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

“How can you be so sanguine about this?” Gus was usually the first one to rail against restrictions, not agree with them.

“I grew up with a Southern momma, a Navy admiral for a father, and an alpha male brother. And don’t get me started on Roman. I’m used to overly protective types. Besides, I don’t mind staying in. I think I’m getting old. I’ve gotten to where I prefer books over bars.”

Liz had always preferred them, but her nights in lately hadn’t been relaxing. Well, except for the hours Zack’s magical touch took her out of her head. When he made love to her, she forgot everything else. “Well, I’m looking forward to the trip overseas next month. I never thought I would consider a trip to the G7 Summit a vacation.”

“Anything has got to be better than sitting around waiting for a bomb to go off.” Gus stared down at the contract. “These look good, but Roman will want to go over them with a fine-tooth comb. I’m sure he’ll demand a bunch of changes for the hell of it.” Her gaze climbed up, and she studied Liz intently. “I’m worried my fiancé has it in his head that someone close to Zack is working with the enemy.”

Liz glanced back, making sure the door was closed before sinking into the chair across from Gus. “Did they find anything while they were going through the personnel files?”

Not being able to be a part of the investigation was wearing on Liz. But she and Zack couldn’t stop running the country to focus on their hush-hush inquiry. Too many questions would arise. So they were forced to rely on the rest of the group for answers.

Gus hesitated. “They’ve identified a couple of people they’re unsure about.”

Liz had worked with Gus long enough to read her cues. “What are you not telling me?”

Gus knotted her hands together as though trying to stop a nervous tic. “Can you think of a reason my incredibly suspicious ass of a fiancé would be investigating you?”

“Me? Roman is investigating me?”

“One of the private investigators he often uses sent him a report yesterday. I caught a glimpse, and it was pretty much a rundown of your whole life. Birth certificate. College transcripts. Validation of your résumé. I believe he talked to a couple of your childhood and college friends. Why would Roman do that?”

Liz felt her stomach flip over. “I don’t know. Is he looking into all of us? Or everyone who hasn’t been around since y’all were kids? I mean, it makes sense to vet the girlfriend of the president, though I went through all of this when I was hired. I’ve worked tirelessly for Zack for years.”

“Yes, they did a full background check. Even I went through the process when I came on board.” Gus drummed her nails against the top of her desk, a sure sign her mind was churning.

“So…I don’t understand.”

“I’m starting to think the guys don’t trust you, and that worries me. Liz, are you working with the bad guys?”

“Are you kidding me? Of course not. That’s ridiculous! I’m going to kick Roman’s ass.”

“Excellent.” Gus smiled, obviously relieved. “He’s way too deep into his own paranoia. Let’s all have dinner tonight and drag this shit into the light. We can have a good old-fashioned screaming match and get it over with.”

At least Zack didn’t feel that way, although she could easily see how Roman’s suspicious nature might influence him.

Wait. What if the tension she’d been feeling from him lately stemmed from more than their current conundrum? What if he was worried Roman’s suspicions were true?

“Hey, don’t frown. And don’t worry. This is what Roman does. He’s not an optimist. Where other people see sunshine, he sees melanoma.” Gus leaned closer. “Sometimes it’s cute. Sometimes it makes me want to strangle him.”

Liz was gathering a comeback when someone knocked on the door, then shoved it open.

Gus sighed at the sight of the woman in the doorway. “Yes, Vanessa. Please come in.”

“Something’s happening.” She glanced behind her. “Turn on the news.”

Liz followed Vanessa’s gaze. Sure enough, the whole office was buzzing. She stood, worry flooding her veins. “What?”

Gus reached for the remote on her desk and clicked it. The television monitor on the opposite wall flickered on. A noted news anchor’s face filled the screen.

“I think it’s the president.” Vanessa clutched her phone. “What should we do? We’re already getting calls.”

“Oh my god,” Gus breathed, going pale.

Liz’s heart stopped when she heard what the news anchor was saying.

“We don’t have details yet, but we’re getting multiple reports of an assassination attempt on President Zachary Hayes.”

Liz did her best to tamp down her panic as she strode out of her office and into the main hub of press relations at the White House. Everyone started shouting questions her way. She didn’t hear any of them because her whole being was focused on one thing—getting to Zack. Work wasn’t registering in that moment. She wasn’t a press secretary; she was a woman in love, desperate to know if her lover was alive.

“I’ll come with you.” Gus took her hand. “Roman was with him, right? Where were they going?”

The world seemed to slow even as her thoughts raced. Liz forced herself to focus on Gus because if she didn’t, she would lose her mind. Where was Zack now? Was he even still alive?

Suddenly, she felt transported back to that awful evening in Memphis, standing in the auditorium and hearing the crack of the bullet, feeling the ground shift as the crowd sprinted for the exits. And seeing the blood. So much blood…

“They were on the south lawn,” Liz managed to eke out. “Jogging. He and Roman wanted to be outside.”

“I’m going to kill that man myself.” The second the words passed Gus’s lips, she paled. “I’m sorry, Liz. I didn’t mean it.”

“It’s fine.” All that mattered was Zack.

She squeezed Gus’s hand, then started to plow through the small crowd staring at the monitors all around the press office. Every single news channel was covering this story.

Liz refused to wait around for cable news to tell her what had happened. She was going to find Zack herself.

In the distance, she heard sirens. Her stomach plummeted with dread, and she sent up a silent prayer that Zack would be all right. She couldn’t lose him. She couldn’t, not when they’d finally found each other and were getting so close to the life they’d both dreamed of, to the family they wanted.

She was nearly to the doors when they crashed open. Two men in dark suits strode in. Secret Service.

“What’s happening?” Gus demanded immediately of the one who looked like he was in charge. “Where are they now?”

There was no question who “they” were. If Zack had been hit, Roman would have stayed with him, accompanied him to the hospital.

The agent touched a Bluetooth device attached to his ear and ignored her questions entirely, instead replying to whoever was speaking in his ear. “Yes, sir. I’ve sent a team to secure the vice president. I’m bringing Ms. Matthews down. Yes, sir. I’ll let her know.”

The icy-eyed agent grabbed her arm.

“What’s happening?” Liz could barely contain her panic.

“I’m here to escort you downstairs, Ms. Matthews,” he replied. “I have orders to take you to a secure location. Ms. Spencer, Mr. Calder would like you to stay in your office and wait for his call. He’s uninjured.”

“I’ll go with Liz,” Gus offered.

The second of the two agents stepped in front of her, coming between the women. “I’m sorry, Ms. Spencer. We have our orders.”

Liz looked back, pure terror in her veins. Why would they leave Gus behind…unless Zack wasn’t okay? Tears pooled in her eyes and she all but ran, trying to hurry the agent to Zack’s side. Behind her, the world was erupting as the other agent moved everyone else into the press room.

“What hospital is the president at?” she asked, her voice shaking.