ANDREUS_Part One

by Marian Tee

  Please God.

  Let this last.

  Please, please, please let this last.

  Andreus smirked at the way Hallie tried to tug her hand out of his hold as they headed down to the dining room and join the others for breakfast. “Ashamed of me?”

  She rolled her eyes. “You know it’s not that.” She had meant the words to sound just a little reproving, but they only came out breathless. This wonderfully affectionate Andreus was still so new to her, and every time she caught him looking at her – and have him meet her gaze instead of looking away like he usually did?

  It still made her helplessly giddy, and she had the craziest urge to take a hundred photos of every second they were together. In case this didn’t last, at least she’d have the photos to cherish. Right?

  One hard arm curved around her waist, and Hallie didn’t even think of resisting as Andreus pulled her close in a possessive embrace. “You’re worried about what they’re going to say?”

  “To be specific, I’m not looking forward to the amount of ribbing we’re going to get.”

  Wickedness flashed in his eyes. “Because we’ve done nothing but sex in the past two days?”

  Color burst on her cheeks. “How about pretending to sound a little more concerned and a little less smug?”

  But Andreus only threw his head back with an arrogant, all-too-male laugh. The sound was beyond sexy, and her heart skipped another beat. It used to be that most things about Andreus excited her, but now that they were together, and she “sort of” knew how he felt about her?

  Everything about him excited her to the point of silliness now, and even worse was how she couldn’t even make herself care, much less hide her feelings from him.

  You are absolutely hopeless, Hallie Athanas.

  Exploding party poppers greeted them when they finally made it into the dining room, and Hallie burst into laughter as the girls started hugging her and the men started pounding Andreus’ back (she pretended not to notice Yuri nearly chopping Andreus’ back into halves with the strength of his blow).

  Even Helios’ twins demanded to join in the fun, and Andreus gave the rascals a hug while Hallie bent down to kiss their cheeks.

  It was embarrassing that they were treating the whole thing like she and Andreus had just returned from a proper honeymoon, but then again…every one in this room was her family, and these people had seen all the ups and downs between Andreus and her over the years.

  Somehow, it felt just right that they would share in her happiness, never mind how mortifying it was.

  Please God.

  Please let this last?

  Please?

  Talk at the table turned eventually turned to Hallie’s welcome party scheduled later that night, and she noticed the way Andreus stiffen. She waited until they had returned to the privacy of his home before asking in concern, “What’s wrong?”

  “About tonight’s party…” Andreus’ voice was grim. “I just remembered I had invited Monique to it.”

  Oh.

  A wry smile tugged at the corner of her lips. “You invited her to hurt me.”

  Andreus winced, but he didn’t allow himself to look away. “Yes.”

  “And now?”

  “Do you want fireworks while I get rid of her?” He was absolutely serious. “Tell me how you want this to play it out, and I’ll do it.” Hallie meant everything to him, and he wasn’t going to waste this one fucking chance he had with her.

  The love in his eyes made her giddy, but more than that it also gave her strength, and she said slowly, “It’s okay. Yuri told me a little about the Pratts. I know it would be better to keep her father as an investor, so if it’s possible for you to break things gently---” She stopped. “You never told me how serious things got between you.”

  “We’re not dating,” he told her swiftly, “and I’ve not made a single promise to her.”

  Her gaze didn’t stray from his. “But?”

  A humorless smile touched his lips. “You know me too well.”

  “Yes I do, so just---”

  “She wasn’t bad.”

  Oh. A funny, painful ache had started in her chest, and she fought against the urge to press a hand against her heart. She wasn’t bad? What did that even mean? It was her first time to hear him admit something so ambiguous, and she couldn’t help but feel afraid.

  “Does that mean---” She gulped hard. “Does that mean you like her?”

  “Hallie---”

  “You’ve never to lied to me before,” she said unevenly, “so please don’t start now.”

  His lips pressed together in a tight line. “All it means is that if I had to marry someone else other than you---” His tone turned flat. “I knew I could tolerate having her around.” He saw pain flash in her eyes, and he cursed under his breath.

  Andreus hauled Hallie into his embrace. “She’s nothing,” he said fiercely. “I’ve wanted you since I was eighteen years old, and that never changed. Nothing will ever change that.”

  She swallowed hard. She wanted to believe him. She really did –

  His eyes turned suspicious. “Hold on.”

  She blinked in confusion. “What?”

  “Are you really worried or is this just your way of tricking me into saying the words?”

  Her jaw fell open at the accusation, and when he didn’t take the words back, she exclaimed in protest, “Of course not!”

  But Andreus only shook his head, and his arms released her as he took a decisive step back.

  It almost felt like she was being rejected, and she couldn’t believe how quickly the tables had turned. “

  “This kind of trick is beneath you, Hallie.”

  “You can’t seriously believe---” She broke off, noticing too late the devilish gleam in his dark gaze.

  Why, the jerk hadn’t been serious at all!

