“That’s him. Asswipe!”
“That guy’s got some balls.” Harper tossed his napkin on the table and waved to the waiter.
I shrugged and finished off my wine. “More than likely he gave them to himself.”
“Oh, you’re cold, Bet.”
I tossed my hair back. “Just honest.”
Moments later Harper paid the check, and I slid out of the booth, antsy to get back to Liam. There was a shower calling my name.
I leaned forward to grab my clutch and pea coat. From the corner of my eye, I caught the profile of the last person I’d expected to see ─ Bonnie Keating. She was engaged in conversation with someone and it appeared quite animated.
Already riled up from taunting the douchebag, I decided to kick the hornet’s nest for a little fun.
“Hey.” I nudged Harper. “Check it out. It’s Keating.”
He took my jacket from me, helping me into it. “Hmm. So it is.”
I straightened my pea coat along my hips and buttoned the center button. “I’ll be right back. I’m going to say hi.”
“Haven’t we had enough impromptu meetings for one night?”
I patted his shoulder. “Don’t be such a pansy. This’ll be fun.” I marched in the direction of Keating, my chest puffed with pride. When I came close enough to see her dinner partner, I stopped, all my haughtiness knocked out of me.
Dark eyes met mine and a twisted smirk disfigured Victor Knolls’ face.
What the hell was he doing with Keating?
My confusion had to be written all over my face. At least I assumed it was, because when I turned to see if Harper was witnessing the same thing, I found he’d stopped dead in his tracks and his face had paled.
At least I wasn’t the only one who found this disturbing.
Unable to stop myself, I descended on Keating and Knolls. “Governor Keating,” I greeted her.
Two large men, whom I’d expected, since the governor would be a fool to go anywhere without her security detail, jumped up and headed toward me. Keating waved them back, inclining her head to me. Her bright green eyes glistened in the light. She tilted her head so that her crooked nose made her small eyes seem even beadier. “Why, Ms. McNeal. How ya doing?” She lifted her hand for a lady-like shake.
“Well, thank you,” I responded out of habit. “And you?”
“Good, good.” She extended a hand toward her dinner partner. “You know my old friend, Victor Knolls, yes?” He rushed his fingers through his almost transparent hair.
“Yes, ma’am. How are you Victor?”
A wicked smile burned across his cheeks. “Fantastic.”
Harper managed to pull himself out of his stunned state and joined me. “Good evening, Governor.”
“Guy Harper, what a pleasant surprise.” Her tone was so candy coated I was getting cavities just being near her. She looked out past us then focused in on Harper. “Would you care to join us for dinner?”
“Thank you, ma’am, but we just finished,” I answered. “I only wanted to stop by and wish you well on this weekend’s debate.”
Bonnie’s gray bob bounced when she laughed. “Thank you, Ms. McNeal. The same to Congressman Baxter.”
I nodded once. “I’ll make sure to pass the message along.”
Victor sort of snorted and coughed at the same time.
Bonnie cut him a stern look. He straightened right up.
There went my warning bells. My head whirled with the possibilities of what these two were up to. Whatever it was, it wasn’t good.
The Governor turned her smile back to me. “The Congressman has his interview with Masters tomorrow, yes?”
I shook my head. “Not until Thursday evening. How about you?” Not that I wasn’t well aware she’d just finished hers. Corgin Masters was a well-known journalist and debate mediator. It was customary for him to perform a live interview with each candidate individually before the big debate. Usually he liked conducting them back to back, on the same day if possible, but I worked it so he couldn’t interview Liam until the night before the debate. That way Liam would be fresh on everyone’s mind. All part of my strategy.
“Actually, I just finished.” She signaled the waiter. “So, I’m treating myself to good food and old friends.”
Victor shifted in his seat and that’s when I noticed a large envelope tucked under his leg. Just as I suspected. He had dirt. But what kind of dirt was the question.
