Scandalous: The Senator's Secret Bride (9 page)

Get ahold of yourself, Sonia. No one saw you. And they won’t see you. Because there won’t be another time.
I stepped out to the street and waved my arm, my stomach pitching again as a cab passed.
Dammit, I’ll have to get to a doctor if this shit keeps happening. Get some sleeping pills or… something for my nerves.
Another cab rolled by.
 

“Dammit!” I shouted. “I need to get my ass back home.” I swayed again and shut my eyes tight, trying to calm myself. I must have looked a sight in my formal wear with my hair flying every which a way. Anyone who saw me could have guessed exactly where I’d come from.

Hopefully, though, they wouldn’t guess
who
I’d been with. When I opened my eyes, I saw a dark Rolls Royce turn onto the street, slowing as it approached the hotel. The windows were tinted black. It rolled close to where I was standing and then sped past, turning around the block again. My heart pounded as it passed by, and I waved frantically for a taxi to stop. Yet another passed by, almost as if it were avoiding me.
 

“Come the fuck on!” I groaned and kicked at the pavement. As exciting as last night had been, it was morning now, and I needed to get the hell out of there. To my horror, the Rolls turned the corner again, slowing to a crawl as it approached the hotel.
 

Some dude thinks I’m a hooker. Fantastic.
The rolls pulled to a halt right in front of me, one dark window rolling down. I laughed nervously.
 

“I’m just waiting for a cab,” I said, swinging my purse. An angular, thin face peeked through the window, and I immediately recognized Janice Howell, the Republican candidate for Senate.
 

“Get in,” she said. “I know your secret.”
 

October 1, 2016

Five Weeks until Election Day

The door to the Rolls opened, revealing its immaculate leather seats and the long, thin leg of Janice Howell.
 

“My team has been hard at work, Miss Mills. And it looks like you have too.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” I said, stumbling backwards and almost falling onto the sidewalk. I looked around desperately for a taxi.
 

“I had the taxi company that trolls through here stop service to this street for the next hour. And believe me, sweetheart, we’ll follow you all the way home. But it looks like my ex-husband wore you out last night. I’m betting your legs are sore.” My eyes went wide, and I stared blankly at Janice’s icy, cool expression.
 

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh sweetheart, it looks like you and your little Mexican friend didn’t know your own candidate’s personal history. John and I did our best to erase our little mistake of a marriage, but if you did any kind of digging, you’d find it right away.”

“She’s Argentinian,” I said flatly, stepping backwards.
John and... this woman?

“Whatever the case may be, it looks like she’s an idiot. And you are too. Or maybe you were just knocked flat by John’s charms. Flat on your back, with your legs spread, more like.” She laughed, her eyes remaining cold. A flush rose over my chest and into my cheeks.
 

“Take your nastiness elsewhere. There’s no way for you to prove what you’re saying.”

“Isn’t there? I think you’ll want to take a look at these pictures.” I stood still, and Janice looked me over, her expression calculating. She took out her phone and opened the screen, turning it to me. “I said, get in the car. Or this goes live on Twitter before John wakes up for breakfast.” I leaned in closer to get a better look at the screen. There was a very clear picture of John taking me in his arms after the fundraiser last night.
 

“How in the hell...” My voice trailed off. She must have had a camera set up in his room. It looked like I wasn’t the only one who knew that he had a strong preference for room 405. My gut twisted, another pang of nausea rolling through my body.
 

“I said, get in. We need to have a little chat, my dear Miss Sonia Mills.” The door of the Rolls opened wider, and Janice gestured to the seat next to hers. I paused for a moment and looked back at the hotel. John lay asleep in his Four Seasons suite, unaware that there had been cameras positioned inside of his room. Unaware that I had made the mistake of a lifetime. Unaware that he could awake to a scandal at any moment. “Don’t worry, Miss Mills. If anyone were going to murder you for your indiscretions, it would probably be the team you’re already on. And John’s too much of a bleeding heart to allow that kind of thing. He probably even
likes
you. But as for me? I have no qualms dragging you and your family through the mud.” My body going numb, I stepped to the car, sliding into the seat and closing the door behind me. The car started and rolled forward, heading slowly towards my Columbia Heights apartment. Janice lit a cigarette and gestured for the driver to roll down her window a bit.
 

