Power, Seduction & Scandal

by Angela Winters

  “Erica!” she yelled.

  Erica jolted to attention and turned to face them. She didn’t like the way they were both looking at her, like they thought she was crazy.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I was zoning out. What is it?”

  “You know what it is,” Sherise said.

  Erica rolled her eyes and made a smacking sound with her lips. “Please don’t start this again.”

  “You have to talk about it,” Billie said. “Your father is dead.”

  “Not just dead,” Sherise added. “He blew his head off.”

  Billie turned to Sherise with a warning glare. “Can we be a little more sensitive in our word choice?”

  Sherise shrugged. She wasn’t in the most sensitive mood. Her world had been turned upside down, and while she was dealing with the shock of it all, Jonah Nolan died.

  “I don’t expect Sherise to act like she’s upset,” Erica said.

  No, Sherise wasn’t going to shed a single tear for Jonah. The man had the power to destroy her entire life. Although Sherise had sworn to herself to never be unfaithful to Justin again after her one-night stand with Ryan Hodgkins, she broke that promise when she met Jonah Nolan.

  When she was working on the Domestic Policy Council for the White House, she was assigned to work on a project in partnership with the Department of Defense. Sparks flew the second she met Jonah. She couldn’t resist the temptation, but the truth was, she hadn’t really tried. Sherise was drawn to his alpha-male qualities and his unquestioned power and influence. Their affair was brief and disastrous, and ended with Jonah basically threatening Sherise’s life when she found out that he was Erica’s father.

  When Justin found out about her affair with Ryan, Sherise never even once considered confessing about Jonah. After all, with Justin’s affair, Ryan could be forgiven. It was an even sin. But Jonah, no.... Not only was that two affairs to one against Sherise, but a man like Justin would never be able to get over the idea of a powerful man like Jonah getting his wife in bed. It would have ruined her life and cost Sherise everything.

  Billie and Erica knew about the affair, but they would never tell. Sherise never doubted either of them. They would all take each other’s secrets to the grave. That was how deep their connection was and had been since they were little girls. But as long as Jonah was alive, he was a threat. Now that he was dead, Sherise felt comfortable that their affair had died with him. It was a huge load off her shoulders.

  “I never pretended to care that he’s dead,” Sherise said. “I’m upset for you, though, Erica. We both are, and no matter what you say, you need to talk about it.”

  “I’ve got nothing to say,” Erica said.

  Billie wasn’t giving up. “Maybe you want to take some time off and just . . . you know, deal with it.”

  “I don’t have that luxury,” Erica said. “I have to work, remember? I’m the broke one here. I haven’t earned vacation days yet.”

  Sherise found this silly. “I’m sure Justin would understand if you wanted to—”

  “I don’t need him to understand anything,” Erica interrupted. “I’m fine. What do you two want from me? You want me to cry? I can’t. I didn’t love him.”

  “You cared about him,” Billie said. “That’s why you kept giving him chances in your life.”

  “Which I warned you against,” Sherise added.

  “I may have once,” Erica admitted. “But that all died with what he did to Alex. I was done with him a year ago.”

  “Have you tried to talk to Alex?” Sherise asked. “I saw the news. They were trying to locate him. You know where he is, right?”

  Erica nodded. “And I’m not telling anybody. He wants to be away from all this and I won’t betray him. And no, I haven’t called him yet. I’ve got nothing to say to him. I’m not interested in talking about it with him, you guys, or anyone.”

  Billie sighed. “Erica, he’s still your—”

  “Stop it!” Erica yelled so loud that both Billie and Sherise jumped. “Stop trying to make me hurt for that asshole! He caused me nothing but pain. For Christ’s sake, he never caused anyone I know and care about anything but pain and fear.”

  “Okay.” Billie gestured for her to calm down. “Take it easy. We don’t want the guys running in here.”

  Sherise dropped the garlic in the pot and began pounding it into the potatoes with the masher. “You flying off the handle is proof that you still have issues.”

