CHAPTER 468: JUST TO RUIN HIS REPUTATION

After he was petted down by Luis and Kim, Andrew made his way over to what was a rather intense conversation between the two Becketts and a police officer who knew exactly what he was dealing with. The man had a little recorder out, not making the mistake of trying to take notes while Maxwell spewed off, his hands waving as he explained his side of things.

Thomas was standing there, adding to Maxwell’s story whenever he could interject.

Maxwell, as if able to sense that Andrew was approaching, turned, and Andrew had to take a second to admire the man before him.

He was in an impeccable suit, because that was all that Maxwell wore, with his fluffy hat, leather gloves and rosy cheeks from the cold. His eyes were bright, glowing practically with the anger that filled him. Andrew knew that it was inappropriate to consider a full grown man that was burning with rage for him so cute, but that was all Andrew could think.

He fought the urge to grab the man by the face, smush it, and cover him in kisses. His body practically vibrated as he came to a halt and placed his hand on Maxwell’s lower back. Maxwell, without really being aware of it, leaned into the touch.

"Dr. Knox." The officer greeted, giving Andrew a nod. Andrew nodded in return.

"I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name at all while you’ve known my name the whole time." Andrew said, offering the man a hand to shake and he smiled.

"Officer Deacon, Dr. Knox, and no worries. It’s been a rather stressful situation for you, names weren’t going to be your priority." Officer Deacon said. Andrew nodded, thankful that the man was being so understanding. "The Beckett’s here were letting me know about a situation that happened about a year ago involving the woman that you asked to have escorted separately." His voice didn’t change, but Andrew could see how his eyes shifted slightly. Andrew nodded.

"Ah. I had a feeling that they were. Don’t worry, Maxy had my permission. After all, he had to deal with me in the aftermath." Andrew told him with a wry smile. Officer Deacon nodded.

"Understood. I wanted to clarify a few things with you, including why no one considered reporting this to the police after it happened." He was clearly scolding them but Andrew couldn’t help but smile.

"I didn’t want to bother anyone at the time honestly, and I also didn’t think you would believe me." Andrew told him and Officer Deacon frowned. Andrew continued smiling. "I had just experienced my workplace which had worked with me for five years just turning on me after one false accusation. Why do you think that I would trust the police? Who I also have a record with." Maxwell shifted uncomfortably at the mention, while Thomas was stoic.

Officer Deacon was polite enough not to say anything, but his eyes tightened around the corners slightly. He cleared his throat.

"Even if you have a record with the police, from what I’ve seen it’s mostly minor skirmishes from when you were younger, and if I can be frank? You were simply standing up for others. It’s noted in all the files across the board, even in your most recent incident at the realtor office." Andrew nodded, grateful that he knew that.

"I came at them a little hard and heavy. I just don’t like alphas who think that they have a right to an omega just because of the omega’s nature. It’s not something that they can control. I’m also not apologetic for what I did. If I was to relive all that I’ve done, I would do it again. Comes with being raised by a single, omega mom." Andrew said, a small smile on his lips. Maxwell let out a soft noise.

"You know, for how hard you try to be a sweet man, you certainly have a rough side to you. I had no idea I was getting married to a criminal." Maxwell said dryly and Andrew felt his smile turn into a boyish grin.

"A criminal? That’s taking it a bit far, don’t you think?" Andrew asked, glancing at the officer to the side of him. Officer Deacon had a small smirk on his face.

"He hasn’t done anything serious enough to be considered a true criminal. More like a public nuisance. A few times it could have been taken seriously, but Dr. Knox has never had to be put in cuffs, Mr. Beckett." Officer Deacon said with a smile. "I’m truly sorry that I have to ruin the mood, but I do need to ask some rather serious questions." The mood shifted as soon as Officer Deacon said that, and Andrew nodded.

"I think I’ll be as ready as I can be." Andrew told him and Maxwell shifted closer to him, forcing Andrew’s hand to either slide down Maxwell’s back to his ass, or he had to adjust his hand. Andrew wanted to respect the fact that he was not only in front of Maxwell’s family, but also at the scene of a horrific crime and he was about to testify about another horrific crime.

So Andrew let his hand slide down to Maxwell’s ass and got a pointed look from the smaller man. He didn’t move out of Andrew’s touch though.

"I just want to confirm the identity of the woman that you asked me to separate previously first." Officer Deacon said. Andrew swallowed.

"Dr. Tracey Williams." Andrew told him and felt how Maxwell’s body stiffened.

"Alright. And your affiliation with her?" Officer Deacon asked and Andrew swallowed.

