by Sophie Oak
Nicky pointed to Caleb. “He gets it. I did it to get away from my dad, but I also took a lot of money. Hey, I wanted to be free, not dirt poor.”
“Holly, I know you want to throttle the boy, but how about we hear him out?” Nate asked, sitting on Hope’s desk.
Nicky seemed to suddenly remember they weren’t alone. “Crap. Is that really a crime? Am I going to be arrested? I don’t look good in orange.”
Oh, she hadn’t even thought about that. “You can’t arrest him.”
Nate waved her off. “If what I’ve heard about your ex is true, then I should give the boy a medal. But this is a serious situation. Someone just blew up your car, Holly. If the congressman is involved, I want to know.”
Marshal Michael McMahon shook his head. “If this is about Ms. Lang, the US Marshals would leave this completely in your hands, Sheriff. Not really interested.”
Jessie gave Nicky a thumbs-up. “Give ’em hell, kid. I never did like politicians.”
At least Nicky had the law on his side on this one. It didn’t look like anyone would be hauling her baby boy off.
“I think it probably be me,” Alexei said. “Many peoples wish to be killing me. I should not have come to town. I should have stayed and been Howard.”
Michael crossed his arms over his chest. “You wouldn’t have been happy. We knew that.”
Nate sighed. “Okay, so it could be Holly or Alexei.”
Caleb’s hand came up slowly. “It wouldn’t be the first time someone tried to kill me.”
That was news to Holly. “Who would want to kill you?”
Caleb’s face went oddly blank. “Have you met me?”
Every damn man in her life was made of sarcasm.
She turned to the Marshals. “Do you guys think this is about Alexei?”
“I would bet on it,” Michael said. “He put a lot of dangerous men in jail. Two of those men are trying to wrangle their way out of convictions. If they get their cases overturned on appeal, well, it would be better for them if Alexei couldn’t testify again.”
“But just so you know, we haven’t received any specific threats,” Jessie continued. “We’re just playing the odds.”
“Marshal Wilson gave a detailed description of the subject to Hope. Turns out she’s a hell of an artist. We should know something soon. Zane is coming in because he got a bad feeling about a guy in Trio the other day. I’ve learned to trust his instincts. We’ll see if the two match up,” Nate said. “Although I wouldn’t bet on it. She says the guy was short and very pale. I don’t think they’re going to match. The man Zane talked about looked Italian.”
“Scott is the only person who might want to hurt me. But I don’t get it. I didn’t even know about Nicky’s side business, which is going to stop now.” She couldn’t have her son blackmailing his father. The three men in chairs all started talking at once.
“Holly, you need to listen to the kid. Do you have any idea how hard this could have been on him?” Caleb’s face was earnest, his hands tight on his thighs.
“Boy is tough. Boy does what he needs to do.” Alexei went on praising her son.
“Mom, I can’t go back. I won’t.”
She held a hand out to silence them. To her great surprise, they all fell in line. Maybe she was missing something here. She got to one knee. “What happened? Have you been thinking about this for a while?”
Her baby boy’s face flushed with emotion. “I thought about it all the time growing up. Don’t get me wrong. There was a lot I loved…still love…about being incredibly wealthy. And Dad isn’t the world’s worst dad. He’s a terrifically horrible human being. Seriously, don’t vote for him. But he loved me.”
“He didn’t kick you out.” She took an odd comfort from that. Guilt had been gnawing at her ever since Nicky had shown up. When she’d been thrown out of his life, she’d at least thought that Scott loved him. For all his douchebag ways, he’d genuinely cared for their son. Just not for her.
Nicky sighed, putting the coffee down. “No, he didn’t throw me out. And when I threatened to leave, he threw a fit. He told me if I stepped one foot out of his house before college, he would make sure I didn’t touch my trust fund.”
That sounded like Scott. “Baby, what did he do that made you want to leave?”
“I met a boy.”
Her heart ached. She knew where this story was going, but he needed to tell it.
“His dad worked for mine. Not as anything big. He was on security detail, but they lived in the guest house. His name was Tristan. I told him his parents had assured his gayness by giving him that name. Mom, I think I loved him. I know I never felt that way before. I know I joke about how hot guys are, but it was different with him. I could talk to him. I could tell him everything. He was my first kiss. My only kiss.”
She reached up and wiped the tears at his eyes. She didn’t bother with her own. “Baby, I’m so sorry. Did your dad fire his?”
“No. It was worse. He gave him a promotion, but only if Tristan never contacts me again. They moved to DC two months ago. Tristan is a good boy, at least. He won’t return my calls or my e-mails. I guess he’s enjoying his dad’s newfound wealth.”
