Chapter 88

Chapter 88

That night, Andrew took me to Il Segreto, a high–end Italian restaurant that specialized in guarding the privacy of its clientele. As soon as we arrived, the maître d‘ made us surrender our cell phones so that we could not photograph other diners and took us to our own room in the back of the restaurant. Most customers received secluded booths, but Andrew was not just any customer.

Andrew ordered Swordfish Sicilian–Style, and I ordered Osso Buco with Citrus Gremolata. We decided to both get white wine and have Andrew’s driver pick us up.

The smell of our food reached us before the food itself did. It caused my mouth to water as

the the waiter set our plates in front of us and topped off our wine glasses. I could barely get words “thank you” out before I dug into my Osso Buco.

“You have an appetite tonight,” Andrew said with a chuckle.

I swallowed and grinned sheepishly.

“It smells absolutely delicious,” I said.

“And the taste?”.

“Divine.”

“I’m glad. You deserve something like this, after all that you’ve been through.”

“We both deserve it.”

Andrew cut off a piece of the swordfish and stuffed it in his mouth. Some of the oregano- infused lemon sauce dripped down his chin. I giggled, and he cocked his head at me.

“You have a little sauce on your chin,” I said. I grabbed my napkin and leaned across the table. “Here, let me get it.”

I held his head in place with one hand and, with the other, dabbed the sauce off his chin. He stared into my eyes, and we both smiled. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach.

“Did you get it?” he asked.

“What? Oh, the sauce. Yeah.”

I sat back down and set down my napkin.

Thank you,” he said, his voice low and sensual.

I blushed as he winked at me.

We were about to return to our meal when the maître d‘ entered with Andrew’s cell phone.

12:43 Fr, 5 Jan

Chapter 88

“We normally would not do this, Your Highness, but one of your advisors called the restaurant and said that it is an emergency,” he explained, holding Andrew’s phone out to him. “He says you must call him back immediately. I believe his name was Thomas.

Andrew accepted the phone and pressed the #3 speed dial.

“Thomas? What is it?”

His eyes widened momentarily as he listened to the man on the other end of the line, but he otherwise did not react.

“Okay. I’ll be right there,” he finally said. “Thirty minutes, tops. Thank you, Thomas.”

He hung up the phone and turned to the maître d‘

“Put this meal on my tab. I need to leave, now.”

The maître d‘ nodded and walked away. Andrew faced me.

“I’m sorry to cut this dinner short, but there’s a human shooting silver bullets at the community center.”

I paled.

“The one where I take self–defense classes?”

Andrew nodded.

“Has anyone been hurt?” I asked.

werewolf

“Three injured. They could die from the silver if we don’t get them to the hospital within an hour. That’s why I need to get down there to diffuse the situation, now,”

I nodded and stood up, but Andrew grabbed my arm. I looked up at him. His eyes were pleading with me to listen.

“Crystal, I need you to go to your apartment and not leave until I tell you it’s safe. Most importantly, I want you to let Jeffrey stay in there with you until I tell you otherwise. Okay?”

I didn’t want to stress Andrew out any further, so I nodded again.

Thank you. Now, go get your phone from the maitre d‘ and then head home. I’ll see you later.

Andrew pulled me to him and k*ssed me hard on the l*ps. I returned his k*ss with all the passion that I could muster, praying to the Moon Goddess that this would not be the last time that I would get to see him.

Chapter 88

I sat on my couch, trying to distract myself from the situation with television. It was hard when most channels had interrupted their previously scheduled programming for live coverage of the shooting in progress. That wasn’t to mention the wall of a man standing by my door.

After about thirty minutes of fl*pping through channels, I gave up and turned off the TV. I threw the remote on the cushion next to me and pulled out my phone, deciding to watch online videos instead. I immediately regretted it.

Every social media outlet and tabloid was focused on the shooting, too. Couldn’t there be a single celebrity breakup or scandal that could outshine this catastrophe? I might have taken someone catching Andrew and me out on our date over this.

I knew that I should eat something since I didn’t get to finish my dinner at the restaurant, but I couldn’t bring myself to even think about food. I could only picture Andrew riddled with bullets, bleeding out on the sidewalk or doubled over in agonizing pain as the silver spread throughout his system. My hands trembled as I tossed my phone next to the remote.

Perhaps sensing my distress, Jeffrey cleared his throat and drew my attention to him.

“Are you all right?” he asked.

“My boyfriend is walking right into the heart of a terrorist attack filled with silver bullets,” I said bitterly. “I feel fan–freaking–tastic.

“Andrew would not want you to worry about him right now.”

“What else am I supposed to do? Just sit here on my ass, doing nothing?”

“Essentially.”

I huffed and rolled my eyes.

“The best thing that we can do right now is to stay safe and let Andrew do his job,” he continued. “And yes, that means you sitting here on your ass, doing nothing, until Andrew calls to tell you that everything is okay.”

“But what if it’s not okay?” I asked, tears streaming down my cheeks. “What if something happens to him?”

“Nothing will happen to him.”

But what if it does?”

Then there are procedures, and the guards who are with him will cross that bridge when they come to it. And we will continue to stay put until we are told otherwise.”

I groaned and wiped my tears away, as frustrated by my crying as I was by the situation. I was so tired of crying so much. It made me feel weak.

12:43 Fri, 5 Jan FFC

Chapter 88

“Mind if I ask you a question?” Jeffrey asked.

I knew that he was only trying to distract me from the matter at hand, but I nodded anyway.

“Why exactly don’t you want to Andrew about Bob threatening you? Or about him being your stalker?”

My eyes widened.

“You…you know about that?”

“I received the same training as the US Secret Service, and I’m not blind. From my position in your life, it was easy to figure out.”

I didn’t respond.

“That also means that it will become clear to Andrew soon, too, if it hasn’t already. Why not just tell him, before it becomes a problem for both of you?”

I put my elbow on the arm of the couch and rested my head on my hand.

“It’s

gotten so complicated. I don’t know who he would believe-”

“I would support you.”

“That’s the other problem, though. If he does believe me…he and Lisa have had such a rocky relationship because of me lately, and I don’t want to make him decide between the two of us. Bob has Lisa wrapped so tightly around his finger that I don’t think that she’d ever be able to see him for the villain that he is.”

Jeffrey’s face remained neutral, but his b*dy went even stiffer than before.

“Yes, well, Lisa is no longer the angel that Andrew raised, either.”

I arched a brow at him.

“What do you mean?”

He took a deep breath in through his nostrils and out through his mouth before answering.

“Based on something that I saw the day of Polly Durand’s wedding, I believe that Lisa might be responsible for those rumors about you having S** during weddings.”