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Anger that has been buried deep is now digging to the surface.
How. Fucking. Dare. He!
“I’ll be right down,” I growl as I hang up.
I’m not the scared little girl Andrew could strike fear into. I want to show him that. How dare he come here to Julian's work and try to confront me!
With balled fists, I enter the elevator and shove the button for the lobby. Unfortunately, by the time the doors open with a pleasant ping, I have lost half of my bravado. Being your own hero is hard. I feel like I’m unraveling faster than a ball of yarn rolling down spiraling stairs.
Maybe I need a pair of Spanx to hold it all in?
I spot Edwin standing with his arms crossed at the entrance. A smug-looking man is standing next to him, but at first, I'm not sure it's Andrew. The height, hair, and confident body language are Andrew’s, but his face... it’s covered in bruises, making him look more like he's from Fight Club than the once-potential next president's son.
I close the distance, each step tugging Andrew's lips up like a marionette doll. Edwin grunts, "You can't go beyond the lobby. I'll give you five minutes. All visitors need to be signed in for the future, Poppy."
"I’m sorry," I whisper to Edwin. Wasting no time, my eyes finally meet my demons. He’s less shiny looking, and it's clear he's had the shit beaten out of him.
I wish it were from my hands.
Andrew's left eye is swollen and painted black and purple, which makes the blue of his irises look more saturated. No wonder Edwin didn’t recognize him as the shiny, perfect man usually shown on TV. The man who is supposed to be mourning his fiancée's death.
I wonder if his father did this to him. Probably.
Andrew clears his throat. “Edwin, do me a favor.”
Edwin stops, and I hold my breath. "Call Julian for me and tell him to meet us also?" Andrew says dismissively.
Edwin's brow raises. "Mr. Sterling?"
"Yeah, him," Andrew sneers.
"That’s her job," Edwin points, clearly fed up.
I look at Edwin, rising on my heels; I half want to jump into his arms and ask him to help me run. "Can you call Julian, please?" I say, and it's clear I'm scared. Edwin looks Andrew up and down, hesitating if he should leave. He nods and hurries off.
Why did I confront Andrew alone?I’m too short to wear a superhero's cape.
"What are you doing here?" I question, my voice sounding like a rabbit running from the jaws of a wolf. I look around the lobby, which isn’t busy; there are just a few workers coming in and out and the receptionist at her desk.
Andrew snickers. "Remember that day when Peter’s body was cold and just beginning to rot? Remember what I told you?"
It feels like he just stabbed me.
Andrew steps closer, allowing me to see all the interacting shades of navy blues and purples on his swollen eye. "I told you don’t do anything stupid," he growls. Then he softens his voice just the way he used to after he'd hit me. "Baby, you did something so incredibly stupid. You attacked my father."
"I—I don’t know." My heart feels like it’s hyperventilating. His blue eyes are like the paddles of a defibrillator, and he’s about to shock me continuously.
Andrew reaches out, catching my hair as he spins it around his finger. I flinch, then freeze. "Don’t, baby. It's ok; I'm going to fix it. I know what Julian is doing. He’s trapping you."
"You’re insane," I whisper. I try to step back, but I stumble on my heels, tripping and ending up closer to Andrew.
"Any wrongs I have done are your doing," Andrew bites. He tugs on my hair, burning my roots, before he sets it free. The flicker of pain in my eyes makes him come alive. "You drove me to do this when you got everyone involved. You should have kept your mouth shut. Everything was going according to my plan. We were so close to fixing the mess you created when you left me last time. You finally calmed down and were going to be mine again."
He makes a deranged man sound sane.
"You always fuck things up, Poppy, but it’s ok because, like usual, I’m going to make it better. I’ll fix it." He sighs as he runs his tongue over a small scab on his lip. I hadn’t noticed that it was swollen as well.
Andrew continues, "You think Julian’s saving you?" He grunts.“You don’t even know who he is."
