Page 40 of Courting Gossip (Courting)
Which she never should have been in the first place.
The familiar rage bubbled up inside him, and he gritted his teeth. She was smart, outgoing and friendly. How had she fallen into such a profession? And why? She could be anything she wanted to be. He knew she wasn’t afraid to try new things or to work hard. Look at how she’d taken over his house. She’d been diving into projects all week. How long had she been doing this? And why, damn it?
He watched the senator move about the crowd. The man was easy to pick out with his silver hair and boisterous laugh. His assistants were close by. Still, Brody couldn’t shake the metallic taste in his mouth.
His Jenny could do so much better.
Suddenly, the senator raised his head. Brody straightened from the column. He knew that look.
He quickly swept the crowd, looking for the flash of red hair. Instead, he found a blonde in four-inch heels who was spinning heads around like a lighthouse beacon. Nina Lockwood had arrived. She meandered through the crowd, talking to people and networking. She was a petite woman and sexy as hell, but there was an air of power about her.
Frankly, she owned the room. As owner of Luxxor Limited, she probably had more dirt on the political players here than he did. Brody’s knuckles bumped against the marble column, and he realised he’d curled his hands into fists. The woman was the one who’d set Genieve up with the senator.
And Gunderson was drawn right back to the flame.
Brody swore as he started moving. What did Samuel think he was doing? Going to apologise? Ask for forgiveness? Beg for a second chance? Did he want to keep his senatorial seat or not? The female assistant reached to catch Gunderson’s arm, but he pulled away and kept going.
‘Shit,’ Brody muttered. He adjusted course and put himself directly between Samuel and the blonde powerbroker. Samuel was so intent on her, he didn’t see him.
‘Going somewhere?’ Brody asked.
Gunderson stopped short just as they were about to collide. ‘I thought I’d pay my respects. I’m sure I’m not on Nina’s good list.’
‘If you go over there, you won’t be on mine either. We’ve been doing our best to disavow any connection between you and Luxxor. Do you want to throw all that work into the trash?’
The senator ran his finger along his collar and glanced around self-consciously. ‘I was simply going to ask her if she received the flowers.’
Again with the flowers? Brody’s fists clenched all over again. Did the man not understand how connections between people were traced? They were going to have to have a refresher course on the basics, but first, they needed to get through the night. He pointed at a table of appetisers in the opposite direction. ‘The crackers with salami look tasty.’
A spark of stubbornness lit Gunderson’s eyes, but he knew he was pushing his luck. He turned and headed for the food table. With a jerk of his head, Brody sent his assistants after him. Only once he was sure disaster had been averted did he turn on Nina himself. She’d wandered over to the side of the room to look at the artwork.
He strode across the expansive room, blending in with all the other men in their black and white tuxedos. What was she even doing here tonight? The scandal had been rocking her world, too. Luxxor lived behind the scenes in the very public life of DC. Did she want to blow the doors wide open?
Her brown eyes flared when she spotted him, but then her gaze turned contemplative. She gave him a once-over as he approached and moved silently behind a pillar to await him. She wasn’t running, and Brody prepped himself for battle. He didn’t know what he wanted to say to her, but none of it was good.
She swept up two fresh glasses of champagne from a passing waiter and offered him one as he arrived. He glowered at her, but took the fragile glass. He downed half of the bubbly with one gulp. She let an eyebrow lift, and his shoulders dropped. She wasn’t his enemy here. If anything, they needed to work together to shut this whole fiasco down.
‘He’s not the brightest bulb in the pack,’ she murmured as she took a sip of champagne herself.
‘Dim,’ Brody agreed. He rolled his head on his shoulders and finally looked at her. She was beautiful, but he could see through the pretty exterior. The woman was tough and manipulative. She had to be, but from Genieve’s point of view her boss also had her people’s backs. Despite the line of work, he had to appreciate that.
He raked a hand through his hair. ‘He wanted to know if you received the flowers.’
‘He shouldn’t have sent them.’
‘I told him that.’
She circled her champagne flute and watched the gold liquid swirl. ‘How is Genieve?’
‘Bored.’ It was a simple summation for such a complicated creature. By turns, she was bored, nervous, hyperactive, sexy, helpful, insightful, funny and frustrating. So damn sexually frustrating. ‘She doesn’t do bored well.’
Nina held back a smile. ‘No, she doesn’t.’
‘She’s broken up with the senator,’ he said, matter-of-factly.
‘I’m aware. I’ve taken care of the paperwork.’
‘No, I mean that’s the story we’re going with.’ He drank more champagne. It was actually convenient to have her here. It was time to get down to business, and she was the one dealing with the detective on the case. ‘Genieve was a victim of the political limelight. She was mortified by the break-in and doesn’t want to deal with Gunderson’s world.’
