Restrained Under His Duty (Dirty Little Secrets 3)

Hadley doesn’t. She wipes her mouth and then stands still, staring at the article, like she’s unsure what to do or say with her father here.

Luckily, she’s got me for this. “As I was going to say to your father, no, I don’t think this tabloid article is going to be a problem for him.”

Hadley whips her head around to her father and glares. “A problem for you? Why on earth would this be a problem for you?”

He leans back on the couch, and replies, cool and collected as always, “Because when you’re a senator, the things your daughter does can cause ripples.”

I watch the way Hadley flinches, and I know where her mind is: the video. Which is something that doesn’t stray far from her mind, I’m sure. I note the guilt in her eyes and feel for her. Most women can live their lives without having to worry how their actions will affect their father’s career. She’d been smart about joining the club and she’d taken every precaution to keep her secrets private. The fault for all this falls on the blackmailer’s shoulders, not hers.

Regardless, that darkness in her expression brings out my desire to protect her from it all. If that video gets out, lives will be destroyed. Her reputation will be forever ruined, but so will the senator’s. Because if one thing is true, the public has a long memory, and the senator will always be known as the father of the girl with the raunchy sex tape.

Obviously Hadley doesn’t want to think too much about her guilt, because she shifts the conversation back to me and gives me a sly smirk. “Didn’t you say that you had the tabloids under control?”

That’s what I was thinking, too, but that only confirms my suspicions. “When it is about me and my life, yes, I have the tabloids under control.” I take the paper back from her and study the picture again, seeing from the angle that it’s very likely someone took the photo from somewhere by the bridge. The chance of finding the exact location is slim. “Seeing that clearly someone is keeping such close tabs on Hadley, considering how personal this photo is, and then selling that photo to the tabloids, I don’t believe this is about me.”

“Then who would it be about?” the senator asks.

“You.”

His brows shoot up. “Me?”

“This corruption you spoke of has followed you home,” I explain.

The senator places his coffee down and rises from the couch, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Explain.”

I sigh, glancing down at the paper in my hand. “There’s nothing new in this article from what was written before.” I silently read it again to spare Hadley’s embarrassment and the senator’s discomfort: Wedding bells for the gorgeous bodyguard and the senator’s daughter? Our sources say yes! I scrunch the paper in my hand and toss it onto the coffee table. “Whenever something is leaked about me or my friends, it’s always something personal and something new, a fresh story.”

Hadley catches on quickly. “And this is simply a new photo, with basically the same story as the last article about us?”

I nod. “Exactly. It’s almost like the photo was delivered and the tabloids simply had to come up with something to write. They’ve already said we were a couple in previous articles. This isn’t new. But the photo is scandalous enough they couldn’t not print it.”

The senator cocks his head. “And is that what you are? A couple?”

Hadley looks to me for help, but I stay silent. My body. My rules. That’s what she told me. She can’t have it both ways.

Obviously seeing that I have no intention of helping her, she finally turns to her father. “This is…we are…it’s new.”

“That’s what Ryder said,” her father comments dryly.

“Well, he’s right,” Hadley confirms, glancing at me. Clearly done with that line of questioning, she adds, “So, what do you think this all means then?”

I give her the grin she deserves. If her father wasn’t here, I would’ve kissed her, right then and there, for being so damn ballsy. “I think this all comes back to you,” I say to the senator. “And I think that because Hadley received an email.”

“What kind of email?” he asks, frowning.

“The email threatened her that if you don’t give up your senate seat, trouble would come your way.” I feel the chill in the air, and when I look at Hadley, I see the slight worry in her eyes. “It’s a threat we need to take seriously,” I gently remind her.

The senator moves a little closer to Hadley. That desire to protect her is something I completely understand.

Her father asks her gently, “When did you get this email?”

“Just recently.”

I fight my smile. She might get away with that indirect talk with her father but she’d never with me.

The senator turns to me, his expression twisted with worry. “Is Hadley in any kind of danger?”

“Not at this moment,” I tell him honestly. “If that changes, you’ll be the first to know.”