“Darling, not in mixed company,” Christine teased, then grew serious. “I’m thrilled for Brenner to have met someone, but all this politics and ugliness makes me angry and upset. Family should never come in second.”
More somber than I’d ever seen him, Weston met my eyes for a moment, and my heart lurched at the devastation he tried so hard to hide from everyone. But I saw it. We hadn’t been lovers that long, but he’d weaved his way into my life so seamlessly, now I couldn’t imagine being without him. I wished I could take away all the pain of his father’s cruel words. I wanted to protect him. If we were alone, I’d hold him and tell him I’d never hurt him. That I loved him.
“I agree, but my father—” His voice caught, and he took a sip of water. “My father does not.” A slight smile softened the taut lines of his face. “Do you know Emily is four years old, and today was the first time I’ve seen her in person? We were having fun, playing with her dolls when he came in, and as soon as he saw me, he flipped out.” He huffed a sigh. “The biggest shock is that Paige went behind his back to arrange it. I wonder why.”
“Maybe she’s finally seen how wrong your father’s been,” I murmured. “I wonder if their marriage is as perfect as they’d like everyone to believe.”
“Why would you say that?” Weston asked.
“Because of how he spoke to her. Telling her he’d deal with her later when she told him she was the one who invited you, sounded ominous.”
“If I ever said that to Christine, she’d have my balls,” Tony remarked.
She pressed a kiss to his lips. “So right, my love. But let’s discuss what’s happened today.” She directed her question to me. “How are you feeling, now that everyone knows about your relationship?”
West sat, eyes fixed on mine, waiting for my answer.
“I’m fine with it. It was never a matter of hiding what we were doing because we thought it was wrong. It just sort of happened between us, and we wanted the alone time to be able to figure things out.”
West laced his fingers with mine. “If anyone thinks I’m going to pull away now, you’re wrong. What happened between Brenner and me has been brewing for over a year. Maybe even longer. There’s a lot we need to talk about, but we have time.”
We shared a knowing look. Weston’s phone buzzed, and I swore everyone in the room tensed, but he shrugged. “It’s Grady. Excuse me a minute. I should take this.” He left the room.
“You’re in love with him, aren’t you?” Christine posed the question to me.
“What?” I laughed her off. “Don’t be ridiculous. We’ve barely been together.”
“You know that’s bullshit. I fell for Tony the first night I met him, and I knew he was going to be mine forever.” She pointed to Madden and Archer. “These two were instantaneous as well.”
Madden’s cheeks grew red. “Our situation was a little different.”
She gave an unladylike snort. “Do tell, darling. That’s why you couldn’t keep away from him at your niece’s sweet sixteen and my fund raiser.”
Archer patted Madden’s cheek. “She’s got eyes everywhere. Don’t you know by now? But Christine is right. We had a spark I’d never felt with anyone else, and it made just one night with him impossible.”
Since there wasn’t a chance in hell I’d discuss my feelings with them before Weston, I kept my mouth shut and changed the subject.
“I wonder how this will all play out in the senator’s presidential campaign. He is the leading candidate so far in the primaries.”
“I don’t see why it should make any difference what a president’s child’s sexuality is.”
Weston returned and sat next to me with a sigh. “It does if your party’s platform is against it and you’ve spent your career talking shit about it. I’d rather not dwell on this anymore. My main and only concern was Emily, and that hasn’t changed. Ineed to find a way to connect with Paige to see if she’ll allow me to continue to have contact with my sister.”
“I’m sure we can find her cell phone number. Nothing is truly private on the Internet.” I squeezed his hand. “Meanwhile, I think we should have some lunch and ignore the hate.”
“I agree,” Christine declared. “But this is where we leave you. Weston deserves peace and quiet with you. The fund raiser is only a few weeks away, and I have tons to do.”
She kissed Weston and then me. “Talk to you later.”
Madden gripped my hand. “We’ll be in touch. I hope to have more information for you soon.”
“Thank you. It’s a lot to take in.”
Weston waited until I closed the door. “Are you going to tell me now what the hell you two were talking about?”
“My mother.” It still seemed surreal to be discussing her and what Madden had told me. “When it was obvious the press was going to dig and find out about us, and use my past against you, I asked Madden to help find out information. I figured he’s got the resources.”
“Come into the kitchen. I need a drink. And it looks like you might too.” Weston handed me a beer, and we sat at the island.
