Chapter 201

After Lisa’s departure, everyone in the ballroom stared at me. I did not lose my composure. I knew I had done what was right, even if Lisa could not see it at that moment.

Then chaos broke.

The guests departed en masse. A wave of them headed for the open bar to try and catch one last cocktail before the party was officially over. The DJ began to pack up his equipment, and even Ever After Weddings employees started to tear decorations down unbidden.

I watched as a group of guests stuffed leftovers into their pockets and purses, perhaps the least dignified thing I had ever seen the upper echelon of werewolf society do. My gaze drifted as the Beaumont clan charged toward me. I should have known that they would want to have a word with me after Bob’s and Lisa’s displays.

Before they could reach me, Andrew grabbed me by the elbow and pulled me to a secluded spot away from the rest of the disgruntled partygoers—to our spot, the spot where we had first made love. I would have flushed at the thought if the look on Andrew’s face had not warned me that this would be an uncomfortable conversation.

“Did you do this?” he muttered through gritted teeth.

“Do what?” I asked.

“Don’t play dumb with me. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

When I didn’t respond, he sighed and ran his hand through his hair.

“This. Bob’s arrest. Are you and Noah responsible for it?”

I crossed my arms over my chest and lifted my chin defiantly at him.

“Yes, we are.”

Andrew barely kept himself from pacing.

“Why? I told you that we needed to wait for my private investigator to finish his investigation—”

“And I told you that Noah had a strong case against Bob for Mr. Brown’s murder.” My brows furrowed. “We couldn’t sit back and wait for him to strike again.”

“You could have consulted with me about it first,” Andrew argued. “Did you even think about how this could affect the case that we—” he motioned between the two of us— “are building against him?”

“Frankly, no. I was only concerned with getting a dangerous man off the streets once and for all.”

“We could have done this together—”

“Doing it together was taking too long.”

“That’s because I didn’t want to take any risks. Who knows how Bob might be able to manipulate the justice system in his favor with this case—”

“Noah assured me that the case was foolproof—”

“Noah is a financial attorney, not a criminal lawyer. He is way out of his depth with this.”

“So are you!” I hissed. “You’re a politician, not a lawyer, not a cop. You have no idea what you’re doing here, either.”

Andrew looked taken aback by my reaction, but he did not step down.

“I know more than either of you do. I have dealt…”

He stumbled over his sentence, as though he were holding back his emotions.

“I have dealt with more murders in my life than either of you. I have ensured that justice was brought to those cases. Now, I don’t know what will happen.”

“You’re only mad because you are not in control anymore,” I argued.

Andrew looked like I had slapped him, but I continued.

“I did what I had to do for my safety and the safety of the people that I care about. I do not regret any of this.”

Andrew arched a brow at me and crossed his arms over his chest.

“Oh really? You don’t regret any of it? You don’t regret ruining what should have been the best day of my daughter’s life or humiliating her on her wedding day?”

“No, I don’t,” I declared, stomping my foot for emphasis. “If there’s anything that I regret, it’s that the police did not arrive until after Bob and Lisa exchanged their vows.”

“So, you don’t mind, at all, that this day has been tainted for the rest of her life?”

“This day shouldn’t have happened at all!” I raised my voice, and I did not care when some of the departing guests stopped to stare at us. “We tried to stop it, or do you not remember that?”

Andrew breathed in and out deeply through his nostrils. He pinched the bridge of his nose with his index finger and thumb.

“Yes, I tried to stop it. However, just because I tried to stop it does not mean that I did not want Lisa to have the best wedding imaginable. It certainly does not mean that I wanted her to be embarrassed like that!”

Heat rushed to my cheeks. My hands curled into fists, and the muscles forearms clenched tightly. He would not turn me into the bad guy here.

“If you truly cared about your daughter, you would realize that her embarrassment is only temporary and that what really matters is that that monster is as far away from her as possible!” I yelled.

There was definitely a crowd gathered around us now.

Andrew’s eyes narrowed at me. He stepped within inches of me, towering above me so that I had to strain to look up at him. When his eyes met mine, there was a ferocity, a fire within them that would have sent most people running with their tails between their legs, but I stood firm, and my gaze did not quiver.

For several long moments, we held this position. No one in the ballroom dared to breathe or look away as they waited to see who would win this battle of wills. At last, we both tore our gazes away at the same time.

“I am going to go find my daughter,” Andrew growled. “Hopefully, she will not have done something as foolish as you have by the time that I do. Try not to ruin more lives in my absence.”

Before I could reply, Andrew turned on his heel and ran to the exit. The door to the stairwell slammed behind him, echoing throughout the ballroom.

I could feel everyone’s eyes on me once more. I still did not care. I had done the right thing, no matter what anyone—not Lisa, not Andrew—thought.

A light touch on my shoulder startled me out of my thoughts. When I turned around, I was relieved to see that it was only Terri.

“Do we want to take the leftover cake back to Ever After Weddings with the decorations?” she asked.

I sighed softly, glad that she didn’t ask anything about my fight with Andrew.

“Yes, that sounds like a good idea,” I replied. “We’ll figure out what to do with it from there.”

Terri turned around and addressed the Ever After Weddings employees.

“You heard her, everyone! Let’s get this all ready for transport, ASAP!”

I returned my attention to the door, the image of Andrew running out still in my mind. I could not help but think about how stubborn he was, how he could not see how important it was that we get Bob in jail before he could cause real damage. I shook my head and turned to join my employees.

He’ll come around, I assured myself. He’ll have to.