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34
Bradford
“Kristen looks tired,” Alan says as he narrows his eyes at her early Monday morning while she’s talking with a woman. We’ve made it through most of the breakfast Alan added to our schedule last night and have about fifteen minutes until I have to leave for work.
I give him a pointed look. “You would too if you were dealing with what she is.”
Kristen’s father made good on his threats last night. Precisely one hour after issuing them, he emailed to inform her she no longer had a job, that she’s not welcome in his home, and that he’s updating his will to remove her from it. Neither of us got much sleep. Kristen’s not only tired, she’s also putting on a brave face while processing her emotions and enduring the nasty whispers about our marriage.
He watches her for another few moments before eyeing me. “She made her own bed, Bradford.”
“Ease up on her, Alan. I won’t tolerate this for much longer.” What I want to say to him isback the fuck off my wife, but since Kristen asked me not to intervene, I don’t. If he keeps this up, though, I won’t be able to give her what she wants.
“Easing up isn’t what you pay me for. If you want to run this country one day, you’ll start thinking with your brain rather than with your dick. And I can assure you, you’ll thank me for not easing up in a month when your approval rating is back where it should be.”
He stalks away from me to have a conversation with our campaign finance aid who has just arrived. Kristen catches my gaze as I watch him. She’s now alone. When she makes wide eyes at me, I walk over to her.
“That woman—” She doesn’t finish that statement, but rather communicates her bewilderment with more of those wide eyes. “She wouldn’t stop asking me about our wedding. She was all about the gossip and scandal. Apparently, the story circulating is that we’ve been having an affair for months. And apparently, Cecelia’s response is helping that story gain credibility.”
Alan has already briefed me on this. Cecelia is being highly strategic, remaining almost tight-lipped but giving just enough of a hint of the scorned woman that people are reading into it that I cheated on her. He’s concerned about this but I have faith his PR plan will work to change the narrative. As will the NDA Hayden presents Cecelia with when we meet today.
“The story will change after Cecelia signs the NDA.”
“Have you considered that she may not sign the NDA?”
“She’ll sign it.”
“She may not.”
The contract Hayden’s drafted includes a mutual agreement to never disclose any information about our engagement and the marriage we were going to enter into, as well as a considerable cash payment for Cecelia to remain tight-lipped about the end of the relationship. If there’s one thing I know about the Cecelia, it’s that she likes money. And a lot of it.
“I’ll make it worth her while to sign it.”
“Sometimes women do things that make no sense to men, Bradford. And sometimes, not even money can make up for the hurt or anger they’re feeling.”
We’re interrupted by Alan’s assistant who handles all media requests. She’s one of the most competent people I’ve worked with and this morning she’s all efficiency with the questions she’s been firing at us. To Kristen, she says, “Johnathon Swindle has just been interviewed and spoke about the time you burned his clothes after you broke up.” She glances at her notes. “He says you spent all his money on clothes and vacations after the split. We’re going to have to draft a response to this.”
“No,” Kristen says sharply. “I didn’t spendallhis money.”
“But you spent a lot, right?”
“I spentsome. If he’s saying something different, he’s lying.” Kristen’s done a good job of hiding her anxiety this morning, however I see it and I fucking wish I could remove all the social events we’ve got lined up from her schedule. Iwould, in a heartbeat, but she won’t allow me to. She made that more than clear when I brought it up with her this morning.
“Do we have to respond?” I ask.
The woman looks at me like I just asked the dumbest question she’s ever heard. “We do. I’ll draft it now and send it to you to fact check before I issue it.” She leaves us, heading back to Alan who looks like he’s about to explode.
“Fuck,” I mutter, wondering what the hell has happened now.
Kristen follows my gaze. “You should go and deal with whatever that is.”
I should, but I don’t want to leave her to handle the malicious gossipers on her own. Watching her sit with them while I took part in the business panel earlier was the hardest thing I’ve had to do in a long time.
I settle my hand on her lower back and lean in close. “You don’t have to do any of this. I can find other ways to fix this.”
She gives me her fierce look, the one that saysdon’t argue with me. “I’m doing this, Bradford. Stop worrying about me. I’m made of tough stuff.”
If there’s one thing Kristen’s made of, it’s absolutely that. But that doesn’t mean I’ll ever stop worrying about her and wanting to protect her.
