Chapter 7 The Alpha King

Noah rubbed the back of his neck and seemed to avoid my gaze for a minute. Finally, he looked at me and spoke up. “It would be a bit challenging to sabotage the wedding without affecting Lily’s company,” he said. “It’s okay,” I replied. “I’ll come up with a solution.” He seemed almost afraid to speak against me. No, “afraid” wasn’t the right word. He was too…enchanted by me to speak ill of my plans. Then he opened his mouth again. “I just don’t want anything to happen to Lily’s company. She’s worked so hard to get it up and running and to make it such a success.” I smiled and grabbed his hand, which seemed to shock him into silence. “I told you not to worry. I’ll come up with a solution that won’t hurt Lily’s company at all.” I thought for a moment of Andrew. If I targeted him, I knew that I could use him to ruin Bob’s wedding. I hadn’t thought it all out yet, but my instincts told me that I was on the right path. I didn’t mention any of this to Noah, though. “If you’re sure,” was all he said, still fixated on the fact that I was holding his hand. “I’m sure.” “Andrew is not easy to manipulate,” Susan reminded me. “He is a cunning old man with deep schemes of his own, not someone you can easily deceive.” “But what if he willingly falls into my trap?” I pondered. “My dear, I admire your confidence.” “Either way, I have to try. Bob must pay for everything he did to me.” * * Andrew sighed as he sat down at his desk, glad to have a moment to himself amidst his busy schedule. He looked at his phone and saw that there was a long, involved text from Crystal answering his most recent question about the wedding. He smiled to himself. He was glad that he had volunteered to communicate with the wedding planner himself. To Lisa, the whole matter seemed dull, but not to Andrew. He found the whole process—and Crystal herself—rather fascinating. Crystal was a bright young woman, witty and very charismatic. Anyone would have easily fallen under her spell by now, but Andrew wasn’t just anyone. Of course, that didn’t mean that he hadn’t started falling for her, either. He just wouldn’t let her know that, yet. He knew that Crystal thought that he doted on Lisa, and that was part of the reason why he had taken over personally communicating with Crystal about the wedding planning. He adored Lisa, and she despised such trivial manners, much preferring to engage in social events and by admired, so it only made sense for him to handle the wedding planning. He just didn’t tell Lisa—or anyone else—the other reason why he did so. Andrew stared mindlessly at Crystal’s name in his phone, thinking about how she had looked in the presidential suite that night. It had required all his self-restraint not to take her right then, but he wasn’t a fool. He knew how to play this game. He had to admit, she had played her part very well. She had made herself into a very alluring seductress, and even without actively trying to seduce him herself, her well-dressed body almost did the job all on its own. Almost. He needed to be more careful in the future if he wanted to win this game. Andrew knew that Crystal was his fated mate. That was why he had orchestrated various opportunities to be alone with her. He had to be with her. Yet he also had the experience and wisdom to take things slowly and to not act rashly without getting to know her first. As Alpha King, he would not be swept away by some whirlwind romance and entirely lose his head. Some parts of him, however, had a mind of their own. He occasionally found himself drawn to Crystal so powerfully that he would make spontaneous moves beyond his plans. When he did that, he often found himself outside of his element, but he seemed to be able to cover his tracks well enough for her. Staring at her name now, reading her answer for what must have been the third time, Andrew decided that it was time for another spontaneous move. It was time to pay Crystal a visit in person. * * On Friday afternoon, Noah came to the bridal shop when no clients were scheduled to stop by to show me some of the documents he had uncovered. The store was still technically open, but there was no other time when we could arrange to meet, so we had to take advantage of this lull. We sat close together at a table by the window. We hunched over the documents, leafing through them one at a time. As Noah explained them to me, I leaned forward and hung on to his every word, which brought us even closer together. I could see Noah blushing at how closely we were sitting. It was adorable. I had never seen someone so shy before, especially a man. Of course, we were in awfully close quarters. Even I took notice of how our shoulders touched. It was not the same straight-to-my-groin feeling that I got being around Andrew, but it was comfortable. I could get used to the feeling. “He really likes you,” Susan told me. “I know, but…” “But he’s not Bob’s future father-in-law,” Susan completed for about the thousandth time, almost seeming to mock me in her tone. I couldn’t even remember how many times we had had this discussion. I was okay with a little flirting if it motivated Noah to help my case, but I just wasn’t sure about seeking a romantic relationship. Sure, I didn’t think that a romantic relationship was necessarily even possible with the Alpha King, but as long as I was set on wooing Andrew for revenge against Bob, I didn’t think that any other relationship was acceptable, either. Still, the attention I got from Noah was a nice break from the loneliness I had felt since Bob dumped me. “Are you with me?” Noah asked, suddenly shaking me out of my thoughts. I nodded, though I wasn’t entirely sure that I was. “Okay. Well then, that brings me to this document here…” As he flipped to the next page, the back of his hand gently brushed against mine. His eyes locked onto mine. He froze. “Crystal, I…” Whatever he was about to say was interrupted by the slamming open of the store’s front door, the shop’s bell tingling wildly. Footsteps pounded in our direction. I felt the need to retreat, but I held my ground. “Crystal, I didn’t know you had a habit of going on dates during work hours,” came the growl of the Alpha King. I looked up, surprised at Andrew’s serious expression. I examined his body language, the way he towered over Noah and clenched his fists and jaw. He radiated anger and power, and by the way Noah slouched, I knew that I was not the only one feeling the urge to submit to Andrew and hide. Was Andrew angry because I was slacking off at work—or was there something else going on here?