"Uh, well, she was a coworker at my former company, which Max and Thomas are in the process of suing on my behalf, and also...my ex." Andrew said carefully and watched as the officer’s eyebrow twitched.

"May I ask how long you two were dating?" He asked and Andrew could feel that Maxwell was vibrating against his hand.

"About two years. We also worked in different departments in my previous company. I worked more on the environmental side of things, while she worked on more of the secret, hush hush kind of things." Andrew told him and the other man nodded.

"Understood. So, when did everything turn sour? I can tell by the way Mr. Beckett is reacting that he has no love for this ex of yours."

"She’s a piece of shit." Maxwell growled, now given permission to say what he wanted. Andrew tried not to smile.

"Well, everything went sour on a random day. There was a security breach at the company and I worried about what it was at first. But, they said it wasn’t anything that I needed to be concerned about. My department didn’t really deal with anything that I needed to be concerned would be leaked. We were a rather straight forward department. That was when I was called into work to speak to my superior. He wasn’t alone and they essentially accused me of using her login credentials to break into her area of the company to steal things." Officer Deacon didn’t seem to be happy with his words.

"I see." He said and Andrew nodded.

"Yeah. There was a problem with their plan. I was a beta at the time, and it was obvious that an alpha did it because they left behind pheromones or something? They couldn’t have been me either. Thinking about it now, I think they were white." Andrew said and Thomas made a low, dangerous sound in his throat.

"Those fucking racists." The man hissed and Andrew chuckled.

"Well, they were certainly something. I lost my cool, especially when my ex said that we were not anything to each other in a room full of people. She said that I had just been pestering her. Mind you, I’d been ’pestering’ her for two years at this point. I ended the relationship in the room, stormed out, grabbed my things and headed pretty much directly to Max. We were next door neighbours and friends at this point in time." Andrew told the Officer.

"So, to clarify, they accused you of breaching their security and grabbing data?" He asked and Andrew nodded.

"I wasn’t even technically fired. They put me on hold. It was essentially them killing any chance I had to work in the field in the city as well." Andrew told him and Maxwell spoke up again.

"They were attempting to ruin his reputation." Maxwell said. "They wanted to ruin him over something one fucking bitch said once, all because her Aunt was on the board. She’s also a fucking psycho. She got fired from her other jobs for experimenting on her coworkers." Maxwell exploded and the officer raised an eyebrow.

"Really?" He asked and Andrew sighed.

"That part can wait until after we’ve gone through my story, Maxy." Andrew told him and Maxwell grumbled, but clearly stepped back a bit.

"But yes, they accused me of stealing something from them. I’m going to be honest, I’m not particularly tech savvy and I didn’t even know that Max was part of the competition that they were worried about. I only knew Max as my neighbour. I avoided news t.v. or gossip magazines and the like because I didn’t want to know anything about my father." Andrew told the officer. Something shifted behind his eyes as the man nodded.

"Understood. Were they aware of your connection with Mr. Beckett?" Officer Deacon asked and Andrew shrugged.

"I have no idea. It was never brought up. I also haven’t been back or checked my work email for them since. They could have said something, but I wouldn’t know." Andrew told him and Officer Deacon nodded.

"I might ask you to attempt to check it at a later point." He told Andrew and Andrew nodded.

"Sure. No problem." Andrew agreed readily. No problems there.

"So...she’s your ex who tried to ruin your professional relationship? While I can see why Mr. Beckett would be angry at her, I can sense that there is more to this story than you are telling me yet." Officer Deacon said and Andrew swallowed. He glanced at Maxwell, taking in his trembling form before looking towards the officer again.

"She’s the reason I’m a true alpha." Andrew said, ripping the band aid off. "She kidnapped and experimented on me after isolating me from the people who would check on me. The first step was just a ruse to make sure that no one checked up on me. Without Max in my life, I could have ended up a test subject."

Officer Deacon looked stunned. Truly shocked. Andrew couldn’t blame him. That was not something that you heard often.

"Her name was all over the files downstairs, along with someone who I suspect is her accomplice in this. Heather was the other woman’s name. Uh, I was held for a week and injected with all kinds of medications to force me to turn into a true alpha and then when it worked, she wanted to sleep with me. I don’t know why or what she had planned. Tracey was an omega, but because I was a beta and she worked hard to hide that from me, I never knew. Or maybe, she did tell me but I didn’t remember." Andrew said.

"She’s a cunt." Maxwell muttered, making it clear his thoughts and feelings on the situation. Andrew patted his ass comfortingly.