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

“Close enough to stop a bullet? Because that’s what he might have to do.”

He cupped her shoulders and forced her to look up at him. “Elizabeth, I can’t give in to blackmail. I have to move forward. I’ve got two choices at this point. I can move on and deal with whatever happens, or I can step down and allow them to work their worst on my VP, who you know is deeply vulnerable to blackmail. Which one would you have me do?”

She understood his impulse. Zack wasn’t a man used to being anything less than totally in control, but the Russians were serious. They’d killed before and they wouldn’t hesitate to do so again. “The one that makes you safe.”

“Then you picked the wrong man and we should have a long talk about our relationship.”

Frustration welled. “Zack, I’m just worried about you. If we had more time to think about this, to plan something—”

“But we don’t. Sometimes you have to force a fight out into the open in order to win it. I know what I’m doing. The question is, are you willing to stand with me or do you want to call it quits?” He loomed over her. “If you’re worried about your own safety, then I think you should hand over the press office to Gus and I’ll put you in protective custody. I know it doesn’t feel fair, but if you’re not completely with me, I’ll have to insist you stay in a safe house until this is over.”

She felt the blood leave her face. “You want me to leave?”

He shook his head. “I’m giving you all your options. You might not want to risk staying with me since you don’t agree with my plans and you’re worried it’s unsafe.”

“I didn’t know about your plans until two minutes ago,” she argued with a shake of her head. “You didn’t bother to bring me into any of your decisions and announced what was happening before I got any say. I thought we were a team.”

“We are, but you’ve always known who I am and that I won’t let you make decisions for me.” Zack’s voice had gone rough, the first sign that he was emotional at all.

“You can’t include me, even when the decision affects me? When it means our friends could be targeted?”

“Elizabeth, I have more to think about than merely our friends. Of all the people in the world, I would think you could understand that. I am the president. I don’t get to be selfish. I have to do what’s best for this country or get the fuck out of the way and hand the job over to someone who will,” Zack swore. “If I step down now, Wallace Shorn takes the White House. Then nothing will stop them. So what would you have me do? If I give in on this, they’ll want more. Should I give them our nuclear codes so you won’t be afraid?”

“That’s not at all what I said and it’s certainly not fair.”

“None of this is fair, and you arguing is only making it worse for me,” he pointed out, his jaw tight. “I’m trying so hard not to fail, to do the right thing, and you’re working against me.”

“How can you say that? I’m only asking you to be more cautious.”

“And that’s impossible.” He stepped back. “I can’t have this fight now. I’m supposed to be in a meeting in ten minutes. Following that, I have a call with the French president.”

She gathered herself with a breath. “I can feel you pulling away from me and I don’t know what to do. Would you prefer I step down and let Gus run things for you?”

“You’ll go in a safe house.”

“Zack, I’m asking you what you want. I don’t understand what’s going on between us, so you’ll have to tell me flat out. Would you like me to leave? I’ll go into the safe house if that makes things easier on you. I can be ready this afternoon, and you won’t have to see me again.”

He stared at her, expressionless. “That’s very martyr-like of you.”

“I’m not being a martyr. I simply don’t want to stay with a man who doesn’t want me anymore. I guess the chase was the excitement for you. The reality of living with me doesn’t seem to have met your expectations.”

“Elizabeth, I am trying not to fail my country.”

Liz scanned his face and did her best to see things his way. How much was this plot costing him? To her, he was behaving like a complete asshole, but the fate of the free world really was in his hands. She was caught between being selfish on behalf of the man she loved and potentially playing his doormat and fool. “I’m not trying to come between you and your duty, Zack. I don’t understand this distance between us and I don’t want to overstay my welcome. Tell me what you want from me.”

He said nothing for a long moment. Liz was terrified that he would turn and walk away from her, maybe for good. Then he bowed his head, almost as if it was too heavy to hold up, in addition to all the weight of his responsibility. “I want you to be waiting for me after work. I want us to be normal. I want to be able to concentrate on loving the woman I’ve sought for years without all the rest of this shit hanging over our heads.”

Liz felt her heart soften immediately and she reached for his hand. “I’m sorry. I’ll back off. After I distribute the pipeline documents you send me, I’ll be waiting for you this evening. We’ll shut the door and we’ll only talk about happy things, like how we’re going to make a wedding for a billionaire happen in a day and a half without actually spending any of his money.”

Liz forced a smile, willing to say almost anything to replace that hollow look in his eyes, to get back to the loving warmth they’d shared before Krylov had invaded her apartment and turned everything upside down. Was he still reeling from that incident? Zack played things very close to the vest, but his emotions also ran deep.

His lips curled up ever so slightly. “Technically, Mad is broke since he’s legally dead. Make Gabe pay for the nuptials. He inherited everything, according to Mad’s will. Besides, his sister is the bride, and her family is supposed to pay.”

“I’ll be sure to point that out to him.” She sent Zack a tentative smile.

How much was the strain of this Russian conspiracy weighing on him?

She started to walk away, but he wrapped his long fingers around her arm and tugged her back to him. “I really am trying. I won’t let you get hurt. No matter what happens. I promise. Even if things seem to go sideways, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

Liz felt like he was trying to tell her something, but she didn’t understand his message. Or maybe she was reading too much into his speech. “I know, and I’ll do my best to protect you, too.”

He hesitated, stared into her eyes. Gaging her sincerity? Then he blinked, and the look was gone. Before she could ask, he pulled her in and kissed her swiftly. “I’ll see you tonight.”

He stepped away to join Roman, who looked over his shoulder at her before they left.

She swore she saw suspicion in the chief of staff’s eyes.

What on earth…?

“I told you they were plotting,” Gus complained as she joined Liz. “Damn it. Let’s get back to the office. Apparently, we have a lot of work to do. Those bastards could have given us a freaking heads-up. And you know they won’t let us go anywhere now.”

Liz couldn’t disagree. Zack and his right-hand man were definitely plotting. Why did she suddenly have the feeling they might be plotting against her?

* * * *

Zack couldn’t get her expression out of his head.

I thought we were a team.

He hadn’t seen betrayal on her face. That he might have been able to take. Instead, he had seen sorrow. He’d made her and her feelings seem insignificant. The moment he’d realized that, he’d expended all his willpower to stop himself from dragging her into his arms and begging her forgiveness. But he couldn’t. That wasn’t part of the plan.

“I think that went surprisingly well.” Connor had been waiting in the Oval when they’d returned. He’d been a part of the early morning session hammering out the shift in their strategy for dealing with the blackmailers. Gabe and Dax had also been in on the move, which included getting Holland and Everly ready to move into the White House. Te

mporarily, he hoped.

Yesterday had proven they had to speed up this global game of chicken if they wanted to have any shot at winning.

“I don’t know about that.” Zack had projected cool and calm in front of the press, but inside he was so fucking angry he could barely see straight. Angry at the Russians and his own forefathers, who had apparently dragged him into this shitshow. Angry with Elizabeth for her seeming betrayal. Angry—so damn angry—at himself for wanting to believe her…and not quite being able to. In all his life, only his closest circle of longtime friends had never betrayed him.