Page 98 of Breaking News

Meghan nodded toward the little café in the center of the terminal. “We can grab coffee. Do you guys want me to order you something?”

Jill and I both shook our heads, and we watched Xander and Chase follow Meghan to get in line. We moved to an area near the windows overlooking the tarmac, away from the people waiting on their flights. I sighed, letting go of my suitcase handle to put my hands in my pockets.

It was time to come up with a plan. We didn’t have the luxury of hiding from this problem anymore. Whether we liked it or not, it was time to face this mess head-on. We had to act.

And I wanted to do it the right way.

I opened my mouth to tell her this—to suggest that we come clean to HR together, tell them what Isaiah saw, and own up to the secret relationship—when Jill looked at me and said, “Xander has dirt on Noah Sherman.”

I blinked. “What?”

“He’s having an affair with one of the baristas at Riverside Coffee. Xander has proof.”

My jaw tightened as I stared at her in confusion. I wasn’t sure I’d heard her right.

“We can use that against him if he threatens to expose us to get better campaign coverage,” she said, tucking her hair behind one ear with a hopeful look in her eyes, as if she weren’t casually suggesting extorting a politician.

And it was like a punch to the gut. All I could do was stand there and stare at her with my mouth slowly dropping open; becauseJesus Christ, look what I had her doing. She was standing in an airport terminal talking about blackmailing oneof the most powerful men in our city like it was a perfectly reasonable next step.

I thought about Isaiah’s words in the parking lot, about how Xander told him that the longer people try to hide something, the messier it gets. But we were already in the center of a mess.

I cleared my throat. “Jill, let’s be rational. Noah isn’t our only problem, and even if he were, blackmail isn’t the answer.” I paused, glancing up at a plane on the tarmac slowly crawling toward the gate. “I think we just need to come clean. Go to HR. Disclose the relationship like we should’ve when it first started.”

She blinked at me. “And what happens then?”

“I don’t know,” I replied, swallowing hard. “It won’t be up to us anymore."

Jill’s lips pressed into a thin line. She glanced toward the café where the others were standing at the counter. Then, turning back to me, she raked her fingers through her hair and sighed. “They’re probably already looking for reasons to let me go after my on-air breakdown,” she said quietly. “This could be it for me.”

She paused, locking her eyes on mine. And her next words crumpled me.

“Or worse—they could go after you.”

Or worse?Fucking hell.

“You shouldn’t be worrying about that right now,” I said, scowling at the ground. “With your health and everything else you’re already dealing with, the only thing you should be thinking about today is your appointment with the rheumatologist. I should be the last thing—” I paused, trying to swallow. “Thelastthing on your mind right now.”

I struggled with the last few words, the lump in my throat making it damn near impossible to speak. I kept picturing her in Times Square holding back tears over me, when she should’vebeen smiling and laughing with her friends. She’d missed out on everything.

I’d ruined NYC for her.

And maybe her career, too.

“But you’re always thefirstthing on my mind every day,” Jill said, her voice just above a whisper. “And the last thing on my mind before I fall asleep. I think about you all the time, Graham.”

I looked up. “Well, you shouldn’t,” I snapped, shifting on my feet. “Jesus, Jill. I’m just a stupid man who stupidly fell for someone way out of his league. You were supposed to realize that a long time ago.”

“I guess I’m stupid, too,” she shot back with a sarcastic shrug.

“Great. The only thing we’ve established with this conversation is that we’re both stupid.”

“And now our stupid friends are walking over here,” she said without tearing her eyes off my face, “so maybe we should wrap this up.”

I wanted to point out that they wereherstupid friends and my stupid employees, but that would only highlight the absurdity of our entire predicament. The word “stupid” didn’t even feel like a real word anymore by the time Meghan, Chase, and Xander wandered over with their coffees.

“You guys good now?” Meghan asked.

Jill and I stared at each other. Were we?

---