Page 43 of Forged By Sacrifice

“Then, how do you know she can take care of herself?”

“Why are you pushing?” I asked.

Dani looked at me. “You like her.”

“Dani, did she tell you about her family?”

Dani shook her head. I whispered to her about Georgie’s dad and mom.

“Yikes.”

“What would you tell some newbie who was trying to run for office with a wife who had a dad in jail for Ponzi schemes and a mother banned from entering the country?”

“I’d tell him to get a new wife or walk away.”

“Exactly,” I said.

“But you aren’t trying to marry her, right? I mean, you obviously like her. There’s no reason the two of you can’t?”

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You don’t understand. If I started something with her, I’d never be able to walk away.”

“This is completely unlike you. You’ve never kept a girl for more than a month. Except that godawful Mindy who wasn’t anyone that any of us wanted to see you with for the long haul.”

I made a face at the mention of Mindy. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen that one coming. I didn’t say anything; I just watched as Matt Damon blew off Minnie Driver on the screen, pushing her away with all his hateful words so she’d leave him alone. I couldn’t be hateful to Georgie. Not ever. But I also couldn’t let her under my skin or into my heart any more than she already was. The mark she’d left there would have to be a simple notch and not an entire tattoo.

Dani snuggled back down onto the couch, and I could practically hear her wheels turning from where I was, but there wasn’t anything that could change the facts. And the facts were all that mattered in this case.

? ? ?

When Dani and I left for the Capitol the next morning, Georgie hadn’t appeared from the loft. I eyed it a couple times, wondering what she’d do about the professor. I hadn’t been able to sleep a damn wink the night before. I’d tossed and turned, not only because she was under the same roof as me again, but because I’d worried about her.

Dani and I spent the morning getting me signed in with human resources and security at the Capitol. By the time we actually got to Guy Matherton’s office, he and my grandfather were there and in the midst of some top-secret briefing. For a moment, I felt a brief pang at the loss of my old job. I’d always been in the know. It had been my job to be in the know. I probably had a clearance level higher than any of the people in this office, but that didn’t change the fact I was the newbie on the block. Guy’s assistant let him know we were there, and Granddad came out right away.

My grandfather was huge like me. Huge like my father. Tall and built. He’d kept his figure, even more so after the bypass surgery he’d had to have five years ago. He looked younger than he was, but he still looked like a speckle-haired, wrinkled version of me.

Granddad hugged me. “Robbie, I’m so glad you’re finally here with us.”

“He seems to be going by Macauley now,” Dani teased just as Guy came out of his office to shake my hand.

“Nice to have you onboard, Macauley.” The senator looked like a young Mark Harmon. He looked like someone you’d trust to go into battle with you. He was younger than my parents but still old enough to have teenage daughters. He was one of the up-and-coming on the Hill and not just because of his good looks. He was smart and seemed to always be on the right side of any legislation.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dani smirk as he repeated my full name.

“Mac,” I told him, returning his handshake with a firm grip.

“Daniella will get you up to speed, I’m sure. We have a whole pile of defense bills I’d like you to take a look through and give me your opinion on. Plus, there’s a long list of things I need you to research for us. Isn’t that right?”

Guy looked at Dani like she was a star. It threw me for a loop. It threw me right back to Dani saying she could sense the sleaze-o-meter a mile away. I hadn’t ever thought of Guy as a sleaze. My grandfather wouldn’t work for a sleazeball. I knew that. But Guy was married. Had two teen-aged kids. But he was smiling at my sister in a way I just didn’t care for.

When we got to our desks, which were shoved together in a side room that felt smaller than the inside of a manned submersible vehicle, I confronted her.

“Has he ever made a pass at you?”

“What? No! Guy’s one of the good ones.”

“Then, how come he was looking at you like you were the best thing since the Bill of Rights?”

She grimaced. “It’s like the way Dad used to look at you in your uniform. He’s just proud of the success I’ve had. Success that’s made him look better.”

---