Andrew

The cell door clanked aside, and the police captain stepped into view.

“Is it exercise time already?” he asked dryly.

“Grab your things,” the other man snapped, clearly irritated. “You’re free to go.”

Ah, so they’d made the arrangements had they?

“Good,” he said, yawning. “I was beginning to wonder if there was some incompetence going on or not.”

The captain bristled, but Andrew just shouldered him out of the way as he strode through the cell door.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing?!”

Andrew just ignored the protests, walking down the hallway. He didn’t have to put up with anything the captain said. Not anymore. Overhead the red-lettered Exit sign hung down. Without saying a word he reached up and simply tapped his index finger on the sign several times, letting the captain know his intentions.

He was leaving. Not just the station, but Cloud Lake as well. It was back to Cadia for him. Although, maybe not directly back. If he had anything to say about it, there would be one particular stop along the way. One where he would have to tell the woman he loved that he couldn’t be with her. Andrew didn’t look forward to the pain he was going to cause Karri, but in the end it would be for the best, he knew.

In time she would forget about him, and the running of her father’s company, the fulfillment of her lifelong dream, would be more than adequate compensation. At least, he hoped so.

He took the stairs up from the detention level four at a time, quickly leaving the irritating captain behind. That would be one thing he wouldn’t miss about Cloud Lake. The number of people in positions of power who thought far too highly about themselves was astoundingly high. Cadia simply didn’t have much in the way of government, so while he knew many of them back home were just the same, they were kept in check by being few in number.

And now that I’m no longer the Cadian ambassador, I won’t have to deal with any of them, human or shifter! Oh happy days!

The days wouldn’t be happy though. Andrew sobered as he made his way through the administrative offices toward the exit, ignoring the looks from various officers. He was leaving his mate behind, leaving Karri here. By doing this he was condemning himself to a lifetime of loneliness. Shifters only ever found one mate. He’d never heard of someone like himself giving theirs up, and finding another at a later time.

Besides, after Karri, Andrew knew he would never want another. No one would ever make him feel as alive and happy as she did. There was nobody who could make him smile the way she did, or arouse him as she could. He didn’t want to sacrifice his relationship with her, but he would do whatever it took to make her happy.

Now if only he could get her out of his head. Standing there at a desk in front of him was a young woman who looked almost identical to her. Short, long blonde hair, small pert little nose. She probably even had blue eyes too. The woman turned to look at him, and Andrew felt his jaw drop as he realized it wasn’t someone who looked like Karri. It was Karri!

“What are you doing here?” he hissed, walking up to her.

“What does it look like?” she said. “Making things right.”

“You should go. Before your father finds out you’ve come here. Come on,” he said, tugging on her arm, trying to lead her outside.

Karri wrenched her arm free. “What are you doing? I have things to do to make this official.”

He had no idea what she was talking about. “Karri, come on. I’m free; we don’t need to stay here anymore. Let’s get you away before someone tells your father.”

“Andrew, my father is the one who brought me here!” she said testily. “He knows I’m here, and he’s here with me.” She looked up at him, shaking her head and lifting her arms. “How do you think you got free?”

“Because I…” He trailed off. “Karri, what have you done?” he asked cautiously.

“I did what was necessary. I did what anyone in my place should have done.”

He felt a chill in his bones. If her father was here, that meant they were on talking terms once more. There was only one thing in the world that would get them to talk again, as far as he know.

“What did you agree to do?” he asked.

She frowned at him. “I told my father that if he agrees to drop the charges against you and to get you out of jail, that I would relinquish any claim on the company.”

“Karri…no,” he breathed. “No you can’t do that. It’s insanity. You don’t need to!”

“Why? Besides, it’s already done,” she said. “He’s in there signing forms to ensure your release. Shouldn’t you be saying thank you?” she said, raising her eyebrows at him.

“No. No no no. It’s not supposed to happen like this!” he cried, pushing past her and heading for the room her father was in.

“Andrew wait! No!”

He ignored her, pushing open the door and closing it. Then he stood in front of it, his strength preventing her from opening the door.

In the room her father spun at the intrusion, the police officer at the desk looking up in surprise.

