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events. Then there was all the research she’d done on the murder of Joy Hayes.
She wasn’t so certain the president hadn’t had his own wife killed, and now it seemed her bodyguard was close to the man. And her father didn’t mind that one bit.
“Wait. Are you seriously pimping me out to get to the president?”
“Of course not. I would never do that.” He cleared his throat. “Although Connor is a very attractive man, Lara.”
Lara laughed, her whole body shaking with amusement. Her father sat on the edge of the bed, a smile on his face that faded after a moment. She let go of some of her worry. How close could Connor really be to Hayes? It was unlikely the president was best buds with a guy who seemed to be a drifter.
“I could have lost you.” He gripped her hand.
She squeezed his in return. “I’m okay.”
“Promise me you’ll let that man do his job. Baby, I couldn’t survive losing you. Your mother and I would . . .”
She leaned against the man who had been her rock for twenty-six years. He almost never understood her, but he’d always loved her just the same. “I promise.”
* * *
Now that the police had asked Lara “a few” questions and left, Connor could finally get her home. He looked up and down the hospital’s sterile hallway. So far he hadn’t seen a reporter, but it didn’t mean they wouldn’t show up at any moment. He’d half expected them to be waiting when they’d pulled into the ambulance bay.
He made a mental note to start files on Lara’s friends. If they knew her secret, then they were as close as Lara claimed. They had to be pretty good friends if they’d known about her blog for this long and the secret still hadn’t come out. Still, even well-meaning people could fuck up at any point.
In his pocket, Connor’s phone buzzed. He slipped it out and walked just out of the Armstrongs’ earshot.
The pain in his shoulder flared up as he swiped his thumb across the screen. He’d taken some blows when he’d covered Lara’s body with his own. He would feel it in the morning. Maybe he could groan and whine a little and get her to massage his poor sore muscles.
Of course that turned another muscle of his hard and wanting. Damn, he had to admit they had chemistry. It was a dangerous thing.
“Hello?”
“So I just got a call from Senator Armstrong.”
As Connor made his way out of the room and the door shut behind him, he couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t every day the president gave him a ring. “I should have warned you.”
“What? And made my day a little less surreal? Want to explain why I just gave you a sterling recommendation to an ally of mine?”
“I didn’t know you were close.”
“We’re not, but you gave me a convenient way to remedy that. He’s actually influential in a very quiet way. I invited him to dinner. So why are you protecting Lara Armstrong? I thought you were going to have Capitol Scandals shut down, not play bodyguard. Wait. He said she was in the hospital. Was she involved in the shooting on 2nd Street?”
He had to give his commander in chief credit. He wasn’t slow on the uptake. “The police suspect it was random, but they were trying to get Lara, Zack. He pointed that gun straight at her head. She needs me, and I need access to her daily life if I’m going to find whatever information she knows. Now I have access, and in order to keep her cover, we’ll play boyfriend and girlfriend. Don’t be surprised if you see pictures of us. No matter what I do, a senator’s daughter getting caught in the middle of gunfire is going to make the news.”
So he would play her mystery guy. He already had everything in place. His cover would hold. The reporters who looked him up would see exactly what he wanted them to see.
“You really think she’s going to lead you to Nata?” She’d been Zack’s childhood nanny. From what Connor knew about Zack’s upbringing, he was fairly certain Natalia had been more of a mother than Zack’s biological mom. There had been rumors for years that Mrs. Hayes had a drinking problem. Her accidental death had been blamed on slick roads, but the whispers had never ceased.
“I think she’s the only lead I have. We know the informant wanted Everly to reach out to Lara. He said Lara had another piece of the puzzle. I’m betting that piece is Natalia’s location.” In fact, he was betting a lot on that.
“I don’t know, Connor. I’ve been talking to Roman about this. Maybe we should leave it alone.” Zack’s voice turned low, a sure sign he was uncertain.
In this case, he couldn’t follow Zack’s lead. This was Connor’s area of expertise. “And potentially have this come back to bite you in the ass?”
“Me? Whatever happened was probably my dad’s doing, but his dementia is getting worse every day. Last week, when I reminded him that I was his son, he told me he didn’t have one.” Zack cleared his throat, and Connor had no doubt his old friend was struggling with his father’s degenerating illness. “So I don’t think my dad will care what the press says. And it couldn’t have been my fault. I was a baby. I don’t think even the press can come up with a way to pin this on me.”
Oh, but the press could be so creative. Besides, more than the media potentially threatened Zack. The Russian mob was somehow involved in all of this, and he wanted to make sure he put any connections between them and the White House to rest. “It doesn’t matter and you know it. If you get mired in this kind of a scandal, no one will talk about anything else. Every drop of energy you have will go to changing the dialogue, so every bit of power you have could go down the toilet. We need to find her and shut this down now.” And figure out who the hell the mysterious Sergei was. It was a name he’d come across more than once, and this mysterious Russian seemed to be at the center of everything. He didn’t talk about it with Zack, though. As president of the United States, he had enough to worry about. “I’ll take care of this.”
“I know you will, Connor. I just can’t stand the fact that Dax got shot and Gabe and Everly almost died over this. I could just come out with this info myself. Maybe if I directly address it, I can shut it down.” A long sigh sounded over the line. “Roman’s threatening to hang himself. Or he’s trying to tell me I’m committing political suicide. He’s not very good at charades.”
He should have known Roman would be there. He was Zack’s right hand. “He might suck at charades, but he plays the game of politics well. Let me handle this. I’ll be fine.”
“No, I’m not going to ask him . . . What is wrong with you?” Zack’s voice got muffled for a moment. “Oh, all right. I want to know, too. Roman has a very vital question for you concerning the current operation.”
“Shoot.”
“You gonna do her?”
Connor snorted because even the most powerful political figure on the planet could still sound like a teenaged boy when he got around his friends. “That’s none of Roman’s business.”
“She’s kind of cute in a hipster way,” Zack pointed out. “You have to admit, it’s been a long time since you had a serious girlfriend.”
“Yeah, I gave up on that when the last one nearly put a knife through my heart.” He didn’t like to think about Greta. The willowy blonde had been beautiful and exciting and about as different from Lara Armstrong as possible. She would have sold her unborn children for pocket change. She’d also been a double agent, and now she was god only knew where, being tortured for information. She could be dead for all he cared.
Maybe there was a reason his dick perked up around Lara. Unlike the last chick he’d fucked on a regular basis, the senator’s soft daughter wouldn’t attempt to carve him up.
“Lara Armstrong wouldn’t know what to do with a knife,” Zack offered. “She’s too busy saving puppies and complaining about my immigration policies. On the upside, she did run a story calling me the best hung of all the modern presidents. Shockingly accurate information.”
He laughed, but he didn’t actually like Lara wondering about the size of Zack’s package. Did she prefer sli
ck politicians? Or was she all about the soft-looking dudes who played vagina rock and saved penguins? Maybe, but her nipples didn’t lie. Connor knew they got hard whenever he came close.
“Yeah, I’m going to do her.”
“I was joking, Connor. You really shouldn’t do that.” Zack’s voice went low. “From what I understand, she’s actually a sweet kid.”
