Page 86 of Dear John

“Fox…”

“Yeah?” he croaked out, taking a step back. He was guilty as hell.

“Who’s in there?”

“I do not know.”

“Fox,” I warned.

“The senator and Kavanaugh’s fake fiancée. But you didn’t hear it from me.”

And just like that, he slipped back into his room and left me with that bombshell. I pressed my ear to the door, trying to hear what they were saying, but it was muffled behind the wood. I should probably walk away. It was rude to listen in on other people’s conversations. But then again, this was my room and I didn’t invite them over. And why should I leave when Kavanaugh’s fake fiancée was in there? It was about time I met her and found out what her intentions were.

I pulled out my keycard and slid it over the mechanism. There was no turning back now. I was going to get my answers one way or another. I turned the handle and stepped through the door, but no one seemed to hear me enter over their heated conversation.

“You’re needed on the campaign trail,” the senator snapped. “You have no job now. There’s nothing holding you back.”

“I’m not here for me. I’m here for Isla—my girlfriend.”

The senator scoffed in disapproval, which wasn’t a surprise. He never cared for me. “She’s a grown woman. She can take careof herself. Besides, with her name all over the news, you’ll need to fix what you broke.”

“WhatIbroke? Are you fucking serious? I know you leaked her name to the news. This is what you wanted, right? The killer headline to keep you front and center.”

“How does your scandal keep me front and center?” the senator snapped.

“Bad news is still news, right, Senator?”

“Alright, everyone calm down.”

It was a female voice. This had to be the fake fiancée. I was still surprised they hadn’t figured out I was here, but with the way the room was designed, they must be in the sitting area on the other side of the wall.

“Listen, Bradford, I understand that you’re unhappy with the way things are going. It’s a difficult situation, but remember what you told me about your brother? I know you would want to honor his name, and this can really make a difference.”

His brother?

“I told you that in confidence. Not so you could use it against me.”

“That’s not what I’m doing. And I would never use the trust you gave me to hurt you in any way.”

The rest of what she was saying faded out as I ran her words over and over in my head.The trust you gave me… I didn’t want to believe that anything happened between them when he was working with the senator, but I also didn’t miss the intimate tone in her voice when she was speaking about their conversations. What had happened with Spencer? I knew he died, but Kavanaugh never told me the circumstances of his death. And I hadn’t thought to push because it seemed like a sensitive topic. Now, I was wishing I had just so I had some fucking clue of what was going on.

“The fact is, you need to cut her loose. She’s a liability at this point,” the senator snapped. “If you want to see this bill get off the ground, I need your help on the campaign trail, and that means coming out on the road with your fiancée and me. It would be a shame if it failed all because you wouldn’t help.”

I heard the disbelief in Kavanaugh’s voice. “You’re threatening to kill the bill if I don’t dump Isla and go back on the trail?”

“It’s what needs to happen.”

“It’s also a fucking joke.”

“Do you know how much funding this bill would bring in for veterans?”

“I wish I had a sound bite of this,” Kavanaugh laughed. “If only the American people could hear how you truly feel about veterans.”

“Don’t you dare threaten me, son.”

“I am not your son,” Kavanaugh bit out. “And I will not walk away from Isla to please you.”

Well, at least I had that on my side. But there was so much about this conversation that I didn’t understand and wasn’t sure I would ever really find out about if I didn’t make myself known. It seemed the only time Kavanaugh ever told me anything that was going on with him was if I caught him red-handed. But the last thing I wanted was to see the senator, knowing he despised me so much.

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