Smoke and Sin

by Shayla Black

  Connor’s eyes widened. “I did not expect you to admit that.”

  But he’d known, of course. It was there in his expression. He’d only been surprised she’d confessed to being cast aside, not that it had happened.

  Dealing with any of the Perfect Gentlemen was always an intricate game of chess. Thankfully, she’d had a lifetime to become a master.

  Then again, they’d had equally as long to figure her out. Did Connor have any idea what she actually planned on doing in London? Is that why he’d taken this sudden interest in her and her visit? Had Zack sent Connor to find out how close she was getting to the truth?

  “It happened a long time ago. I assumed Roman had told you. If not, there’s your grand mystery. Getting dumped sucked, and I didn’t want to face any of his friends.”

  “But you stayed close to Mad.” Connor shook his head, his jaw tightening. “Damn it. Of course, you did. The two of you had a thing for a long time. Mad was damn good at taking advantage of a situation.”

  “Don’t,” she bit out with gritted teeth. “Don’t you talk that way about Maddox. He wasn’t like that.” Yes, it would be smarter to let Connor think whatever he wanted to, but Mad was no longer here to defend himself, and she couldn’t let anyone, even Connor, malign the one friend who had stood by her side when no one else had. “He never took advantage of me. What we had was mutual and friendly. My relationship with Mad was probably the healthiest of my life, so do not say another bad word about him.”

  During that terrible first year, Mad would show up at her DC apartment some weekends with a bottle of tequila, a stash of movies, and a pizza, and he would get her through. She had no idea how she would have survived that first year without the grueling work schedule and Maddox Crawford. Taking the DC job had saved her in so many ways. If she’d gone back home, her mother would have known something was wrong and meddled.

  After the pain had subsided and Gus had gotten some distance, Mad still appeared occasionally, but instead of crying her way through ridiculous chick flicks, she and Mad had fucked like bunnies, both of them secure in the knowledge that they were friends and nothing more.

  Then Mad had finally lost his heart and won over Sara Bond, the girl he’d wanted for so long. Gus had let him go and fondly wished him well.

  “Hey. He was my friend, too. I wasn’t maligning him,” Connor promised, staring at her like she’d given him some important information. “I was only worried about you. And I miss Mad, too.” He stood. “Thanks for whatever you can do to take Lara under your wing.”

  “Of course.” She would probably have fun getting to know the woman who had conquered Connor’s cynical heart. Everly, Gabe Bond’s wife, loved her. So did Holland, Gus’s new sister-in-law. That made Lara a part of the sisterhood, and Gus took that seriously. “And you can tell Roman he has nothing to worry about. He doesn’t need to tense whenever I walk in a room. I’ll do my job and stay completely out of his way. Everything will be ready when Zack lands in four days. I’ll make sure of that. So Roman can simply broker deals and smoke cigars in the good-old-boys’ clubs and take credit for everything, as usual.”

  “Your claws are showing, Gus.”

  “My claws are always on display. It’s why I’m so effective at what I do.”

  “Have you thought about the fact that being close to you is hard on him, too?”

  Not once. “He hired me because I’m the best and he needs me. That does not mean he doesn’t find it distasteful to deal with me. I know the score and exactly what he thinks of me. He views me as…let me see if I can remember the description verbatim… Ah, yes, a man-eating anaconda who squeezes the life out of her victims before she swallows them whole.”

  “Jesus,” Connor breathed. “All I’m saying is that maybe this is a great opportunity for you two to give each other a second chance.”

  She frowned at him. “I can’t think of anything I want less.”

  With a sigh, Connor walked away, shaking his head and muttering something she probably didn’t want to hear.

  Gus reached up and turned off the overhead light, then lost her gaze in the vast darkness out the window once more. There was no such thing as a second chance. She’d learned that when she’d miscarried her baby. When her father had perished. When she’d lost her dear friend to a bullet. When she’d realized Mad had gone down with his plane.

