The senator’s cheeks flush red, and his expression goes hard. “And you disagree with my choice?”
I pause. Then, “Yes, sir. Greatly.”
Gary watches me for a long moment before he finally gains control of that flash of anger I noted and softens his voice. “Times were different then. Perhaps I was a different man then. But tell me, how does my choice to keep her out of the media lead to now?”
“At some point, what she went through last night is going to hit her, sir,” I explain, rising from my chair and moving to the window, staring out into the sunny day. “The fact that when I saw her she didn’t even comment or shed a single tear about someone kidnapping her and holding a gun to her head worries me. She seems very unconcerned about it all and that shows me how much she’s not dealing with it.” I pause, then add, “How much she tends to not deal with anything she’s gone through.”
“Okay,” Gary says from behind me. “Go on.”
“I won’t let her hide like she did before, sir.” I turn back to him and lean against the wall, crossing my arms. “I don’t want to be another bad event in her life. But I also can’t give her the safe place she needs to fall. And until I can, I’m treading very carefully.”
He watches me for a long moment, a lot being said in the silence. Then, “I take it you’ve come here today for a purpose?”
“I’ve come to elicit change and ask an important question” is my only answer.
Awareness fills the senator’s eyes. Somehow, and even I’m not sure how he understands my line of thinking since I’m not sure I’m even making sense, he answers my unasked question. “The greatest thing you could do for me, Ryder, is make her happy. If you have any duty to me, it’s that.”
Hadley
Arm in arm, Mom and I stroll down the hallway toward my father’s hospital room after the hospital discharges me. Before we left my room, I snuck in a shower after the nurse removed the bandage around my head, and using my mother’s makeup mirror from her purse I got a good look at the stitches. Honestly, you couldn’t even tell there were stitches in my head, unless you looked really hard.
Regardless that my injury seemed very anticlimactic, considering the state of Ryder’s face, there was nothing more that I wanted to do than go home. Well, maybe grabbing a burger and fries would be good, too. But for now, a long soak in the bath sounded like my particular slice of heaven.
When we reach the end of the hallway, near my father’s room, Mom stops me and asks in her gentle voice, “Is everything okay between you and Ryder?”
“What makes you ask that?” I inquire.
She half shrugs and turns to face me, keeping hold of one of my hands in both of hers. “He came to see your father just before I came to see you, and beneath the bruises and cuts on his face, he looked…tense, to put it lightly.”
Now it’s my turn to shrug. “Things are…well, complicated.”
Mom gives me one of her sweet smiles. “Matters of the heart always are, my darling. But if I’ve learned anything about love, it’s this: If you can make a man look like that for any reason at all, he’s head over heels in love with you.”
I snort. “Yes, but how do you know he’s even thinking about me? Perhaps he was all intense about something else entirely.”
Mom leans forward and says quietly, “Because a man can only look that troubled when it comes to a woman.”
Maybe. Maybe not. That’s the problem. I don’t know where his head is at.
I wish I could explain everything to my mother, but she’d never understand the situation I’m in. Ryder and I had lust together that was powerful enough to set off fireworks. But love…love shouldn’t be so complicated. That’s not the kind of love I want.
I guess some women would chase after him. Beg for his love. But I’m not those women. I need to be me in all this, and I’m not that girl who falls apart when life gets rocky.
Even if his absence and the unknown surrounding us tug at my heart, I have to keep the barrier that keeps me safe. Because we did have complications, and in the past, Ryder could and sometimes did hurt me deeply with his rejection. We did have obstacles in our way. I’d offered myself to him in more ways than one. But I’d never given him my heart, and until I knew he wouldn’t crush it, I never would.
“We’ll see what happens” is the only reply I’m prepared to give her.
I tug her forward, not wanting to think about how much I want Ryder and how unavailable he is, and lead Mom into Dad’s hospital room. I find him in bed with his eyes shut, but when I accidently kick the door, he snaps them open.
“Sorry.” I cringe.
“Don’t be,” he says, waving me forward, a warm smile crossing his face. “I’m so glad you came to see me. They wouldn’t let me come down to visit you.” He holds out his arms and I drop Mom’s hand and move to him immediately, carefully hugging him. “Are you okay?” he asks.
“I am now.” I press my head against his shoulder, knowing that’s not where he was shot. “Just a few stitches, nothing more. And you?”
I lean away as he says with a grin, “Nothing can take down this beast.”
I laugh, too, maybe because that’s all you can do in the insanity of this situation. Both of us nearly died at the hands of a madman, and the fact that we didn’t is surely something to be celebrated. “I was so, so scared for you,” I tell him softly.
Dad’s eyes darken. “I’m sorry you had to find me like that.”
“If I hadn’t—” I force a smile, swallowing the remainder of my words, not even wanting to go there.
He smiles gently in return, tears in his eyes. “I was so, so scared for you.”
“I’m okay,” I tell him, knowing he needs to hear that from me. The guilt on his face is an intense thing to behold, and I don’t want my father to feel like he did this to me. Tobias Harrington did this, and truly, I am fine.