Caleb’s face had gone red. “You can’t let that get you down. You have to push those types of people out of your life. They’ll just use you.”
“Well, he didn’t seem that way before my dad bribed his family.” Nicky took a deep breath and shook it off. “Anyway, I realized I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to get out. I’m not stupid. I know all about Dad’s penchant for sleeping with his aides. All I had to do was follow him for a day or two and I had everything I needed. I presented it all to him in a beautifully polished PowerPoint presentation. I even made a graphic representing how his dick was going to cost him voters.”
Scott must have been livid. For the first time, she had to consider that he might have been mad enough to come after her. He might have thought she was the one behind it. After all, he’d done the same thing to her once.
“Mom, I won’t take it back. I can’t go back to being that person. I need to be me. I need to be whoever I turn out to be. I can’t play the game anymore. Not one more second. I love you. I want to spend time with you. I want to find a nice little liberal arts college and get a degree that wouldn’t get me a job at McDonald’s. I’m thinking creative writing. I want to do stupid shit because I think I’ll figure out who I am. Not Nick Lang, the congressman’s son. And not your little Nicky. But me. Just me. I hope you’ll let me do that with you. But I’ll do it without you, Mom.”
God, he wasn’t a kid anymore. He’d just made a decision it had taken her most of her adult life to make, and he hadn’t needed two lovers to do it. She nodded. “Blackmail the son of a bitch until he can’t see straight.”
Caleb slapped his hands together. “Yes!”
Alexei sat back, crossing one foot over his knee and looking very much the dangerous mobster. “We need to make sure your master negatives are in safe place. We will talk.”
Nicky’s eyes went wide. “I love my new daddies.”
“Okay, that made me terribly uncomfortable.” Caleb went back to staring at the floor.
“He has a very bent sense of humor,” she acknowledged. She turned to Nate. “Is there any way you can manage to get my son-of-a-bitch ex to come in for questioning?”
“I’m working on it.”
The double doors to the station house opened, and Logan and Cam walked in. Cam got a big grin on his face, but Logan merely stared at Alexei. Scott Lang walked in between them. He wore his thousand-dollar suit with casual grace, and his eyes almost immediately found hers.
“He came in quietly once we told him his son was involved,” Cam explained. “We were lucky. He was at a political rally in Pagosa Springs about thirty minutes away.”
“Nicholas, you will tell me what happened. Are you safe?” Scott hadn’t changed in years. He still looked every inch the immaculate politician. He was perfectly groomed,
perfectly dressed. Not a single hair dared to stray from his chosen style. His features had been built for TV.
Alexei was too dark, too brooding. He was gorgeous, but he’d had a hard life and it showed in his eyes. Caleb’s hair was twelve kinds of out of place. And his T-shirt was never tucked in. It was only a miracle it wasn’t wrinkled.
Scott was perfect, and now she wondered what she’d ever seen in him. Her men were the perfect ones.
“I’m fine, Dad. Not a singe on me, thanks to Mom’s boyfriend.” Nicky seemed to take particular delight in pointing to Caleb.
Scott turned to Caleb. “You look incredibly familiar. If you saved my son, I thank you.”
Caleb got up and mumbled as he turned away. “No problem.”
“Logan, Cam, we need to run a 703. This could get messy.” Nate hopped off the desk. “Cam, you know what to do. Logan, behave.”
The deputies walked around the back of the group.
Nate faced off with Scott. “Congressman, I don’t know what my deputies told you, but someone blew up your ex-wife’s car today. And yesterday she nearly died in an accident that seems mighty planned to me.”
Scott’s hands dropped. “Are you serious? I thought this was something Nicky had come up with. He’s very devious. Is this a joke? Did someone really try to kill Holly?”
If he was acting, he was spectacular.
Nicky stood up and faced his father. “Yes, Dad. I was there. Someone blew up Mom’s piece-of-shit car. She needs a new one. I think you should buy it.”
Scott shook his head. “Don’t try my patience, son.” He turned to Holly, his voice going deep. It was the same tone he used to let voters know he felt their pain. “Are you all right?”
“Yes.”
And just like that his sympathy evaporated. “What have you gotten yourself into? Who is this boyfriend? What’s he into? If he’s dangerous, I don’t want him near my son. Nicky, our little deal is off. You can get your ass in the car. You’re coming home. And don’t throw those pictures in my face. You want to ruin my career, go ahead. I won’t save my fucking career in exchange for my son. Holly, you get in the car, too. We’re leaving. You can stay in the guesthouse.”
