style="font-size:15px;"> She sighed. Even her mother didn’t know the whole story. “I had a fight with my then fiancé. He basically stole years’ worth of my work. I confronted him and told him that I planned to bring plagiarism charges against him. I had proof that the work was mine, dated emails that showed the research I did, et cetera. He didn’t take the news well and got violent. I fought back hard. He bumped his head and called 911, concocting a story about how I was mentally unstable. He said I attacked him first.”
Alex clenched his fists. “Why would anyone believe him?”
“Earlier that day, I also found out he was having an affair with the dean of the school. I vented to a fellow faculty member, a woman who I thought was my friend. You know how you say things like ‘I’ll kill him’ in anger? Well, later she said I was so angry, she was worried I would actually hurt him. The dean fired me and it took months before another school would even grant me an interview.” She touched the pendant on her neck, rolling it between her fingers. Did Alex believe her? No one else had; the media had portrayed her as the classic woman scorned.
“Where is he now?”
Kat reeled at the murderous look in Alex’s eyes. The warmth was gone, replaced by a smoldering darkness. She shrank back.
“He’s still faculty at Wellingforth University,” she said carefully. “Colin wanted so badly to be promoted, to be able to show his daddy that he had amounted to something. I think he believed I wouldn’t make a fuss about him using my research, but when I threatened him, he lost control. He was desperate not to make a fool of himself. The university said I had to drop all claims to the book if I wanted my severance pay, which I needed at the time. If it hadn’t been for that story...” Her voice cracked and she took a breath. “Every interview I went to, that article came up. With my mother’s history mentioned in there, they just thought I’d come unhinged, too. Even after I had it taken down, it took a year before people stopped asking me about it. My mother, she became so distraught, I don’t think she’s ever recovered. We had to start a whole new medication regimen.”
She blinked back tears and acid burned in her stomach. What was wrong with her? She was over it; the incident was now three years ago. She’d put it behind her. “Those reporters never bothered to get my side. I spent all my savings fighting with the courts to get the story taken off the internet.”
He shook his head. “It’s almost impossible to erase something that’s been posted on the internet. All you did was make it a little more difficult to find, but CNN dug it up.”
“Please, Alex...”
He nodded. “Whatever it takes, I’ll kill the story. I can’t promise other outlets won’t find it and harass you, but I won’t put you in front of them.”
Their eyes locked and a sense of relief washed over her. It didn’t make any sense, but somehow she knew Alex would protect her. He wouldn’t let the old story hurt her again.
She jumped when Crista grabbed her elbow. “Hey, your computer is ready. Let’s get you settled in.”
Alex took a breath, his eyes a dark brew of black and brown. He and Crista exchanged a meaningful look, and then he turned and left without a word.
Kat exhaled.
“Don’t worry about him—he’s that intense with everyone,” Crista said smoothly. Kat followed her, marveling at how she’d handled Alex. How she’d been handling him. She wondered whether there was more to Alex and Crista’s relationship than boss and assistant. Hadn’t she seen sparks between Crista and Nathan earlier? Campaigns were notorious for affairs. Long hours working together with no outside life could pull anyone together. Something flared in her chest, but she tamped it down. It was none of her business whom Alex dated. She needed to focus on writing her book.
“So, Crista, what’s your secret?”
Crista turned with a puzzled expression. “What do you mean?”
Kat gave a nervous laugh. “You know, with Alex and Nathan—how do you get your way with them?”
The moment the words were out of her mouth, Kat wanted to run and hide in her car. What’s with you? She was not a gossip, nor should she care about whatever was going on in Alex’s personal life.
Crista motioned toward a desk and Kat sheepishly took a seat. Crista pulled up a nearby stool and huddled in close.
“You’ll hear the rumors soon enough, so I’ll just give you the lowdown. Alex and I were an item, like, two years ago when I worked on the Hill for Congresswoman Burton. I broke it off. Then this job came up and Alex was man enough to hire me because I’m the best person for it.”
Kat wasn’t surprised given the familiarity she’d observed between the two of them, but something kicked in her stomach. What man would hire an ex-girlfriend who’d dumped him? Probably one who still had feelings for that ex.
“Why did you break up?” Kat couldn’t believe she was asking the question. Despite herself, she was curious about Alex.
“I was getting too attached.” Crista studied the BlackBerry in her hand. She still had feelings for Alex; that much was obvious. “He’s a great guy—don’t get me wrong. He treated me so well... It was the hardest thing I’ve done in my life. But he was never going to marry someone like me.”
“Someone like you?”
“Alex has political aspirations. He needs a woman with a pedigree, like someone with the last name Kennedy. I joke with him about missing the boat with Chelsea Clinton. He needs a tall, beautiful, impeccably dressed woman who can stand in front of the camera and talk about world peace and saving our children.”
She pointed to a stain on her blouse, something Kat hadn’t even noticed. “I’m lucky if I make it into work wearing matching clothes.”
Kat smiled. “Then I’m in good company.” She marveled at the ease with which Crista spoke about Alex after knowing Kat for all of fifteen minutes. Kat didn’t have any close friends; it had been hard for her to work on friendships when she was constantly unavailable. The few girlfriends she’d had when she was younger didn’t understand why she had to run home all the time when they wanted to hang out. Eventually, they stopped inviting her to events, realizing her RSVP would always be no.
After Crista left, Kat worked on setting up her email and reading the briefs that various staff had sent her. A frisson of excitement coursed through her. She’d only studied campaigns from afar. Never had she been in the throes of something like this.
As uncertain as the decision had felt just a couple of hours ago, she knew she’d done the right thing. She would be forced to interact with people other than her students and get out of the house during the summer months. Normally, she taught a summer class, but this year the political-science department had decided not to offer courses in order to allow students to work on campaigns for college credit. Now she didn’t have to dread the long summer months with nothing to do. This would be good for her.
The first email she had was from Alex, sent minutes before their most recent encounter. She opened it.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Welcome
Kat,
