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

In fact, the blackmailer had threatened everyone even remotely close to the president. He’d vowed to expose the emails Roman and Joy had exchanged during the campaign when they’d been having a non-physical but emotional affair. He’d procured a sex tape Gus had made with a past sexual partner. Both Roman and Gus had offered to release their “sins” to the public to render those threats pointless. But the blackmailer had even more damning dirt.

Following Mad’s death, the FAA had opened an investigation into the crash. The blackmailer claimed he had proof Zack had pressured the organization to halt their inquiries so Gabe wouldn’t be implicated in their friend’s death. Gabe swore he’d had nothing to do with Mad perishing, just as Zack vowed he hadn’t interfered with the investigation. But how would that play out in the court of public opinion? Collectively, they might be able to weather the storm, but the blackmailer also had information about Connor’s involvement in a CIA op that resulted in the death of a cartel head’s son. If word got out that Connor had participated in that raid, the cartel would stop at nothing to destroy him. And while the operative could handle almost any threat that came his way, they wouldn’t hesitate to take their revenge out on his gentle wife, Lara.

More than once Liz had offered to quit so the blackmailer could no longer use her sister’s past to threaten Zack, but he’d merely fired the lawyer Anne had hired and sent in a high-priced pit bull to deal with the fallout.

Liz frowned. Zack didn’t want her, but he refused to let her go. It made no sense.

“You don’t have to do anything at all,” Gus promised. “The new attorney is handling everything. Besides, that case is based in Atlanta, and you’re not going there for the weekend. You’re confined to DC, right? We all are. Bastards.”

The men were concerned something could happen to one of their wives/fiancées since Zack hadn’t given the blackmailers what they wanted. But Liz didn’t know why she’d been included in the restrictions. It wasn’t as if she mattered to Zack personally anymore.

Unless Zack suspected she would betray him.

After weeks of consideration, that was the only logical reason she could figure for his insistence that she stay on his staff and remain confined to the White House. Keep your enemies closer and all that.

Liz sighed. When had they become enemies? She couldn’t pinpoint a moment. After that fateful day in Memphis, he’d pulled back. Not surprising since he’d become a widower and been elected president in the same week. But instead of getting closer to her as he healed and found his feet, he’d grown more distant. Then recently, he’d told her that his feelings for her had changed, and he now thought of her as a sister. Nothing could have stabbed her heart any more.

She would never be able to think of him as a brother. Never. She couldn’t look at him in one of those tailor-made suits, with his broad shoulders and that granite-cut jawline, and feel any sense of familial connection to him—unless she counted the fact that she’d once thought she might have a family with him.

“No, I’m going to talk to him on the phone,” Liz admitted. “I just want an update on how it’s going.”

“You have to know Zack won’t allow anything to happen to your sister.” Gus crossed her arms over her chest in that “big sister is about to lecture you” way. “There’s more going on than we imagined, Liz. Be patient with Zack. He has his reasons. I don’t know all of them, but I believe with every fiber of my being that man is still in love with you.”

He’d never been in love with her. Maybe he’d thought so once, years ago. Maybe it had merely been lust. But no one who loved another person could be as cold as Zack had been recently. He’d seemingly turned angry, too. She couldn’t soothe him anymore. In fact, her presence only seemed to perturb him.

Liz was prepared to argue the point when a brisk knock sounded on her door. Gus opened it.

Vanessa paused in the portal. “I told him you were about to leave.”

As the officious man skulked through the door, Gus groaned. Liz was tempted to join in. Vice President Wallace Shorn hadn’t been chosen to round out Zack’s ticket for his charm. The older man, whose suit was a bit too tight around the middle, projected calm and experience, at least according to Franklin Hayes before he’d succumbed to dementia. Together with Joy’s father, they’d selected Shorn, a senator from Florida, to balance out Zack’s northeast-elite vibe.