  “My issue is with you two trying to ruin the holiday talking about a dead man I don’t care about and won’t miss.” Erica returned to her job wrapping bacon. “Can we talk about something positive, please? It’s Thanksgiving.”

  “What about Corey?” Billie asked. “You’re going on a second date as soon as he gets back from Waukegan, right?”

  Erica didn’t really want to talk about Corey either. Yes, she was excited about the chance to see him again, but more grateful that he still wanted to see her. After her shock at the newscast about Jonah’s death, she had to make up a lie about having sudden chest pains so Corey wouldn’t connect her ridiculous reaction to Jonah.

  He wanted to drive her to the hospital, but as soon as they got out of the restaurant, she suddenly, one would say miraculously, was feeling fine. She had to do a lot of convincing to still keep him from taking her. Instead, he drove her home and she said a quick good night.

  He called her later that night to check on her and again in the morning. Both times she apologized and, although he seemed hesitant at first, he eventually told her he wanted to see her again.

  “Yeah, well,” Erica began, “let’s just move on to someone else, like you, Billie. Didn’t you say that Michael’s family barely even registered when you told them you were engaged?”

  “Not the smoothest deflection,” Billie said as she went back to her task of slicing the cornbread. “But that’s not exactly accurate. It did register. They weren’t happy.”

  “Did they get really ugly about it?” Erica asked. “How rude.”

  They weren’t exactly ugly, Billie thought. She and Michael had stopped by the house on their way to the airport and told Dee Dee the news. Aisha wasn’t there. Dee Dee was in shock at first. When she finally spoke, all she could say was, “So soon?” They’d been dating for over a year.

  “His mom just put on that pasted smile,” Billie said. “You know, the one that tells you she wasn’t happy, but you couldn’t call her on it. Her congratulation was so limp, it needed Viagra to be believed.”

  Erica laughed. “She’ll come around. Are you letting it get to you? I mean, I expected you to bring about fifteen bride magazines here with you tonight.”

  Billie wasn’t about to let Dee Dee’s reaction to the news get her down. She was flying on a cloud right now. “I have all the magazines, but I didn’t want to bring them over in case it was insensitive to you.”

  “That was a mistake,” Erica said.

  “Besides,” Billie turned to Sherise. “When I was talking to Sherise about it on the phone yesterday, she didn’t sound enthused either.”

  “What’s wrong with you, Sherise?” Erica asked. “Jealous?”

  “What am I jealous of?” Sherise said. “I’ve already got my husband.”

  “But you know the bride gets all the attention,” Erica said.

  “Shut up,” Sherise said, turning to Billie. “I’m happy for you.”

  “Then what’s with the attitude?” Erica asked.

  Sherise hesitated a moment, feeling a stab in the pit of her stomach just at the thought. She didn’t want to do this. Not here, not now.

  “Nothing,” she said, turning her back to them. “Just get back to work. I want dinner on the table by four thirty.”

  Billie and Erica looked at each other. They both noticed the hesitation. Something was wrong.

  “Here’s the deal,” Billie said. “We’re not going to do one more lick of work until you tell us what’s going on. We don’t keep secrets, remember?”


  She turned back to them. “I can’t do this right now, girls. Just don’t. . . . We need to get dinner on the table.”

  “Hey.” Billie walked over to her and placed her hand on Sherise’s arm, squeezing it gently. “Something is really wrong. I can tell it in your voice.”

  “Yeah,” Erica said, walking over to both of them. “You sound . . . you sound like you do when you’re in over your head.”

  Sherise pointed to her angrily. “I am not in over my head!”

  “Whoa.” Erica held her arms up in the air to gesture surrender.

  “I’m sorry,” Sherise said as she sighed and leaned against the granite counter. She dropped the masher in the pot.

  Billie and Erica looked at each other again. Sherise just apologized. Something was definitely wrong.

  “Spill it,” Billie ordered.

  As Sherise relayed the bomb that Jerry had dropped on her a few days ago, she had to take strong breaths to keep from yelling. She told them about how she felt so enraged after Jerry told her that she didn’t even trust herself to stay at the party and not lose it and destroy what was left of her career. She grabbed Justin and they immediately left.

