Hot Item (Hot Zone 3)

She swallowed hard and met his gaze, the fear of losing him all-consuming. But the fear of committing to someone and not knowing exactly what would come next was too overwhelming for her to contemplate.

She reached out and touched his cheek, as she answered his question in the most honest way she could. “Probably not,” she said, ducking beneath his arm and running from his apartment far and fast. Running from him and everything he made her feel.

SPENCER ARRIVED at The Waldorf Astoria hotel for his meeting with Senator Harlan Nash. He wasn’t early. He wasn’t fashionably late. He was exactly on time. He didn’t know if he should be thanking Yank or wanting to murder him for encouraging—or more like forcing him—to set up this appointment.

He knocked on the door and the other man promptly answered and let him inside. There was no need for a formal “hello” or “how are you.”

Spencer settled into a seat in the spacious outer room of the suite.

“Drink?” Senator Nash asked.

“Whiskey,” Spencer said.

“I think I’ll join you.” The senator poured them each a shot and then sat, sliding Spencer’s glass toward him on the table by the couch.

When they both had their drinks in hand, they stared each other down until, finally, Spencer had had enough. “Can we agree on one thing? That we both have Riley’s best interest at heart?”

Harlan nodded. “We always have.”

“And for all these years, you’ve done my job,” Spencer admitted. “You raised my son to be a damn fine man and for that I owe you.” The words didn’t come easily, but they were long overdue.

“Before you go on, there’s something you should know.” Harlan rose and paced the carpeted floor. “This news leak was the last thing I needed in my career. And public humiliation is the last thing I wanted for my family.”

Spencer nodded. “It’s been no picnic for me, either,” he muttered. “And if you think I stayed out of my son’s life all these years only to have him find out anyway, you’d be sadly mistaken.”

The senator paused and turned to face Spencer. “Then you’d understand if I told you I would have done almost anything to ensure the news never came out.”

Spencer allowed himself to enjoy the burn of the whiskey as it traveled down his throat before replying. “Your point?” Spencer finally asked, unwilling to let this powerful man think he was rattled or thrown by either their meeting or whatever the senator had to say.

Although Spencer had called for this meeting, the other man had agreed readily and obviously had an agenda of his own. Which was fine with Spencer, since he hadn’t let the other man in on what he wanted out of this talk. Not yet, anyway.

“What we say tonight never leaves this room,” Harlan said, his words more a command than a question.

Spencer nodded. “Agreed, although I have to wonder why you’d take me at my word.”

The other man downed his drink and poured himself another. “Because you’re Riley’s flesh and blood and anything said here tonight can only hurt him. Since you spent a lifetime making certain that never happened, I have no choice but to trust you now.”

“You mean since I spent a lifetime staying away from him?”

Harlan nodded. “I can’t imagine you’d waste all those years of doing the right thing just to get back at me.”

Spencer exhaled hard. “No more games, Senator.”

“In November I have an election against a tough opponent. I needed every edge I could find against a man who isn’t afraid to fight dirty,” Harlan said, beginning to explain at last. “When the news broke about your lifestyle,” he said choosing a diplomatic term, “the last thing I needed was someone making the connection between you and my family.”

Spencer nodded. “So far I’m following you.”

“I also knew Riley had tracked you down and extracted a promise that you wouldn’t suddenly decide that with one secret revealed it was time to let the rest of the skeletons out of the closet and admit he was your son.” The senator shoved his hands into his front pants pockets and stared vacantly, his mind obviously preoccupied with telling his tale.

He

’d certainly captured Spencer’s interest. “Something tells me my word wasn’t enough.”

Harlan let out a harsh laugh. “Not in that particular case. I needed you too preoccupied to even think about bonding with your son or talking to the media.”

Spencer narrowed his gaze. “So you…”

“Paid someone to sabotage you. Nothing that would destroy your business for good. Just a little something to keep you busy.”