Whispers on the Potomac_Room 312

by Mia Villano

  “I’m sorry, it’s spur of the moment. I told you I’m dealing with him and needed privacy, and no, it doesn’t have anything to do with her.” Lying through my teeth, I hope he doesn’t pick up on it.

  “Privacy to me means getting some fresh air, going for a walk; not getting in your car and leaving!” He’s now screaming at the top of his lungs and I swear he will blow a gasket if he isn’t careful.

  “Vick, settle down. I won’t be gone long. It’s late at night. No one is going to notice me.”

  “Just get your ass back here, fast. I don’t believe this shit.”

  Ending the call, I make it to Daria’s condo in record time, pulling onto her street, and parking. Stress knots in my shoulders. The thought of this jackass doing something stupid again pisses me off. I don’t want to be involved in his shit anymore and here I am, running right into it again. The thought leaves my mind when I spot her standing on the porch.

  I run up to her, looking into her steel gray eyes. “I thought I told you to stay inside. You don’t know what he could be up to.”

  “I don’t want to stay inside. I need some air.” Grabbing her and pulling her into me, she’s warm and slack in my arms. God, I want her to melt inside me.

  Tilting her head up to look at me, she smiles gently. “Thank you for coming.” I’m at a loss for words. Thank you for coming. Just hearing her say coming sets me on fire.

  She looks away from me. I lift her chin to get a better look, and my eyes gaze into hers. “What happened that he threatened to hurt you?”

  “He didn’t mean to. He’s using again, Sebastian. He was passed out on the steps right there when I got home, and then he woke up not making any sense.” Of course he was. Why wouldn’t he be. This is perfect timing for this shit, and I was sure it was his intention.

  “He will never be around you again. Let’s go inside.” I don’t need any press hiding in the bushes somewhere. She nods her head and walks in front of me to her door. Once inside the foyer, she turns to talk to me.

  “Where do you think he went?”

  “I don’t have a clue. I’ll have one of my guys go look. I don’t want to involve my mother if it’s not necessary right now. I can’t be where he may be, so I’ll call someone to go look for him. I have a debate tomorrow and I don’t need anyone finding out this is happening. For all we know, he could be around the corner, passed out, or at some bar close by.”

  “I know you’re busy and you said for me to stay away from you, but like I said on the phone, I didn’t know who else to call.” I spin around to look at her.

  “Listen to me. I never told anyone to tell you to stay away from me. It was a total shock to me when my campaign manager told me what he did. Seeing you standing there in the crowd that night, I became invincible. I need you to be where I am. I had no phone number to call you, and I wasn’t going to ask Garrison. I flew back home immediately when my campaign manager told me what he said to you. I raced over here straight from the airport and you weren’t home. I’ve driven by your condo, time and again, and you weren’t there. I thought you left again.”

  “Your campaign manager is very persuasive and intimidating. I’ve been working twelve and fourteen hours a day, and haven’t been home much. I went down to your headquarters to speak to you, but you weren’t there, of course.”

  “You went to the campaign headquarters? When?”

  “A couple of days ago. Listen Sebastian, I have been doing a lot of thinking, and I remember something Garrison said that frightens me, now that I think about it more.”

  “What the fuck did he say?” I grab her hand and pull her close to me. Feeling her tense, I stroke her back to calm her.

  “Back in Paris, he stopped over once and made a comment that, at the time, I thought nothing of it. I figured he was joking around, and I blew it off.” She looks up at me.

  “What?”

  Daria becomes lost in her own thoughts as she hesitates. She stares into my eyes again and I feel my breath leave me in a rush.

  “Sebastian, I’m probably making more out of this than I need to.”

  “If it’s bothering you, tell me. I know this jackass better than anyone. What did he say to you?”

