Shock made her honest. “Never.”
He nodded, sighing again. “I thought not. Though you don’t strike me as a woman comfortable in the shadows, either. But that’s where you’ll have to stay if you want to keep him.”
She winced and he offered her a look of pity. “You’re right to be worried about people finding out about you. I’ve seen it before. You’re not exactly the right type for this rodeo, are you? You’re too sexual, too outspoken. Strong women are intimidating, and when people are intimidated, they attack. They’ll start with your fashion and your diet, they’ll pick apart every word you say and follow you wherever you go.”
She knew that. She’d always known that.
“Your friends will be understanding at first, but that won’t last under the onslaught. The owner of the club you cherish will request your absence, for the good of the other members, and I’d lay money on the odds that at least two of your relatives, including your mother, will come forward with an interview or tell-all of their own to cash in on your new status. Meanwhile, the man you were protecting will lose his credibility story by embarrassing story. He won’t thank you for that. If the illicit affair is ripping off the Band-Aid, that way is more like torture. And not the kind anyone enjoys.”
“You say all this like it’s a given. You don’t give people enough credit to make up their own minds.” But every word he said sounded true.
His laugh held no humor. “They get all the credit. I’ve hit a level of wealth I didn’t even know existed when I started, and it’s all because of people. They want a scandal. The more upstanding the individual? The more savory their downfall will be. People’s lives are full of suffering and struggle. The daily grind has done its job and all they want at the end of the day is to see someone’s sex tape, look at celebrity mug shots and watch a politician get caught with his pants down in a bathroom, on social media, or in the home of an anonymous friend.”
The picture he was painting was unattractive and harsh. “And what do you want, Mr. Burke? Why are you telling me this?”
“It isn’t out of the goodness of my heart or because Wendi wants to take you to Italy.” He turned his back on her and moved toward his desk. “I want you to play or go away. If you play, you’ll make money and I’ll make money, but maybe you won’t be invited over to the Finns for a family Christmas.”
He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a stack of pictures. “If you go away, that is, end things with the senator and stay away from him and his family, I won’t plaster these pictures on the front page of my newspaper or anyone else’s.”
Tasha stumbled a little as she moved closer. She was bent over Stephen’s bed, handcuffed, and his hand was fisted in her hair as he took her. His house. This was Stephen’s house the night before they came here. But Brady had swept… No he hadn’t. She’d distracted him and embarrassed him into rushing out the door. “How?”
“His cleaning lady let someone in to fix a clogged toilet that morning. Honestly, I’m not sure how those little wireless cameras work, but they do. Good, clear picture. Not grainy or blurry at all.”
It was blurry. Or maybe that was just her eyes. “Why do you want me to go away?”
“I’m a simple man, Miss Rivera. I like pieces on the board I can control. The added benefit is that the senator will be less willing to have his reputation ruined by a woman who broke things off and hurt—if not his heart, then his pride.”
She couldn’t believe this was happening. Or that she could still function this well when her heart was breaking. “You said you wouldn’t use these pictures.”
“And I won’t.” He stuck them back in his drawer and slid it shut. “I have enough on you both without being that obvious. And now that I know his type, I could find someone similar to help him recover from the pain of losing you. Someone I’ve got control of from the start. Though that would take time I’m not sure I’m willing to spend. I suppose the quickest way to bring him to my side would be Seamus.”
Her hands were fists at her sides. “You need to leave his family out of this.”
Burke’s laugh was genuine. “See? You are a fighter. Loyal. I was right about you. I will say I hope it doesn’t come to that. The child’s mother isn’t fit to bear the title, but still, with our help and all the bad publicity we can muster, little Sean will be taken from the quiet, single man who collects children like baseball cards and returned to his biological parent. And Seamus will be facing charges for abduction.”