Chapter 162

I did not get much sleep that night. I could not stop playing the fight in my head, over and over. I clutched at my pillow and watched the empty dip in my bed where Andrew normally slept.

He was jealous, that was all that I could think of to justify his behavior. It made perfect sense; Jeffrey and I were together a lot, and that picture did look incriminating, even if Andrew knew that there was nothing going on between us. Still, that did not excuse him acting so possessive and angry at me.

Finally, unable to sleep, I got up soon after the sun rose and grabbed myself a bowl of cereal. I had only eaten a couple spoonsful when I heard my phone buzzing.

Andrew.

“Hello?” I answered.

“Crystal?” Andrew replied.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“I didn’t wake you, did I?”

“No.” I paused. “I couldn’t really sleep last night.”

“Me neither.”

When he didn’t say anything more, I decided to prod him a bit.

“Did you have a reason for calling?”

“Yeah. I…I was hoping that you would come over, soon.”

I thought back to our fight the night before, the darkness that had overcome Andrew.

“I don’t know, Andrew…”

“Please, Crystal. I promise, it will be worth your while.”

Internally, I sighed. I hoped that this visit would come with an apology.

“All right. I’ll be there in about an hour.”

More than an hour later, I stood in the sitting room of Andrew’s private quarters. Andrew sat on the loveseat, and he motioned for me to sit beside him. I merely crossed my arms over my chest and remained where I was.

Andrew rubbed his hand over his face.

“I’m sorry for the way I behaved last night,” he said.

I arched my brow at him, waiting for him to proceed.

“I shouldn’t have reacted that way to one of my guards doing his job,” he continued. “I guess that I just feel guilty and unhappy that he’s able to help you in these situations and I’m not. Then when I saw how good you two looked together…”

He ran his hand through his hair, gripping it near the roots. I frowned, feeling bad for the distress that these emotions were causing him. I took my seat next to Andrew and grabbed his hand, lacing our fingers together.

“Jeffrey and I don’t look good together,” I said, placing our intertwined hands in my lap. “You and I look good together. We are good together.”

Andrew smiled slightly and kissed me gently on the cheek.

“And I’m sorry, too,” I continued. “I should have been more considerate of your feelings in all of this. I can’t imagine that it’s easy to have to deal with rumors like this being spread about your girlfriend.”

Andrew shrugged.

“I’m the Alpha King. I should be used to it.”

“It’s still not right that those so-called ‘reporters’ do it, just to stir up some drama.”

I sat there in silence for a moment, lost in thought.

“If you really think that we should change my guard, I won’t fight you on it. I trust that all of your guards are well trained, and I will take anyone whom you trust.”

Andrew sighed and shook his head.

“No, no. You were right. Jeffrey understands your situation best, and he should stay on as your guard.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course.” He smirked slightly. “I’m Alpha King, and my word is final.”

I rolled my eyes and leaned my head on his shoulder. Andrew stroked my hair.

“You know,” he said after a few minutes of silence, “Lisa and Bob will be going out to some party tonight. We’ll have the mansion to ourselves all night long. Maybe we could have a private dinner, just the two of us.”

I bit my bottom lip and stared up at him from under my lashes.

“Just the two of us, huh? I like the sound of that.”

He nuzzled my neck, causing me to giggle.

“I thought that you might.”

That evening, Andrew arranged for his chef to make my favorites…well, my favorites that had not been ruined for me by Bob and Lisa drugging me: pot roast, steamed carrots and broccoli, and pumpkin pie, all paired with a nice cabernet sauvignon. My mouth watered from the moment that I entered the dining room.

Because this was a makeup dinner of sorts, I decided to dress up for Andrew.

I wore a scarlet strapless dress that stopped just above my knees, black stilettos, and my signature golden hoop earrings. My blonde locks fell in loose curls down my back. Sparkling gold eyeshadow accented my blue eyes, and bright red lipstick brought the entire outfit together.

Andrew’s hungry eyes never left me as I sat down beside him.

“You look absolutely ravishing, my love,” he said, swirling the cabernet in his glass.

I grinned and picked up my glass. As I took a sip of the wine, my eyes roved over Andrew.

He wore one of his classic black three-piece suits. A red rose peeked out from his breast pocket. His hair been tamed into a long quiff, and his dark eyes sparkled in the candlelight.

Perfection. He was absolute perfection.

“I’m so glad that we decided to do this,” I said, helping myself to a slab of pot roast.

Andrew, ever the gentleman, scooped some carrots and broccoli onto my plate before serving himself.

“So am I,” he said. “This is just what we need after all the craziness lately.”

I glanced down at my plate as I cut up my pot roast. It did feel like a long time since we had sat down and had dinner together without some kind of disaster overshadowing the moment.

Andrew used his knuckles to lift my chin up and face him. His gentle eyes conveyed kindness and understanding.

“You know that’s not your fault, right?” he asked.

I smiled, but it wavered.

“Of course not.” I paused. “And you know that it’s not your fault either, right?”

His smile mirrored my own.

“Of course.”

We fell into a comfortable silence as we ate our food. We occasionally broke it by asking for a dish or updating each other on something that had happened during the day, but we did not need chatter to enjoy each other’s presence.

It was…blissful. It was more than I could have wished for in life.

Then a pair of servants brought out our slices of pie. With them came Parker. In his hand, he held a red envelope.

“An urgent note in need of your attention, Your Highness,” he said, handing Andrew the envelope as discreetly as possible.

“Thank you, Parker.” Andrew accepted the envelope and held it close to his body. “You are dismissed.”

Parker nodded and bowed to each of us before exiting the dining room.

I watched Andrew as he ripped open the envelope. Without letting me see its contents, he read the note inside.

The corner of his eyebrow twitched. His jaw clenched, and his grip on the note tightened. Otherwise, though, his body language did not give away what the note said.

As he finished reading the note, Andrew cracked his neck. He put the note back in the envelope, folded the envelope, and slipped it into his pants pocket.

He finally noticed me staring at him and gave me a smile.

“Just a message from Head Wolf Antoine,” he said nonchalantly. “You know how old-fashioned he can be sometimes.”

I nodded my head slowly, dipping my fork into my pie.

“What was it about?”

“The recent pro-integration/anti-integration tensions. He had another proposal that he wanted to run by me, but I want to wait until we’re in front of the entire Council to discuss it.”

I eyed Andrew as I scooped some pie into my mouth.

“All right.”

I wasn’t sure what it was, but something about this situation didn’t feel right to me. Still, I couldn’t call Andrew out on it, not yet. I didn’t have any proof that he was lying, and I didn’t want to start another fight so soon after our last one.

Besides, Andrew was a big boy. He could take care of himself.

I hoped.