted teeth, “and we cannot get rid of Jeffrey as my guard. He is the only one who truly understands my episodes—”

“I understand your episodes!”

“Not like he does! I need his help at public events until I can learn to handle my trauma on my own.”

I put my forehead in my palm and shook my head.

“I don’t even know why we’re arguing about this,” I continued, trying to keep my tone even. “It’s ridiculous. Jeffrey is an excellent guard who has put his life on the line for me several times, and I won’t lose him just because you’re feeling insecure.”

Andrew’s hand clenched into a fist. His eyes darkened. For a moment, I feared standing before him, and I took a step backwards.

Upon seeing my trepidation, Andrew took a deep breath and uncurled his fist. The darkness in his eyes disappeared.

“I am in control of your guard,” he said, slowly and carefully. “I will decide who is best to watch over you. And my word is final.”

We glared at each other for several chilling, silent moments. His eyes demanded that I look away first, giving him the dominance that he longed for. Yet even as I bent down to grab my purse, I did not let him have that satisfaction.

“I am going home,” I said. “Call me when you have come to your senses.”

Andrew did not say anything, his eyes still narrowed at me.

“Goodnight, Andrew.”

I backed away until I reached the door. I finally broke my gaze and walked down the hall. Parker handed me my jacket as I reached the foyer.

“Thank you, Parker,” I said. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight, Ms. Blanchard,” Parker replied solemnly, holding the door open for me.

I trotted down the stairs and away from the mansion, unsure of when I would return.