“You don’t mind if I smoke, do you?” I shook my head slightly. She lit the cigarette and blew out a ring of white smoke. I coughed slightly, looking away.

“How did you know?” My voice came out raspy, my throat tightening with disgust.
 

“You have to keep your bases covered with this type of thing, Sonia. May I call you Sonia?” The car sped on, the buildings moving in a blur outside of the darkened windows. She paused for a moment, as if waiting for me to respond, but I stared out of the window, my mind reeling. “I know that John is something of a romantic, and though he’s not particularly prone to flings, I heard rumblings that he might be interested in someone on his campaign. My little birdies are everywhere. That’s how you succeed in this business. John himself is far too soft, his ideals too pure.”

“So he wants to win to get you out of office? Does he want to get you out of office because he’s... jealous?” I looked down at my hands as if they held the answers I was seeking. This didn’t seem like John. The secrets, the hidden lie of his marriage.

“No, certainly not. You can keep your nice little ideal view of John. He’s been active in politics for years through his business, and he’s an excellent candidate... if you like his views that is. He truly believes he’s doing this for the American people. Knocking the evil candidate off the throne.” She tapped her cigarette at the window, the ash trailing behind us.
 

“But why... why would he keep this hidden?”

“What? The marriage? Well, he’s embarrassed, I suppose. His supporters wouldn’t necessarily love to know that we were married when we were in college.”

“Is this about money?”

“Oh no, not at all. I have plenty of that.” My heart sank, and I looked over at the woman. Money would have been less complicated than whatever she had planned. I leaned my head into my hand and sighed heavily, an unearthly exhaustion creeping through each cell of my body. I couldn’t imagine John as the type of man who would hide this, but it appeared there was a lot I didn’t know about him.
 

“Why are you doing this? Why can’t you just let it play out?” Tears pricked at my eyes, and I swallowed them hard, trying to push them down.
 

“Oh honey, you don’t know a thing about politics, do you? I want to
win
. And I need to hit John with something that will destroy his confidence. I need to show him that I know he’s human, and oh so easily defeated. But you know, there’s one option we haven’t explored. You. I know he needs you and that woman, Kelly. If you leave his campaign and join mine, I’ll leave him be... for right now.” A tear rolled down my cheek, and I wiped it away, mascara coming away on my hand.
 

“I
will
leave the campaign, but there’s no way in hell that I’d work for you,” I spat. The Rolls pulled up to the curb in front of my apartment complex. I looked out at the rows of condos and studio apartments. It all seemed so quiet and calm, reflecting none of the pain that I felt. The life I’d led a few weeks ago seemed so pure, so sweet. I closed my eyes for a moment and imagined going back in time, skipping the day that I’d met John, the day that I’d made the worst mistake of my life.
 

“Think about it, my dear. Everything has been set in motion, and John
will
know about the scandal before long. And it’s always the woman who gets sacrificed, no matter how many good intentions the man in power has. Mark my words. If you want a place in politics, you’ll call me up in a few hours and accept my proposal. Otherwise, I can guarantee you’ll be out of politics for good, and more than certainly out of John’s horrible little campaign. I
will
win. And I’m giving you an opportunity to get out now. To keep your career in politics. Unless, of course, you want to go back to work at that horrible little job at the nonprofit. You’ll probably never even get the directorship there after this. Might as well sign back on as program director or whatever the hell it was you were doing.” I cut my eyes at her. I pulled at the door handle, but the Rolls was locked from the front. Janice stubbed out her cigarette, her eyes studying mine.
 

“Never.” Janice laughed, throwing her head back.

“You think John will keep you on? You think you’ll be able to do anything in this town after this? If you do, you’re dumber than I thought. No one likes the whore. You’ll be lucky if you can even show your face at The Washington Foundation.”
 

