Innocent (Inequitable Trilogy Book 2) Page 15

  My fists tighten around the strap of my messenger bag and I realize I should say something. “V-vice P-president Woodley, sir.” I hate that I stammer, that I’m probably giving him some measure of satisfaction.

  He has Leo. What more can he possibly want or take from me?

  I will be the bigger man…

  Or, at the very least, I won’t let him see how broken I truly am. I do have some modicum of pride remaining deep inside me.

  He nods. His hands are jammed in the pockets of his dress slacks. “Jordan. Thank you for coming. I know this is short notice, but it’s the way the schedule worked out and I didn’t want to call any attention to our meeting.”

  I swallow hard. “I-I really don’t think I was given much choice about coming, sir.” I nervously nudge my glasses up my nose before my hand returns to the strap of my bag.

  That quirky little smirk appears at the corner of his mouth. It’d be easier to hate him if he wasn’t so damned good-looking. “No, I guess you weren’t. Still, thank you for coming. I appreciate it.” He steps back into the suite and pauses, his intention clear.

  Glancing around, I’m looking for confirmation from someone—anyone—to make sure I am supposed to follow him.

  I finally do.

  He closes the door behind me, snapping the lock shut. I’m standing there with my fists tightly clenched around the strap of my messenger bag, my knuckles white and my heart throbbing.

  He steps around me and indicates the larger sofa, which isn’t made up like a bed right now the way it sometimes is. All the shades are pulled on the suite’s windows, giving us total privacy.

  “Sit, Jordan. Please.”

  I finally do, leaving my sweater and messenger bag on as I warily stare at him.

  But he doesn’t sit. He removes his glasses and sets them aside before he positions himself in front of me and his hands return to his pockets. He stands with his feet spaced shoulder-width apart. If you didn’t know what he looks like naked, you’d never guess he’d had his lower left leg shot off.

  And…I realize I’m one of probably only two people in the fricking world, besides his medical team, who knows what the vice president looks like completely naked.

  That would be me, and Leo.

  The uncomfortable silence lays between us but I refuse to break it. I honestly don’t know why I’m here, unless he’s a massive prick and wants to gloat over having Leo all to himself.

  It’s nearly a minute before he finally speaks, his voice so low I can barely hear him. “I want to declare next weekend, a week from this Sunday. Doing so depends on one thing.”

  “One thing, sir?” Calling him that grates on me a little because we both know the deeper context, but I do have manners. He’s the fricking vice president, and I’ll respect the office, if nothing else. I will always adhere to the protocols.

  The way my Sir trained me.

  Never will I ever do anything to reflect badly on Leo, even if he isn’t my Sir anymore.

  Elliot probably wants to make sure I won’t talk, except he doesn’t have to worry about that. Even if I wanted to hurt him, I would never hurt Leo.

  Because Leo loves Elliot, it means I won’t hurt Elliot, either.

  He’s still using that quiet tone. “I need you to come work for me as my body man. Not only during the campaign, but after I’m elected, too. Provided I win, of course.”

  Now I know I didn’t hear him right. “Say whut?”

  “You heard me.”

  Forcing myself to stay quiet and ponder this is…well, let’s just say it’s difficult.

  The man has everything he wanted, and now he’s rubbing salt into my wounds?

  My anger and pain want to burst through, while my aching heart and soul desperately rein it in.

  I’m better than that.

  Leo loves Elliot, and I know he loves Leo. While I’m hurting—and, okay, more than a little angry Elliot’s here—I love Leo. I’ll always love Leo. I love him as much right now as the day I wish I could take back, the day I stupidly left him.

  Because of that love, I will never do anything to disrespect Leo. Part of my heart and soul will always belong to him.

  I don’t speak until I’m sure I can control my mouth. It’s a struggle to keep my voice low, so we’re not overheard. “Did Leo put you up to this?”

  Or worse, somehow, I wonder if Leo ordered him to do it.

