by Shayla Black
“We didn’t know if we could trust you.”
And they still didn’t. “Then fire me. I believe during this process I offered to step down about ten times. I meant it. I was ready to quit. I still am.”
“I would have happily accepted your resignation. I thought it was a good idea, in fact.”
“Oh, I see. Zack wanted to torture me. He decided it would be more fun if he put me through the wringer before he tossed me aside. Tell me something, Mr. Calder, were we ever friends? I’ve worked beside you for years. I’ve sweated blood for this administration. I’ve acted as the First Lady without ever expecting a thing from either one of you, and you couldn’t be troubled to ask me a few simple questions or give me the benefit of the doubt?”
“I’ve told you my reasons.”
“Then tell me something else, and you really think before answering me. If you’d had even a hint that Joy was guilty all those years ago, would you have done this to her? Would you have allowed your best friend to use her sexually, to debase her with no thought to her feelings, so you could keep her close while you figured out if she’s evil? Or would you have gone to her? Would you have asked the questions because Joy was kind and sweet, and if she was doing something she shouldn’t, there must have been a good reason?”
Roman sat back, the color leaving his face. “He didn’t use you.”
“I assure you I feel very much used. Answer the question.”
“I didn’t…” He shook his head and sighed. “Damn it, yes. I would have asked her.”
She’d known that. And he hadn’t given her the same courtesy. “Because she was soft and compliant and never once challenged you. That was how she got you. She played the damsel in distress, and you always rode in to save her day. I never played you. I have always fought for what I believed in. I’ve crusaded beside you and Zack for what you two believed in. Trust me, I knew exactly how to play you, Calder, and I never did. So fuck you. If you had treated me with any kind of respect, I would have solved this by now because there are really only two people who have access to my office. Your future wife and Vanessa Jones. Without even talking to Gus, I have no trouble believing she’s completely innocent. Vanessa, not so much. See, I just solved your damn mystery in two seconds. Now unless you’re arresting me, I quit.”
Mad shook his head as though trying to process something. “Vanessa Jones? Wait. I know that name. Why do I know that name?”
“Liz, please sit down. We aren’t finished,” Roman said, but he sounded far less certain than he had before.
She glared at him. “Oh, we are. I gave that man my everything and this is how y’all treat me. Arrest me or let me go because I’m not playing games with you anymore.”
Roman slammed his fist on the table, making it shake. “It’s not a fucking game. It’s real, and Zack could have died today. Hell, I could have. I felt that bullet hit the Secret Service agent who covered me. I had to change clothes because mine were covered in blood. So I fully understand this is not a game.”
Her stomach turned at his words, but she couldn’t back down now. “I get that you’re scared. I am, too. And I understand that I was the only person Zack told where you two planned to run, but Vanessa was standing two feet away. She could easily have heard our conversation. Or the sniper could have been lying in wait because you and Zack have long-standing habits and it was only a matter of time before you returned to them.”
“When did Vanessa join the staff? How old is she?” Mad’s questions cut into the tension.
Roman frowned. “She was a volunteer during the campaign if I remember correctly. She’s fairly young.”
“She’s in her mid-twenties now.” Liz took a deep breath, trying to banish the rage burning through her as everything hit her like a ton of bricks. But she had to keep herself together. They had a conspiracy to uncover and it was deadly as hell. “Look, I’m angry with Zack right now. So angry. But I would never want him dead.”
But that had almost happened today. Someone had taken a shot at him and barely missed.
Liz teared up again.
“Are you okay?” Roman’s eyes were hooded as he looked at her.
“No, but it doesn’t matter.” She was furious and heartsick and nauseous. Her whole world had been obliterated by Roman Calder, but she still needed to find a way to make him understand. She turned back to Mad and answered his question. “Like Roman said, Vanessa came on during the campaign. She was a technical writer fresh out of Brown. She’s now in charge of proofing everything that runs through the press office and yes, that means she’s had access to my computer at times. I don’t know if you realize this, but my job can get chaotic. I don’t always have time to properly e-mail a statement and wait for someone to proofread and e-mail it back to me.”