“Relax,” Andrew said. “I’m not here to cause trouble. I’m here to bargain, and I have something I think you’ll find acceptable.”

Her father frowned. “Everyone wants to bargain with me today it seems.”

“Sir,” Andrew said formally. “You can’t let Karri do this. She’s making a mistake.”

“What do you mean?”

“Karri has always dreamed of running your company, sir. She knows it inside and out. She loves it, and she loves the people there too. She deserves it. The truth is, she would have it too, if it weren’t for me. I screwed things up, I got involved with her when I shouldn’t have.” He shrugged. “But that’s over now. I’m going to resign, and I’ll go back to Cadia. There’s no need to take the company away from her. I’ll leave her alone, never speak to her again, if that’s what it takes. But sir, you can’t take this dream away from her. Please, I’m begging you.”

He paused, unsure of what else to say. The officer in the room had put her head back down, busily acting like she had exactly no idea what the hell was going on.

“You would sacrifice both your status as ambassador, and your chance at a relationship with my daughter, simply so that she can take over my company?”

Andrew nodded. “Yes, I would. In a heartbeat. I don’t want to, but who would I be if I asked her to give up her lifelong dream for me? I couldn’t live with myself, sir.”

The older man seemed to contemplate his words, his eyes looking up and to the left as he accessed thoughts and memories while Andrew stood in front of him, frantically thinking up anything else he could say that might get through to the old man. He was already astonished things had proceeded as they had. In truth Andrew had expected to be shot the instant he entered, despite being in the middle of a police station. So to not only stay civil, but actually have a conversation with him was astounding, to say the least.

What had Karri said to him to enact such a change?

“No!”

Karri’s voice came through the door. “Andrew, you can’t do this! You can’t leave!”

He stepped forward, letting the door open so that she could enter at last. The cop behind the desk just winced and tried to disappear even more, shrinking into her chair as the situation in the room became even more complicated.

“It’s already done, Karri,” he said. “I signed the resignation papers. I’m leaving. With me out of town, you can still take over the company. I know it’s been your dream all along.”

She shook her head. “No. I mean, yes, it was my dream, Andrew. But then I met you, and everything changed.”

Yes, it did. But I’m doing this for you, can’t you see that?

“I know. But I’m not going to let you give this up for me. I can’t do that. Not in good faith.”

Karri bristled as she stepped up to him. “Listen to me, Andrew Raskell. I don’t give a shit what you can or can’t do. This is my damned decision, and you will respect it. Otherwise you don’t respect me, and in that case you can go right to hell. Understood?”

Although he towered over her by nearly a foot and a half, and outweighed her by triple, Andrew found himself taking an involuntary step back. Karri was an intimidating figure when she got going, and he certainly would prefer to be anywhere but in her sights at the moment.

“I said, understood?” she growled when he didn’t reply.

Andrew thought about standing his ground, about pressing his point home, but a slight twitch of her eyebrows warned him that he would be making the wrong decision.

“I…” he started to say, then slumped. “I understand.”

“Good,” she said sweetly. “Now, Father, can you finish signing those forms so we can stop making this young officer have the most uncomfortable experience of her life?”

“But Karri, it doesn’t matter,” he protested as her father bent back to following instructions. “I already signed the resignation form. Once that reaches Cadia, it won’t matter anymore.”

“We’ll deal with that after we’re done here,” she said firmly.

“You’re done,” the officer said. She looked at Andrew. “Sir, you are free to go.”

“Freed twice in one day,” he said. “Now that’s something you don’t hear every day.”

“Come on,” she said, saying goodbye to her father before tugging his wrist to get him to follow her out of the office. “We’re going to the embassy. You’ve got to get together with Gray and figure a way out of this. I’m sure he’ll help you out if he can.”

“I’m not sure he should be involved in this.”

“Andrew, stop trying to make other people’s decisions for them, okay?”

Unsure of what to say, he simply nodded and walked alongside her.

“Ah, much better,” she said. “I could get used to this sort of obedience.”

He snorted. “I wouldn’t.”

“A girl can dream though, can’t she?”

Andrew wisely didn’t respond.