  But there was something she could do for the kindest, most misunderstood member of the Perfect Gentlemen, one thing she could offer Mad even now.

  Revenge.

  * * * *

  “I don’t know why she didn’t wait and come with the rest of the press office.” A man’s murmur reached Roman’s ears.

  He stopped at the sound. It was late and the plane was quiet, but there was always a hum of activity. These were people who never really slept. Roman had taken the plane’s office, locking himself away to get some work done—and to stop himself from doing something stupid like reaching out for Gus. Like pulling her body against his to see if the perfection he remembered had merely been a dream.

  Thirteen years had passed, and he wanted to know if foolish youth or a faulty memory made him compare every single woman in the world to Augustine Spencer and come up lacking—even the one woman he’d thought he could marry, the one woman he’d thought he could love.

  “Probably because the Ice Queen has a plan to be someone’s pain in the ass.”

  “Well, I’m staying out of her way.”

  Roman knew precisely who they were talking about. Among the White House staffers, Gus was known as the Ice Queen. Elizabeth Matthews, Zack’s press secretary, was Glinda the Good Witch. What none of the fuckers understood was Liz was every bit as ruthless as Gus. She simply ruled her kingdom with a soft smile and easy words. But none of that charm would work if she didn’t have Gus as her enforcer.

  Just like Roman was Zack’s. While Gus’s moniker had become the Ice Queen, Roman was known as the Hitman. He did the dirty work so Zack could keep his hands clean. The funny thing was, if he and Gus didn’t share such a shitty history, they would probably be good friends. They would certainly understand each other. They played the same role and should be good about helping each other out, laughing at the trash talk they endured.

  “It just chaps me. Bitch thinks she’s better than us. I bet that whore got her job by spreading her legs for Hayes.”

  Roman saw red. It was a sad fact that politics could still be a good-old-boys’ network, and because she was female, Gus had to hear the kind of slurs no one would ever have dared to speak about him.

  He refused to listen to anyone malign her now.

  Roman stepped out of the shadows and was damn happy to see both aides turn pasty white. “What did you say?”

  “Mr. Calder, I didn’t realize you were still awake.” The kid with the nasty mouth couldn’t be more than twenty-eight years old. A fucking baby who was about to learn the world didn’t revolve around him.

  “I’m always awake and I’m always listening. And I would very much like for you to repeat what you just said.”

  The second little asshole proved that he was smarter, but merely a kiss ass. “Mr. Calder, Austin was only joking around. It’s late and we haven’t slept. We say stupid shit when we’re tired.”

  “I’m not tired. In fact, I’m quite energetic and my mind is working overtime. But if Austin is that weak, he’s not cut out for this job. Since that’s the case, I’m wondering how he’s going to get home because he certainly won’t be on a plane with me.” Sometimes it was good to be the Hitman. He had no idea how Zack ever juggled everyone’s fucking feelings. “Austin should understand that when we land, he needs to find his way back to the States, go directly to his office, clean it out, and hope we never cross paths again because I’m being patient right now. If we meet again, I won’t be.”

  “Mr. Calder…” the friend began.

  Roman turned to him. “I don’t know your name. Do you want me to know it?”

  The aide s
hook his head. “No. No, I’m good.”

  Austin opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly they weren’t alone.

  Connor put a hand on Austin’s shoulder. “You should keep your mouth shut or we’ll give you another way off this plane, and it will likely not include a parachute. And if your father, the senator, has a problem with the fact that Roman fired you, please let him know that Air Force Two has security features that include cameras in this cabin. What you said was recorded and we’ll release it if necessary. Your father’s progressive views on women’s issues are well known. How will his constituents feel about his son being a misogynist douchebag?”

  That shut Austin up and fast. His nameless friend was smart enough to ease the fired aide away from what could become the killing zone. Because Roman wanted to wrap his hands around the fucker’s throat and see how blue he could turn.