  “Leo and President Samuels are in Ottawa for five days.” He shifts his weight the way I know he does when he feels uncomfortable. “They left yesterday. From there they fly to London for a seven-day stay, then on to Tokyo, the start of nine days in that region. Leo has no idea I’m even here. I mean,” he quickly adds, “I’m sure he’s seen my schedule and knows I’m here-here, in Tallahassee.

  “Had meetings yesterday about conservation issues and Everglades restoration progress. Shae hasn’t sold her house here yet, and it was already secure. I needed a night alone away from Washington and the public at large to clear my head. Shae offered to let me use it whenever I wanted a getaway, so I stayed there last night. Today, I had a bunch of meetings with state party officials, the governor, and others.

  “Leo doesn’t know I’m meeting with you right now. This is just you and me talking, Elliot and Jordan, and it’s not listed on any schedule. Only Secret Service knows you’re here. It’s blocked out as executive time. I mean, the flight crew knows you’re here, but they don’t know who you are, or why I’ve asked you here.”

  The rapid spin of my pulse threatens to make me light-headed. I barely manage a whisper. “Why?”

  “Because I didn’t want to tell Leo until after you and I talked, and I didn’t want you brought over to Shae’s house and have someone get a picture of you arriving or departing. I also didn’t want your visit listed on the official logs.”

  Confusion has my thoughts all scrambled. “No. I mean, why are you asking this of me? You hate me.”

  He shifts position again and his gaze drops.

  “I don’t hate you, Jordan. I’ve never hated you. I’m sorry you thought that.”

  “Damn funny way of showing it,” I mutter.

  He looks at me again. “I don’t hate you. It was fear, not hatred.”

  “Fear?”

  “Yeah.”

  I snort. “Now I know you’re screwing with me. You could pound me into the fricking pavement, even if you didn’t have a squadron of Secret Service suits—”

  “I was scared of losing Leo to you.” That makes my jaw snap shut. “Of him walking away from me to be with you,” he continues. “Of him getting tired of all the bullshit being with me entails, both personally and professionally. Of him saying ‘fuck it,’ and walking away with you because he was tired of living on the edges of a fishbowl where I’m too chickenshit to publicly declare how I feel about him.

  “You’re younger than me, a private citizen. And, let’s face it, you’re hot, you’re brilliant, you’re talented, and you aren’t dealing with any of the bullshit I am, physically or emotionally. In you he has his perfect dream come true—a submissive boy he can do whatever he wants with in near anonymity. He can have a real life again with you. He can have the kind of life he’ll never be able to have with me.”

  I struggle to process all of that.

  “Leo’s the love of my life,” he continues. “I knew I’d never meet anyone else like him. And if you couldn’t guess, dating, for me, is a little awkward. Especially right now. That only makes me more certain I’ll hate myself if I drive him away.”

  “Yeah, well…” I sigh. “Guess I eliminated that worry for you, huh? You’re welcome, by the way.”

  Okay, so I’m a little snarky. Sue me. I never claimed to be perfect.

  He slowly shakes his head. “He’s miserable. These last six months have been fucking hell on him and me both.”

  They haven’t exactly been funsies for me, either.

  Which is why I can’t control my mouth any longer. “You? Why were they hard on you?
You got exactly what you wanted. Congratulations, Mister Vice President. You have Leo all to yourself. I thought you’d be happy about that.”

  “Having him to myself doesn’t mean I’m actually getting to spend much time with him. Or that he’s happy.”

  I will not gloat… I will not gloat.

  “Besides,” he continues, “I know he stayed with me for the ‘greater good,’ not because he loves me more than he loves you. In a perfect world, he’d have both of us. He made that absolutely clear. After everything that happened and meeting you, I know I wasn’t his first choice anymore. I don’t blame him, either. But then you chose for him and took the decision out of his hands. He wouldn’t force you to stay when you were obviously determined to go. He’s been grieving.”

  It takes me a moment to process that. “Did he tell you that?”

  “Not at first. He didn’t have to. Even Kev pulled me aside to ask me what the hell was going on, if there was anything he needed to know, because he could see how miserable Leo’s been. I finally told him what happened.”