  Hallie’s peal of laughter was an addictive sound, and Andreus wondered if recording it would make him seem too obsessive.

  “You totally had me fooled,” she sighed, “but I don’t mind.” Rueful blue eyes peered up at him. “I was being silly, wasn’t I?”

  “You’ve got nothing to worry on that score, baby doll.” He sat down on the couch and pulled her down to his lap. “I still have that market covered.” At her questioning glance, he shot Hallie a droll look back, saying, “You had me jealous of Siri, remember?”

  Oh!

  Andreus grimaced at the way she was suddenly struggling to keep a straight face. “Just laugh it all out---” He had barely finished speaking when she did exactly as asked, laughing so hard she ended up collapsing against his chest.

  Hallie was laughing at him, and he thought it was the loveliest sound on earth. How wonderfully fucked-up was that?

  His eyes closed, and as he threaded his fingers lazily through the silky strands of Hallie’s hair, he found himself composing a rare prayer for God.

  Make this last. It’s all I’ll ever ask. Make this last.

  He felt Hallie snuggle closer to him, her fingers curling against his chest, and then he heard her whisper, “I prayed for the same thing, too.”

  Make it last. Please make it last. Make it last.

  But it wasn’t meant to be.

  Sometimes, you just know.

  As day turned into night, guests began to pour into Claymore Plantation and started filling up the tables laid out at the back of the house. There were all the usual sounds one would want to hear from a party – music mingling with laughter, the clinking of glasses, and the excited footfall of children running around the playground.

  A party slated for success overall, but even so, Hallie couldn’t seem to shake away that eerie sense of foreboding that kept crawling all over her spine.

  Sometimes, you just know.

  Even with Andreus always by her side, even when his lips wore a smile she knew he reserved only for her, even when she had all the memories of their bodies becoming one –

  Sometimes, you just know.

/>   Even when Andreus made it very clear who his woman was, with his subtle claims of ownership – the way his fingers curled around her nape, the way his back rested on the small of her back, the way he actually licked a crumb of biscuit from the corner of her mouth and had lucky witnesses tweeting like crazy – it just wasn’t enough to convince her that tonight would be perfect.

  Sometimes, you just know.

  Even as she became so busy with hosting duties, welcoming guests and giving occasional tours of the plantation, the same niggling worry persisted at the back of her mind.

  Sometimes, you just know.

  Even when the sight of the beautiful and frighteningly self-composed Monique filled her heart with so much jealousy and insecurity, something in her told Hallie that it wasn’t the woman she had to be worried about.

  Sometimes, you just know.

  The dancing began, and couples moved towards the center, their bodies swaying in rhythm to the music. She suddenly remembered how she had wanted to dance with Andreus during Helios and MJ’s wedding, and the memory made her cringe. Stupid or not, she was just going to sit this one out –

  And probably all other dances, too, Hallie thought wryly, just so she could avoid jinxing the most precious thing in the world to him.

  Until she had his ring on her finger, she and Andreus were not going to dance –

  Everyone’s phones suddenly started beeping, buzzing, and ringing, and Hallie started to reach for her own when she remembered too late that the jumpsuit she had on hadn’t any pockets. Her phone was still in her purse, and as she headed back to the table she shared with the rest of the Afxisi, she couldn’t help but notice the way people were starting to look at her.

  So many whispers and gasps, too, and her unease grew.

  A guest suddenly blocked her way – Marjorie, she managed to recall. The attractive blonde was the daughter of another prospective inspector, and malice flashed in her eyes even as she cooed with fake pity, “You don’t know, do you?”

  The woman showed Hallie her phone, and playing on it screen was a five-second video playing on a loop.

  It was of Andreus, in his teens, and he was on his knees, sucking another man’s dick.

  Marjorie let out a shriek of outrage when her phone slipped out of Hallie’s gasp, but she barely heard it. People started moving towards her. Pity was written all over their faces. It was clear they thought her sick with disgust, but they were wrong. It was clear they thought she needed comfort, but they were so GOD DAMN wrong.

  She was not appalled. She was sick with fear.

  She did not need comfort. It was the man she loved who did – and she could not find him.

  Yuri was the one who reached her first, and she gasped, “Andreus?”

  “Helios and Kellion are looking like him.”

  She tried to get past him, but her brother held her back. “Hallie---”

  She wrenched her arm out of his hold. “Not now!” Couldn’t he see – couldn’t anyone see that Andreus needed her now?

  She looked around her, and she grew more frantic as she found no sight of him.

  Where are you, darling?

  She tried to look for Monique, and terror licked her spine when she realized there was no sign of the other woman either.

  Andreus, please, where are you?

  Taking a deep breath, Hallie then screamed as loud as she could, “ANDREUS!”

  The sound startled a waiter into dropping his tray, and a dozen of champagne-filled flutes crashed to his floor.

  “ANDREUS!”

  This time, she poured all her love in it, and this time, it did its job.

  Blue eyes found black…for the last time.

  Andreus.

  He was inside the house, his handsome face white with pain.