  “Do you have any idea how crazy-eyed you look right now?” Connor asked once the two young fucks were gone, glancing around the now empty area. “You made that dude piss himself and managed to send all the other aides huddling together at the back of the plane. Oddly enough, all on one side because I think they’re too afraid to go near Gus.”

  Good. He didn’t feel like company anyway, at least not theirs. The only person he wanted to see was the one person he wouldn’t let himself be near.

  “If I ever hear the aides talking about any of our female employees like that again, I’ll do the same. That kind of talk will not be tolerated here.”

  “I think they get that now. But if you think the outrage in your expression is for any random female employee, you’re in even deeper denial than I thought.” Connor nodded toward the office. “We should talk.”

  That’s the last thing he wanted, but Connor could be stubborn, like a dog with a meaty bone. He stepped back into the large office reserved for the president. “Lara walked by fifteen minutes ago. She said something about the patriarchy and how she was taking over the presidential suite in the people’s name or some shit. Shouldn’t you join her? It isn’t like that room has seen any action in years. The president before Zack was five hundred and fifty years old and Zack…well, he’s a monk these days.”

  “That’s not what the press thinks.” Connor shut the door, closing them away from prying ears and surveillance. He crossed to the bar and poured himself a glass of Scotch. Two fingers. Neat. Like they’d managed to find ways to drink it since before they could purchase the stuff legally. “I noticed Zack’s been out on the town a lot lately. You, too.”

  “You know why he’s doing that,” he muttered, almost under his breath. For Elizabeth. He had to sell the illusion that she was nothing more than an employee.

  Someone was manipulating Zack Hayes’s presidency and had been even before he’d been elected. Mad’s death a few months ago had brought the conspiracy to light. Now they had uncovered the fact that the Russian mob had woven tendrils into the very fabric of Zack’s life, perhaps even from birth. They’d already discerned that Joy’s death hadn’t been a botched assassination attempt by some lone lunatic to off then-candidate Zack Hayes. No, a network of criminals had actually murdered his wife in cold blood to ensure the sympathy vote landed him in the White House. Now high-level officials in his administration jetted to London, and Roman intended to use this official trip to find out if the conspiracy included the death of Zack’s mother eight years ago. Roman’s gut was telling him that Constance’s car wreck in the British countryside hadn’t been an accident at all. That the woman, alcoholic or not, had known far more about this possible conspiracy than anyone had guessed.

  In the midst of all the chaos, Zack had realized he had one weakness his enemies could use against him. Elizabeth Matthews, his press secretary—and the only woman who’d ever truly both knocked him on his ass…and stolen his heart.

  After seeing the evidence that his wife had been murdered, Zack had shoved distance between himself and the fiery blonde. Then he’d started dating a string of well-known actresses. The fallout between Zack and Liz had been silent and chilly…but ugly. Then the gossip had begun, and some of the cattier circles of the press had dubbed Zack the Playboy President. Roman had joined him, going on empty double dates that ended in polite goodnights because he was getting too old for casual sex.

  These days, he wanted sex to mean something, to fill some emptiness inside him. To make him feel whole again, as he hadn’t in over a dozen years.

  God, he fucking craved Gus. How could the woman be more beautiful all these years later? Sexier? More magnetic?

  “I think he’s hurting Liz in ways he didn’t count on,” Connor said solemnly. “What is any of this worth if he can’t be happy when we untangle the plot?”

  “What’s any of it worth if Liz dies? Like Joy and Mad?” He slumped back against the fine leather of the seat, feeling a headache coming on. “It’s better if she’s alive and unhappy at the end of this. At least then Zack has a shot at explaining everything to her. She’s a smart woman. She might understand.”

  “Maybe. But smart women can also hold mean grudges,” Connor pointed out. “I think Liz might take exception to being kept out of the decision-making process.”

  “He’s doing it to protect her.”

  “Think she’ll care? Women often have different ideas about how relationships should work. By the way, are you planning on introducing Gus to your British girlfriend?”