On a hard news day she sometimes barely had time to breathe.
“Who hired her?” Mad asked. “Can I see a picture of her? She’s got a social media account, right?”
“I hired her, but she came highly recommended,” Liz replied, then sighed as she remembered. “Well, of course. Joy vouched for her.”
Roman turned his phone Maddox’s way. “This is Vanessa.”
Mad looked at the device and gasped. “I’ve seen her face… Hang on.”
“She hits on Zack a lot,” Roman said.
“She does what?” Liz felt her ire rise again.
Roman’s lips turned up slightly. “When you’re not watching, yes.”
“Well, she’s the person you should be questioning because she’s the only one besides Gus who could have used my computer without anyone questioning her. She must be one of the Russian insiders.”
“Um, yeah.” Mad nodded enthusiastically. “I know where I’ve seen her now. She was at Zack and Joy’s wedding.”
“No, she wasn’t,” Roman insisted. “I never saw her there.”
“I didn’t remember her, either. We were kinda busy… But she was definitely there. She signed the guest book. I found a picture of that day. I’ve been studying it, and I couldn’t figure out why it was bugging me… Let me make a call with your phone.”
Roman scowled but punched in his code to unlock his device. Seconds later, Mad had Sara on the line. “Hey, can you text Roman that picture you and I have been staring at? Yeah, the one where those three chicks are straightening Joy’s veil. Thanks, baby. Love you.” Then he hung up and looked at Roman with an expression that said I told you so. “Give her just a minute.”
“If Vanessa is a Russian asset, there may be more. Joy hired a bunch of people,” Liz pointed out. “Why don’t you look at them?”
“Liz, it’s not that easy. We have other evidence against you,” Roman said quietly. “The ‘secret meeting’ I told you Zack intended to have with the energy director the Friday following our trip to Camp David? It wasn’t real. It was a test of your loyalty. And you failed. Shorn came storming into the Oval, demanding to know why he hadn’t been informed or invited.”
She gaped. “I didn’t tell anyone about that. Not. A. Soul. The only thing I did was make a note about it in my phone after the fact to follow up and ask how the meeting went. If Vanessa is smart enough to route an e-mail through our network to make something that originated from my office look like it came from the Oval, then I’d say she’s smart enough to dupe my phone.”
“But you can’t prove that?”
“Can you prove she didn’t?”
Roman’s jaw tightened. “Can you tell me how it’s possible that Krylov was ever in your building and yet no one was able to find any proof of that? He would have been forced to check in unless you gave him the code to get inside.”
“Didn’t Gabe say there was a back way in that wasn’t covered by security cameras?” Mad was still staring at the phone, waiting for Sara’s text, but he continued to play the part of her advocate. “Krylov could have snuck in and out with a little help.”
“Exactly. Vanessa could have given him the code since she also lives in my building, along with
three other members of the press office. I could have told you that had you given me the courtesy of treating me like a friend, rather than an enemy combatant.”
“See,” Mad put in again. “I’m telling you, Vanessa was at Zack and Joy’s wedding. She’s been involved far longer than we ever imagined. Liz, Roman thinks he’s been doing the right thing. It’s not that he doesn’t care about you. He’s made himself sick trying to figure a way out of this. The problem is he doesn’t have a creative bone in his body and he always expects the worst. Zack…well, Zack has never been in love and he’s clueless how to handle it. It’s not fair to ask you to be the bigger person, but the truth is they need you to be. Please don’t leave.”
“I don’t think I’m allowed to right now.” She settled back in a huff, Mad’s speech rolling through her head. It wasn’t that she didn’t hear what he was saying, but how on earth could she ever believe in Zack again, especially when he so obviously hadn’t believed in her? If he changed his mind because he suddenly had enough evidence to prove she was innocent and he deigned to sleep with her again, she would merely be a convenience. Liz refused to let herself be used by him anymore.
