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Chapter Eight
I wiggled my toes inside my stilettos, trying to get some feeling back in them, as I stood in line. It had been a long week. It had started with babysitting, followed by apologies for my lack of skills in said babysitting, and was ending at the dry cleaner’s.
I resolved that when it came to Leo’s family, it was best I stayed away and stuck to things I was good at. Like my job. Everything was prepared for the event tonight. All I had to do now was pick up Leo’s tux. That is, after it had been steamed and pressed.
Working for Leo was consuming and exhausting, but it was exciting. Several staff members working on the secret slip purchase had been checking in with me, showing me possible route options and various opportunity cost analyses. I had compiled all the information and reported to Leo every evening with the day’s events and progress. So far, things were going well and the ten million was sitting and waiting to be spent.
I had done everything asked and learned a lot. With a couple more months, that letter of recommendation, along with a fresh start, would be waiting.
The small television to the left was showing CNN and all the new developments on the sex scandal. Bill was front and center on the screen, followed by text messages, and . . . oh God . . . pictures, though blurred, that left little to the imagination. But what was more shocking was the newest intern to come forward, or rather, to be outed.
I watched the small screen. Watched Jane try to dodge cameras and hustle down the street. The press was screaming at her, asking questions, and she looked ready to crack.
She looked very much the sweet, soft-spoken woman I knew her to be, but now there was also a sadness in her eyes. Fear. Problem was, there was nothing about Jane that screamed ladder climber. I had a hard time believing she would try to seduce Bill to gain something. If anything, my money was on it being Bill who intimidated and took advantage of Jane.
“Damn it,” I muttered. Not Jane. Of all the interns, Jane was my favorite and the nicest. We’d gone out to lunch a few times and she was working while going to school. She told me once about her dream to one day be a congresswoman. She wanted to enact change. Help people. Was particularly focused on healthcare. She’d mentioned once that her mother was going through chemo and she was very close with her.
“Slut,” the woman behind me said, shaking her head and staring at the screen. “Can you believe this? This man has a harem of women. They keep coming forward.”
“Actually, this woman is Jane Wesley,” I said with all the snark I felt. “And she didn’t come forward, if you read the runner on the bottom of the screen. It says content from Bill Vorse’s phone was leaked.”
Which meant Jane probably didn’t want any part of this, otherwise she would have likely come out when the other interns did. I could understand wanting to be left alone and out of the public eye.
“I still think it’s disgusting,” the woman said.
I knew people said things, especially in politics, and most of it was negative, but this was the first time it really hit home. People were being destroyed, branded sluts or worse by total strangers. I looked back at another clip of Jane, who was shielding her eyes and walking into her apartment.
“It’s unfortunate, but I don’t see how calling this woman a slut is appropriate.”
The woman arched a brow at me. “Oh please. I remember the Monica Lewinsky scandal. This is just the same. They’re even finding that this guy used state money to buy presents for his mistresses.”
So they were onto a paper trail. That was an upside. Kind of. If they found the money and linked it to Bill, they had a case to go after the missing funds and hold him responsible for embezzling from the campaign.
All I felt was more hatred toward Bill. I knew the kind of man he was. Hell, he tried so many lines on me that if I hadn’t been spoon-fed a hefty share of bullshit my entire life, I may not have recognized it as easily. But Jane? She was a truly kind person.
“Yes, having an affair with a married man is wrong,” I said, and I truly believed that. It still wasn’t fair to put all the blame on Jane. Bill was there too.
“Ma’am?” the woman behind the counter said to me. “Ticket?”
I adjusted my shoulders, which were starting to hurt. Badly. I felt sweaty and just plain awful. Which was likely only a fraction of what Jane was feeling.
I handed the woman the ticket and she returned with the tux. Leo would look nice in this. His world would accept him. All the power he had. I wished for the millionth time in a long time that I wielded that kind of power. Because if push came to shove, who would be in my corner? Who was in Jane’s corner?
I glanced at the TV again.
“Have a nice day, ma’am,” the woman said.
I wanted to laugh. I didn’t need a nice day. I needed a miracle that the press stayed away.
“It’s not a portal to the unknown,” I said to myself, staring down Leo’s bedroom door. Well, it may not be a portal but it was definitely unknown. When he gave me the key this morning to go put his tuxedo in his room for tonight’s event, I didn’t realize I’d be staring down a large woo
den door and getting fidgety.
Maybe the news about the scandal and Jane had me more on edge than I wanted to admit. Since I came to work for Leo, I hadn’t had time to keep up with the news, which was a good thing. The busier I kept and the more days that passed, the closer, hopefully, the governor was to regaining the missing money and holding Bill responsible.
I shook my head. I needed to get the scandal out of my mind. It only added to bad feelings and left me anxious. Deep breath. Think of something good.
Leo’s face came to mind.