  “It wasn’t actually directed to me, but one night when he was messed up, he mentioned something about how finding out where I lived was the easy part. At the time, I thought it was just him being messed up. Then I began thinking how odd it was that he moved in the same place where I lived. Out of all the places - let alone, in Paris - he ends up in my apartment building. Does it seem odd to you?”

  “Now that you say it like that, yes it does. It does seem strange. Vick thinks he’s in love with you. Do you have something to drink?” Daria pulls away from me and walks to her kitchen.

  Opening a cupboard, she looks inside. “I have vodka, scotch, and there’s a bottle of wine in the fridge.”

  “Vodka, and make it a double.” I walk into the kitchen and watch as she pours the vodka in a glass with ice.

  She hands it to me and I take a gulp, then put the glass on the counter. “Come here and kiss me.”

  Walking back into my arms and lifting her face, she presses her mouth to mine without hesitation. The stroke of her lips causes me to groan ever so slightly. Temptation to carry her into her bedroom and make love to her is stronger than ever before. I can’t get enough of her and I don’t think I ever will. She steps back away from me and snaps me out of my lust-filled haze.

  “We need to find your brother. And no, Garrison is not in love with me. I have never got that vibe from him. I think he’s jealous of you, is all.”

  I grab my vodka again and down the last of it. “Fuck my brother right now. Tell me why you left me.” The worry about when we are going to talk about her leaving me subsides.

  “I don’t want to talk about our past right now, Sebastian. We’ll have time to talk about it later. You have a big day tomorrow.” My eyes bore into her. I’ve waited eight years to know why she left me. Why she disappeared and left no trace as to where she was. She was right though; now was not the time to talk about us.

  “Why was he here again? I thought he left you alone, now that you moved back.”

  “I have no idea why he was here. I was out with some friends, and I just got home to find him lying on my steps. I haven’t seen him since the time you brought coffee. That’s why none of this is making any sense.” Fuck, she was out. Do I dare ask who she was with? No, I don’t need to know.

  “I feel sorry for him and, in a way, I don’t know what it is. I don’t know why he can’t get his life together.” She looks down. I know what it is. No one is serious about him getting better, including me. We just patch him up with a band aid and send him out again to play with the bullies. He’s being coddled and allowed to be a fuck up. His sickening charm has gotten to her. It was like being hypnotized.

  “He has a way with women. They always do what he wants and they get sucked into his vortex. Hell, even my mother gets sucked in. You did too, and he picks up on any weak spot he can find. You are kind-hearted and loving, and he uses that to his advantage.” My gaze stays fixed on her. My brother is an expert at what he does. If he put half the effort into being a productive citizen, he would be the one running for president, not me.

  I pull her into me again. This time, my hands roam all over her body. I can’t help myself. I never could when it came to her. I have to touch her, smell her, and feel her body against me again. She’s crying and trying to hide her tears, but I notice her body shaking and my gut knots.

  “Baby, why are you crying?” I press my forehead against hers.

  “I’ve missed you so much, Sebastian.”

  “Come with me tomorrow. Come on the campaign trail with me. I’ll announce it to the media, and we’ll get it out in the open. Who cares anymore what people think.”

  Daria’s eyes spill over with tears. She wipes them away and looks down.

  “Sebastian, we can’t. Not now. I don’t want a
nything from our past to come out. There are things you don’t know that someone could use to hurt you.”

  “Tell me, Daria. Get it out in the open. Did I do something to you back then, to make you run away from me?”

  “No, no Sebastian it’s nothing like that. Please don’t do this.”

  “I can’t eat, sleep, or function since I saw you at the convention. Do you understand that every waking moment, I’m thinking of you? I can feel you when you’re thinking about me. I know you think about me all the time. I looked for you for all these years. I never got over you walking out on me.”

  Nothing’s present outside the cocoon we’re in. There’s no presidential election, no debate, no drugged-out heroin addicted brother. It’s just the two of us. For this moment, I feel out of control. I’m never not in control, but my head is spinning. I push her up against the wall. She gasps, but doesn’t push me away.

