Power, Seduction & Scandal

by Angela Winters

  Erica laughed and shook her head. “You’re right. We don’t need to go to lunch today, or ever. I’m out of here.”

  She shoved past him and rushed out of the door, leaving both men standing stunned in the lobby. Nobody was going to tell her what she had to do anymore.

  Sherise was standing in the main conference room, clearly visible from the glass windows that circled half the room. She knew that Maurice was leaving soon and he’d have to walk by the conference room to head out. She knew he would notice her. She looked amazing in her red Akris Punto skirt suit. It fit all her curves perfectly, stopping just above her knee to expose long legs that led to sexy, black Birman suede heels.

  The idea of using his attraction to her sent a shiver up and down her spine, but it was a means to an end. Besides, how hard was it going to be? The man wasn’t the sharpest knife in the drawer.

  She’d gotten a text a half hour ago from Tom, telling her he’d done his part. She asked him to invite Maurice into his office for drinks. Get him a little liquored up were her instructions. She had expected to have to explain, but Tom asked no questions. He was eager to get rid of Maurice and decided instructions were all he needed.

  The text told her that Maurice had had a couple glasses of whiskey. Not too much. It would have to be good enough. She needed his guard down as much as possible.

  When she heard his door slam shut, Sherise leapt into action. She rushed over to the mini-bar area, where beer and wine were stored for special occasions, and began pouring herself a glass of wine. She could see a figure out of the side of her left eye begin to walk by, but then stop. She smiled and slowly turned her head to face him.

  He was standing outside of the room, staring at her with a pleased smile. He looked her up and down. She raised the bottle to him and gestured for him to come inside. There was a short look of hesitation on his part, but it didn’t last long. That was the whiskey. Oh, and that red suit that she knew she had no business wearing in the office.

  “What are you up to?” he asked as he entered, placing his briefcase on the conference table.

  “Drowning my sorrows in a shitty day.” She made sure to make her voice sound as if she’d already had a drink or two as she reached for another glass. “I get that the outgoing administration is upset that they lost, but for fuck’s sake, why do they have to take it out on us?”

  “They’re being dicks,” Maurice replied. “It’s what losers do best. Who gave you a hard time today? I’ll make sure to do something about it.”

  “That’s nice of you,” she said, “but I have to fight my own battles.”

  “Thanks.” He accepted the drink. “Is anyone going to be joining us?”

  “Whoever walks by,” Sherise said. “Or nobody.”

  She noticed his eyes still held deep suspicion. He wasn’t as stupid as she thought.

  “What?” she asked. “I didn’t force you to come in here.”

  “Like I could have resisted . . .” He looked at her figure. “This.”

  “I didn’t wave you in here for that,” she said. “I wanted to give you some good news.”

  “Good news? From you?” He leaned against the table and took a sip of wine. “I’ve gotta hear this.”

  “Your sister has a job if she wants it.”

  “Your husband okayed it?” he asked.

  She nodded. Justin wasn’t at all happy, but Sherise let him know that she needed Maurice to trust her if she was going to get any truth out of him. The fact that Erica quit earlier that morning made it easier on him.

  “It’s temporary for now,” Sherise said.

  “Temporary isn’t what I asked for.”

  “You didn’t ask for anything,” Sherise reminded him. “You ordered and assumed.”

  “Still,” he protested. “What the fuck is with this temporary shit, Sherise?”

  “Congress has all gone home for the holiday break, so there isn’t even much to do until the next session starts in January. Once things are back in swing, if she turns out to have competence, he’ll keep her. If not, she’s gonna go.”

  “That’s not acceptable,” Maurice said.

  “It’s all I could get you,” Sherise answered. “And it’s more than you deserve for being so self-assuming.”

  He was shaking his head, but then sighed as if he no longer concerned himself with the issue. “It’s at least good to know you’re facing reality.”

  “Don’t push it,” she warned. “I’m trying to deal with this. It’s hard enough without you throwing it in my face.”

  “I’m not throwing it in your face,” he said. “It’s just what it is. You’re the one who’s made me have to keep pointing it out to you.”

  “I just want things to work,” she said. “We’ve all worked too hard to get here. The press about the infighting, all of that, doesn’t make Jerry look good.”

  “Finally!” He finished his glass of wine and held it toward Sherise, expecting her to pour more. “Finally, you get it.”

  Sherise poured the wine, wishing it was poison. “You don’t understand all the work I’ve done to protect Jerry and to make sure things go well. Now he barely even talks to me. It’s frustrating.”

  “Sherise, you’re a beautiful, sexy woman. You know how to get a man’s attention.”

  “I used to have his ear because of the great job I did, Maurice. Not my ass.”

  “I’m pretty sure it’s always been your ass.” Maurice laughed as he said this, as if he found it silly Sherise would even suggest anything else.

  “Well, I still have the same ass, but I don’t have his ear anymore. How do you explain that?”

  “I’m here now,” Maurice answered. “That’s how I explain it. I have his ear.”

  “You’d better be careful,” she warned. “You could lose it too.”

  “Oh hell no,” he assured her. “I’ll never lose his ear. He’ll always listen to what I have to say. If he knows what’s good for him.”

