Breathe You In (Sweet Torment 1)
“Good, because what I’m going to say next is going to suck.”
My eyes shot to hers as my entire body tensed in dread.
“
I’m going to be honest with you, Amy. If Roman, or anyone else, finds out about that night, the media can, and probably will, spin it to reflect badly on you and Roman. This is a political race and there are a lot of assholes out there. Smear campaigns, and questions about your character and Roman’s, will come into play. It won’t look good.”
I swallowed hard. “Could Roman lose because of this…because of me?”
“If it gets spun how Warren hopes it will, and your parents say one word to anyone about their thoughts on the matter?” Paige took a deep breath. “It could cause some serious damage to Roman’s campaign.”
Now my head really felt like it was going to implode. I’d never intended any of this, for Lauren or Roman. Now everyone was tangled together and I was the one in the middle, the one at fault. Roman was a good man and an honest one, which was hard to find in any situation, let alone politics. If he lost because of me…
“No,” I whispered. “He can’t lose.”
“Then this can’t leak.” She patted my hand. “Does anyone else besides your parents, Warren, and me know the details about that night?”
I shook my head. “No. I’ve never told anyone else, and I don’t think my parents have either.”
“Okay. Then for now, it’s contained. We just need to keep it that way.”
“What do I do? I can’t push for Warren’s interests. Just the thought of him makes me sick. Plus, Roman would never believe I’d truly help my ex after the way he’s treated me.”
“That’s true,” Paige agreed. “All you can do right now is buy yourself time. Warren wants that seat, but he needs the governor’s support to have a shot at winning it. The man he’s going up against has more experience, a better track record, and a relationship with the governor. Warren won’t rat you out until the governor has declared his support for one candidate or the other.”
“And that’s in a few weeks?”
Paige nodded.
“And Roman can’t declare his support after he’s won another term, because all offices are up for election on the same day, huh?”
“Yes, but again, this is all up to Roman. Let him decide who he’s going to support, and pray to God that Warren keeps his mouth shut. Otherwise, we need to be prepared for the fallout.”
Shit. I had three weeks to come up with a Plan B. Figure this out, come clean, or risk Roman’s campaign.
“This blows, Paige,” I mumbled into my hands.
“Yeah.” She patted my back. “Unfortunately in this game, you go up against a lot of dicks.”
Toweling my hair dry after a longer than usual shower, I looked through my closet for something to wear.
Sweatpants being my first choice.
I hadn’t heard from Roman since I’d left his office three days ago, after the pork chop sandwich fiasco. Between Warren’s icky threats, Lauren’s impending anniversary, and an MIA “boyfriend,” zippers just seemed like another complication I didn’t want to deal with. Yep, sweatpants were a winner.
“Amy?” Hazel called from the living room. “Will you come here for a second?”
I threw on said sweats and a T-shirt. Still patting the ends of my hair with the towel, I opened my bedroom door and walked into the living room. I only made it two steps because I could barely see, being in the midst of a losing battle with tangles.
“What’s up?”
“Oh, not much,” Hazel said sweetly.
My hair was a wet, blonde wall over my eyes, so I bent over to gather it.
“Just entertaining the governor of New York.”
My head snapped up and all my hair hit my back, sounding like muted firecrackers against cement.