  Ignoring all the texts from LaKeisha and others asking where she was, Sherise told Justin how Jerry had just told her that everything she had worked for was going to be handed to Maurice Blair on a platter. He held her while she cried, but being Sherise, that only lasted five minutes. She wasn’t the crying type.

  “Why are you just now telling us?” Erica asked.

  Since they were kids, they told each other everything. No matter how hard, how embarrassing or humiliating, there were no secrets between them. They shared each other’s pain, which made it all bearable.

  They were all sitting at the kitchen table, their chairs practically on top of each other as Erica and Billie flanked Sherise, who was leaning on the table wringing her hands together.

  “You both had so much going on,” she said, her voice a little shaky. “The engagement and Jonah blowing his head off.”

  Erica rolled her eyes. “Please, Sherise. We both love you, but being considerate of others is not your strong point.”

  Billie managed a bit of a laugh. “Exactly. You’re our sweetie, but it’s not like you to not let it be all about you.”

  Sherise had to smile. They both knew her too well to pull one over on them.

  “Okay, you got me,” she said. “I was . . . embarrassed. It’s humiliating getting . . . rejected.”

  “It’s rough on all of us,” Erica said. “Just rougher on you, because you’re not used to it. Sherise always gets what she wants.”

  For some reason, those words lit a spark in Sherise and she lifted her head, sitting up straight. She looked at Erica and then Billie.

  “You’re right,” Sherise said. “I always get what I want and there isn’t anything I’ve wanted more than to be press secretary to the president of the United States. It’s all . . . all I’ve been working for since, well, forever.”

  “I’m so sorry, honey.” Billie rubbed her back.

  “Don’t be,” Sherise said. “I was in shock for a few days. I just knew that this job was mine and I let my guard down. Maurice Blair slipped in and took it. But it’s my job. I’ve earned it. I want it and I get what I want.”

  “What are you planning to do?” Erica asked.

  “I’m going to do what I’ve been doing since I was a little girl. What I’m best at.” Sherise swung her head, flipping her hair back, with a smile. “I’m gonna fight.”

  Erica sat back in her chair, completely confident in Sherise without needing to know what her plan was. “That Maurice Blair has no idea what’s in store for him.”

  They all turned to the archway to the kitchen as they heard baby crying sounds come closer. It was Michael, carrying Sherise’s baby in his arms. Six-month-old Aiden Robinson was an adorable, caramel-colored baby boy with curly hair, big dark eyes like his sister, and very kissable fat cheeks. He was generally happy and joyful, but right now he was anything but. The fact that Michael was holding him away, with his hands under Aiden’s armpits as if he was toxic, probably didn’t help.

  “Why are you holding him like that?” Sherise got up and rushed over to him. “He’s not poison.”

  “I don’t know how to hold babies,” Michael said, handing him to Sherise. “Justin made me bring him to you. He won’t stop crying.”

  Aiden was already starting to calm in his mother’s arms as she kissed him on his soft forehead.

  “And Justin was too lazy to get up himself?” Sherise rolled her eyes. “What a surprise.”

  “Actually,” Michael said. “He got a call from work. Can you believe that?”

  “Is my little sweetie okay?” Billie asked as she made her way to Sherise.

  She leaned in and kissed Aiden on his cheek. He reached out and grabbed her face with his tiny hands and smiled. She simply adored him.

  “He always smiles at his auntie Billie.” Sherise cradled him so he was facing outward. “I think he just needs some air. It’s still warm out. I’ll just take him for a quick walk in the backyard. That should . . .”

  “Let me do it,” Billie pleaded, although she was already taking the baby out of Sherise’s arms.

  She kissed him again before bringing him to her and enfolding him in her arms. She looked at Michael. “This is how you hold a baby.”

  Michael started to follow Billie as she headed to the sliding doors of the kitchen that led to the small backyard, but as she stepped outside, he stopped at the kitchen counter and reached for a slice of cornbread.