  Roman stared at his friend. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

  Connor’s lips curled up in a secretive smile. “The little blonde, Darcy Hildebrandt? She seems pretty damn determined to get her hooks in you.”

  “We’ve been planning the president’s state visit together. I don’t intend to date her.”

  “Yeah? She can’t stop telling everyone how late into the night your meetings run, especially Gus.”

  “Gus is smart enough to know when another woman is trying to get a leg up by shoving the knife in. I’m not foolish enough to think no one knows Gus and I used to have a thing. Darcy is just playing the game.”

  Though strategically speaking, he should actually consider dating Darcy. She fulfilled every item on his list. Competent and logical. Check. Sexual attraction. He hadn’t taken it for a test drive, but he could see the appeal. Educated and familiar with the grind of life in politics. Check and check. Married to her career. Absolute check.

  Yet he couldn’t bring himself to even think about moving them beyond a simple working relationship. He blamed Gus. Did she think he was sleeping with Darcy? Was that why she’d been so testy lately? Was she jealous?

  Connor waved him off. “Yes, they’re all smart women, which is precisely why I’m worried about Gus. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Did you know she’s been investigating a member of Zack’s detail? A guy named Matthew Kemp?”

  “What do you mean by investigating?” Roman scowled.

  Gus worked in the press office. She was known for her spot-on oppo research. Gus was excellent at digging up dirt, even when it was buried super deep. But someone in Zack’s detail should hardly be construed as the opposition.

  “I mean someone requested all the personnel records on Agent Kemp. Zack brought me in to take a look at the procedures and see if anything stood out,” Connor explained. “Sometimes the devil is in the details, and a sleeper agent will make mistakes that can be found by looking at the minutiae of his or her job. The press office asked for the records. I tracked it down to Gus.”

  “Are you telling me that Zack thinks Gus is a fucking sleeper?” Maybe he would exorcise his rage by getting his buddy on the phone, and if Connor’s accusation was true, he would cuss out the president. Then he might have to quit. But there was no way he would investigate Gus as a freaking spy.

  Connor rolled his dark eyes and knocked back half his drink. “Don’t be so dramatic. Of course he doesn’t. It’s simply something I found while looking for potential spies. But I can’t figure out a reason for the press office to sniff around a Secret S
ervice agent. Naturally Gus had a perfectly logical reason for requesting the records. She’s working with an author on a ‘profiles in courage’ style media campaign. No details about the actual agents, of course, but she wanted to get the backgrounds right.”

  “I’ve heard nothing about this.” What game was Gus playing? He frowned as he realized what her intent most likely was. He knew Matthew, one of the strong silent types. He was also thirty-two and movie-star gorgeous. He was the kind of man who thought leg days were a thing. “Is she running a check on one of her boy toys?”

  She had plenty of them. Gus could rip through a group of men with the voracity of a Valkyrie in battle. She left them all whining and mooning after her because she didn’t often go back for seconds. The two times she’d kept a lover for more than a few nights, she’d carefully vetted the man. Did she have her eye on Matthew now?

  Could he find a viable reason to fire the guy?

  “I don’t know. I suspect that’s what she wants me to believe,” Connor admitted. “I’m worried though. Gus isn’t an idiot. Neither is Elizabeth. Have you thought about the fact that if we don’t bring them into our investigations, they might start their own?”

  Connor was high. “You think she’s starting an investigation into a Secret Service agent as a service to her country? C’mon…. He’s younger, and according to other women in the White House, as Secret Service agents go, he’s the hottest. How could he be wrapped up in our conspiracy? You do realize he wasn’t even born when some of this crap likely started.”

  “That doesn’t mean he’s not involved. I only found this out yesterday. I haven’t had time to go through his records myself yet, but I will. Did you know he’s come in with the advance team?”

  “Another sign that Gus is scratching an itch.” It explained why she’d been so set on getting on this plane instead of coming to London in a few days with Zack and Elizabeth. She wanted to get to know Matthew better, and he would be on call 24/7 once Zack got to town.