messing in my life? You didn't even have the courtesy to talk to me first. You just fixed everything. Like that was the right thing to do.'
His father straightened in his chair. 'You could show a little gratitude. If you'd been charged, you would have had to leave the campaign. Your old law firm wouldn't have wanted you back, so what would you have done? If you'd been convicted, the likelihood of you ever practicing law again would have been close to zero. I saved you, Alex. Don't forget that.'
'I wanted to handle things myself.'
'Give me a break. How were you going to do that?'
'By working through the system.'
“The system? The only system that matters is the one we control. You're acting like a child. Did you want to go to jail?'
'If necessary,' Alex said, determined to keep his temper. He knew Mark's style well enough to recognize the technique of trying to make his opponent feel foolish enough to walk away without finishing the discussion. Alex wasn't going to be sidetracked. 'I want to do the right thing.'
Mark stood and walked around his desk. 'The right thing is for you to live up to your potential. You have an outstanding career and why should some pissant reporter get to screw that up? Did I make a few calls? You bet. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. You're so big on family loyalty and protecting those you care about. So am I, and that's what I did. I protected you.'
Alex stood. 'You got involved in a legal matter that didn't concern you. You used your position to influence a district attorney. Doesn't that bother you? Because it sure as hell bothers me.'
Mark leaned against his desk. 'I keep forgetting how idealistic you are. Look around. This isn't an intellectual discussion in some Ivy League law classroom. This is the real world. Do you know why you're on my campaign right now? On my staff? Because your law firm wants you to be here. They let you go because they're hoping I'll win the election. Then they'll have a connection to the White House. You know it and I know it. All of life is politics, son. It's a reality and you have to accept that.'
'Political reality has to stop somewhere.'
'Why?' Mark asked, sounding genuinely confused. 'Why does it stop anywhere?'
Alex got it then. He'd never seen his father before-not as he really was. Mark wasn't evil or power-hungry. He simply saw the world in the way that made his life easier.
He thought of Katherine, who lived her life doing the right thing-not only because it was expected but because doing the right thing defined her. Yet she loved Mark with every fiber of her being. How did she reconcile the two?
If she were here now, she would tell him that loving someone meant accepting them as they were-good points and faults. He could love his father, but accept the faults? That was going to be tougher.
He had two choices. He could accept what had happened, or he could walk away. His gut told him to walk. That he wasn't the man to be a part of that.
But his heart remembered standing next to his birth mother's dead body, sobbing because he hadn't been able to save her. His heart remembered his vow to be loyal, no matter what. That if he ever found a family again, he would stand with them, protect them and never walk away. His heart remembered Katherine teaching him that duty was everything.
He didn't have a choice. He would stay, because it was the right thing to do.
Dani didn't even know which channels carried political shows on Sunday morning, but she flipped through the national networks until she saw men and women in suits looking serious. Then she poured herself a cup of coffee and prepared to become informed about the American political scene.
She'd never been interested before, but then she'd never had a parent running for national office before, either. Better late than never and all that. At least she always voted.
She sipped the coffee and listened to the guests talk about the latest crisis in the Middle East. Her mind wandered, probably because she was so tired. She hadn't been able to sleep in four days. Not since she'd spoken with Fiona.
Dani had been dodging Alex's calls-something she couldn't do forever. But she didn't know what to say to him. Part of her was afraid of the confrontation because it would be ugly, but mostly she didn't want to hear him admit that yes, he was a bastard and she'd been fooled yet again. Until there was confirmation, she was weak enough to want to believe the best of him.
'Shame on me,' she murmured into the quiet of the room, as the show shifted into a commercial break. 'I need to be stronger than this.'
And she would be. In time. Wasn't she allowed a little weakness, at least in the short term?
The show resumed with a shift in topic. She saw a picture of Mark Canfield and turned up the sound.
'While the presidential election is nearly eighteen months away,' the host said, 'already things are heating up in the state of Washington. Bill?'
The camera panned to one of the other men in suits. 'It's true. Senator Canfield, always a voter favorite, is facing a unique and uncomfortable situation. Trouble in his own home. Nearly two months ago we learned about his daughter from a previous relationship.'
Dani nearly dropped her coffee when her own picture flashed onto the TV screen. She swore.
'Danielle Buchanan arrived unexpectedly and turned around the whole campaign. The senator was up-front with the public and the poll numbers showed the American people respected his honesty. Experts believe the main reason for that is the senator's wife, Katherine Canfield. She's seen as the perfect wife and mother. She has embraced Dani, both literally and figuratively. If the wife can forgive the husband, then the nation can, too.'
'It didn't work for Hillary,' one of the other guests said.
'Different situation,' Bill went on. 'The senator's relationship with Dani's mother predates his marriage. But while the numbers were climbing, they've taken a sudden downswing in the past couple of weeks, ever since the public discovered that Dani and the senator's oldest son-who is adopted-have formed a romantic relationship.'
Dani knew what was coming and braced herself to see that horrible picture of her driving away from Alex's house. Sure enough it was put up in a corner.
'The problem is,' Bill said, “the American people have a limit to what they can tolerate and they're not willing to accept the love child of a presidential candidate dating his adoptive son.'
'But they're not related,' the host said.
'That doesn't seem to matter to the polls. The senator's numbers have been dropping steadily. If this continues, there's not going to
'Your young man is here,' Bernie told Dani the following day shortly after two. 'Go on. I'll finish up here.'
Dani's stomach tightened with dread. 'No, it's okay. I'll tell him I can't see him now. I want to work my whole shift.'
Bernie grinned. 'I just said 'your young man.' Now I'm talking like my mother. I need work to distract me. Go. It's fine.'
Trapped by a kind man with good intentions, Dani nodded, then walked through the main dining room of Bella Roma.
The lunch crowd had faded to only a few diners. She easily saw Alex standing by the front door. He didn't look happy.
'You've been avoiding me,' he said as she approached.
She hadn't seen him in nearly a week. Despite everything, she found herself wanting to step close and have him hold her. She wanted to feel his arms around her and breathe in the scent of his body. She wanted to kiss and be kissed and have all the bad stuff go away. Which only showed that she was spineless, weak and in need of a feminist intervention.