While she was Liam’s opponent, Bonnie Keating was still the Governor of Texas. I had to maintain a certain level of respect, even for her sleazy dinner companion, no matter how much I wanted to question what was in the package.
“How wonderful. I’ll have to catch the highlights later.”
“You should.”
“We’ll let you get back to your dinner. Have a wonderful evening, Governor.”
“The same to you, Ms. McNeal.”
I could’ve sworn I heard Victor snicker, “You’re gonna need it,” but I wasn’t sure, so I left it alone.
Harper placed his hand at the middle of my back. He bid his goodbyes, practically shoving me away from the table in the process.
“Hope you enjoy your evening,” Victor called out after us. A laugh came from their table and my stomach dropped. Something big was heading our way, and I needed to act fast.
Out of their sight, I rummaged around in my clutch for my cell phone. I had to call Liam. For all I knew, they’d discovered Liam and me and were about to expose us. We had to be ready for anything, because mark my words, it was coming.
I dialed his number.
All I got was his voicemail. Three tries, still no answer.
I tried Scout. No answer.
Aaron. No answer.
What the hell was the point in having a bunch of employees at my whim if they weren’t actually at my whim?
The whole drive back to Harper’s ranch, I tried calling. Nothing but voicemails. I was physically ill by the time we pulled into the drive of Lone Star Ranch. Nothing Harper said could calm me down. And that nagging exploded into full consternation when we found Scout and Aaron’s rental parked in front of the house.
I flew out of the car, barely giving Harper a chance to put it into park. No matter how hard I ran, my legs couldn’t move fast enough. I managed my way through the yard and the front door, not giving Ivory a chance to perform his duties.
Inside the house, I skidded to a stop at the sight of Liam sitting in the great room. His head was down, his long fingers carded through his hair. Aaron sat next to him and Scout was crouched in front of him.
“Liam,” I gasped.
He rolled his head in my direction, the brims of his eyes red and his face taut. Aaron and Scout both looked at me, worry coloring their expressions.
The pit in my stomach expanded from a hill to a full blown mountain. “What happened?” I demanded.
Aaron stood up and turned to face me. “There’s been a…” he wrinkled his brow, “development.”
“What kind of a development? Why didn’t any of you answer your damn phones? Why didn’t you call me?” My voice rose several octaves, causing me to cringe.
Scout straightened up. She grabbed a familiar envelope from the ottoman, and maneuvered around to me. “Sit down, Elizabeth.” She presented me with the envelope. “We need to talk.”
Frozen, I stared at the impeding package like it might bite me. Victor had been here.
Shit! This didn’t bode well. Not well at all.
“You’re going to want to sit down for this,” Aaron repeated Scout’s initial request.
I slid my fingers into the envelope, ignoring everyone. All I could imagine were pictures of Liam and me inside that package. He’d yet to say a word. All he’d done since I walked in was tug at his hair.
My heart sank inside my chest as I pulled a stack of photographs from the package.
They were right.
I needed to sit down.
So I did.
I fell i
nto the wing-backed chair and sifted through the pictures. However, not a single one of them were of me. They were of Liam with some busty older woman. She had legs that went for days and tits that would’ve made Dr. Douchebag proud. She literally would have made the perfect political trophy wife for Liam with her perfectly coiffed blonde hair and pearls. If Liam were ten to fifteen years older, that is.
From what I could see there was nothing terribly incriminating in the photos. There was one where the woman hugged Liam, but it was more friendly than intimate. Another showed Liam with his hand on her forearm, laughing. The worst was of Liam tucking her hair back as he whispered into her ear.
One by one, I scrutinized each photo. From what I could tell the pictures were dated. Liam’s hair was enough of an indication of that. There wasn’t a single picture of his hair grown out as it was now. I had an odd sense of relief because of that one minor detail. The other thing I noticed, however, was the location where most of the pictures had been taken.
“These were taken in one of the Congressional buildings,” I mewled.
“Yes,” Aaron agreed.
