Page 60 of Caught By the Chief of Staff

“Don’t knock it until you try it.” I smile just a little bit. “Rick hates it too, but he still buys it for me.”

“Because he’s in love with you.”

“What makes you think so?” I ask, popping another bite into my mouth. I have loved Rick and lived without him for so long, I’ve done so everything the wrong way, and still I hope that after all of it, he can find it in his heart to forgive me and love me the way that I love him. But I’m still terrified that he won’t be able to let it all go.

“I know the look of a man chasing a woman so desperately he doesn’t know what to do with himself,” he says on a smirk. “And I know the look of a woman running more from what’s in her own damn head than anything else.”

“She’s a lucky woman,” I say softly.

“And after a fair amount of time, she knows it now,” he says, and a happy look of a man content with his life washes over him. I’m glad he has that. He’s not a bad guy. I shouldn’t wish him ill.

Just then, Rick comes back into the room, and I wonder if he was listening at the door like a teenage girl. He sets down a glass of water in front of me and another beer for each of them.

“So are you done listening in like a little bitch?” Wes asks on a laugh, making Rick scowl.

“I’m not a little bitch.”

“But you were listening in?” I ask.

“Maybe,” he admits, eyeing me speculatively.

“Care to add anything?” Wes prompts with a twinkle in his eye.

“No, I think you covered all of the basics,” Rick says while rolling his eyes. “Now, let’s figure out who’s so desperate to blackmail the president that they would kidnap my daughter.”

Finally. Now we’re getting somewhere.

Wes pulls a notepad and pen out of his jeans pocket, and Rick drops a legal pad on the table. He spins a pen in his hand like a majorette with a marching band. I hold my breath. There has to be something between the two of them that leads us to Rachel.

“So what do you have?” Wes asks.

“This morning, Cara received a video message from the kidnappers…” Rick explains to Wes how we broke up nine years ago and why.

“So why do you think they targeted you two if the goal was always Jake?” Wes asks.

“I never would have taken those suicide missions and off-books ops if it weren’t for my divorce,” Rick explains, making me cringe. I hate that I changed him so much, but it also changed me, and I can’t lose sight of that. We’re not who we used to be. “Cara kept me grounded, and without her, I was adrift. I didn’t care what the mission was as long as it took me away from home where I would sit and think about why she left me. Removing her from the game made me that mercenary.”

And Jake would never let you go into a shit situation half-cocked,” Wes adds. “They knew he would go with you.”

“And when we both couldn’t take it anymore, we got out, and he eventually got talked into running for office.”

“Who talked him into it?” Wes asks.

“Mostly, he was worn down by his dad, the senior senator,” Rick says.

“I bet he’s over the moon that Jake won the presidency,” Wes inserts.

“Yes and no,” Rick answers. “Jake made it clear that his dad’s shady dealings would not have sway over Jake.”

“I bet the old man loved that.” Wes whistles.

“He did not. And Jake won’t let him near Grace either.”

“So could it be him?” I ask, not censoring my words at all. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have interrupted.”

“It could be, but I doubt it,” Rick says gently. “It seems a little too obvious.”

“You’re right,” I reply quietly. Embarrassment burns my cheeks.