The Summer Games: Settling the Score

  I glanced over to see a slight blush dotting her cheeks. Was she really as nervous as I was? I reached out to touch her arm and smiled genuinely for the first time since she’d arrived. “It’s fine. That’s really cool that you’ve been watching the games.”

  Her features perked up again. “Do you think you’ll be able to play tomorrow?”

  I shook my head. “Not tomorrow, no. I won’t be ready.”

  She nodded, but kept quiet.

  Kinsley leaned forward. “Freddie, you race tomorrow, don’t you?”

  After that, the conversation turned to Freddie and his first day of racing. For a week straight he’d have to compete in multiple races per day. He’d take the pool fifteen times before he was finished and though he seemed confident sitting at that table with his fitted suit and his wide smile, I knew the pressure had to be getting to him, even just a tiny bit. I’d played in thousands of games over the years, but these big events never got easier. The world was anxious to watch him compete, and the other swimmers naturally put a target on his back. It wasn’t every day that an Olympian came back for his third games poised to break the records he’d set four years earlier, and yet when I glanced over, there was no hint of anxiety behind his eyes. He winked and I melted, dropping my face so that Sophie Boyle wouldn’t notice my secret smile.

  Caroline leaned closer. “Would you mind coming with me to get a drink? Between the two of us, we ought to be able to fight our way to the bar.”

  I smiled. “Of course. I actually need to use the restroom too.”

  I dropped my napkin on the table and nodded to Kinsley. “I’ll be right back. Bathroom.”

  Caroline linked her arm through mine and led me away from the table. We wove through the crowd, trying to stay out of the way of the waitstaff flitting around the room. There was a bathroom tucked away in the corner next to the bar, and I tilted my head toward it.

  “Bathroom first?”

  She smiled. “Sounds good.”

  I pushed through the door and Caroline stepped in after me. I slipped into the first stall and listened to her heels clap against the tile as she moved around the small space. She pushed open the other three stall doors, as if to decide which one was most suitable for her use. I smiled at the idea just before I heard her walk back toward the bathroom door. I listened to the distinct metallic clink of a lock sliding into place, and the smile dissolved from my face. Silence filled the small fluorescent space as my blood turned to ice.

  I stood and flushed, trying to stay as calm as possible. Surely it was just another quirk of aristocracy, to reserve a public restroom for the duration of her private use. My heart pounded against my chest, as if sensing before my brain that something was seriously wrong. I slid the lock on my stall door and stepped out to wash my hands. Caroline was posed up against the bathroom door with her arms crossed.

  “Didn’t need…to go?” I asked with a shaky voice.

  Even to me, it didn’t sound natural.

  “You know, I have to hand it to you Andie,” she said, uncrossing her arms and stepping away from the door. For those few seconds, all I could focus on was the sound of her heels on the tile. “For a girl who prides herself on keeping nets empty, you’ve shown yourself to be quite good at filling them. Why, it took you no time at all to ensnare poor Frederick. The dim bastard never really stood a chance once you stumbled into his life, did he?”

  She came up to stand directly beside me and I met her cool blue eyes in the mirror. She reached forward and gripped a few strands of my hair, sliding her fingers slowly down. I stood still, breathing shakily and praying that the situation would turn, that she’d laugh and step away, joke about the whole thing and lead me out of the bathroom in front of her. But she didn’t. She let the strands fall back against my cheek and smiled, a slow sardonic smile that proved how far from freedom I truly was.

  “I don’t know what—”

  She held up her hand. “Save it.”

  The water was still running, so I leaned forward to turn it off. Caroline shoved me forward and stepped up to force my hip bones into the hard ceramic sink. I hissed as the hard surface bit into me, and steadied myself by placing my palms down on the counter. Caroline stayed there, caging me against the sink. I couldn’t get past her without shoving her aside, and I didn’t want to take it to that level. She was taller and heavier, but more importantly, her eyes were desperate, feral. I was alone in that bathroom with a wild animal.