“What are we doing about all the rumors flying around following the meeting with the prime minister?” Wallace demanded, a frown creasing his face. “Does the president even understand what he did by refusing to talk about the pipeline? I’ve put months into that project. Mind you, I told him it was a bad idea in the first place. It’s going to get us into a war we can’t win, but I was willing to go along with it because I’m a team player. Then he announced it’s all up in the air without even consulting me. My neck is on the line here. I’ve made promises. Hell, I’ve got a meeting with the gas lobby next week, and I have no idea what to say.”

“You should talk to the president,” Gus replied. “Somehow I don’t think the press secretary has the answers you need.”

Wallace sent a withering look Gus’s way. “Do you think I would be in here if Hayes would take my calls? He’s avoiding me. Calder set up a lunch for next week, but I need answers now. What’s going on? And what the hell happened in England? I’ve heard talk of someone from the prime minister’s contingent going missing. For that matter, how did we lose a Secret Service agent? No one is talking.”

Liz didn’t have any of those answers since Zack had shut her out. He used to tell her everything. She’d been the one he came to at the end of a day to share whatever had happened. He’d often asked for her advice. Sometimes they had dinner with Roman in the residence, and the three of them talked things out and planned their strategy. Often, they’d talked so long into the evening, she’d stayed in one of the White House’s many guest rooms. Every time, Zack walked her to the door, and she’d pretend they were everyday people on a perfectly normal date.

Had it really only been a few months since she’d straightened his tie before they’d attended a private fundraising party? She remembered the evening like it was yesterday. They’d flown up to New York together, and she’d ensured he’d worn the right suit. He hadn’t protested when she’d fussed over him. If anything, he’d eased closer. Then he’d told her how beautiful she looked.

That night, his stare had vowed it was only a matter of time before mourning and circumstance would no longer keep them apart. That expression had promised they would find a way to be together.

That expression had lied.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Vice President. I know as much as you do about the president’s current thoughts on the pipeline. He chose not to announce his reasoning in England.” She wasn’t getting in the middle of that fight. She would do her job and run the press office. She would stand in front of the press corps and dutifully answer every question to the best of her ability. She wouldn’t organize Zack’s life anymore, nor would she be the buffer between him and his annoyances any longer. Roman could manage that. He was chief of staff and an insider. Liz had become merely an employee, and he didn’t pay her enough to deal with this crap.

“Don’t treat me like I’m stupid. Everyone knows who to go to when they need something from the president. I want a meeting with Hayes and I want a full briefing on all the pipeline’s developments,” Wallace insisted, staring pointedly. “And while you’re at it, keep him in a better mood. He’s been irritable lately.”

She bristled. “What exactly is that supposed to mean?”

He rolled his eyes. “Everyone sees through the two of you. For god’s sake, apologize for whatever you’ve been fighting about and take care of the man so he’ll be in a better mood.”

Gus stepped between them. “Listen up, Wally…”

Liz had to intervene before this altercation turned ugly. Of course Shorn’s intimation was a sexist insult. But the last thing she needed was Gus dres

sing down the vice president of the United States in front of the whole press office.

Maneuvering around her friend, Liz carefully blocked anyone in the outer office from seeing her expression and she lowered her voice. “Let’s be clear about one thing: the only way I take care of the president is by being his press secretary. Your insinuation that my only value is in keeping the president sexually satisfied is offensive. I’m excellent at my job, which is restricted to relaying the president’s message and keeping unfavorable stories about him out of the press. I also assure you that if I’m capable of stopping the negative, I can release it, too. I might look like a sweet little woman, but I’ve made a career of ferreting out helpful information. For instance, Mr. Vice President, I know all about your wife’s little incident at Bloomingdale’s last month. It’s not the first time she’s been caught shoplifting, is it? The pattern of behavior suggests she’s got a problem. Oh, you’ve done a good job covering it up. I’m better, so I suggest you watch your mouth around me.”

“Is that a threat?” Wallace asked, clearly shaken.

“It’s a promise.”