“We have some serious campaigning jobs coming up and we need all the help we can get. I need you to go down to your former supervisor and ask for help from the interns. Anyone willing to get their hands dirty. If they want to make their way up the ladder, they’ll volunteer.”
I held back a wince because I already knew one intern who’d be happy to put his hand up, but Kalinski was the last person I wanted to work with. I glanced over Jean-Paul’s shoulder and toward Vane’s office doors, and Jean-Paul grinned at me as though he knew exactly what I was thinking.
How much did Vane tell him? I didn’t think I wanted to know.
“He’s in already. He doesn’t need you right now.” Jean-Paul waved his hand at me, and I took it as a cue to get to work. I settled my bag behind his desk and walked back out the glass doors and to the elevators. When I got down to the first floor, I made my way to the familiar interns’ area. Harold was sitting at his desk with his head down and his fingers scratching a bald spot near his temple, humming to the tune of a song I didn’t know. When I reached him, he didn’t even notice me until I cleared my throat.
Startled, Harold jumped to his feet and laughed when he saw me. The lines in the corners of his eyes crinkled as he came around his desk and held out his hand to me as though he hadn’t seen me in months rather than a few days. “Jaxson! Good to see you.”
I shook his hand anyway and returned his smile. It was hard not to like Harold. “You too. I’m actually here for Mr. Elwood.”
“Ah. I expected him to send you down here eventually. He uses the interns when he can to help him campaign.” Harold was already moving back around his desk, opening a drawer and pulling out a piece of paper attached to a clipboard. He ran a finger down a list I couldn’t see from where I stood, and he hummed. “I have a few kids that I think would work hard. Did you want the list?”
I nodded. “Please. Jean-Paul needs volunteers.”
Harold hummed again and grabbed a highlighter. He poked his tongue out of the corner of his mouth as he slid the yellow marker across what I assumed were names, and when he was done, he grinned and passed me the list. I sighed when I saw Kalinski’s name highlighted.
“They’re the best we have,” Harold said with a frown.
I shook my head and forced myself to smile. I held the list up at him in thanks before I gave him a final nod and made my way back to the elevator. Would Jean-Paul notice if I scratched Kalinski’s name out? Probably.Fuck.
Sighing, I let the list fall to my side as I waited for the elevator. It dinged when it arrived, but I didn’t get the chance to step into it because someone grabbed my arm, nearly dragging me in the opposite direction and to the men’s room. By the time I realized it was Kalinski, it was too late to escape. I was stuck, especially when he locked the door and checked the stalls to make sure no one else was in here.
I frowned at him and crossed my arms, the list crinkling under my armpit. “What the fuck are you doing, Kalinski? If this is another attempt at ousting me from Elwood’s team because you’re jealous, so help me God—”
He spun on me, snarling, and he reminded me of a pissed-off chihuahua—small and bitey. “Do you think this is a joke, Bell?”
I stepped back from him and cocked my head, confused. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t you?” he sneered, closing the distance I’d put between us. I didn’t move back again because I didn’t want him to think I was afraid. His nostrils flared and he bared his teeth at me. “Politics has been in my family for generations. I’ve had mayors, senators, and governors in the Kalinski family.”
I snorted at the serious pout he sent my way. Definitely a chihuahua. “And?”
“And this is a joke to you.” He shoved a finger in my face, and it took all my effort not to break it for putting it anywhere near me.
“How is this a joke to me? Please explain.” I rolled my eyes and did bat his finger away this time. “If you point that near me again, I’ll snap it.”
He yanked his hand back and glared harder. “I was there, at the media conference, Bell. Iheardyou and Mr. Elwood. Iheardyou.”
Realization and fear slithered through me like ice particles. I hadn’t seen Kalinski there, especially when we were talking about anything I’d rather keep a secret. As far as I knew, no one except me and Vane had been there at the end.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Bullshit!” He stepped back and started pacing, making noises that sounded like mixes of growling and huffing. Then he stopped suddenly, eyes widening as he turned to me. I really hated the grin that slid across his face, and when he headed back toward me, I prepared for both a verbal and physical fight if needed. “So you fucked your way into Mr. Elwood’s office, huh?”
“No,” I said immediately, but Kalinski continued as though I hadn’t even spoken.
“I’m sure the voters wouldhatethat from a deputy mayor. It’s one thing for him being gay, but to sleep with his employee? His intern? That’s just… scandalous.”
I shook my head, my gut dropping out from under me. I’d never been in this kind of situation before because I’d been careful. Folding up the list in my hand, I placed it in my pocket before I spoke. “Don’t do this, Kalinski. You won’t like what happens to you.”
“Is that a threat?” He gritted his jaw and the smile slipped away. “Because I can take you straight to HR. You’d both be out of a job by the end of everything.”
Fucking bastard. I breathed through my nose and raised my palms to him, smiling as charmingly as I could, which wasn’t much for Kalinski. He’d been a pain in the ass from the start, and his self-entitlement made it ten times worse. That’s why I hated guys who came from families like his; they thought the world owed them everything.
“Listen, this is all hearsay. It’s your word against mine and Mr. Elwood’s. You have nothing, and trust me, Elwood would destroy you for even starting a rumor like that.” I shrugged my shoulders. “If you want to risk that, then good luck. If I’ve learned anything about politics, Kalinski, it’s that you shouldn’t piss off the powerful people while you’re still an intern.”
Kalinski opened his mouth then closed it, and I sighed. This wasn’t worth the trouble. As terrified as I was about the thought of him spreading the rumors, I didn’t think he was that stupid. Either way, I had to deal with it.