  “What are you doing?” Sherise slapped his hand away. “It’s not dinner yet.”

  “Just one piece?” he asked.

  “You guys have snacks in the den,” Erica said. “Or did Nate eat them all again? That boy has a hollow leg.”

  “That boy eats like a young man with a young metabolism,” Michael said. “I used to be able to eat like that.”

  “One piece,” Sherise allowed. “That’s it.”

  “Thank you.” He grabbed a piece and took a bite. “Can you believe that? Justin’s client calling him on Thanksgiving? That’s D.C. for you. A man can’t even spend time with his family in peace on a holiday.”

  “Well,” Erica said. “He was actually watching football, to be exact.”

  “D.C. is all work,” Sherise said. “You know it. You’ve been here ten years. It’s just something we have to deal with. It’s a challenge. You’ll face it too when you and Billie have kids.”

  “No way,” Michael said. “My kids aren’t going to be raised in D.C. Not a chance.”

  As he turned and headed out to the back to be with Billie, Erica and Sherise looked at each other, confused.

  “Did he just say what I thought he said?” Erica asked.

  “Does Billie know this?” Sherise asked. “Because I think it’s pretty important that . . .”

  Both she and Erica smelled it at the same time, sniffing in the air. Something was burning!

  “Oh my God,” Sherise yelled. “My turkey!”

  5

  Sherise drove up to the governor’s mansion without a hitch. She was a familiar face there now and was allowed to drive up to the house with just a minimal search. The only issue she had was the second she reached the door, the security guard, one she didn’t recognize, told her she wasn’t on the Governor’s schedule today.

  “I don’t need to be on his schedule,” she admonished him. “I’m on his staff. I’m here to work, not have a meeting with—”

  “Ma’am,” he said, holding up his hand to silence her. “If you work for him, you know that access has been severely restricted and no one who isn’t on the list—”

  “I’m always on the list.” Sherise’s voice was raised now. “I made the fucking list.”

  He frowned at her, clearly offended by her tone, but Sherise didn’t give a damn. No new guy was going to treat her like this.

  “It’s okay,
” came a voice from behind the large man.

  Sherise recognized the voice and smiled the second Stephen Northman appeared in the doorway.

  “She can always come in,” he said to the guard.

  The guard didn’t want to give an inch. “She’s not on the list, and the orders are that anyone, even staff, has to be pre—”

  “She’s on the list.” Stephen needled himself between the guard and the door, making room for Sherise to take his hand and enter the house. “She’s always on the list.”

  Sherise smiled at Stephen and stepped inside, ignoring the guard. A few steps in, Stephen let go of her hand.

  “Thanks, Stephen,” Sherise said with a warm smile.

  “No problem,” he said. “Things are weird around here. Ever since he won, things . . .”

  “We won,” she corrected him. “We all won that election. You too.”

  He smiled as if trying to be polite, but not really wanting that compliment. “You here to see Dad?”

  She nodded. “Where is he?”

  “He’s out back.” Stephen gestured for her to follow him and she did. “Is this about the party?”

  “What about the party?”

  “Well, I saw my dad leave the library real soon after he got there and then you left a few minutes later and looked . . . you looked kind of out of it.”

  “It’s complicated.” Sherise didn’t want to talk to Stephen about it. She was already anxious enough about her impending confrontation with Jerry.

  “I asked you what was wrong,” he continued, “but you walked right past me. You didn’t even look at me. You said nothing.”

  Sherise didn’t even remember seeing him. She didn’t remember much except grabbing Justin and getting the hell out of there.

  “I’m sorry, Stephen. I had a lot on my mind. I would never purposely ignore you.”

  He looked at her and smiled appreciatively. “I didn’t think so. That’s why I was worried. And ever since the party, Dad has been acting really weird. Or weirder than usual.”

  They reached the patio doors that led to the expansive deck. Past the deck, Sherise could see Jerry in the yard, playing with the family’s two Alaskan huskies.

  “He’s under a lot of pressure,” Sherise said. “We all are, but I don’t want you getting involved.”