Page 55 of Senator

The smile left his face. “I see.”

“I believe it is time I returned to the benefit.”

He grabbed my arm a second before I turned to leave. “You may think you won this round, but remember you need me to have any hope of making it to the White House. Don’t ever fuck with me again or I’ll make it impossible for you to run for any office ever again.”

Oscar moved in my direction as did the Secret Service officers around the room.

I shook Edgar’s hand off before things escalated into something neither of us could recover from. I knew Oscar wouldn’t hesitate to put the president on his ass if he perceived him as a danger to me.

“Threats don’t work on me, Mr. President. Your friend Decker tried this, and now he’s lucky if anyone takes him seriously. Just because I’m a woman doesn’t mean I’m weak. At this juncture of your presidency, you need me more than I need you.”

“You’re working to get Kumar elected. I see it now. Where is your party loyalty?”

“My political association does not mean I will follow blindly. For the record, I have nothing to do with the Kumar-George ticket, but if they won, I wouldn’t be disappointed.”

I walked out the door, followed closely by Oscar.

I kept my body from shaking until I reached the main hall of the hotel.

Holy shit, I’d just challenged the president and essentially told him to fuck himself.

What had come over me? I was supposed to continue to play the game.

I placed a hand over my stomach. Sooner rather than later I’d feel the wrath of tonight’s confrontation. I hoped I was the only one affected by the fallout.

“Senator, why don’t you take a few moments before you return to the ballroom?”

I nodded and took a seat on a bench positioned near a wall of glass overlooking a large garden and pond.

I rubbed my temples as I felt the first pangs of a migraine developing.

“Oscar, would you mind getting me a sparkling water?”

“Sure. Please don’t go anywhere until I return.” He gave me a stern look that said he thought I’d disappear if he wasn’t around to keep an eye on me. I guess I deserved it since I tended to keep things from him.

“I promise. I’ll stay right here.”

For the next few minutes, I gazed at the beautiful play of lights against the rippling water on the other side of the glass. Once dinner was over, Tyler and I would make our exit and then spend the evening eating junk food and watching the lights of the city below us from our condo.

“Ahh, there she is—the party’s darling.”

All the hairs on the back of my neck stood up when I heard the voice I hadn’t had to encounter in almost seven years.

I knew this day would come, but I hadn’t expected it to be tonight.

“Go away, Grey, unless you want the police to arrest you for violating the restraining order I have against you.” I kept the tremor out of my voice.

Shit, I thought I was over what he’d done to me, but with him standing behind me, the anxiety and fear surfaced as fresh as the day he’d cornered me in his family’s estate. At least this time, there were security cameras to catch everything. And I knew with no doubt, Kevin would be the first one to help me leverage any tapes against Decker Junior.

“You think I’m afraid of you? You ruined my life.”

I glanced at my phone, pretending disinterest. Hopefully, Oscar would get here soon. A tinge of sweat broke out on the back of my neck.

I had to stay calm.

“You can’t ruin a life that wasn’t remarkable in the first place.”

Fuck, why had I said anything? I knew I shouldn’t engage him.

---