Page 65

Thirty minutes pass, my annoyance and temper rising with each passing minute, before a soft creak comes from the direction of the door.

“It passed the House” is all I say as she enters the room.

A soft scoff meets my ears, cranking up the heat building in my veins. “Of course it did.”

Turning, I narrow my gaze on her, allowing all the menace and hate to pour through. “We have a deal.”

“Ah, the deal,” she says, ignoring my death glare. “Funny thing about that deal is you haven't seemed to keep up your end of the bargain either.”

“What?” Stalking across the room, I pause in front of Mother.

“I seem to recall you saying you'd ease your way back into the social circles needed to uplift your political career, yet,” she says with a sigh and condescending pat to my shoulder, “I haven't seen you at any functions recently. Seems I'm not the only one not following through.”

“Fine,” I grit out, knowing she's right. “Name the next gala or charity shit I need to go to with Jessica and I'll be there.”

Locking her honey brown eyes with mine, a sinister smile pulls at her lips. “Oh, Trey. Trey, Trey, Trey. You've been out of this game too long. Do you think you have the upper hand in this? It’s too late for that.”

Grinding my teeth, I force myself to stay quiet. Behind me the door's hinges creak.

“Ah, there you are,” my mother says, her tone bright. “Thank you for coming so quickly.”

I crane my neck to see who's interrupting our wonderful family reunion and my eyes widen.

“The fuck are you doing here, Jessica?”

“Language,” Mother spits out. “We need to get you away from that trailer trash of a woman soon.”

“Watch it,” I snap, turning back to her.

Her smile widens and she glances behind me to Jessica. “We’ll have to cure him of this little crush he has for her. That’s your first order of business.” Sliding her gaze back to me, my mother gives me a once-over. “Sad, really. You have so much potential.” She motions for Jessica to join us. “I've been doing a little digging of my own, and it seems you have more of a vested interest in this bill not passing than you originally led me to believe.”

My nostrils flair, lips pursing into a thin line, but still I say nothing. I need to know what they know first before I open my fat mouth and give them more information to use against me.

“I've heard you and this woman”—disdain drips from her lips as she says the word—“have a relationship of sorts. Which will be a problem if you're with the lovely Miss Hawthorne.”

“What?” Jessica gasps. Her eyes dart from me to Mother. “I didn’t… Trey, you didn’t… I thought it was just flirting and—”

“I never agreed to be with Jessica. I said we would go to the functions together so she could help introduce me to key players, nothing more.”

Mother looks to Jessica. “See, now that I know what's on the line for you, well… that's just not enough.”

My throat goes dry, and dread twists in my gut. Jessica’s face turns pale, a greenish tint marking her usually bright features.

“We had a deal,” I snarl, taking a menacing step toward Jessica.

“I didn’t know.” She takes a step back. “She didn’t tell me. I wouldn’t have….”

“What did you do?” I seethe. “What did you do, Jessica?”

A soft cry bubbles up from her chest, which she covers with a delicate hand to her pale lips.

“She made a better agreement with me,” my mother responds with a sigh as she motions between her and Jessica. “Here's the new plan in place that you will follow. I will seal the votes needed to stop the bill from passing in the Senate for that pathetic excuse of a vice president. In exchange, you will announce yourengagementat the celebration ball we will host after the bill fails, and you will keep your promise to enter the political scene, but sooner.”

I turn from the two women to pace the length of the opposite wall to keep from punching either of them.

Shit, this is bad.Think, Trey.

Engagement? Fuck.