  “You knew he was mine and yet you pushed and you pushed.” She dragged her fingernail down my bare arm as she spoke, causing an angry red line to form in its wake. “What a little whore you are.”

  I shook my head, more indignant than afraid. She had guessed right that Freddie was interested in me, but I’d had nothing to do with his decision to break it off with her. However, I wasn’t about to argue semantics with someone that seemed more and more like a psychopath.

  “Did you think I would roll over and let you take him from me? Do you know how hard I’ve worked for this marriage?”

  I couldn’t wrap my head around this woman. She’d been so polite and gentle at the table, just as the world believed her to be. Now, here, alone and riled up, I had no clue of what she was capable.

  “So listen well: Frederick Archibald is mine. He and I are going to get married and I won’t let you get in the way of that.” She lightly trailed her fingertips down my arm until she’d clenched her fist around my injured wrist. I cried out and grabbed her forearm, but when I yanked to loosen it, the pain in my wrist doubled. With her free arm she pulled my hair back until my neck was exposed to her. My breaths were coming loud and heavy, echoing across the space. “If you think you’re hurting now, just wait until everyone thinks you’re breaking up my engagement. They might know of you, but they love me, Andie.” She whispered the words seductively in my ear as if she was a siren. “If you break up this betrothal, I’ll make sure they crucify you. Your name will be synonymous with Olympic whore. Your budding brand, your sponsorships, your beloved fans…they’ll leave you so fast you won’t know what hit you.”

  She let go of my hair and wrist at all once, and I’d been resisting her so hard that when the tension was gone, my head yanked forward, nearly colliding with the mirror. I winced and tried to keep the tears at bay. This was all too much.

  “So choose wisely Andie,” she said, stepping back and tilting her head. Her feral smile was crumbling and in its place, I could just barely make out the innocent, doe-eyed philanthropist. Jesus, she was two-faced.

  “Is Freddie worth everything to you?” she asked.

  I swallowed.

  “Decide now, because he is to me.”

  She turned, checked herself in the mirror, and walked out of the bathroom, leaving me to stare at my reflection in the mirror as tears slid down my cheeks. I tried to wipe them away and get ahold of my emotions. My entire body shook with anger, with the shock of seeing Caroline’s true colors. She was a fucking psychopath and I was the only one who knew it.

  I inhaled two shaky breaths and then swallowed down my nerves. I considered calling the police and reporting an assault, but since she’d carefully inflicted pain on my wrist where I already had bruising, it would be her word against mine.

  Still, I wouldn’t let her win. She was bluffing; I knew it. She couldn’t possibly have proof that Freddie and I were together. I leaned forward and wiped away the mascara that had clouded beneath my eyes.

  Caroline was about to learn that Andie Foster didn’t intimidate that easily.

  I shoved my way through the bathroom door and strutted confidently back to our table. Caroline might have wanted Freddie, she might have thought he belonged to her, but the fact remained: he wanted me. He chose me.

  By the time I arrived back at the table, everyone was listening to Caroline tell a story. She was smiling and laughing along with Freddie and Kinsley. What a crazy bitch. I leaned forward, cut her off midsentence, and flashed a seductive smile at Freddie.

&nbs
p; “Freddie, could I speak to you for a second?”

  Caroline’s sharp eyes flashed up to me in shock. I smiled. What do bullying bitches do when you stand up to them? They run and keep quiet. They slink into the background and convince themselves it’s not worth it anyway. I wasn’t going to stay quiet. Caroline wanted me to cower in fear, but I was stronger than her. I’d tell Freddie about Caroline and we’d deal with her together.

  I was going to win.

  Caroline reached out and gripped my arm, digging her nails in just gently enough so that no one would notice. I bit down on the inside of my mouth to keep my expression normal.

  “Actually, Andie, I was hoping you could settle something for me.” She pulled her phone out of her purse with her free hand and held it up, angled so that only I could see the small screen. “Is this you in the photo? It’s such a great action shot. They must have taken it during one of your games.”