“Really?” my father asks. “You’re totally okay with all that’s happened to you?”
I shrug. “Yeah, I’m good.”
Dad begins to frown at me, and I’m not really sure why. I sigh, thinking maybe it’s just the theme of the night. All the men in my life are grumpy when they should be happy to see me.
Before I can ask what’s up with him, Mom’s phone beeps and she snatches it off the table by Dad’s bed, looking at the screen. “Oh…oh.” Her cheeks flush a little, a twinkle appears in her eyes, as her phone begins to ring. “I need to take this,” she says, turning away. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
I chuckle at her and shake my head, knowing it’s probably a reporter looking for a story. Mom does love the tabloids, especially when she’s the feature story. That’s one thing I didn’t get from my mother. I hate the spotlight.
When she leaves the room, I turn back to my father and he takes my hands in his. “Honey, I’m so sorry that you got dragged into all this.”
“It’s not your fault, Dad.”
“Nevertheless.” My father squeezes my hands tightly. “I’m still sorry. It shouldn’t have happened. The governor will be punished to the full extent of the law, and we’ll be there to watch him go away for a long time.”
I smile softly. “Yes, we will.”
Obviously done with the serious stuff we needed to get out of the way, he adds in a lighter voice, “I do have some other news that might come as a surprise.”
“What news?”
He points to a handful of white paper with printed words on his bedside table. “Grab those papers there, would you please?”
I pick them up and take a seat beside my dad on the bed, reading the typed words. It’s on White House stationery. “What is this?”
“It’s the confirmation of my nomination to be a Supreme Court Justice.”
I jerk my head up, the documents nearly falling out of my hands before I tighten my grip. “What?”
Dad laughs softly, then flinches, obviously in pain. “Ow, laughing is a bad idea.” When the color returns to his face, he continues. “Wel
l, that’s more of a reaction than I was expecting, considering all you’ve been through. I would think you would be happy to see me getting out of politics?”
“I am happy for you.” I glance at the paper again and see that the letter comes from the president himself; it is a formal letter stating the president is going to nominate my father for a vacancy in the Supreme Court. “I’m just really surprised,” I say, finally addressing him again. “I didn’t know you were thinking of leaving the Senate.”
“I haven’t said anything to you or anyone else because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. The process has been very discreet so far.” I place the papers back on the bedside table, and he continues, “I met with the president on my last visit to Washington, which was when he told me of his wishes.”
“I take it after all this, you’ve decided to give it a go?”
He nods. “For all involved, I do think it’s best to get out of the political game. As long as the Senate agrees with the president, and he believes they will, then this will happen.” He pauses, clearly choosing his words carefully. “After all this, I’m just not sure I have it in me to go back. It leaves…”
“A bad taste in your mouth?” I offer.
“A very bad taste,” he replies, and gives a long sigh. “I had hoped for a sign of what direction to take. I just wasn’t expecting this much of a sign. But I do feel that this is the right decision for me and for your mother.”
My mind begins racing a mile a minute. There’s a lot to think about. My job, for one. Yes, I could easily work for another senator, or maybe go with my dad and be his assistant in his new office. But the biggest thought in my mind squashes all the rest of my questions. “Your security will be transferred to the Secret Service, will it not?”
Of course Dad reads between the lines. “You’re wondering about my relationship with Ryder?”
I nod.
He adds, “We’ve severed our professional relationship, since I no longer need to use his company for security.”
I process what I’ve heard, and even after I’m done processing it, I still don’t understand. If the duty to my father is gone, why hasn’t Ryder come to tell me that himself? Wasn’t that what stood in our way?
“Oh…” I swallow the emotion in my throat. “You two have had a good long run together. I’m sure having a new security detail will take some getting used to.”
My father’s eyebrows rise. “That’s all you have to say about us not working together anymore?”
I shrug, rising to my feet. “I would love to sit here and chat about this…”
“No, you wouldn’t,” my father interjects.
“You’re right, I wouldn’t.” I grin. “So, I’m going to go get the juiciest burger I can find and go home and maybe drink an entire bottle of wine.”
“That’s not wise,” he states. “Drinking after something traumatic is a terrible idea, Hadley.”
I lean down and kiss him on the cheek. “I’ll come visit tomorrow. Promise. Love you.”
He’s calling to me, but I’m already out the door.
Chapter 20
Ryder
After a short phone call with the manager of Impulse, my sex club, and a quick meal with Alex at the local Burger King where I grabbed a bite to give me the fuel I needed, I enter the county jail in the South of Market neighborhood. Now, as I stride forward through the main foyer of the jail, I’m armed with an arsenal of information and energy to do what I need to do next.
The only reason I’m doing this now is because I know the moment the FBI comes into town to interview Harrington, I will not get access to him.
Once I reach the main reception area, I find a young man behind the desk on the telephone. When he hangs up, I say, “Ryder Blackwood here to see Tobias Harrington.” I refuse to call him the governor anymore. He lost that right. “I’ve been authorized by Senator Winters for a private sit-down with Mr. Harrington to obtain information on the senator’s behalf.” I hand the correctional officer the signed document giving me authority to talk with Tobias and also my identification.
