Page 90 of Executive Decision

“She’s separated,” I said. “And the divorce is messy. She deserves so much better.”

“I think she doesn’t deserve you.”

“You think that about every person we bring home!” Chloe rolled her eyes. “Get over it. Don’t be an asshole, Mom.”

“I worry about your career.”

“That ismineto worry about, Mother!”

“What does Jo think?” Mom asked.

“She’s not wild about the idea,” I admitted. “But I’m not wild about ignoring real feelings for someone who cares about me. We are careful. Being open doesn’t help either of us.”

Mom grabbed an apple, shrugging. “Fine, whatever. You’re a grown man. However, I’d remind you the Delphines will never see you as an insider. If there is any chance to flip this around on you, they will.”

“This isn’t a calculated move to end my career,” I scoffed. “Daphne and I have feelings for one another. It’s not about some game of chess.”

“It isalwaysa game of chess with those people,” Mom sighed. “It’s a bad omen. If she can bring you down, she will.”

I didn’t debate my mother because she wasn’t wrong. I wasn’t an insider. I did, however, know Daphne’s heart. And, either way, her downfall was tied to mine. We had much to lose by playing our cards too far from our chest.

32THE KID

Daphne

My phone rang.I couldn’t ignore its vibration and light in the dark room at Cal’s family home. Annoyed and assuming it was my mother, I reached for it. My chest and back suffered stabbing pain. I panicked when reading who rang.

“Meredith?” I asked, confused. “What do you need?”

My attorney calling from London at what was already late evening there—on a Saturday—had me confused.

She got into it immediately. “I have bad news and want to say it before it leaks. Although, given Chandler’s ability to self-preserve, who knows?”

“I’m sorry?”

“Chandler has impregnated the intern.”

“What? How? There’snoway. His sperm were?—”

“Somehow, he’s managed it, Daphne. This comes from his attorney. He’s pressuring us to accept these bad terms to spare you quickly.”

It hit like a brick wall. He got her pregnant—something he never could with me. Why did she get this and not me? She was achildin comparison. She was the other woman. I realized now I hated myself for that impulse, though. This wasn’therfault. She was a pawn in his manipulative game of world dominance just as I had.

“Spare me?” I asked. “Sparehim. We’re coming up on an election. He doesn’t want it getting out. As I see it, we have a move to play—the one to win.”

“Explain.”

“Meredith, he’s the man who cheated with an intern and impregnated her. Now, he’s dragging his ex-wife through the mud. He wants to marry her and end this quickly. If so, we havehimover a barrel.”

“Daphne, your goal was to minimize press attention?—”

“Sure. But I want freedom more. I can go underground for a month or so.”

“It could backfire?—”

“It could, but what more can I do? Either way, when the news comes out, it will be a scandal for the press to salivate over. That’s a given. Let’s let them know before he can organize a way to attack me. I refuse to give him anything more than I’ve offered. I don’t care how he feels about it.”

“Take a deep breath and think about it.”

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