  “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Sherise asked.

  “Nothing,” he answered. “It just means that I have his ear whenever I want it. I can prove it to you. Tell me something you want him to do and watch me make it happen.”

  “I want you fired,” she said.

  He laughed. “Anything but that, you little devil.”

  “You think you’re special, Maurice, but you’re not. Just like any of us, you could fall out of favor with him just as quickly as you appeared to have fallen in his favor.”

  “Not me,” he said. “I have insurance.”

  “Insurance?” Sherise walked up to him, standing about a foot away. She eyed him suspiciously. “What are you not telling me?”

  “Not anything that’s any of your business.” He was smiling now, liking the attention she was showing him.

  “You know what I think?” she asked. “I think you want us to think you have something on him, but you can’t possibly. You’re bluffing. You’re not that smart.”

  “Excuse me?” he asked, his offense showing. “I’m not that smart? Little girl, you don’t know who you’re talking to. I’ve lived a life in politics. I’m smart enough to know what you gotta do to get ahead.”

  “Oh, I know plenty,” she said. “I know Jerry better than you, and he’s clean. He can’t be bought, especially not by you.”

  “You really underestimate me, girl.” He shook his head. “I’ve bought plenty a politician, some smarter than Jerry.”

  “But not more powerful,” she said. “He’s going to be president in a little over a month. You don’t have the firepower to buy the president off.”

  “I have all the firepower I need,” he responded.

  “So you did buy him?” she asked.

  He shook his head. “You ask too many questions.”

  “And your evasiveness is telling.” She pointed at him skeptically. “You didn’t buy him, so then what?”

  “We’re done here.” Maurice stood up straight, walked over to the mini-bar, and
held up his half-full glass of wine. “Could I just put this down here? You’ll clean up, right?”

  “Running away, I see.” She stared at him, her entire demeanor a challenge.

  “I’m not running away,” Maurice said. “I’m just not—”

  “Chicken,” she mumbled loud enough for him to hear. “Go ahead, put the drink down and run away.”

  “You know what!” His voice was tight and his expression angry.

  Sherise knew he was a chauvinist at heart and being challenged like this by a woman would infuriate him. He had to give her something.

  “You’re just . . .” He was pointing at her wanting to call her some names, but thinking better of it. “You want to know what my power is?”

  “What power?” she asked, laughing.

  “This!” He pointed to his glass of wine on top of the mini-bar.

  “Your power is cheap wine?” she asked, confused.

  “No,” he said. “Liquor. A lot of people say it’s the root of all evil, but you know what I say? I say it’s the root of opportunity.”

  “What opportunity?” Sherise asked.

  Was he suggesting he knew what she was trying to do?

  He walked over to the conference table and grabbed his suitcase.

  “You see, I’m not like you, Sherise. I’m not like anyone else here. I see an opportunity and I take it. I’ll never fall out of Jerry’s favor because I never needed to be in it.”

  Sherise let him leave because she didn’t need to ask him for more information. It was clear he was suggesting that liquor was the key to his hold on Jerry. But what did that mean? Jerry didn’t drink. The man led the life of a Mormon. No alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, none of that.

  Of course, that didn’t mean that other members of the Northman family didn’t drink.

  12

  “Hi, Billie.”

  Billie could tell from the sound of Michael’s voice over the phone that he was still upset with her. It hurt her heart to not hear him greet her with his usual enthusiasm. She loved to hear the pep in his voice when she called.

  “You’re still mad,” she said.

  He sighed. “I don’t really want to go over that again.”

  That was referring to the argument they’d had over Darina. Choosing to no longer stand on the sidelines and hope for the best as Michael was doing, Billie had decided to be proactive and tell Michael about her conversation with Darina last night at the bar.

  She told him that she’d coaxed the truth out of Darina and made her admit that it was just a selfish desire to not rock her own boat that was the real reason she kept Duncan a secret from Michael. She made it clear that she suspected Darina’s move to Atlanta already showed she intended to pressure him to move.

  Billie felt like she had Michael somewhat on her side until she mentioned her interpretation of Darina’s comments in connection to the ring on her finger. When she suggested that Darina meant to say that their wedding wasn’t a done deal yet, Michael started to believe this was more insecurity on Billie’s part than a true plot of deceit by Darina.

  This led to an ugly argument that had him sleeping on the sofa and her tossing and turning all night in the bed, alone. They’d both said their apologies in the morning, but it didn’t set right with Billie.

  “I’m just calling to apologize again,” she said. “I don’t want us to fight each other over this situation. We need to be united.”

  “I’m trying to,” he said quietly. “I really am. Look, I’m sorry too, but I can’t really talk about it right now.”

  “I know,” she said. “You’re busy and so am I. We’re meeting with the wedding planner for dinner, we can sit down and—”

  “I can’t do that,” Michael said. “I’m sorry, I forgot about the wedding planner.”

  “Michael, we can’t cancel. She’s in high demand. We need her to want to take us on, not the other way around.”

  “I’m rearranging my schedule so I can get off early and spend some time with Duncan.”

  Billie knew that what she was about to ask would sound evil, no matter what. “I thought he was leaving today.”