  “Let me take you to bed.” I’m hoarse from being aroused. I don’t recognize my own voice.

  She doesn’t take her eyes off me.

  I bow my head and take her mouth as gently as I can allow myself. My cock is hard and throbbing, needing to be inside her. I push my tongue inside her warm mouth, and she tastes like mints and sin. I try to be as gentle as I can, but the need for her causes my actions to become fiercely passionate. She moans and doesn’t fight me, as her hands are holding herself up against the wall. I feel the beat of her heart against my chest as my body is pushing her harder into the wall. My hand finds its way under her blouse, to her perky breast. I want to suck on her nipples and feel her warm naked body arch against mine. My head’s into the moment, as if I’m possessed. I nuzzle my face into her neck and hair, taking in her exotic scent that has me mesmerized.

  “I want everything about you,” I sigh. My hands continue to roam her body, taking in every inch.

  I stop and she looks at me with heavy lidded eyes. “Take me to bed.”

  I feel my insides shaking and I’m about to pick her up and carry her to the bedroom, when my phone rings. Daria pulls away from me and it takes me a moment to register it’s my mother’s ringtone.

  “Fuck,” I growl.

  Answering the phone, my gaze stays glued to her and her perfect full lips, pink and wet from my mouth. My cock is throbbing, and all I want is to be balls deep inside her.

  “Mother?” I’m so aroused the thought of hearing her voice almost sickens me. What the hell can she want? I close my eyes and clench my fist, waiting for whatever she’s about to tell me. Daria moves farther away from me, her eyes looking at the floor.

  “Sebastian.” I can hear in her voice she is upset and shaking.

  “What is it?”

  “Your brother has just been found in some abandoned drug house. It isn’t good.”

  20

  Sebastian

  “What do you mean, it isn’t good? Is he dead? How did you get involved in this?” Daria gasps and her hand flies to her mouth.

  I can hear the heartbreak in my mother’s voice again. “No, he isn’t dead, but he overdosed on heroin. I have Fletcher bringing him here. Fletcher’s been trailing him lately.” Fletcher makes sure everything that can come out in the press is stopped. He’s my mother’s bodyguard, confidante and, God forbid, her rumored sometimes companion. However, he’s good at what he does, and he will get this taken care of before anyone finds out. From experience, he has done this several times before with my brother.

  I’m becoming angry all over again at the thought of this selfish dickhead doing this to us.

  “Fletcher will figure it out. He’s going to see how bad he is, and hopefully we can bring him to my house. I called the doctor and he’s on his way over. I’m sure, by the way it sounds, he’s going to the hospital. We will stop this from getting out Sebastian. We have every time, so far. This new friend, that old intern of yours, I think she’s giving him drugs. Are they dating now?”

  Rolling my eyes at the absurdity of what she just said, I try to act overly concerned. “They’re friends, Mother, that’s all. Her name is Daria, not ‘that old intern’ and no, she’s not supplying him drugs. Don’t worry about that. Just get him help. He needs real help, Mother; not a pampered stay at your house. Listen, I have to go. I do have a major debate tomorrow, so keep me posted and let me know if something changes.”

  We hang up and my attention falls back to Daria standing in front of me. I look her over from top to bottom. Her cheeks flushed, her lips swollen...dammit, I almost had her in bed.

  “I assume you heard. They found him. He’s in bad shape. My mother wants to bring him home for a while, so he doesn’t do something stupid or, so nothing gets out. I personally think he needs to go away somewhere. Not one of those high-end rehabs that are like a resort. He needs to go to an all-out regular rehab center and get the shit scared out of him.”

  “Why was my name brought up?”

  “It appears Fletcher, my mother’s bodyguard has been trailing him. He had to have seen Garrison outside your condo tonight. My mother thinks you and him have something going.” I smile.

  “And that I’m supplying him drugs? What must your mother think of me?”

