At the Pleasure of the President (The Perfect Gentlemen 5)

“Like that’s a surprise,” Gabe returned. “I’m so glad my wife works at Crawford. If she looked into Bond’s security, I would never hear the end of her horror about our lax cyber-safety protocols.”

Their voices were drifting closer. Shit. This was it.

Mad took another long drink to quell his anxiety. The Scotch was excellent. It was so fucking good to be back in civilization, back to familiar things. Freddy had the world’s cheapest tastes, mostly because he lived his entire life off the grid and on the run from whatever happened to be chasing him that week. Mad had deeply missed indoor toilets, and right now he wanted nothing more than to curl up in a real bed, take a hot shower, and forget about the rest of world for a while.

It’s going to be okay. The guys would be happy to see him, right? They were his best friends…whom he’d lied to and walked out on and gotten one of their sisters pregnant before viciously dumping her in a very public way.

Who was he kidding? They were going to make this hurt.

“Gabe, wait,” Zack said. “I should tell you something. All of you. We have a visitor. I need to explain.”

This was the tactic they’d decided on during their ride out to Camp David, the president’s playground, as some in the press had dubbed the sprawling estate in rural Maryland where a president could always be assured of privacy. A month after Zack had been inaugurated, he and all the guys had come out here, sat around a fire to talk about Joy and everything Zack had lost on his way to victory.

How did he explain everything now that the losses were stacking up and amounted to far greater than any of them had imagined?

“Okay. Let me set this down, and you can tell me about our visitor. But it better not be a stripper. I’m a married man now. Everly would kick my—” Gabe walked around the corner, then stopped in the opening of the great room, his jaw dropping.

“Hi.” Mad wasn’t sure what else to say.

Of all his friends, leaving Gabe had hurt the most. They hadn’t exactly drifted apart the way so many friends did after college and relationships and high-powered jobs. They’d stuck together through it all. Not that he wasn’t attached to them all, but Dax spent most of his time on a ship. Connor’s location had been classified for the last decade. Roman and Zack had always been on the campaign trail. But Gabe Bond had been by his side day in and day out for decades.

Dax entered behind Gabe, Connor on his heels. They all stood frozen and mute.

Mad cleared his throat. “Gabe, I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. You have no idea how often I’ve wanted to call you these last months.”

When Gabe didn’t answer, Mad swallowed tightly. How had he ever thought this would be easy? He’d anticipated that seeing Sara again would be wrenching and painful, but somehow he’d fooled himself about this reunion with his friends. For the last four months, he’d done nothing but dream of this moment. He’d envisioned himself as the white knight riding in to save everyone, so in his head they’d all been so freaking happy he wasn’t dead that they instantly forgave him.

There wasn’t an ounce of forgiveness in Gabe’s eyes as he crossed the space between them. Fuck. Zack had been right. He was about to die.

Mad began backing away. “Now, Gabe…”

Gabe wasn’t hearing it. He simply reared a fist back and punched him squarely in the face. Unlike the Russians from the night this ordeal had started, Gabe wasn’t trying to be conscientious or careful about where his blow landed. Those professionals had left his face intact so he could make public appearances without raising brows. Oh, he’d pissed blood for a week, but his mug had been perfectly beautiful.

That would not be the case today. Already, his nose stung and throbbed like a bitch. He hoped it wasn’t broken.

“You asshole,” Gabe growled, teeth bared.

“Well, I called that.” Connor stood back, shaking his head. “I knew he wasn’t really dead.”

“You didn’t call anything,” Dax argued. “Gabe, don’t kill him—yet. I want an explanation first.”

“And I’d love a couple of pounds of flesh.” Roman tossed his jacket aside, looking ready to join the fray.

Thanks to Freddy, Mad had picked up some new moves. He hadn’t spent his whole time in hiding merely learning Russian and how to use an outhouse. Now he ducked and bobbed out of range, even though he had two sides to protect. “Look, I’m willing to take one punch. I deserved it from Gabe. But Roman, I will fight back.”

“I have a cat because of you. A freaking cat. There’s an entire cat shelter in the UK I now have to maintain.” Roman grumbled like getting a feline companion was the worst thing that could happen to a man.

“You also have a fiancée,” Mad pointed out, fists still raised to protect his face. “You’re welcome.”

Roman and Augustine Spencer would never have gotten together if it hadn’t been for his meddling. Not that Roman deserved her.

“And I have a sister who cries every night.” Gabe fisted his hands at his sides, his face mottled with emotion.

The idea of Sara crying kicked Mad in the gut. “I know you won’t believe me, but I did this for her. And for you. For Everly. Hell, for all of us. Punch me later. But listen to me now. We’re in trouble, Zack especially.”

That leeched the rage out of the room.

“Mad and I had a chat on the way up here. He wanted to call a meeting. It seems that while he was on the ‘other side,’ he learned a thing or two about our Russian adversaries,” Zack said.

Connor stared pointedly at Thomas, who stood inside the door. The rest of Zack’s detail patrolled the grounds. “Should we talk right now?”

Zack shrugged. “Thomas is a plant and has been for some time. We can’t tell him anything he doesn’t already know.”

“He’s not a plant in the way you think.” They were going to be difficult. “He’s on your side, just like I am. Thomas was in the military with the guy who helped me plan my “death” and caught on to the conspiracy before anyone else. That guy, along with Matthew Kemp and Thomas, made sure the Russians didn’t embed anyone else in the president’s detail. We’ve already identified two sleeper agents working for the White House and denied them access. We believe there are at least three more who were actively spying on the president and his staff.”

“That’s not…” Roman stopped. “Holy shit, is that why I lost Janice? She up and quit because she said she needed to ‘find herself.’ She didn’t look lost to me.”

“No, but she decided to find her way back to Europe after we threatened to expose her ass,” Mad explained. “And Thomas took care of the Secret Service agent they managed to plant.”

Thomas stood at attention, staring ahead at no one in particular.

Zack stepped into his line of vision. “Is this true?”

“Yes, sir. We’ve been investigating quietly. We couldn’t afford to stir too much, and we’re not entirely sure who we can trust,” Thomas replied, his voice deep but efficient. “I managed to ferret out the agent in your detail and the woman who ran the background checks that allowed him to get through. After some…persuasion, she was very helpful in letting us know who she’d placed, as well as where she and her handlers intended to target next. But we still don’t know about people here for a while, especially those embedded in your campaign staff.”

“Shit.” Roman’s shoulders slumped. “I want every bit of information you’ve got. If it involved our staff, I need to know.”

Zack stood in front of the man who’d been his protector since he’d taken the oath of office. “Who are you loyal to?”

“I am loyal to the United States of America and to the office of the President,” Thomas replied.

But not to Zack Hayes. Mad groaned. He’d hoped Thomas would play this with more finesse, but he should have known the man was too much of a straight-shooter to tap dance around the truth.

After a moment of silence, Zack held out his hand. “That’s what I needed to know. If ever there comes a time that I, for an

y reason, compromise this office, I expect you to do your job.”

“I will, sir. But this evening, I’ll do it from outside. You six have some talking to do,” the agent said with a hint of a smile. “I’ve informed the detail that this is a boys’ weekend. They will be appropriately discreet.”