“I think it would be a good idea for you to talk to Zack.” Roman stood. “I’m sorry you’re angry with me. I like to think you would do the same thing if you were in my position. There’s so much at stake here. I have to take it seriously because no one else will. Stay here. I’ll talk to Zack and have someone find Vanessa Jones.”
A second later, Roman’s phone dinged and Mad’s face lit up. “Here you go.”
Liz leaned in to see the image at the same time Roman did. Sure enough, there was a teenage Vanessa standing beside Joy, looking at her with something close to worship as she straightened the woman’s veil.
Holy shit.
Suddenly, the door slapped open, Zack tore inside, wearing the wildest look in his eyes. She’d rarely ever seen him truly emotional, but right now he seemed out of control. His gaze careened wildly around the room until it landed on her. With shaking hands, he reached for her. Before she could retreat, he hauled her into his arms and held her so tightly she could barely breathe.
“Elizabeth…” His whisper was harsh against her ear and his whole body trembled. “I thought I would walk in here and find your body. Oh my god. Roman, we need paramedics. Now. Mad find me a cup. Something. She has to throw up.”
“What?” She pushed out of his embrace. “I felt like I needed to a minute ago, but now I’m just mad.”
Zack barely allowed a few inches between them. He gripped her arms, and the tension rolled off him in waves. She saw tears in his eyes. Actual, real tears. They felled her like nothing else because she’d never imagined she would see him shed any for her.
“I don’t care how furious with me you are. I’m not letting you die, Elizabeth, you can’t… You’re my reason for living. I can’t be in this fucking world without you.”
“Zack, what in the world is going on?” Roman demanded.
“She’s been poisoned. The Russians have several operatives here and one of them put a toxin in her coffee, according to Mr. Harding,” Freddy said, walking into the room.
Liz glanced at Thomas, who had joined them, too, and was heading her direction. She’d never seen the Secret Service agent look so worried.
He flung off the sunglasses he often wore even indoors. “I’ll hold her, Mr. President. We shouldn’t wait for the EMTs. You have to get your fingers down her throat far enough to hit her gag reflex.”
He’d done that a couple of times before but not with his fingers.
Liz pushed against him. “I’m not sick.”
“It hasn’t hit you yet.” Zack had lifted her off her feet and dragged her toward the trash can Mad had found. “Paul said it took a while. When did you get that cup of coffee this morning? Who gave it to you?”
If she didn’t stop this, she would be forced to endure a few really nasty minutes for no good reason. “Are you talking about the latte one of the interns brought me? I never drank it. Zack, it’s still sitting on my desk, utterly cold by now. I made myself coffee in the residence this morning. I filled up my thermos and I haven’t touched anything else.”
Thomas backed off. “Before your run, I did see a thermos on her desk, sir.”
“And you didn’t drink a drop of the stuff the intern gave you?” Zack demanded, slowly setting her on her feet.
She knew she should still be mad, but he was so distraught and unlike himself that she couldn’t help but cup his face and soothe him.
He wasn’t a man worried that, if she died, answers about the vast global conspiracy against him would be gone. He was terrified for her. He looked as if his whole world might crumble, depending on her next few words. He’d also just learned that he’d been betrayed by his wife and her family. He had the weight of the free world on his shoulders. But it was the possibility of losing the woman he loved that had truly undone him.
“I didn’t, Zack. I didn’t touch it. Ever since you bought me that coffee from Finland I love so much, I haven’t touched the other stuff.”
He’d changed up the residence in the last few weeks, ensuring it was stocked with all of her favorite things, even going so far as to import coffee from Helsinki because she’d fallen in love with it when they’d gone to a conference there years before. She’d been touched that he’d remembered.
Zack let out a deep, shaky breath. “Thank god, baby. Thank god.”
“Mr. Harding is dead. I checked. He apparently ingested poison before we brought him in,” Thomas supplied as Zack threw his arms around her.
“He claimed it was something new,” Freddy explained, actually sounding excited. “I’ve heard a couple of covert groups have been working on a poison that allows the victim to seem perfectly normal until it activates a few hours later. Some of my contacts will have serious hard-ons to read that dude’s toxicology report.”