  “Don’t worry about that. She says anything to get the blame off Garrison. She’s not thinking clearly; that’s why she thinks he can go back to her house instead of rehab.”

  “He won’t last at your mother’s. You know he won’t. Something will anger him in a couple of days.”

  “I don’t want to talk about him right now. What I want is to take you to bed, that is all I want; but I think, for both of us, the mood has been crushed.” My body is being pulled back to her like a magnet.

  “Just hold me for a minute. I want to feel your arms around me, even if that’s all we have right now. I’ve missed you so much. When I left, I never thought we would last. I didn’t see our relationship going anywhere because I was so young.”

  “You didn’t see us going anywhere? We loved each other and belonged together. Both of us agreed to keep our relationship a secret because of your age and my running for political office. But, I loved you. I still love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “We wouldn’t have lasted, Sebastian. You were such a womanizer and you would have gotten bored with me. You know that.” I look away, not knowing how to answer her. She was the one I never would have cheated on. My phone rings again. Glancing at the screen, I see it’s Vick. I should answer the call.

  “What?” I say in a short, pissed off manner.

  “Where the hell are you?”

  “Don’t worry about it.” I look at Daria again and my temper subsides. I notice she is wiping a tear from her cheek.

  “I told you to hurry the fuck up. There are protocols now. Security must be with you at all times, for your protection. Do you know what kind of hell you put me through?”

  I hang up him. I’ll deal with Vick later.

  I finally break the silence between Daria and me.

  “Don’t cry, Daria. You still have me, and when this is over and I win, the first thing I’m going to do is make you mine. You always had me, and you always will.”

  “It’s not that easy, Sebastian. Not now.” She wipes her eyes and looks away from me. What the fuck is going on here?

  “What is it, Daria?” She hesitates again.

  “I don’t want to ruin you, and I don’t want him to ruin you. I love you too much to let him ruin you.”

  “Him, who?” I’m completely puzzled.

  “Your brother. I have this gut feeling about him. I just can’t put my finger on it.”

  “I can handle my brother. Stop worrying about him and what you think he can do.”

  Grabbing her face, I pull her to me to kiss her again. I breathe her in, taste her tears, and melt into her body heat. Her hands bring me closer to her as she strokes one hand down my back. The need to take her to bed and make love to her is taking over my senses again. Our hearts beat together and Daria arches against me. I run my h
and down inside her pants, fingering her as my mouth swallows her moans. My cock aches like hell to be inside her.

  “You’re wet,” I whisper in her ear. “You’re so turned on right now. Jesus Christ, I need you.” I let my head rest in the crook of her neck. Her hair smells like clean, expensive soap, familiar to the first time I was with her. Letting my fingers stay inside her and feel her pulsate, my thumb gently rubs her clit.

  I pull my hand out of her pants and suck on my wet fingers as my eyes stay glued to her. “You taste so good. Just like I remembered. I can’t wait much longer. In fact, I have to have you now.” Clearly turned on, I have her up against the wall again. The blood roars through my ears and the rush of desire for her breaks the agitated state my brother caused.

  Without opening her eyes, she says, “You better go. You have a big day tomorrow.”

  “No, I’m not going. Not this time. I don’t want to hear you can’t do this now. I don’t want to hear it will hurt my campaign. What are you afraid of?”

  21

  Daria

  “I’m not afraid of a damn thing.” The last time I was with him was so many years ago. I’m not the same person, and neither is he. Pulling me hard against him, it pisses me off.

  “I’m losing my mind not touching you. I’ve never stopped wanting you. Not once.”

  “You can’t tell me when, or if, I will sleep with you again. I’m not ready, and neither are you. It’s a good thing your mother called and interrupted us,” I hiss, looking into his eyes. What am I saying?

  “Bullshit. We both want this and you know it. Daria, don’t push me away again. Don’t fight this.”

  “Don’t do this now, Sebastian.” I try one more time to talk him, and myself, out of it.