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But this time, it’s no use.
The audience does quiet down a little bit as the Chairman of the Committee keeps banging his gavel, but Michael speaks up.
“Where’s your proof for these wildly inaccurate accusations, Ms. Hawthorne?” Michael asks. “How do we know this isn’t just some stunt you’re pulling to save your own career from your licentious behavior?”
And I was ready for that. This is actually where I went off to the other day when I got to the city.
“Normally, I’d have no proof, Mayor Anders,” I say and people quiet down. They’re wondering if I just got them riled up as an excuse to stall. “But I got a phone call and went down to meet someone the other day.”
Michael looks up as I turn to the doorway.
A tall, well-dressed young man walks in. He’s 6’ 3”, well-built, and you can see that he knows how to carry himself. People know who he is, and if you were right there, you’d know exactly who he was too.
He walks up to me. Michael is even paler now as the man stops near me, and smiles up at Michael.
“Hi, Dad,” he says.
General commotion in the courtroom abounds again. But he’s not mistaken. That’s Lance Anders standing next to me—the stepson of Michael Anders.
If you’re just coming into this universe for the first time, you’re probably going to need a bit of a catch up.
And it’s perfect timing, because the Chairman bangs his gavel a few more times.
“Senator Hawthorne, we all know the mayor’s playboy son, but what has this got to do with anything?” he asks. I can tell he’s a bit irritated that he isn't following along like some people. But I figure it’ll be good to fill in all the dots anyways.
“You see, Mr. Chairman,” I say as I pull out some papers from my briefcase. “The paper trail that I was able to get my office to pull together after I talked to Lance and got the details about what his father did told most of the story,” I say.
When he keeps looking at me, I continue. “Michael Anders, a billionaire media mogul is also serving the beginning of his second term as the Mayor of New York City,” I say. “But he’s got massively negative disapproval ratings outside the city and it’s clear that once he’s done with his job as mayor – and he only has this one term left because of term limits – his options are limited.”
The Chairman starts to nod. “But there’s a problem. Because of his negative approval ratings, national office is going to be hard. He can’t challenge a senior Senator, but he can sure take on a junior one. And even if that fails, he can discredit the Governor and possibly have an open option there. This was all designed so that Michael Anders would have something to do once the people kicked him out of the mayor’s office.”
People are beginning to put the pieces together. I continue. “Being a woman who enjoyed sex didn’t help. Michael’s stepson, Lance, recently got married to and had a baby with his ex-wife, Jocelyn. The whole country knows. You don’t escape from something like that without raising serious questions. Michael probably views it as Jocelyn’s fault and blames all confident women.”
“I see,” the Chairman says, nodding. “And what about Liam Jeffries and the impeachment in New Kingston?” he asks.
I pull out some more papers. “These documents show that China First Bank received substantial payments from the local Shanghai Communist Party to bring the Boltiador Family factories over to them. They’ve been trying to sabotage this deal to build the factories in America. A discredited mayor who reached out to big business would send shockwaves through the business community. Large corporations would think twice about re-investing in American small towns again for a long, long time.”
There. All the pieces are connected now. It all makes sense.
I have to hand it to Michael Anders. The guy is a diabolical genius.
But he had one fatal flaw. He allowed Lance to continue working in his company as he ran the city. Not realizing that Lance Anders was a decent human being. Sure, he had his bad boy days, but Jocelyn seems to have tamed him. That’s another story, by the way, that has its own HEA. But it’s actually quite Scandalous, and I should probably let you get to it on your own.
I’m telling you all this right now because there is no way I can talk. Tina Ling is on her feet and I see her try to slink away, heading to the door.
But it’s a good thing that the State Police are here, because they block her. Michael Anders is sitting there, frozen, unmoving.
“Order!” the Majority Leader shouts. “Order!”
After a few more bangs of the gavel, he finally gets a measure of quiet.
“Senator Hawthorne,” the Chairman says, looking at me with apology in his eyes before turning to Liam and Carter. “Mayor Jeffries, Governor Andrews. It’s obvious there is more than meets the eye in this situation. I think it’s time for us to regroup and understand exactly what is going on in light of this new…evidence.”
People are starting to clap and smile. Both Carter and Liam approach me, they’re beaming with grins from ear to ear.
“As such, I’m exercising my authority as Chairman of the Ethics Committee to clear you of any reason to be investigated,” he says forcefully but I’m more focused on the men around me. “I hereby end this hearing and declare no ethics have been compromised at this time!”
He bangs the gavel, but I’ve stopped paying attention. My arms travel to Liam, who is closest to me and he brings me closer. His face finds mine, and our mouths touch. I close my eyes as we kiss, tasting his tongue massage mine.