“Let me out,” I said, pulling at the handle again. I closed my eyes and saw a brief flash of waking up in the morning and going in to work for Janice. I shuddered and pulled at the handle again. “Driver, please open this door, or I’ll be calling the police.” Janice nodded, and the door opened. She tossed one of her cards out after me, and I left it sitting on the pavement. She sniffed and laughed again.
 

“Have it your way. I was hoping you
would
come and work for me. I do like helping a woman get ahead. But I’m looking so forward to seeing John’s face when the news comes out. It’ll make this election a hell of a lot more exciting.” I turned on my heels, hiding my face from her view. “Call me by noon if you change your mind!” she shouted after me. I stomped up to the gate and swiped my keycard, slamming the gate behind me. After a moment, I heard the door of the Rolls close, and it drove away. I trembled and looked back to where her card had landed on the sidewalk.

“No,” I mumbled, “ You’re better than this. And something will work out. Something.”
 

I ran into my apartment, my stomach rolling. I’d never felt so nauseated, so dizzy in my life. I stumbled into the bathroom, kicking off my shoes and flew to the toilet, dry heaving over and over again.
 

“He’s ruined,” I moaned. I knew that I had to get to John as soon as possible, but I knew he was traveling again this morning. Perfect timing. I heaved, saved by the fact that there wasn’t a damn thing in my stomach. I leaned back and sat on the floor, hot tears prickling at my eyes. I started to sob in earnest, and I crawled over to the cabinet beneath my bathroom sink. Even if I couldn’t figure out quite what I was going to do about John, I could at least get some Pepto or Alka Seltzer. And then maybe my day would start looking up. I opened the cabinet, sorting through the packets of pills I kept on hand for colds. I reached my hand to the back of the cabinet, my hand hitting against a plastic bag from the pharmacy. I pulled it out, paper crinkling. Even before I pulled it into the light, an image of it was forming in my mind. I pulled a slim, unopened package out of the bag.
 

Plan B One-Step Contraceptive.

The morning after pill. I’d never taken it. I dropped the packet to the floor and clasped my hands over my stomach again, crawling back to the toilet and heaving hard.
 

I closed my eyes, the bathroom spinning around me, trying to count the days since my last cycle. It had been about two weeks before I first met John. I tapped my fingers on the toilet bowl, taking note of the days and weeks I’d been working on the campaign. It had been about three and a half weeks since I started.
 

Holy shit
. I laid down across the cool tile of my bathroom floor, the flouncing autumnal dress swirling around me. If I were a slimmer, prettier girl, the whole thing might have looked very romantic. But I was sure that I had dark bags under my eyes. And the gray, sickly skin tone I had been sporting probably wasn’t doing me any favors. It all had an explanation though.
 

Pregnant
. My stomach protested at the thought of it, but I was too tired to draw myself back up to lean over the toilet. Instead, I pressed my forehead to the floor, listening to my pulse pounding in my ears. I knew there was a pregnancy test hiding somewhere in my cabinet, but it was probably two years old at least. Would a two-year old test even work? I had no idea. After all, I wasn’t the kind of girl who did things like this. I was good. I was demure. I stuck to the
rules
when it came to men.
 

But John had roared into my life, forcing me to break all of them. I thought of his arms wrapped around me, providing me with the strength and wholeness that I’d been missing my entire adult life. Funny how that is. I had never known it was missing, not until I had it for one moment. I pulled myself over to the bathroom cabinet and opened the bottom drawer, fumbling around without looking until my fingers touched the package I needed. Clutching the pregnancy test, I hoisted myself onto the commode. I ripped the package open, my hands shaking. Closing my eyes hard, I took the test. Still not looking, I put it onto the counter beside me.
 

Janice Howell. She can’t know. She just can’t. She’s already got enough to ruin John, and this will seal the deal. She’ll be in the Senate until the end of time after this, and she’ll be up at bat for the presidency after this.

“Why didn’t you tell me she was your ex-wife?” I sunk my head into my hands, completely defeated. Even if I wasn’t pregnant, she had everything she needed to ruin us. She’d been waiting for this, waiting for John to slip up. And it was all focused on me. I let out a sob. I’d put my entire career on the line to work for John, and now I’d ruined him.