  I slid down into my seat and felt the color drain from my face.

  She wasn’t showing me a photo from a game; she was showing me a photo of Freddie and me from Mascarada. My red mask had slipped off just enough to make me recognizable in the hazy light. My red dress was bunched up on my thighs, and though you couldn’t see anything past the hem, Freddie’s hand up my dress was damning evidence all on its own. I had no clue how she’d found it, but she’d made it perfectly clear what she planned on doing with it. As if to prove her point, it was already preloaded into an email on her phone with a subject line that made my stomach drop.

  Soccer Slut Seduces Frederick Archibald

  “Is that you?” Caroline asked again, sending a chill down my spine. To the outside world, she was a happy, smiling angel. Only I could feel her fingers digging into my thigh beneath the table. Only I could see the email she was prepared to send if I didn’t leave Freddie alone.

  “Yes. It’s me.”

  “Andie?” Freddie asked. His voice sounded a million miles away. “Do you want to go talk?”

  I shook my head quickly. “No…no. Never mind.”

  Caroline smiled and leaned closer. “How wonderful. I do love that photo.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  Andie

  I’D SUDDENLY FOUND myself in the middle of a minefield. I could have grabbed the phone from Caroline and showed the table what she was doing, but Sophie Boyle was there, smiling and observing the entire scene from her perch across the table. Every move I made had to be perfectly calculated. If Caroline had that photo from the club, there was no telling what else she had packed away in her arsenal. I needed to tread lightly and respect Caroline’s psychosis.

  “You hardly touched your dinner,” Kinsley said later as we walked out of the media dinner and slipped back into the car waiting for us out front. I had half a mind to check the brakes, but I shook away the thought. She didn’t want to kill me; she wanted me to leave Freddie alone, and that was exactly what I’d done.

  I’d avoided him for the rest of dinner, all but ignoring his questions, even when they were specifically directed at me. He’d joined me when I stood to leave, offering to walk me out, but I’d avoided his hand and shook my head. He was so beautiful there, tall and commanding. He wanted to walk me out and I couldn’t let him. I had to walk away without so much as a promise.

  As soon as my seatbelt was buckled into place, I reached for my phone in my clutch and started typing a text for him.

  Andie: I’m sorry I pulled away from you as I was leaving. This isn’t going to make sense, but Caroline is a fucking crazy person. She cornered me in the bathroom and threatened to expose us if I didn’t stay away from you.

  “So did you think the dinner—”

  I cut Kinsley off. “Hold on.”

  I could only concentrate on one thing at a time.

  Andie: I thought she was bluffing, but she has a photo of you and me from Mascarada on her phone. That’s the picture she showed me when I got back to the table.

  My fingers were flying over the keyboard; I had to let him know about everything as quickly as possible.

  “Jesus, who are you texting?” Kinsley asked.

  I tilted my phone screen so she could read what I’d already sent, and then I continued typing.

  Andie: Do not trust her. She doesn’t want you to break off the betrothal and I think she’s prepared to go to extreme lengths to keep you. Please believe me. I know she seems meek and innocent, but she’s not, Freddie. She’s insane.

  “ARE YOU KIDDING ME? She did that?!” Kinsley shouted, grabbing the phone out of my hand and scrolling up to reread the messages. “How could you keep quiet through all this?”

  I inhaled a breath, feeling better now that two people knew about Caroline. “Because Caroline and Sophie were both sitting at that table.”

  “So for the last hour you just had to sit on this?”

  “Why do you think I was so quiet?”

  She shook her head. “No, no. This isn’t right, Andie.”

  “I’m going to figure it out.”

  My phone buzzed in her hand and she handed it back to me.

  Freddie: I believe you. Of course I believe you. I’m so sorry, Andie. I can’t call now. I’m in a car with her. I’ll ring after I drop her off at her hotel.

  My blood boiled at the idea of them sitting in the back of a car together. Why did he have to drive her home? Couldn’t she just slither back to whatever hellhole had spawned her on her own?

