knew from experience that whatever he was about to hear was going to be bad. Kevin wasn’t an avoid-eye-contact kind of guy. He was an attorney in private practice and politically connected. If anything, people viewed him as harsh. Right now, he looked like he had eaten bad Chinese food off the floor of a sewage plant.
“Just tell me,” Eric said.
Kevin finally looked up as he leaned back in the chair. “The rumors about Deana are kicking up again.”
Everything always came back to her. Eric was sick of it. “Why can’t people believe we’re over?”
Kevin cleared his throat as he pushed the papers in front of him off to the side. “Not those.”
As far as Eric was concerned there was nothing else. “What then?”
“There’s a suggestion out there about Deana and her nephew and questions about your integrity on the job.”
Eric had expected half-baked crap about his being in love. This theory came out of nowhere and brought a kick to the stomach with it. “What the hell are you talking about?”
“I’m just going to ask straight out.”
“Do that.”
“Did you give her nephew special treatment during his murder case?”
The only other person guaranteed to put Eric in a bad mood: Ryan Armstrong, Deana’s nephew. A spoiled teenager and a heartless killer. Instead of taking every opportunity handed to him by his wealthy family, he took the easy way out and managed to drag Eric down with him.
“The same nephew who is jail for murdering his parents, Deana’s brother and sister-in-law?” The memories crashed in on Eric. Hell, he’d lost Deana over the entire disastrous case. “I recused myself, built a complete wall around the matter in the office so I wouldn’t be involved in the trial or the investigation. No one talked to me about it, and I stayed out of it.”
“I know.”
Eric heard his friend but yelled right over him. “The idea was to act like a boyfriend instead of a lawyer, but we all know how that worked out.”
Deana had wanted him to step in and save Ryan from prosecution. Eric refused. He knew the evidence against the kid was strong, knew she didn’t see him for the spoiled psychopath he was. Knew Ryan was headed for jail, and when he went, she would blame Eric for everything. That’s exactly what happened.
Well, almost.
“You went to the wedding,” Kevin pointed out. “Your photo was in the paper.”
“I went to keep the gossip at a minimum. I thought it would take away the ammunition.” Really, he went to prove to himself that he could take it. “Guess that didn’t work.”
Kevin started taking notes. “You’ll need to make a statement.”
“No.”
The pen dropped. “Eric?”
“Deana and my private life are just that. Private.” Eric dumped the cold coffee down the drain. Looked like caffeine might not be strong enough to help him get through this night.
“There are some folks out there who smell a story. They’re going to keep digging until they find it. Even if there’s nothing there, the searching and all the assumptions that come with it can be devastating to a political career.”
“They should find someone else to piss on,” Eric said. Preferably someone who didn’t have anything to do with him or the prosecutor’s office.
“Some people can’t believe you’re as clean as you seem.”
“In other words, everyone likes to see a public figure implode.”
“Something like that.”
Exactly like that. Eric turned around in his kitchen with no real destination in mind. The goal was to burn off the energy building in his gut. “Then they’re going to be disappointed. I don’t have anything to hide.”
Kevin hesitated. The silence stretched until he finally spit out his thought. “You can tell me anything. I’d rather know and be able to fight it than have to read it in the paper.”
Eric gripped the counter hard enough to make the granite crumble under his fingertips. “We’re good.”
Kevin didn’t move for a second, then he nodded. “That’s all I need to know.”
Eric hoped like hell that was true because he really didn’t want to go into a drawn-out discussion about his role in Ryan’s case. Or why he’d ended up having sex with a complete stranger ten steps away from a pool of reporters. He was a grown man and his sex life was his own, but his timing was questionable on this one.
There had been enough scandals what with Josh’s boss trying to cover up a botched DEA investigation and Josh replacing him. People didn’t want to read about another government official being more concerned with covering his butt than doing his job. That meant staying as clean as possible and not doing anything to raise questions.
“Well, enough said on that.” Kevin stood, gathering the documents and stacking them in straight piles. “Grab a late dinner?”
“Can’t.” More like didn’t want to. Eric didn’t want to invite another round of questions. Kevin would pretend the meal was informal, but Eric knew everything they did right now was about getting him elected. “I have work to do, but you can check one thing for me.”
“Sure.”
“Find out who catered Deana’s wedding. I’d like to have a professional on call for events and that sort of thing.” It was time to tie up that loose end. If Kevin got flustered by an old rumor about a murder case and airtight convictions, Eric hated to think what he’d do with the truth on this one.
“I have a list of people you can use.”
“No, I want that caterer.”
If Kevin thought it was a strange request, he hid it well. “I’ll have the name and number for you by tomorrow morning.”
Chapter 3
Katie stared at the pans and trays piled in the overflowing sink and wondered what her future would look like if she skipped college and took up life as a professional dishwasher instead. Sounded like a one-way ticket to mind mush to her. Working for her sister and collecting a paycheck, no matter how small, meant moving on. It also meant getting stuck with the crappy jobs like serving food to idiots and handling catering cleanup.
Cara spent her nonwork time with Ashleigh, her blond-haired bundle of wild energy. Six months old, she never stopped moving. So, when Cara cut out early to catch a few extra minutes with her daughter, which rarely was possible, the responsibility for bringing the catering kitchen back to order fell to Katie.
The bright spot was that the insurance catering job had gone well today, as evidenced by her sore feet and the smell of puff pastry in her hair. Even now she hid in the small room at the center of the
