He leaned over and kissed her on the bridge of her nose. “You do that. Hey, maybe I should join you.”
She pushed at his chest, laughing. “You have an appointment with Roman. I’ll see you tonight.”
She opened the door, poking her head out.
“The coast is clear, Ms. Matthews. Well, mostly clear,” Thomas said.
“What the hell?” Roman. His chief of staff had come looking for him.
Well, it wasn’t like he hadn’t found Roman in compromising positions before.
“Sorry. Zack and I, um…needed to talk about something private,” she stammered. “I’ll be in my office if anyone needs me.”
Zack watched her practically run away.
“Really, Zack? In the China Room?” Roman braced his hands on his hips as he glared Zack’s way. “Is nothing sacred?”
“It’s my house.”
“It’s the people’s house.”
Zack shrugged. “Well, I’m occupying it, and that means I get to do fun stuff in it. I assure you presidents have had sex in the White House before. Lots of sex. Way more than me.”
“Well, you’re making up for it now. She forgot something. You might want to grab that or the staff will wonder who’s been here.” Roman pointed behind him.
A scrap of lace lay on the floor and Zack scooped it up, easing her panties into the pocket of his pants. He grinned, feeling lighter than he had. Perfectly content to go about his business for the rest of the day.
“Thanks for the save.” He looked at his chief of staff, who still wore a frown. “So what’s shoved up your ass this afternoon, and why hasn’t Gus fixed that yet?”
Roman glowered. “I don’t know that I like the new Zack.”
He shrugged. It was also good to know he could shock his oldest friend from time to time. “Get used to it. Walk with me.”
Roman fell into step beside him. “I need to talk to you.”
“You always need to talk to me. We work together.”
“Zack, I’m serious. I visited the bunker and talked to Mad. He and Sara have found some ties your grandfather had to some interesting people.”
And just like that his good mood was blown. “The syndicate?”
Roman pressed his lips together. “You know your grandfather started out in the state senate.”
Of course. “He represented Little Odessa in the beginning.” It was an area also known as Brighton Beach, a working-class district. But his grandfather’s family had decided it would be an easy way to get into state politics since they had Russian ancestors. “That’s not a surprise.”
“No, but Mad managed to find records of political donations to his campaign.”
“God, tell me it wasn’t Krylov.”
“I wish I could,” Roman replied. “Look, it’s a whisper right now, nothing more. But it does suggest that they could have been applying this pressure to your family for a very long time. It also explains why your grandfather wanted your father to take that position in Moscow instead of the British post.”
He’d told Roman all about the talk he’d had with his father. They’d made careful notes. Not careful enough for his chief of staff, who’d been upset that Zack hadn’t come to him first. Roman would be even more upset if he knew he’d already told Elizabeth about the conversation. After he’d made love to her, he’d held her close and let out everything that had happened between himself and his father. He admitted how worried he was. She’d lain her head on his chest and promised she would be with him through anything that came their way.
He’d actually slept that night. It had been such a surprise to open his eyes when the alarm went off and feel so rested.
“Zack, nothing’s changed, you know,” Roman said quietly. “I hate to be the bad guy here, but we still have no idea if Liz is involved in this mess. She talked to Gus last night about putting off our interview and denying the story.”
“Because she’s worried about some threats Paul Harding made.”
“Or she’s gotten new orders.”
“Why would she have laid out such a perfect plan for handling the threats against me if she was working with the enemy?” He was getting sick of Roman’s constant suspicion. “You agreed to the plan. You thought it was brilliant.”
“Yes,” Roman agreed. “It was brilliant, and it’s also an excellent way to quiet any worries that she might be working against us. How long was she alone with Paul?”
Here they went again. “I have no idea. I only know that what he said upset her.”
“Did anyone else see or hear this conversation?”
“Of course not. Paul is too wily to threaten me in front of a group of people. Besides, he was already in her office when she got there.”
“He felt comfortable enough to just wander into her office? She doesn’t keep it locked? I find that interesting. She’s got a lot of sensitive material in there.” Roman’s voice was a snake inside his head, rattling and slithering.
