“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.