Page 14 of Claimed
Jasper pressed his lips together. “They never said what, only that they came up empty-handed. But she stayed because of the gross sexual misconduct, which wasn’t a federal offense, but she had collected enough data to turn over to theauthorities.”
“Humph. Then there will be an investigation?” I asked, feeling optimistic.
Jasper pressed his lips together again and released them. “They no longer have witnesses who are willing to come forward.”
I sighed forcefully. “Shit. What happened?”
“Valentine.”
“Did he pay them off?”
“I’m guessing that’s one of the methods he employed. I’m surethere are others.”
“But he sure got results quickly.”
Jasper glanced at me with his eyebrows raised. “That’s very astute of you to recognize there was an issue with the timing. We were compromised.”
I loved it when he paid me those little compliments. Yes, they were small, but they were starting to mean so much. “Do you know who compromised us?”
He frowned as if hehad just taken a shot of vinegar. “I have my suspicions, but for now, I’d rather not say. Are you okay with that?”
There was openness in his expression that made me want to grab him, hold him tight, and never let go. Here was a man who was used to telling everybody what to do and how, and he was asking if I was okay with not receiving an answer to a question I’d asked.
“You’re beautiful,”he whispered.
Only then did I realize I was smiling at him. “Thanks. And yes, it’s okay if you keep your suspicion to yourself.”
He kissed me tenderly. What normally happened when our lips connected in such a way did happen; my mind spun and rose past the tempestuous sky.
“I have another question,” I said breathlessly.
“What is it?” he whispered.
Our faces werestill close. I loved being this intimate with him.
“So Valentine is still interested in keeping your name squeaky-clean so that you can be the next president of the United States?”
The thought reminded me of how far Jasper and I were from being a couple who could live their love in the sunlight of the real world instead of the shadows of secrecy.
Jasper calmly kissed the backof my hand. “It wasn’t my name we were going to destroy.”
I looked at him with my mouth open, waiting for him to say more.
“Julia was going to take the fall,” he said. “She was going to admit that she knew what was going on while working as communications director, before her promotion to vice president.”
I wiggled my head. “Wait. She worked for your company before you madeher vice president of communications?”How could I have not known that?
“Yes, Holly. And Julia was prepared to say on television that our fathers ordered her to cover it all up and she obliged.”
I could hardly believe Julia was willing to fall on her sword. But then I recalled how miserable she looked whenever I saw her, as though the mere act of breathing tormented her.
I was struck by a thought. “So you were planning on making Julia an inappropriate first lady.”
“It was our plan, not just mine. I didn’t have to destroy Julia to annihilate her father.”
Every time he spoke of destroying Arthur Valentine, it made me nervous. First of all, I wondered if Jasper ultimately planned on murdering the man.
“Annihilate her father?” I asked in an attemptto get him to reveal something about what sort of harm he meant to cause his nemesis.
