Smoke and Sin (The Perfect Gentlemen 4)

That’s the last thing he wanted, but Connor could be stubborn, like a dog with a meaty bone. He stepped back into the large office reserved for the president. “Lara walked by fifteen minutes ago. She said something about the patriarchy and how she was taking over the presidential suite in the people’s name or some shit. Shouldn’t you join her? It isn’t like that room has seen any action in years. The president before Zack was five hundred and fifty years old and Zack…well, he’s a monk these days.”

“That’s not what the press thinks.” Connor shut the door, closing them away from prying ears and surveillance. He crossed to the bar and poured himself a glass of Scotch. Two fingers. Neat. Like they’d managed to find ways to drink it since before they could purchase the stuff legally. “I noticed Zack’s been out on the town a lot lately. You, too.”

“You know why he’s doing that,” he muttered, almost under his breath. For Elizabeth. He had to sell the illusion that she was nothing more than an employee.

Someone was manipulating Zack Hayes’s presidency and had been even before he’d been elected. Mad’s death a few months ago had brought the conspiracy to light. Now they had uncovered the fact that the Russian mob had woven tendrils into the very fabric of Zack’s life, perhaps even from birth. They’d already discerned that Joy’s death hadn’t been a botched assassination attempt by some lone lunatic to off then-candidate Zack Hayes. No, a network of criminals had actually murdered his wife in cold blood to ensure the sympathy vote landed him in the White House. Now high-level officials in his administration jetted to London, and Roman intended to use this official trip to find out if the conspiracy included the death of Zack’s mother eight years ago. Roman’s gut was telling him that Constance’s car wreck in the British countryside hadn’t been an accident at all. That the woman, alcoholic or not, had known far more about this possible conspiracy than anyone had guessed.

In the midst of all the chaos, Zack had realized he had one weakness his enemies could use against him. Elizabeth Matthews, his press secretary—and the only woman who’d ever truly both knocked him on his ass…and stolen his heart.

After seeing the evidence that his wife had been murdered, Zack had shoved distance between himself and the fiery blonde. Then he’d started dating a string of well-known actresses. The fallout between Zack and Liz had been silent and chilly…but ugly. Then the gossip had begun, and some of the cattier circles of the press had dubbed Zack the Playboy President. Roman had joined him, going on empty double dates that ended in polite goodnights because he was getting too old for casual sex.

These days, he wanted sex to mean something, to fill some emptiness inside him. To make him feel whole again, as he hadn’t in over a dozen years.

God, he fucking craved Gus. How could the woman be more beautiful all these years later? Sexier? More magnetic?

“I think he’s hurting Liz in ways he didn’t count on,” Connor said solemnly. “What is any of this worth if he can’t be happy when we untangle the plot?”

“What’s any of it worth if Liz dies? Like Joy and Mad?” He slumped back against the fine leather of the seat, feeling a headache coming on. “It’s better if she’s alive and unhappy at the end of this. At least then Zack has a shot at explaining everything to her. She’s a smart woman. She might understand.”

“Maybe. But smart women can also hold mean grudges,” Connor pointed out. “I think Liz might take exception to being kept out of the decision-making process.”

“He’s doing it to protect her.”

“Think she’ll care? Women often have different ideas about how relationships should work. By the way, are you planning on introducing Gus to your British girlfriend?”

Roman stared at his friend. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

Connor’s lips curled up in a secretive smile. “The little blonde, Darcy Hildebrandt? She seems pretty damn determined to get her hooks in you.”

“We’ve been planning the president’s state visit together. I don’t intend to date her.”

“Yeah? She can’t stop telling everyone how late into the night your meetings run, especially Gus.”

“Gus is smart enough to know when another woman is trying to get a leg up by shoving the knife in. I’m not foolish enough to think no one knows Gus and I used to have a thing. Darcy is just playing the game.”

Though strategically speaking, he should actually consider dating Darcy. She fulfilled every item on his list. Competent and logical. Check. Sexual attraction. He hadn’t taken it for a test drive, but he could see the appeal. Educated and familiar with the grind of life in politics. Check and check. Married to her career. Absolute check.

Yet he couldn’t bring himself to even think about moving them beyond a simple working relationship. He blamed Gus. Did she think he was sleeping with Darcy? Was that why she’d been so testy lately? Was she jealous?

Connor waved him off. “Yes, they’re all smart women, which is precisely why I’m worried about Gus. That’s what I wanted to talk to you about. Did you know she’s been investigating a member of Zack’s detail? A guy named Matthew Kemp?”

“What do you mean by investigating?” Roman scowled.

Gus worked in the press office. She was known for her spot-on oppo research. Gus was excellent at digging up dirt, even when it was buried super deep. But someone in Zack’s detail should hardly be construed as the opposition.

“I mean someone requested all the personnel records on Agent Kemp. Zack brought me in to take a look at the procedures and see if anything stood out,” Connor explained. “Sometimes the devil is in the details, and a sleeper agent will make mistakes that can be found by looking at the minutiae of his or her job. The press office asked for the records. I tracked it down to Gus.”

“Are you telling me that Zack thinks Gus is a fucking sleeper?” Maybe he would exorcise his rage by getting his buddy on the phone, and if Connor’s accusation was true, he would cuss out the president. Then he might have to quit. But there was no way he would investigate Gus as a freaking spy.

Connor rolled his dark eyes and knocked back half his drink. “Don’t be so dramatic. Of course he doesn’t. It’s simply something I found while looking for potential spies. But I can’t figure out a reason for the press office to sniff around a Secret S

ervice agent. Naturally Gus had a perfectly logical reason for requesting the records. She’s working with an author on a ‘profiles in courage’ style media campaign. No details about the actual agents, of course, but she wanted to get the backgrounds right.”

“I’ve heard nothing about this.” What game was Gus playing? He frowned as he realized what her intent most likely was. He knew Matthew, one of the strong silent types. He was also thirty-two and movie-star gorgeous. He was the kind of man who thought leg days were a thing. “Is she running a check on one of her boy toys?”

She had plenty of them. Gus could rip through a group of men with the voracity of a Valkyrie in battle. She left them all whining and mooning after her because she didn’t often go back for seconds. The two times she’d kept a lover for more than a few nights, she’d carefully vetted the man. Did she have her eye on Matthew now?

Could he find a viable reason to fire the guy?

“I don’t know. I suspect that’s what she wants me to believe,” Connor admitted. “I’m worried though. Gus isn’t an idiot. Neither is Elizabeth. Have you thought about the fact that if we don’t bring them into our investigations, they might start their own?”

Connor was high. “You think she’s starting an investigation into a Secret Service agent as a service to her country? C’mon…. He’s younger, and according to other women in the White House, as Secret Service agents go, he’s the hottest. How could he be wrapped up in our conspiracy? You do realize he wasn’t even born when some of this crap likely started.”

“That doesn’t mean he’s not involved. I only found this out yesterday. I haven’t had time to go through his records myself yet, but I will. Did you know he’s come in with the advance team?”

“Another sign that Gus is scratching an itch.” It explained why she’d been so set on getting on this plane instead of coming to London in a few days with Zack and Elizabeth. She wanted to get to know Matthew better, and he would be on call 24/7 once Zack got to town.