~*~ Taking Chances ~*~
At ‘Tabu’, Andi headed straight to Howie’s office while Howie took care of things in the club. Her head was beginning to hurt from all the emotions she’d gone through in the last few hours, not to mention, the lack of food. Making herself comfortable on the couch, she closed her eyes to wait for Howie and AJ and to think.
A month…that’s all she had and she was forbidden to see Alex. The only option she had was to move out but where would she go? Tabitha? Alex? And if she continued to see Alex, her grandfather would have her exiled from the tribe and she’d lose her family. As angry as she was with her grandfather for NOT listening, she still loved him and wasn’t sure she wanted to lose everything over this. She was proud of her heritage but the old ways were truly antiquated. She wanted to change them but how could she if she was exiled.
Downstairs, Howie was getting ready to head to his office when AJ collided with him.
"Where is she?"
"In my office. Before you go up there, Seth’s been following her. That’s why we came here. Her grandfather trusts me and we don’t want to blow that. Everyone on the door is under orders to keep Seth out if he shows up and they know Andi is suppose to be working."
"Thanks, man. How in the hell am I gonna ever repay you for this?"
"Just love her with all that you are, ‘J’. She’s gonna have to give up a hell of a lot to be with you." Howie knew the whole story about Seth, down to the last detail, from talking to Andi Saturday. "I called Tommy and Marcus for you. They have a limo at the back entrance when you two are ready to leave and they’re gonna get you out without anyone seeing you two. Also, she needs some dinner. Her grandfather said she locked herself in her room all afternoon. From what her nephew said, they had an argument."
"Did she tell you anything?"
Howie shook his head. "She wanted to wait for you…probably so she doesn’t have to repeat herself."
As the two made their way to where Andi was waiting, AJ explained what had happened that afternoon at the college.
Andi heard AJ’s voice in the hall and as he came through the door, she was in his arms.
AJ was surprised, not by her greeting, but by the emotions she was obviously going through. The one thing he’d definitely learned about her was she was an extremely passionate woman and obviously not just in bed.
Setting her back enough to look into her eyes, AJ asked, "What happened?"
Casting her eyes down in shame, she practically whispered, "He all but called me a whore. Seth told him I was paying you back for the damage to the car with sexual favors. AJ, he has videos and pictures of me having sex with his friends….and of us on the beach."
AJ’s anger exploded. "THE MOTHER FUCKER!"
Howie put his hand on AJ’s arm when he saw Andi shrink back. "Don’t blow, AJ. We need to hear what happened and fix it."
It was probably a good thing Howie was there, to keep the couple from doing anything stupid in the heat of the moment. They were both extremely passionate about everything in their lives.
AJ led Andi to the couch. "Tell me everything that happened."
All three settled into seats, AJ and Andi on the couch and Howie at his desk, and Andi told them everything. It took her a while because of the tears but the men were patient. AJ held her, playing with her hair and caressing her as he held her while Howie watched the couple intently.
Finishing, Andi said, "I’m sorry, Alex."
"For what, baby?"
"Dragging you into this."
"You didn’t drag me into this, Andi. You told me up front about Seth and I chose to stick it out."
"There’s no doubt that you two want to be together. For that matter, there’s no doubt that you SHOULD be together. What we need to do is figure out what to do to get your grandfather to at least hear your side of it, Andi."
"I thought about it earlier. Mama MIGHT be able to help. She went against Grandfather’s wishes to marry Daddy."
"But you don’t want to wait for her to get here either," said AJ.
"Can you call her?"
"I guess."
"Call her and we’ll have dinner somewhere….and talk to her," said AJ.
"Use the one here on my desk."
"It’s gonna be long distance."
"Don’t worry about it." While Andi made the call, Howie looked at AJ staring at her. "Got any ideas other than talking to her mother?"
"One or two. Tabitha seems to think Seth’s into drugs. If I can catch him, give her grandfather proof that he isn’t on the level, then we might stand a chance of getting her out of this arrangement. Tabitha says that it’s against tribal law to break the law."
"Just be careful. Catching him doing drugs could put YOU in trouble with the law."
"I’m gonna hire a PI to check it out. Seth knows me and I’d never be able to get close to him."
Andi rejoined them, her headache a full-blown migraine and it was clear she wasn’t feeling well. "Alex, I need something to eat."
"Let’s go then. I’ll take you home and fix you something to eat."
"Be careful, do exactly what Marcus and Tommy tell you to do, and be back here by closing."
"We will," answered AJ as he stood.
"Howie, thank you," said Andi gratefully as she gave him a hug.
"My pleasure, Andi."
Taking AJ’s hand, Andi followed him through the halls to the back entrance that VIPs used. The two bodyguards met them and AJ introduced her to them. Formalities dealt with, they were whisked out to the waiting car safely guarded by the two giants.
Inside the car, Andi asked, "Why aren’t we taking your car?"
"Seth knows my car and he would go back and tell your grandfather if he saw us leaving in it. Marcus is gonna take it back to the house after making a HUGE display of having borrowed my car."
"Oh," was all Andi said as she relaxed into AJ’s embrace. She pulled his arms tighter around her. "All I could think about this afternoon was being in your arms. I thought I’d never have this again."
AJ buried his face in her hair as the reality of losing Andi hit home. He didn’t want to give in but he only had a month to prove Seth wasn’t on the level and there still wasn’t any guarantee her grandfather would listen.
Andi could feel his tears and her own began again. "Please, Alex…I can’t take your tears."
"I’m sorry, baby." AJ wiped his tears. "What did your mother say?"
"She’ll be here tomorrow in time for lunch. I told her to meet me at the college since you’re coming anyway. We can have lunch together and she can meet you."
"What’s she like? You?"
Andi smiled. "No. Everyone tells me I’m like my grandfather."
"Do you and your mother get along?"
"Yeah, we do. Are you nervous about meeting her?"
"No, not at all. How about I bring my mom along? Maybe between the two of them, they can help us figure this out."
"Sounds like a good idea." Andi traced one of AJ’s tattoos with her finger. "Alex, have you got a picture I could have…just in case things don’t work out?"
"I think I can find one or two…but things are gonna work out. Don’t give up, Andi."
The couple became silent as the car headed to AJ’s house. AJ watched her as Howie’s words echoed in his mind…. Just love her with all that you are, ‘J’. She’s gonna have to give up a hell of a lot to be with you…no problem there but he didn’t want her to have to give up anything. He was afraid that in the long run, she’d resent him for it and he’d lose her anyway. Something had to work out.