  I always did like Kev. He has a good head on his shoulders and he’s handsome as sin. I learned a hell of a lot from him. I don’t know how Chris, Kev, and Shae have managed to keep their secret for as long as they have, but they definitely belong together.

  Wait, I do know how they’ve kept their secret—Leo’s greatly helped them with that part.

  Leo’s a master of many things, including that skill.

  I take another deep breath and say probably one of the stupidest things that’s ever come out of my mouth. “Vice Presi—”

  “Elliot.”

  I take yet another deep breath and start over. I’m saying this for my sake, not his, and I keep my voice quiet, so he doesn’t hear how it trembles. I guess I’ll be crying myself to sleep tonight after all.

  “Elliot, I don’t think it’d work out, me being your body man. I’m not an emotional masochist. I can’t be around Leo every day, not be with him, and it not break my heart.”

  “You can be with Leo.”

  I’m pretty sure I misheard him. “Whut?”

  “You can be with him.” He softly snorts. “Although, if Shae’s schedule stays as crazy as it has been, I suspect you won’t get much more time with him than I have lately. Not unless he finally quits.”

  He toes the carpet with his left foot. “Can’t say I’d blame him if he does. Especially once he’s got you back. I doubt he’d let you get away a second time. I wouldn’t blame him if he walked away from me to be with you if you returned.”

  I stare at him as I try to process his words. “You don’t know if he’ll even take me back.” I wouldn’t blame Leo if he didn’t.

  “He will. He misses you like hell. I talked to him right before he left. He finally admitted how much he misses you. He says he doesn’t blame me, but I blame myself. I’m the reason he’s miserable, when the truth is you made him happier than I’ve ever seen him, the happiest since I’ve known him.

  “I know he loves me. Eventually, he’s going to come to hate me over this. I know he will. He can’t live feeling that miserable and not grow resentful of me, no matter how much he loves me. It’s been building inside him ever since he lost you.”

  He chews his lower lip, pausing for a moment. “I love him too much to do that to him. When I tried to tell him I’d understand if he left me to be with you, he ordered me to shut up and not suggest that again. So…”

  He shrugs. “I decided I needed to handle this some other way. The irony is, you working for me as my body man really is the most logical choice to kill a bunch of birds with one stone. He was absolutely right about that. I was wrong not to give in to this from the start. Not that it’s any excuse, but if you haven’t guessed, I have a lot of emotional issues.”

  I’m still stunned into silence.

  “I have two conditions, though,” he adds.

  Ah, here’s the real ask.

  My heart’s pounding again. I know I’m going to hate myself for even considering this, because this is a few levels beyond insanity. “What conditions?”

  He steps forward. Before I fully register what he’s doing, he’s straddling me on the sofa, grabbing the front of my sweater, pulling me in, and kissing me.

  I…

  Holy crap!

  He’s a damned good kisser, too, once I stifle my natural instinct to pull away out of shock.

  I taste hints of bourbon on his lips, like maybe he had a shot for courage shortly before I arrived. Not like he drank a whole glass of it. His weight presses my messenger bag against my stomach and I’m not exactly sure what the hell I’m supposed to do with my hands when the vice president of the United States is kissing me.

  I finally settle for grabbing his tight ass and holding on as he pins me in place with his larger body. For a moment, my mind drifts away, and I don’t think about the countless tears I’ve shed at night while missing Leo, or my lonely, empty bed in my lonely, empty apartment, or the self-recriminations I hammer myself with for walking away from the love of my life.

  Or my jealousy over Elliot getting to have Leo all to himself since I bowed out.

  My cock throbs and I totally embarrass myself when a soft moan escapes me.

  “This is condition one,” he whispers. “It’s all three of us—only the three of us—or none of us. Condition two is you have to work for me for my entire presidency, if I win. Both terms.”

  I stare into his blue eyes as I try to process that. Eight years, if he’s re-elected? Nearly ten in total, if I’m starting now? “Wh-what?”