“Dead?” Liz wriggled out of Zack’s embrace because he seemed to be in control of himself now and they still had a million things to discuss.
Or did they? Maybe there was nothing to discuss at all. The simple fact that he hadn’t wanted her dead didn’t mean he’d believed her when he should have or that she should forgive him for what he’d put her through.
“Give us the room.” Zack stared at her as everyone else filed out. Even Thomas seemed to understand Zack needed to be alone with her now.
Once the door closed behind everyone else, Liz faced the man she’d thought she would spend the rest of her life with. “Don’t worry, Zack. I’m fine. I’ll have my office cleaned out by the end of the day. Gus can pick my things up from the residence.”
“Elizabeth, I—”
“No. Don’t. I understand why you investigated me. I really do, but I don’t think I can forgive you for using me. You knew you didn’t love me, knew you thought I was capable of betraying you, and you still had sex with me. Hell, you let me think you loved me.”
“I did,” he argued. “I do. I’ve loved you from the minute I saw you.”
“You don’t treat people you love this way.”
“I don’t know how to treat people I love because I never loved a woman before I loved you,” he said, moving into her space. “Please. I’m sorry. I know I’m asking a lot. Forgive me.”
She shook her head and backed away from him. She could not go easy on him, no matter how tempted she was. “It doesn’t matter. The next time I do something Roman thinks is suspicious, all this will happen again.”
He prowled closer. “The next time Roman so much as whispers even a suggestion you’re not the angel who saved me from a ridiculously lonely life, I’ll fire him.”
Liz retreated again. This time, her back hit the wall. Zack kept coming until his chest brushed against hers and she felt the heat of his body. “Zack…”
“Elizabeth.” He braced his hands on either side of her, caging her in, and dropping his forehead to hers. “I spent my entire life preparing for one role�
��president. I never wanted anything else until I saw you. No woman ever loved me before, not even my mother. I can count on one hand the number of times she spent more than an hour with me. We didn’t take family vacations. I didn’t have parents who taught me how to love. What they taught me was that everyone will tear me down if I let them, so I should be pre-emptive and beat them to it.”
“I’m sorry to hear that, Zack. But that doesn’t make what you did to me okay.”
“I know, but it’s the truth and the only reason I can give you for being so wrong. I’m asking you—begging you—to forgive me.” He leaned even closer, his hands roaming her as if he couldn’t quite stop himself. “I’ve felt so lost and trapped. The Russians…they played me perfectly. They knew exactly where I was most vulnerable. You.”
“But you weren’t. You readily believed everything they wanted you to because it was easy.” Liz said the words with conviction, even as it was getting hard not to weaken under Zack’s touch.
He’d been terrible to her, yes. But did that erase all his years of being so good to her?
“That’s not true. I resisted at first. I resisted a lot. But the evidence kept coming, and I didn’t know what to believe. I’m an incredibly smart man, but when it comes to relationships I’m truly dumb.” He took a shuddering breath. “I know this may make me seem even guiltier in your mind, but even when I thought you might be conspiring against me, I’d already planned to cover everything so I wouldn’t even have to pardon you. I was going to force you to marry me so you wouldn’t ever get into trouble again. When I suspected you might have betrayed me, all I thought about was the ways I could keep you.”
His words made her both melt and want to slap him.
“How could you even think I would betray you?” she asked, trying so hard to resist his nearness, but their chemistry was working its magic. She could feel his heartbeat, the way his body still shuddered from the fear of losing her. The reverence in his touch.
“I don’t know what I was thinking. Everyone’s lied to me, Elizabeth. Everyone. My in-laws. My wife. Even Maddox. I know I shouldn’t be angry, but I am. I’ll get over it, but all of that had me thinking that I couldn’t possibly have someone as true and wonderful as you seemed. You’ve been the reason I wake up in the morning for so long it actually made sense in my twisted head that your devotion wouldn’t be real. How fucked up is that?”