  Kinsley and I made it back to our condo and I stormed into my room. It was 9:00 PM, and we had a game at 8:00 AM the next morning. Freddie’s first race was just as early and instead of focusing and getting in the zone, we were dealing with Crazy Caroline. It wasn’t fair.

  I threw my clutch across my room and yanked off my cocktail dress. It still had remnants of Caroline’s perfume on it and I knew washing it wouldn’t help. I kicked it aside and glanced up to Kinsley. She’d followed me into the room and called Becca in to join us.

  I stepped into the shower and quickly worked at washing away Caroline’s vile touch. By the time I’d dried off and tugged on sweats, Kinsley had filled Becca in on everything that had gone down during dinner. They sat side by side on my bed, watching me pace in small circles.

  “I can’t believe I missed it. I was Skyping with Penn, but I would have definitely gone had I known this Jerry Springer shit was going to go down.”

  I leveled her with a narrowed gaze. “This isn’t funny, Becca.”

  Her eyes widened. “No, I know. I’m sorry Andie. I just wish I had been there to help.”

  “Do you think she’ll expose that photo?” Kinsley asked, turning to me with sad eyes.

  I raked my hands through my damp hair and reached for my phone. Freddie still hadn’t called me and I was starting to get worried. The dinner had ended a while ago and he should have already dropped her off by then.

  I shook my head. “I don’t know. It’s a standoff. I’ve fired first by telling Freddie what happened, so if he confronts her…there’s no telling what she’ll do.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Freddie

  I READ ANDIE’S text messages just as our car pulled away from the media dinner.

  “Everything okay?” Caroline asked, tipping an easy smile in my direction.

  I nodded and kept my eyes glued on my mobile, reading Andie’s messages as they popped up one after another.

  …she cornered me in the bathroom…

  …she has a photo of you and me…

  …do not trust her…

  “Who’s trying to reach you this late?” Caroline asked, scooting closer to try to get a look at my screen.

  I pocketed my phone and tried to plaster on a genuine smile. I knew it wasn’t right. My muscles were strained and taut. “Just my manager. To her, workdays never end.”

  She laughed. “Ah, the life of a famous athlete, I suppose.”

  I kept my gaze on her as she looked out the window. I tried to see her as the villain Andie had just described in her messages. She
was so delicate and kind. I’d never seen her raise her voice to anyone. If someone had asked me ten minutes earlier, I would have assumed Caroline Montague was incapable of killing a fly. Had I really misjudged her so much?

  She turned to assess me with her crystal blue eyes. “What?” she said with a light giggle.

  I shook my head. “Nothing, just taking in the view.”

  “It’s magical, isn’t it?”

  I wouldn’t know. I was too preoccupied to care about the coastline flying by us.

  “Listen, Frederick…” She turned to me as the car rolled to a stop beneath a small portico in front of her hotel. “I know you’ve got a race really early tomorrow, but I do think it’d be good to chat for a minute about the betrothal and everything. Y’know, we should figure out how we’ll navigate the rest of the games so the media doesn’t catch wind of anything. I still think it’d be best if we keep it to ourselves for now.”

  Of course she thought that. I should have realized she had ulterior motives as soon as she’d arrived in Rio.

  “I’ve really got to get back to my flat,” I said, anxiety laced through every word. I didn’t care about sleep; I just wanted to get back to Andie as soon as possible.

  “C’mon, just for a minute,” she said with a hopeful smile. “There’s a cute little bar right inside.”

  I opened my mouth to turn her down but then Andie’s messages flashed through my mind. What would she do if I said no? Would she take it as a personal insult? It was better to go along as if everything was normal until Andie and I got a grip on the situation.

  “All right, just for a moment,” I relented, sliding out of the back seat of the car and then holding open the hotel door for her.

  She made a real show of it once we were inside. She insisted on ordering drinks, though I didn’t touch mine. I didn’t drink anything other than water this close to a race, but she didn’t seem to care. She sipped on her cocktail and then leaned close with an easy smile.