Harper rapped his knuckles against the wall. My kneejerk reaction led me to gather the pictures to my chest.
Harper’s eyes darted around the room landing on me. “Everything all right in here?”
“Yes, Harper. Nothing to worry about,” Scout stressed.
“Are you sure? You all look like Camelot has fallen?” Harper pointed toward the photographs. “What ya holding there, Bet?”
I pulled the pictures away from my chest and glanced down at the beautiful woman’s face. “Just work stuff. Nothing important.”
Harper scowled. “I’ve seen enough intel in my day to know what those are. And by your reaction, they’re not good.”
“Don’t worry about it, Harper. Really.”
Harper took a step forward, his hand outreached toward me. “Bet.”
Liam sprang from the sofa, crossing the distance between Harper and me. “She said don’t worry about it,” he growled.
Harper pulled his hand back, taking a step toward Liam. “I put a lot of money into you, Baxter. If you’ve fucked up, I’d like to know about it.”
I rose from the chair and moved between the two men, facing Liam. I pressed my fists to his chest, the pictures crumpling in my hands. “Sit down.”
Nose flared, the veins in Liam’s temples appeared on the brink of exploding. “It doesn’t matter how much money he’s donated; I don’t need him all up in our business.”
Without thinking, I raised my hand to Liam’s face, drawing his eyes to meet mine. Almost instantly his body relaxed. I smiled tenderly and brushed my thumb across his cheek. “I’ll handle this. Okay?”
Liam covered my hand with his. His breathing slowed to almost normal. “Okay.”
“Good. Now, please sit down.”
Liam planted himself back on the sofa. I whipped around to Harper who was pretty much a deep shade of purple. “Friendly, huh? Comradery, you say.” He threw his hands in the air.
“Harper, I’ve got everything under control. Trust me.”
“I used to. That was until you started lying to me.”
“When have I lied to you?”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll be in my office.”
I huffed in frustration, as Harper marched out of the room.
“Do you need to go talk to him?” Scout questioned.
I shook my head. “I’ll deal with him later.” I circled around to the three sets of eyes staring at me. “Right now, we need to get ahead of this.” I landed on the couch next to Liam. “First things first, where did these come from?” I shook the photographs in my hand.
“Victor,” Liam sneered.
Just as I thought. That little weasel was up to something. That envelope at the restaurant was probably a matching set.
Liam turned his head to me, his face drawn and defeated. “He stopped by here just after you and Harper left. I didn’t think anything of it. Victor’s an old friend.”
“Not much of a friend if he’s doing this,” Scout stated.
“I wasn’t much of one to him, either.” Guilt softened his timbre.
“How can you say that?” I demanded.
“I let him go without just cause.”
“Winning is just cause,” Aaron balked.
“You only say that because you and Scout are sleeping together,” Liam countered.
“No,” I intervened before a brawl between the brothers broke out. “He’s saying that because it’s the truth.” I tossed the pictures onto the ottoman and took Liam’s hands in mine. “If Victor should have a grudge against anyone, it should be me. This isn’t your fault. He’s merely some old coot out for revenge.
“Now,” I inhaled deeply, preparing myself for answers to questions I wasn’t entirely sure I wanted to hear, “who’s the woman and what’s her significance to you?”
Liam squeezed my hand. Tucking his leg underneath him, he adjusted himself so he was facing me. “The woman is Anita Cole. She’s an aid in Congressman Marcos’ office.”
“She works for the majority whip. Great.” Sarcasm melted from my tongue. This not only put this woman in a place of power, but also involved a high-powered Congressman. This could be detrimental to Liam if not handled with care.
Liam nodded. “She’s also the wife of General Michael Cole.”
As if it could get any worse! “She’s married!”
“Yes.”
“And you fucked her?” I squeaked.
Liam jumped back, his face marred by rage. “Absolutely not! I’ve told you time and time again I don’t do casual and I certainly don’t fuck married women.”
I released Liam’s hands and grabbed the photos. “So, what exactly are Victor’s claims?”
