'What would have happened if Marsha hadn't broken things off?' she asked, jumping right into the uncomfortable conversation. 'When I came back to find you, would you have left her for me? You would have had to make a choice.'
She thought he might get angry. Instead he angled toward her and stroked her hair.
'Don't do this,' he said quietly. 'There's no answer, Katherine. You know that. It's a situation that never occurred and it doesn't matter what I say. You'll believe what you want to believe.'
He was right, of course. He knew her well. 'She gave you the one thing I never could.'
'You're talking about a child. But you did give me children. You gave me eight of them. Selfishly, what's more important to me is that you gave me myself. I'm the man I am today because of you. That might not be saying much, but I know I'm a better person for having loved you all these years. You are the best part of me, Katherine. You always have been. You see me through eyes blinded by love and most of the time I want to live up to your impossible expectations.'
His words reached out and hugged her heart. She felt both exposed and gratified. 'Really?'
'Yes. There's no choice, there was never a choice. Life happened and now look at what I have. Would I choose Marsha? I can't regret Dani, but I wouldn't trade her for one of our children. Who would I have to give up? Julie? Alex? Oliver? Whose smile would I not see? Bailey's? Sasha's? They're my children, too. I can't live without any of them. Or you. You have always been the heart of me, Katherine. I love you.'
Mark was good with words, but this time she believed him. Believed them. They washed over her, healing old wounds, making her certain that loving him had been the right thing to do.
'You are the light of my life and I would be lost without you,' he said, then he kissed her.
She kissed him back, putting all of her passion into that moment of lips and tongue and breath.
He chuckled. 'Okay, now you're making trouble on purpose.'
'A little.' She stroked his face. 'I have to. You're going to be very angry with me in a minute.'
'Why?'
'Because of what I'm going to say. What I'm going to ask you.'
His humor faded. 'You never ask me for anything.'
'I know.' It had been a point of pride with her. Sometimes a stupid point of pride, but there it was. She drew in a breath. 'Alex wants to leave the campaign. He's not a political animal. He doesn't want to disappoint you, but he can't do it anymore.'
Mark leaned back and swore under his breath. 'I need him. He's good at what he does.'
'Dani's leaving Seattle. She feels responsible for what happened to Bailey and for the declining poll numbers. All she wanted was to find her family. She thinks she's made a mess of everything and the easiest way to fix things is for her to go away.'
He looked at her, his blue eyes dark with questions. 'What do you think?'
She took his hands in hers. 'That you are the only man I will ever love. That I would change the tide for you, if that's what you wanted. I would die for you, Mark. You know that. But you can't do this anymore. The price is too high. It's time to let the dream go.'
Color drained from his face. He seemed to shrink a little, hunching down as if crushed by disappointment. It physically hurt her to say those words and she would have given anything to call them back, but she couldn't. There were too many other lives at stake. She might be willing to die for her husband, but she wouldn't continue to hurt those she loved for him.
She braced herself for the argument, the rage, the accusations. She knew how much he wanted the chance to make history. He stunned her by straightening, then squeezing her fingers and saying, 'If that's what you think is best.'
'What?'
He smiled. 'I trust you, Katherine. I've always trusted you. You wouldn't have asked me on a whim. You know what this means to me and what I'll be giving up. What was that line from that
That was it? No protesting? No yelling? No anything? 'Just like that?'
He kissed her. 'Just like that, Katherine. I love you. Someday you're going to have to start believing that.'
She sucked in a breath, then threw herself into his arms. Tears burned in her eyes. 'Thank you.'
'No, don't thank me. You're the amazing one in this relationship. I'm just along for the ride.' He ran his hands up and down her back again. 'What if I told you the door has a lock?'
She'd always carried a weight inside-the heavy burden of being the one who loved, rather than the one who was loved. For the first time ever, that weight cracked and fell away. She felt light, happier, filled with possibilities.
'I'd tell you to use it and get naked.'
Alex sat at a table in the Downtown Sports Bar. He'd been there a few times but it had been nothing more than a place to meet friends. Now he knew it to be part of the Buchanan empire, a place that mattered to Dani and therefore mattered to him.
A busty, blond waitress came over. 'Hey, darlin'. What can I get you?'
He barely glanced at her. 'A beer. Whatever you have on tap.'
'Sure thing.' She leaned over, giving him a view of her low-cut T-shirt and her impressive, barely contained breasts. 'Anything else? My shift ends in about a half hour. We could go somewhere and talk.'
He looked at her face. She was pretty enough seemed friendly and there was no doubt as to what she was offering. He couldn't have been less interested.
'No, thanks.'
'If you're sure?'
'l am.'
She straightened and gave someone behind her a thumbs-up. 'He meant it. He wasn't interested. Swear to God, I don't think he could pick me out of a lineup. Dani's a lucky girl.'
'Appreciate it, Heather,' Reid Buchanan said as he walked up to the table and gave Alex a rueful smile. 'Hey, she's my sister. I was just checking.'
Alex wanted to hit him. Just once, with enough force to break his nose. Not that he would. While he resented being tested, he knew that he would do exactly the same thing for one of his sisters.
'No problem,' Alex said. 'I'm not worried about passing any test you have. I love Dani. I want to marry her.'
Reid sat down. “That's putting it on the table. So why did you ask me to come meet you? You want permission or something?'
Alex shook his head. 'Not permission. Just a little help. I'm planning an intervention.'
'What? Why?'
'Dani thinks she has to leave Seattle. It's complicated and a lot of it is about the senator's run for president. She doesn't like being in the press, doesn't like that she upset my mother. So she's going to run away. Or so she thinks.'
'I don't know anything about this.'
'I doubt she's told very many people.' He pulled a small, velvet box out of his jacket pocket and put it on the table.
Reid picked it up, opened it and studied the ring. 'It's so sudden,' he said. 'We barely know each other.'
'I work fast.'
Reid grinned. 'I thought I'd make you squirm.'
'It would take a lot more than that. I'm going to ask Dani to marry me and I'm not taking no for an answer.'
Reid's gaze narrowed. 'It's not your decision to make.'
'She loves me. She wants to stay in Seattle. But she's hell-bent on sacrificing herself for the good of the family.
