Page 24 of Celebrity

I handed him my phone. A play of emotions crossed his face and slowly got angrier as he flipped through the pictures.

“Tell me now that you pressed charges against this bastard.” He dropped my phone on the couch and cupped my face in his hands. “Why didn’t you come to me? Why didn’t you let me know?”

“This happened the day you said that being with me would ruin your career. That I’d become a joke in the legal world. I couldn’t turn to you. You couldn’t even look at me when I left our condo.”

Dev grimaced and then leaned his head against mine.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. I’ve been a complete asshole to you.”

I released a deep breath and shook the sadness from me.

I was letting the stupid reporter win. This was only the first of many times someone would try to hurt me with my political ambitions.

“Dev, you can’t take responsibility for this. It was Spencer Miller’s fault. He broke into our house through the patio door.”

“That explains why you had all the locks changed to the code system.”

I nodded.

Then I detailed all that happened: Spencer’s arrest, his release, and the aftermath.

“Who posted his bail?” Dev asked as he sat with me on the couch.

I brought my knees into the sofa, angling toward him. “Senator Grey Decker. Or someone who happened to be on his staff.”

“That makes no sense. How did he find out about us?”

“Seriously?” I looked at Dev and sighed. “We’ve never truly hidden our relationship. If someone looked, they’d find the paper trail, our marriage certificate, the deed to the house that has our family trust as the owner, as well as our joint bank accounts. What we need to think about is how long he has known and why he hasn’t outed us.”

“He’s wants to spring the information when it could hurt both Dad’s and Jacinta’s reputations the most. That man is dirty. If you only knew what they say about him behind closed doors.”

I knew. Jacinta knew. Five years ago, when her father was up for reelection to the US Senate and her twin brother, Tyler, was running for the US House of Representatives, Grey Decker’s son cornered Jacinta during a charity weekend at Decker’s family estate in North Texas.

Thankfully, she’d fought him off, using the self-defense moves she’d learned in a class we’d taken during law school.

When Decker Senior heard about what had happened, he threatened to make it seem as if Jacinta was drunk and came on to his son. He even had photos doctored to make Jacinta look half-dressed and wasted.

At the time, I’d done everything in my power to get Jacinta to press charges and fight back. She’d refused, stating it could cost her family the election, especially since they’d paint her as a whore.

Through research, I’d learned Decker had used the same tactic with every woman who got in his way. He had done a great job of projecting an image of the righteous conservative politician, but those who encountered him had different opinions.

He’d hurt Jacinta in a way that made me wish horrible things on him. And because I loved my best friend, I had kept her assault by Decker’s son a secret and helped her through the trauma.

Now, I had to keep her secret close to my chest, even from her brother.

“And the best way to embarrass your father and Jacinta is by throwing you and me into the spotlight. Decker is still pissed that his colleagues chose your father over him as the Senate Majority Leader. He feels slighted by the party because of his son’s drug arrest, and he thinks your father swayed the vote in his favor.”

“Damn, I think he’s planning to do something with those pictures to hurt Dad’s and Jacinta’s reputations. I’m going to have to talk to Dad about this. And for the record, no matter what Dad wants me to do, I’m not hiding us anymore. I was an idiot to do that to you in the first place.”

I still wasn’t sure how to respond to this change in our relationship.

“You don’t believe I’m sincere.” A flash of hurt appeared on his face.

“We’ll see once you have to deal with the press as part of your daily life.”

“I’ve dealt with the press from the time I was born. My father is a third-generation politician.”

“This is different, and you know it.”

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