Much had been discussed with the senator earlier. When I left his hospital room, I felt more free than I’d felt in a long time. Soon, the senator’s life would be placed in the hands of someone else. No longer was his life in my hands. Now I could do what I’ve wanted to do for a long time. Work intel with Alex and not be on the front lines. The senator and I shook on many great years together and on what would become a very different future for us.
“All right, Mr. Blackwood, this all looks good,” the correctional officer says, breaking into my thoughts and handing the paper and ID back to me. He picks up the phone. “Please bring prisoner 03673-008, Tobias Harrington, to interview room B.” After he returns the phone to the receiver, he hits a button under his desk, buzzing the door open. “It’s the first room on your left.”
“Thank you.” I move around the main desk and open the heavy door, entering the hallway. Immediately, I’m struck by the smell that never leaves this place, somewhere between a hospital and a garbage dump, and my nose crinkles against its pungent aroma.
The heavy door slams behind me and the locks slide back into place right before another buzz opens the door to my left. Once I enter the room, which is sparse with a two-way mirror, pale blue–painted cement walls, and a metal table with two plastic chairs on either side, I move to the back wall, leaning against it, arms crossed.
It’s only a few minutes later that the door opens and in walks Tobias Harrington wearing an orange jumpsuit, in both hand and feetcuffs, attached to a chain. His eyes meet mine, and for the first time ever, he doesn’t look away from me.
I grin, finding the challenge absurd. I already won, and we both know that.
While Tobias shuffles into the room, I wait patiently as the correctional officers attach the chains to the table, ensuring my safety. Not that I’m particularly worried. This man in front of me paid people to do his dirty work. He’s nothing more than a coward. And that’s a little fact I’m sure Tobias is aware of, too.
Once the chains are connected to the table, one correctional officer looks at me and I nod in thanks. “I’d like some time alone with Mr. Harrington if that’s possible.”
“We’ll be right outside the door,” he replies, and both officers hastily exit the room, leaving me alone with Tobias.
I take the seat in front of him, resting my hands on top, fearing if I let my fist close once, I’ll use it on him. Getting arrested for assault isn’t in my plans for the evening.
“I wasn’t expecting to see you so soon,” says Tobias, lacing his fingers together, rattling the chains against the metal table.
“This is how this is going to work,” I say, refusing to acknowledge him. “I have questions and you’re going to answer them.”
Tobias snorts, leaning back in his chair as much as possible with the cuffs. “Pray tell, why would I do that?”
Everyone has one weakness. Recently I learned my weakness is Hadley. I smile at Tobias, hoping he reads between the lines that I know his. “You’ll tell me everything I want to know because I know about your sister.”
He freezes in his seat, and so he should. I can count on one hand how many times I’ve played dirty. It’s not my way. Yes, sometimes I skirt the law. But for the most part, I keep things clean. Though things have changed now. I need all the loose strands in my life to be wrapped up in a neat little bow that won’t come back to bite me in the ass later.
Obviously, Tobias takes me seriously. His eyes slowly begin to narrow. “What do you know about my sister?”
“I know that she is a manager with a financial planning and investment management company and connected very deeply with insider dealing.”
“You know nothing,” he scoffs.
I slam my hand down on the table. “I’m not playing games with you. I have evidence of her guilt. Strong evidence that will put her away for a very long time.” The glory belonged to Alex, but I’d never offer her name u
p to anyone. Not only had she discovered emails detailing the insider trading, but she also discovered that if Tobias is loyal about one thing, it’s his baby sister.
Truthfully, I hadn’t known if this angle would work, but I can tell by the sudden tightness in Tobias’s face that it is exactly the right play.
“What do you want?” he asks through clenched teeth.
“Like I said, I want you to answer some questions for me.”
“About the senator?”
“No, this isn’t about him.”
“Then what is it about?”
“Something far more personal to me,” I explain, leaning forward, coming a little closer to him, resting my arms on the table. “Let me be frank, if I feel that you’re not telling the truth, your sister will be behind bars faster than you can get back to your own cell. Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” Tobias snarls.
My attention flicks to the window as two correctional officers practically drag a combative inmate down the hallway before I address Tobias again. “What connection do you have with Gotcha! magazine?”
Obviously, I’ve surprised him with my question, as his eyebrows rise. “Absolutely none,” he replies.
“Do you know someone who works there?”
“No.”
“Are you selling information to them because you intended to blackmail others?”
“No.”
I lean back in my seat and cross my arms, watching him a moment. I believe he’s telling the truth. He’s too calm, too confused, almost. It’s pretty obvious he has no idea what I’m talking about. But I’m not ready to give up. “What about Viktor? Is it possible he contacted the tabloid?”
“No, Blackwood,” Tobias says, exasperated. “Why would I make myself known to a goddamn tabloid? Why are you asking me these ludicrous questions?”
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