  He grabs my messenger bag, pulls it off me, and sets it aside. Then he slides onto the floor in front of me and shoves my thighs apart. Hunger burns in his gaze and I’m too shocked to resist when he starts working on my belt and slacks.

  “You heard me, Sir.”

  Yeah, I hear the capital S, too.

  I blink, stunned, staring down at him as the full implication of what he’s asking slams home and renders me completely speechless.

  Determination burns in his blue eyes, turning them nearly midnight-dark in this light. “Leo might have loved me first but losing you has destroyed his heart. It’s my fault. I can’t stand seeing him hurting like this. I love him, and you love him. Why can’t we make this work? He’s right that Kev, Shea, and Chris have.” He fishes my cock out of my briefs and goes down on me.

  Fuuuuu… I close my eyes and throw my head back against the sofa. My hands naturally settle on top of his head, my fingers threading through his hair.

  Then one of his hands closes over mine and he pushes down against his skull, the meaning clear.

  I lift my head and open my eyes to see him staring up at me, and I know.

  I can see the path all laid out ahead of me—everything.

  I can see myself working in the shadows and basically controlling the most powerful man on the planet as he goes about his day, even closer to him than whoever ends up being his chief of staff. Hell, I’m not even old enough to be elected POTUS, but I’ll have the man’s ear and a guiding, steadying hand on his shoulder.

  Literally.

  So, what do I do?

  What the hell do you think I do?

  I grab his head in my hands the way Leo’s grabbed me I don’t know how many times—the way I’ve seen him grab Elliot—and I take over. Other than the few times the three of us were together, I haven’t been with anyone except Leo. And even then, technically, I was only with Leo, because Elliot and I had little direct intimate contact with each other.

  Elliot slides his hands around me, behind my hips and holding on, and I feel something inside my soul catch.

  I’m no Dom or Master.

  But I’m also no idiot.

  My fingers massage his scalp as he works my cock over with a hot, talented mouth that is every bit as good as Leo’s.

  He lifts his head from my cock. “Please, Sir?” he begs. “We go wheels-up at midnight. Pack as much as you can and return to Washington with me
. I’ll even pay to have your stuff moved. You’ll live with me in the residence. Now, and if I’m elected POTUS. I need someone living and working beside me who I can trust. Shae needs Leo until the end of her term. I know I can trust you, because Leo trusts you. You could’ve burned me after you left, and I honestly wouldn’t have blamed you for it. But you didn’t. I want this. Please, Sir?”

  I nod, because I’m not capable of speech right now.

  Triumph narrows his gaze as he goes down on me again. Part of me wonders if I should pump the brakes and have an actual discussion with him.

  Except then he does this thing with his tongue, swirling it around the head of my cock, and I absolutely fucking melt.

  Seconds later, I’m shooting a load down the throat of the guy who’s a breath away from the danged nuclear codes.

  Well, I guess that happened.

  Worse, once I’ve finished, he nuzzles my stomach, looks up at me again with those blue eyes, and something inside my heart melts a little.

  This is a recipe for disaster, and I know it.

  Damned if I can take it back now, though.

  “Thank you, Sir,” he whispers before he presses his face against my stomach while he inhales, like he’s breathing in my scent.

  I feel something deep inside me, that thing that slid and caught a little earlier, twist hard and snap cleanly into place with such a perfect fit that I know I can’t say no or back out now.

  Well, fuck me. I’m screwed.

  I massage his head again, the way Leo always did with me, and his eyes drop closed.

  “Thank you, boy,” I whisper back.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Twenty minutes later, my head’s still spinning as I’m being ferried back to my office on campus. Elliot instructed the agents to stay with me and help me pack whatever I need to bring with me tonight. First, they help me clean out my cube after I break it to my boss that I’m resigning. Then they load me and my stuff into the SUV and head for my apartment.

  Since they don’t ask where I live, I guess they already know.

  I also get my phone back. No, I won’t be posting about this on social media. I know the drill—secrecy rules.