“Sorry, it’s important. I’ve been summoned to a congressional hearing…”
She climbs the back of the couch. “Are you going to jail?!”
“What? No! They’re just freaking out. We’ve got sensitive contracts with the government and the Pentagon. They want to grill me on our cybersecurity protocols.”
If they are not satisfied after the hearing, they could pull the plug on everything. Block us from future bids.
“I guess I’ll let it slide this time, if your entirelegacy’sat stake…” She might try to crack a joke about it, but her worry is palpable.
Five minutes later, Michelle arrives. Efficient as ever, looking apologetic.
“That was fast. I’ll go upstairs and get it.”
“Sorry again to ruin your night,” she says.
“No worries, I’m sure you had better things to do on a Friday night.” A twinge of guilt twists in my stomach. I usually do my best not to disturb her on weekends. “Come in while I get it.”
She shakes her shiny, dark bob. “It’s fine, the driver’s waiting.”
I leave her by the front door and dash upstairs to my home office, swipe the file, and jog back. Michelle’s lost in thought, fiddling with the lock on the front door like a kid. She startles when I hand her the documents, laughing awkwardly.
Before she leaves, I remember the other thing that’s been bugging me for a while.
“Please talk to our investigator on Monday,” I tell her. “Have them team up with Radu.” The guy is my personal cyber-criminal, turned white hat hacker. “I want to know if Diane Cox plays dirty when she digs for her stories.”
Michelle’s eyebrows lift, deepening the lines in her forehead. “Are you sure you want to go there?”
I’m gearing up to go there full speed. “If she’s clean, she’s got nothing to worry about. If she’s not, I’m going to burn her credibility to the ground,” I say with a wide smile.
When I return, Lilly’s blissfully cocooned in the blankets, the movie intro paused on the huge screen.
“Come on, I want to see these girls get their happily ever after,” she says through a suppressed yawn. Will she even make it halfway this time before she crashes?
I plop down next to her and press play, cradling a bucket of popcorn. The cheerful tune of the opening credits fills the room, but one thought keeps clawing at the back of my mind.
Finding love doesn’t always mean a happy ending.
Chapter Five
ADAM
I’d take a root canal over this meeting. But emailing Jackie about my off-the-record chat with a member of Congress was out of the question. I have to give her the bad news in person. She won’t like it one bit.
A week after that confusing yelling match at the engagement diner, I was sitting across from Congressman Turner, the man who could save Jackie’s company. No petty argument can snuff out that urge to support her.
Nothing ever could.
In between mouthfuls of expensive steak, Congressman Turner filled me in on the main hurdle in their proceedings. The committee’s concern is foreign interference. They’re dangling the confidence vote over the Rawlings’ heads. It’s a waiting game now, one where the FBI holds the key to her family’s legacy until they catch whoever is responsible.
Therefore, on this fine early June morning, I take the long way to her office, detouring through the park, buying myself a few extra minutes to think.
It helps release some of the jitters. If Carter needed my help, I wouldn’t bat an eye. I have to do the same for his sister. I’ll keep it short. Say my piece and find an excuse to get out of there as fast as I can.
Jackie will be sitting regally in her corner office, in all her two-piece, high-heeled glory. And I’ll have to pretend not to observe how her tailored suit traces every perfect curve of her body.
At least when she was living in London, I didn’t have to scan every hallway and check around every corner to avoid running into her.
As I wait for the elevator to reach the top floor, images of her after the engagement dinner flash through my mind. She looked stricken. She’s not going to be thrilled to see me today. But Jackie’s too professional to cause a scene at the office. She’ll pretend we’re fine and channel all her attention into fixing the problem at hand.
