“Don’t get jealous.”
“I’m…not.”
I make a noise I haven’t made in nearly twenty years.
“Yeah, okay, I’m jealous,” he admits. “But I know I don’t have any room to complain about that.”
“No, you don’t.” I nuzzle my chin against the top of his head. “I’ll explain to him that you’re in a very precarious situation. He’s pragmatic. He might even want to cash in his hall-pass fuck with you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He’s quiet for a moment. “That wouldn’t be the worst thing.”
I tip his chin up so he’s looking me in the eyes. “Youcannotget jealous over him. You have to accept he’s my husband, and I love him. There might even be a good chance when I approach him about cashing in my chit for you that he suddenly says no.”
I hate that fear fills his face. “Then what?”
I sigh. “I don’t know. Which is why I’m asking for time. But I’m not giving you up again, God forgive me. I think if I handle this right I can talk him into it. Once he gets to know you and understands why you did what you did, you can probably win him over. Especially if you change party affiliation.”
He chuckles. “I’m already planning on switching to Democrat during summer recess. I’m hoping it’ll sort of fly under the radar for a few weeks.”
“What are you going to tell your father?”
“You mean if he hasn’t died by then?” I snort but he continues. “I’m going to tell him that it’s stupid to be in the minority party when there will be eight years, or more, of a Democrat in the Oval Office and Dems holding both houses of Congress. And that if he really wants me to help him and his friends while I’m in office, he’d damn well better accept that, sometimes, sausage has to get made in unpalatable ways. He of all people should understand that.”
“Damn. That’s good.”
“I know, right?”
“What if he’s still pissed off and threatens you?”
His tone turns dark. “Then I figure out how to frame him for making threats against a sitting US senator and turn him in to the Secret Service for prosecution.”
I sit up and make him look at me. “What?”
“I learned a few things from him over the years. Like the fine art of the ratfuck. That’s not the only way I can set him up, but it’s the easiest.” His grim smile chills me. “I have access to his house and office, and he’s practically computer illiterate. It was super easy for me to plant stuff so it’s traced back to him. I’ve already set up a couple of throwaway e-mail accounts from his computers that he doesn’t know about, and files on his computer he doesn’t even know are there. I know his IP address for his home router, and the MAC addresses of his computers and phone. I can use software to make it look like he sent the threats, even if I can’t do it from his devices.”
Shit!“Are you serious?”
“I am. I also have a few juicy tidbits I’ve gleaned off him and his friends over the years that I can drop in the laps of law enforcement. It’ll get that entire group of cohorts chasing their tails and trying to cover their tracks while ratting each other out.”
“They why didn’t you set him up before now to escape?”
“Because once I realized what he was going to make me do, I knew if I ever wanted a chance to be free of him, free of Olivia, and free of this sham of a life, I’d need to make it into the Senate. Then I’d have more resources and contacts at my disposal. I needed to lull him into a false sense of security. Make him think his pet was fully tamed and loving his leash.”
I cup his chin in my hands. “You and Daniel have a lot in common. If I can keep him from wringing our necks,” I add.
* * * *
“Sorry I’m late,” I apologize as I rush into the room where the prayer meeting is being held.
Daniel frowns a little but squeezes my hand when I take the chair next to him.
My hubby quickly fell asleep last night. Without waking him, I went downstairs, retrieved the old cell phone, wrote an angry e-mail that I sent to Ward…
Followed by sending every last damned draft in the account to him. Despite my interludes with Ward yesterday, I slept like absolute shit, tossing and turning until I finally arose at four this morning and started working out, wondering if I did the right thing.