Liam pounced from the sofa, ripping at his hair. “Isn’t it obvious? Even though he knows it’s not true, he’s claiming I screwed the General’s wife.” Liam began pacing the floor, caged inside his head. “When I called him on the lie, he told me the truth didn’t matter. Only the perception of the truth did.”
I grabbed the pictures and sifted through them again. If spun in the right way, they could be incriminating. I rested them in my lap and crossed my hands over top of the glossy prints. “Okay. That means they have no real story, so they’ll fabricate one. Since this is General Cole’s wife, they’ll probably let the media run wild with the allegations. Aaron,” I pointed to the chief of staff, “I need you to get Congressman Marcos’ office on the phone. We need to coordinate with their office immediately.”
Aaron lifted from the chair, whipping out his cellphone. “On it.”
“Scout, I need you to find out where these pictures originated. I want to know who, when, and why they were taken. Then I want you to get on the horn with anyone you know in the media. We need Liam in front of a camera. I want him to be open about his friendship with Mrs. Cole. A shit storm is coming and we need to prepare ourselves for the destruction.”
“Got it!” Scout jumped into action, following Aaron out of the room.
Liam stood near the fireplace, his head down.
I walked over to him, placing my hands on his spine. “Baby,” I whispered.
He whipped around to me, pulling me tight against his chest. “I was so afraid you’d think the worst. I was certain you wouldn’t believe me. You do believe me, right?”
I brushed along his cheek with my knuckles, and pressed a chaste kiss to his sweet lips. “I do believe you and I don’t for a second think the worst of you. I also don’t believe Victor hates you as much as you think.”
Liam seemed surprised by the remark. “He’s trying to ruin my career, Elizabeth.”
“He also gave you warning. He didn’t have to do that.”
A tiny smile lighted Liam’s face. “I never pegged you as an optimist.” He brushed his fingers down my arms.
“I’m not, but I’m learning.”
Liam found my mouth with his. How easy it would�
��ve been for me to get lost in him. To forget everything now hanging over our heads. But I couldn’t. I had to do what was right for him, for us.
I pulled away, breathless. “We can’t do that out in the open like this.” I glanced over my shoulder toward the open hall. “Actually, it might be best if we don’t take any chances, even in private.”
His dark brows furrowed. “What do you mean?”
I took a step away from him, only for him to move forward and close the distance. I sighed. “I think we need to cool things off for a while.”
Liam stumbled back like a man who’d been punched in the gut. “You’re breaking up with me?”
I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling a headache come on. Unable to stand due to the ache in my chest, I lumbered to the sofa and sat down. “No. That’s not what I’m saying.”
“Sure sounds that way to me.”
I worried the inside of my cheek. “We’re vulnerable.” Liam opened his mouth to speak, but I stopped him. “You’re vulnerable. The media’s going to be on a frenzy to find more and I don’t want to give them any reason to look at us.”
Liam rushed to me, dropping to his knees. “I can’t lose you, Elizabeth. I need you.”
“And I’ll be here for you. But until you’re elected, I think we need to cool things off.”
He placed his head into my lap. I slowly ran my fingers through his hair, comforting him. “This feels like you’re leaving me.”
I rested a kiss to the top of his soft hair. “I swear. This is temporary. I’ll be here to help you win, but I can’t be with you physically. I refuse to give them a chance to tear you apart. I believe in you too much.”
Liam lifted his head, his dark eyes weighing me carefully. “You really mean that.”
“With all my heart.” I touched my fingers to his jaw.
“You promise, once the election is over…”
“Yes. I promise.”
He nodded. “Okay. I trust you. I’m going to miss you, though.”
“Not as much as I’m going to miss you.”
Liam let out a humorless chuckle. “What now?”
“For starters, I think one of us needs to move into a hotel for our duration here.”
“Damn. I was really looking forward to having my way with you in the shower tonight.”
Politically Incorrect Page 23