Elizabeth also had a lot of people come in and out of her office all day because they needed things from inside. She was smart. She wouldn’t simply leave sensitive materials out in the open, and she would have her laptop locked down. “I wouldn’t want Paul standing around and talking to the press staff. I’m fine with the fact he waited for her. Yes, I hear you. You don’t trust her and you wish I would focus on my job. You’ve made that point abundantly clear, Roman. I’m getting bored by it.”
“Do you think I want to disappoint you? I told you I hate being the bad guy, but damn it, you’re not some salesman who might lose a couple of bucks if your girlfriend is trying to take your leads. You’re the president and the whole country loses if you aren’t vigilant.”
He turned on his friend. “Do you think I don’t know that?”
“I worry that you’re distracted, Mr. President.”
Anger thrummed through his system, a rage he could barely keep contained. All his life he’d waited for an ounce of fucking happiness. Now that he’d finally managed to find some, Roman was determined to shit all over it. But Zack bit back his attitude. Barely. Instead, he took a long breath and smoothed out his suit, well aware that a hallway wasn’t the place to have this argument.
In fact, right now there was no good place to have it out with Roman. He needed space. “I’ll get back to work then.”
Roman sighed. “Can we talk? Let’s have lunch and discuss this.”
So his best friend could drag Elizabeth through the mud some more? “I’ll pass. After all, it’s been pointed out to me that I don’t work enough. I’ll see you tonight when we get together with the others.”
Roman called out his name, but Zack didn’t turn around.
He simply kept walking to his office and never looked back.
Chapter Eleven
Liz stood outside the door to the Red Room and wondered briefly what Jackie Kennedy would have thought about the current connotations of “red room.” This particular room of the White House had been decorated in scarlet shades since the Polk administration, and over the years luminaries like Louis Comfort Tiffany had been commissioned to renovate it. The stunning room was picture perfect, all done in crimsons and golds, with classic Empire-style furniture and drapes.
It was also where the women had gathered this evening. Liz hesitated to join them because she wasn’t sure she really belonged.
“Is something wrong?” a soft voice asked from behind her. “Please tell me we’re not getting kicked out. I’ve been cooped up in that bunker for a week, and it’s driving me crazy. I can’t go back yet.”
Liz turned to fi
nd Sara Bond in the hallway. She looked elegant in her plain sheath with her hair pinned up, despite the fact that she wore very little makeup and the swell of her belly was no longer deniable.
What would it feel like to be pregnant? To be having Zack’s child? Would it make her feel closer to him? Or would she simply be more worried about the future of their relationship?
Liz stepped back. “No, I was just thinking I should skip this party and get back to work. Go ahead. I know you ladies have a lot to catch up on.”
“If by ‘catching up’ you mean everyone asking whether or not I’ve forgiven Mad, then I’m sure we do.” Sara brushed back a tuft of hair that had escaped her twist. “Come with me. If you’re feeling like you don’t belong because your relationship with Zack is new, don’t. In a lot of ways, you’ve been a couple for years. All of us have known you two would get together. It was only a matter of time. If anything, I’m the one who doesn’t belong, but I had to get out of that bunker, especially when the guys all descended like well-dressed wolves. Everly escorted me up here since it’s after hours and I’m not the one who’s supposed to be dead.”
The men were gathering down in the bunker so the staff didn’t spot Mad. But as Sara pointed out, it wasn’t a problem if anyone saw her, so Liz wasn’t sure why Gabe’s sister hadn’t been allowed out of the bunker before now. “Did you ask why you’ve been locked up?”
Sara waved the question away. “Zack did that for Mad’s sake. It’s another one of his plots.”
Of course. “I’ll get you a room outside the bunker.”
Sara paused, looking thoughtful for a moment. “Don’t. It’s been good for us. We’re talking again and that will benefit our daughter.”
“I’m happy to hear it.” Gus approached, bottle of vodka in hand. “Head on in. We won’t have long, and I want to make sure we exchange all the necessary information before the boys realize they shouldn’t have insisted we stay out of their discussion. We need privacy, ladies, so we’re serving ourselves tonight, but Lara is a surprisingly good bartender.”