  “Nice, Billie.” His voice sounded very disappointed.

  “I didn’t mean I wanted him gone today. I just meant . . .”

  “His flight is tomorrow morning,” Michael said. “Darina is going to visit with some friend she has at Georgetown and I’m taking Duncan to a movie and maybe get a bite to eat.”

  “Michael, I . . . I’m just worried about all this,” she said. “The blood test results aren’t even due until tomorrow and . . .”

  “Would you stop bringing that up?” he asked impatiently. “We’re past that.”

  “We can’t be past what we don’t know yet,” she admonished.

  “Let’s just reschedule with the wedding planner for tomorrow,” he said.

  “I can’t, Michael. Tomorrow I’m spending the day with Tara. You know that.”

  “That’s right,” he said. “And you wouldn’t want to cancel that for a wedding planner. Now you understand how I feel.”

  “It’s not the same thing.”

  “How is it different?”

  “I already had plans with Tara.”

  “I didn’t have that option, Billie. I’m doing the best I can without a lot of time to schedule.”

  “Fine.” Billie knew she was being selfish, but after her last run-in with Darina, she felt that a little selfishness on her part was called for. Was she wrong?

  “What do you want me to do?” she asked.

  “Just pick another date for the wedding planner,” he said. “How about Sunday?”

  “That’s just the thing, Michael. I don’t know if we can get Sunday. She did us a favor by fitting us in before she gets into the Christmas weddings she is in charge of. We might not get an appointment with her until the first of the year.”

  “What’s the harm in that?” he asked. “It’s only a few weeks away. Let’s just do that. Let’s just push all that stuff back to the first of the year.”

  “That stuff?” she asked, offended by his dismissive tone. “That’s what you’re calling our wedding? That stuff?”

  “You took that wrong,” Michael said. “I just meant all the appointments.”

  “I didn’t take it wrong. I know what you meant. It just bothers me that . . .”

  Billie stopped when she heard the voice of a woman in the background. That voice she’d only heard a few times but had come to disdain.

  “Is she . . . Is Darina there? In your office?”

  “Yes,” he answered. “But can we discuss this another time?”

  “This woman came to your office at your company?” Billie was fuming. “Did she bring Duncan?”

  “Of course she did.” Michael’s tone was attempting to give the impression he didn’t see the issue.

  “Do you know what that looks like?” Billie asked. “It looks like . . . they’re, she’s in your life.”

  “You’re overreacting, Billie. It’s just an office visit. I get them all the time. No one cares.”

  “Let me guess,” Billie said, “She didn’t call ahead or anything. She just showed up.”

  “Well, yes, but . . .”

  “No, no, no.” Billie was now up, pacing in her office. “This is another part of her plan, Michael. She doesn’t just want Duncan to be a part of your life. She wants to be a part of your life.”

  “I can’t do this right now.”

  “Why not?” Billie asked. “Because she’s listening in? Of course she is. She knew I was speaking to you and that’s why she spoke up. She wanted me to know she was there so I’d get angry. She wants us to fight.”

  “So let’s not,” he said.

  “Fine.” She took a deep breath. “But this isn’t over.”

  “Clearly,” he said. “I’ll talk to you later, baby. I love—”

  She hung up.

  Billie was steaming mad. Under any other circumstance Darina’s visit to his office
would be a little thing, but not anymore. Not now that she knew Darina’s sneaky ways. Everything this woman did was about something, for the purpose of something, and Billie wasn’t buying that it was all for Duncan’s good.

  The one good side to this was that Darina wouldn’t be spending the day with Michael and Duncan. And tomorrow morning, she’d be gone. But so would Duncan. It wasn’t a win-win. Billie realized that Michael was already in love with Duncan and she couldn’t come between that. Darina, on the other hand—she could and would come between that.

  She wasn’t going to be a bystander in her own love life again. When Billie found out that her ex, Porter, was cheating on her, she was knocked to the ground in shock. It seemed to come out of nowhere. Her entire life was sent hurling into space in seconds. But looking back, there were signs and flirtations that she noticed. She had chosen to ignore them, let them pass as nothing. After all, Porter loved her. He was her husband.

  Then, bam! No, Billie wasn’t going to let that happen again. She saw the warning signs that Darina was sending and she was about to respond with some warning signs of her own.

  While waiting for her brother, Nate, in Cava Mezze restaurant, Erica looked down at her phone. There had been a dozen texts from Billie asking her to call her. There were at least twenty from Sherise, all cussing her out for quitting on Justin. Then there were the texts from Corey.

  Erica wondered if it was time to change her number. If everyone would just get off her ass for five minutes, she wouldn’t feel the need to.

  When Nate showed up at the table, she placed the phone down and got up to greet him. They hugged and kissed before returning to their seats.

  “You look good,” she said, looking him over.

  That motherly instinct she had for him was still strong. She’d been raising him herself since he was twelve and was still suffering from empty-nest syndrome.

  Twenty-two-year-old Nate Kent was tall with an athletic build. He was a nut-brown color with thick black eyebrows that framed his handsome young face, made up of a distinctive nose and full lips. He was sticking with the completely shaved head look and was coming into it well.