Chapter 172

Five minutes later, Parker entered the home office.

“He is gone, Your Highness,” he said.

Andrew released a small breath of relief.

“Thank you, Parker. You are dismissed.”

With a nod and a bow to each of us, Parker departed the room, leaving Andrew and me alone once more.

Andrew collapsed into his chair and pulled me onto his lap. He burrowed his face into my neck and let out a contented sigh, trying to hide the stress that he clearly felt from this whole ordeal.

“Now, where were we?” he said, nuzzling from the bottom of my neck up to the back of my ear.

I smiled as I tried to muster the same enthusiasm that I had had before the meeting with Mr. Barone, but the feeling was no longer there. I could not get my mind off of this latest threat to my life or how we could possibly combat it on our own.

Andrew must have sensed my hesitation. He grabbed my face in one of his hands and turned it towards him so that I was forced to look him in the eye. His thumb ran across my bottom lip, a tender gesture that caused me to quiver.

“What’s wrong, my love?” he asked.

I wrapped my arms around Andrew’s neck and rested my head on his shoulder.

“It’s this issue with Bob and this other crime boss, this Bianchi fellow,” I said. “I don’t know if we can handle their combined resources on our own.”

Andrew’s voice lowered to a growl.

“You mean that you don’t think that I can protect you from them.”

“I don’t know what and who Bob has at his disposal, let alone a crime boss,” I tried to explain. “I’m scared that we can’t handle this threat…not without some help.”

My voice shook with unshed tears.

“I’m scared, Andrew.”

Andrew sighed and stroked my arm, raising goosebumps from every inch of my skin.

“You don’t need to be. I meant it when I said that I can protect you. You need to remember, I have plenty of resources of my own—both as Alpha King and as a Dubois.”

I lifted my head to look up at Andrew’s face. His jaw was firmly set, and he stared at me with a determination that let me know that he meant every word that he said.

“I will protect you to my last breath.”

I reached my hand up and entwined it in the hair at the base of Andrew’s neck. I pulled him down, our lips colliding in a rough kiss. When we finally separated, we were breathless.

“Thank you, Andrew,” I said. “I know you will do everything you can to protect me.”

“Crystal,” Andrew woke me early the next morning. “Crystal, wake up.”

Groggy, I rolled over and shooed him off of me.

“I’m up, I’m up.” I yawned and stretched. “What’s going on?”

“Get dressed. I have something to show you.”

I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes, then noticed for the first time that Andrew was already fully dressed and standing next to the bed, not lying in it.

“What—”

“I’ll tell you as soon as you get dressed.” He saw my hesitation and confusion. “Just trust me.”

I sighed and nodded.

“Fine,” I said as I threw the covers off of me. “It better be important if you’re waking me up this early, though.”

“Don’t worry, it is.”

I dressed as quickly as I could, Andrew sitting on the bed and waiting for me the entire time. When I was done, he grabbed my hand and dragged me out to the sitting area by the front door. There, five men in all-black clothing stood patiently at attention.

I glanced up at Andrew.

“Really, Andrew, what’s going on? You need to tell me, now.”

Andrew nodded and motioned for the man at the head of the group to step forward.

“Crystal, this is George Brown, head of my Special Guard,” Andrew explained. “He and the Special Guard will be providing supplemental security for you, on top of Jeffrey’s services.”

George Black saluted me military style.

“It is nice to meet you, ma’am,” he said, “and it will be a pleasure serving you, I am sure.”

I raised my hand as though to shake his, then hastily lowered it.

“It’s nice to meet you as well.” I turned to Andrew. “This is a nice gesture, but who are the Special Guard, exactly?”

Andrew’s lips quirked in a half-smile.

“They are my secret weapon, a team of former special ops soldiers trained against every threat that you could possibly imagine. Whenever I receive a high-level threat to myself or someone I love, I call them in. The public does not know about them, so I suppose that you could call them my wild card.”

He walked over to George Black and patted the man’s shoulder.

“They are the best of the best that no one knows about, even better than my personal guard. No one will get to you with them around.”

The fact that Andrew was bringing in such highly trained former soldiers to protect me both touched me and frightened me. It meant that he cared enough about me to use all of his resources to ensure my safety. However, it also meant that he thought that the threat was serious enough to use even his top resources, and that scared me to my core.

“Is…is Jeffrey okay with this?” I asked.

“It was his idea,” Andrew replied. “We talked about it last night after you went to bed. He thinks that the extra security will give us the edge that we need to cut off Bob and Bianchi.”

I swallowed against the knot in my throat.

“And you think this, too?”

Andrew stepped toward me and put both his hands on my shoulders. He stared me straight in the eye.

“Crystal, I have trusted these men with my life and with Lisa’s life multiple times. I know that they are more than capable of taking out a crime boss and a low-rate scumbag. Do you really think that I would put your life in the hands of people that I have not already put to the test myself?”

I closed my eyes and shook my head.

“No. It’s just…this is all too real for me,” I whispered.

When I opened my eyes, Andrew was smiling kindly and sympathetically. He reached over and tucked a hair behind my ear.

“I know, but with the Special Guard, you won’t have to worry.”

I didn’t reply for a moment. Andrew really was doing everything he could to protect me; I should be open to receiving his help. It was a lot, and it was the best hope that I had of surviving this situation.

“Thank you, my love,” I whispered. “This is more than I could have asked for.”

I grabbed his chin and tilted his head down so that I could kiss his lips. When he pulled away, Andrew grinned.

“I told you, I will do everything possible to keep you safe.”

Andrew turned toward the men, who immediately filed into a triangular formation.

“Men, your assignment starts today.”

“Sir, yes, sir!”