  Oh God.

  His lips moved, and the words they spelled nearly killed her.

  OH GOD.

  He disappeared into the doors leading out of the main house, and too late she broke into a run, throwing off her heels one at a time just so she could run faster.

  “Andreus!”

  She didn’t stop screaming his name even as broken glass pierced her bare feet, and she didn’t stop running even as she started to bleed.

  “Andreus!”

  She heard the roar of a car’s engine, and her heart, her soul, her entire being screamed with him. “Andreus!”

  Blood trailed after her as Hallie burst past the doors, just in time to see Andreus driving away, a woman seated next to him.

  “No! Andreus! Stop! Please!”

  She ran after him, numb to the crush of glass that dug deeper into her bleeding flesh, but the distance between them only kept growing.

  “Andreus, please, stop!”

  Hallie was almost by the gates when Helios and Kellion finally caught up with her, and the latter flinched when he saw the soles of Hallie completely covered by a crusty layer of blood and dirt.

  She turned to the two men wildly. “Please. Please call him back please---”

  “Hallie---”

  “You don’t understand. He told me…he told me it’s over. I’m scared of what he would do---” Sobs tore out of her throat at the unyielding grimness of their faces.

  “I’m sorry, Hallie,” Helios said rawly. “But Andreus begged us not to let you…”

  She fell to her knees at his words.

  “You don’t understand,” she whispered.

  Sometimes, you just know.

  She could just feel it, deep in her heart, she knew that whatever it was Andreus was planning to do, it would be some crazy misguided attempt to deflect attention from her and ensure that she was unaffected by what was likely going to be a massive scandal.

  Hallie heard footsteps, and soon Yuri and Kalli were there, crouching in front of her –

  “Please,” she begged them. “Please.” She grabbed Kalli’s hand. “Please, Kalli – I know you know why I’m so afraid. Please get him back here.”

  Before Andreus did what he always did –

  “Please.”

  Hurting both of them because he loved her –

  “Please, Kalli.”

  Hurting both of them because he thought he always needed to protect her –

  “Yuri?” She looked up at her brother. “I’m begging you, please.” She turned to the other men, screaming, “I’m on my knees, please---” Her voice threatened to give up on her, but she didn’t give a damn. She needed to make them understand. “Please get him back here.”

  Yuri’s chest squeezed hard at the pain in his sister’s eyes. Even though logic told him that it was better to let Andreus deal with his own shit, he simply couldn’t turn his back on Hallie’s suffering. “Alright, little one.” He carefully swept her up in his arms and heard his wife’s choked sob when Hallie’s feet dangling in the air revealed how much pain she had been in while running after Andreus.

  “We’ll find a way to get him back.” He meant every damn word, too, but by the time he and the others found Andreus – it was too late.

  Yuri’s heart was heavy as he made his way to the southeast wing, where Hallie insisted on being alone while she waited for news.

  “Did you find him?” his sister asked as soon as he entered.

  Instead of answering, Yuri reluctantly handed her his phone, which contained all the photos sent by the security officers that had finally managed to track down Andreus’ whereabouts.

  For a long time, Hallie could only stare down at the photo on Yuri’s phone.

  Andreus had married Monique in Vegas.

  “I’m sorry, little one.”

  Sometimes, you just know.

  * * *

  THE END

  Part Two Available on May 2018

  * * *

  Dear Reader,

  * * *

  Thank you so much for your patience. Andreus and Hallie’s story marks my return to writing serials, which I initially turned my back on because I’ve had readers asking if I could stick to writing
standalones. I sincerely tried doing that, but it just didn’t work for me, and I ended up not being able to write a single Marian Tee book in months.

  Because of the way I write, and the way my mind works, I have a hard time writing standalones all the time. Sometimes, I just need the emotional high that I can only get from writing serials with cliffhangers, and without that emotional high, I’m just…paralyzed.

  So I do hope you understand, and I hope that the form of my work will not keep you from enjoying the stories I tell. I do also understand, however, if serials are simply not your thing.

  For those new to the world of Afxisi (Greek. Billionaire. Biker.), please scroll down to find a list of the other books in this series.

  If you enjoyed Part 1 of Hallie and Andreus’ story, I hope you consider writing a review. This means a lot to me!

  Thank you and God bless!

  * * *

  Until our next journey,

  Marian Tee

  * * *

  P.S. Most of my books are interconnected so if you wish to know more about the characters you’ve met in this book, you might want to click on this link, which contains a regularly updated character database and a list of my books arranged according to reading order.

  * * *

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  About the Author

  Marian Tee is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of steamy romantic comedies. She is Filipino-Chinese, has lived all her life in the Philippines, and is a frustrated mangaka. She is addicted to horror flicks, misses hip-hop dancing, and loves all things Japanese.

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  Also by Marian Tee

  Want More Hot Alpha Billionaire and Biker Romances from Marian Tee?

  Enjoy exclusive excerpts about my newest and upcoming releases by signing up for my newsletter.