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“Paige, you can tell me. If you two had a relationship that’s one thing. But—”
“No, we didn’t.”
He sighed and I recognized the look on his face immediately. Doubt. He didn’t believe me. At least not entirely.
“There’s nothing going on between Bill and me.” I waited until his eyes locked on mine and said, “Please believe me.”
“That’s not all.”
My breath caught.
“Funds from this last campaign have gone missing. You and Bill were big parts of this race and some of the interns said Bill bragged about accessing the funds to buy them gifts.”
“No.” I shook my head. “If Bill took money, I didn’t know about it. I never received anything from him.”
“Did you take any money?”
My nose stung and water crept behind my cheekbones to my eyes. “Of course not.”
He nodded. “I had to ask.”
I knew he did. It still hurt though. All of a sudden I was that girl again, clinging to the truth and begging someone I trusted to believe me.
“There’s going to be an investigation, but as long as you didn’t touch any of the campaign funds, you should be fine.”
Roman sat back in his chair. “You’re the best worker here, Paige. You’re bright and damn it . . .” he pinched the bridge of his nose and cut himself off from saying whatever was next. “I know how hard you’ve worked. I know it took a lot to get to where you are. Bill can be intimidating. He can make you think you need to do certain things to advance.”
My eyes shot wide. “Governor, I didn’t sleep with Bill.”
The fact that I had to restate that was insulting. Roman still looked confused and stressed, which told me one thing: He didn’t fully believe me.
“This will blow over,” he said as if half for my sake and half for his. “I don’t want to lose you. But until everything gets sorted out, allegations are going to fly and my main issue is making sure no one was assaulted or taken advantage of, and that the money is all accounted for and where it should be. Anyone considered involved in this can’t be on the inside.”
“And that means me?” I could hardly push past the anxiety in my throat to get the words out.
Roman’s chest rose on a deep breath and he nodded. “Your name is on a lot of receipts, and with missing money, the state is going to investigate.”
“Is there going to be a case prepared?”
“It depends on what is uncovered about Bill and the money trail. Right now, we’re not sure how deep this thing goes.”
I knew right then what he was saying. I was done. It was just a matter of how I left. He had an entire cabinet to think about. An entire state. This was bad. Really bad. And I was standing in the middle of it, with no corners to speak of, let alone anyone in them.
“I understand, Governor.” Lifting my chin, I tried not to burst into tears and said, “You’ll have my resignation on your desk in the morning.”
He gave a small nod. I stood and turned to leave, wondering what in the hell I was going to do.
“And, Paige?”
I looked at him and Roman’s eyes held a hint of anger and pain. “The press will start digging. If there was anything going on you don’t want aired, I suggest you take steps to conceal your personal life.”
Chapter Two
Another please,” I said to the bartender and he filled up my shot glass for the second time with tequila. Raising the cool glass to my lips, I threw my head back and let the liquor burn down my throat. When I brought the glass back down, a man with hypnotic blue eyes was sitting next to me.
“Rough day, Red?”
“You.” I had meant to growl it, since yeah, it was a rough day, but it came out more of a moan, because Leo the delivery guy was looking hot and I was feeling ready to take him on. I had a lot of anger, rage, and sadness welling up looking for a release.