Both of her men started toward Scott, and Holly finally understood what a 703 was. It was code for “keep the douchebag alive.” Cam put a hand on Alexei, and Logan stood in front of Caleb.
“You are not taking our woman anywhere, dolbo yeb. Zhopa!” Alexei went off in a litany of Russian, most of which sounded like curses.
“You touch her and I will find a horrible way for the Russian to kill you,” Caleb promised. “I took the Hippocratic oath. He didn’t.”
Scott looked between the two men. “I thought the ginger was your boyfriend. Oh, god, Holly. Not you, too. This town is just wrong.”
Holly stood her ground. It was long past time to make a stand. “It isn’t wrong, and I’m not leaving. And yes, they are both my boyfriends. And Nicky knows.”
Nicky grinned. “Total thumbs-up, Mom. They are hot! Dad’s still doing the political equivalent of the pancake waitress.”
“Nicky!” Holly and Scott managed to say it at the same time.
And she realized something.
“You love him.”
Scott’s face went softer than she could remember seeing it in decades. “Of course, I do. He’s my boy.”
“He’s gay, Scott.” Scott lived in a very conservative world.
“Yeah, I figured that out when he was six and asked for Cher to sing at his birthday party. I’ve always known. He thinks I got rid of Tristan because he was a boy. I would have gotten rid of a girl at this age, too. He’s too young. He’s way too young to even think about settling down. Damn it, he’s my son. He can’t know what he wants at this age. He thinks he’s in love, but in the end, he’ll love his career more and he’ll end up wrecking someone’s life. Someone he loved. Just…just not enough. Is it wrong that I wanted to spare him that? To spare Tristan that pain?”
She shook her head. She would never forgive him for what he’d done to her. But she didn’t need to brood over it anymore. “Scott, he’s not you. And he’s not me.”
Scott took a step toward her. “Babe, you know you’re the only woman I ever loved.”
Cam got into a defensive position. Alexei went off in Russian again. Caleb simply stared at Scott.
Holly held out a hand, trying to let her men know that she had this one handled. “Oh, Scott, your love wasn’t worth much, was it?”
He didn’t even look offended. “No. Which is why Connie and I work and you and I didn’t. She doesn’t give a crap as long as I keep her in Prada. But you, oh, you needed more. I hope these assholes are giving it to you. Our son is the best thing I ever did.”
“He blackmailed you.” Holly was a little surprised at the way Scott talked.
Scott smiled, a fierce little turn of his lips. “That’s my boy. He’s ruthless. I’ve never been more proud than I was the day he took down the old man. My other two kids are bleating sheep. They’re tax deductions. Nothing more. But our Nicky, he can be anything because he won’t accept less. I’m fucking proud to be his dad.”
“Yeah, that’s going to go over so well with your little old lady supporters and the church groups,” Nicky pointed out.
Scott sighed. “Well, I wasn’t going public with my support. Son, fuck whoever you want. Just do it in private. And for god’s sake, don’t do it like your mother. She has it all wrong. It’s two girls and one man. Though I will admit, your mother is certainly pretty enough for two men.”
“She’s not going to sleep with you, Dad,” Nicky said, groaning a little.
“Ewww! I am not.” Holly wouldn’t touch Scott with a ten-foot pole.
Scott shrugged. “You can’t blame a guy for trying. You look good, Holly.”
“Yob tuvoyu mat!” Alexei pressed against Cam.
“Uh, Sheriff, he’s really strong.” Cam looked like he was one of those tackle dummies football players used.
“Alexei, down!” Caleb snapped. “Holly made her choice. She chose us. She isn’t going anywhere. He’s just making an ass of himself. And, unfortunately, I don’t think he tried to kill her.”
“Kill Holly?” Scott turned to the sheriff. “Sheriff, I’m an ass. I’ll sign the paperwork proclaiming it, but I would never physically harm Holly. I love her. As much as I’m capable of love, I love her.”
She looked at her men who appeared ready to do everything they had promised. “He’s not capable of much. But I’m pretty sure he didn’t try to kill me.”
Nate frowned. “He was in Denver yesterday?”
“Yeah. He was in Denver at a rally and then Pagosa Springs today,” Cam replied, eyeing Alexei like a tiger who was just about ready to pounce. “But he probably wouldn’t do this himself. I ran his financials on the way out to pick him up. If he paid someone, he did it from a secret account.”
Scott’s foot tapped impatiently against the floor. “I didn’t try to kill my wife. Ex-wife. I wouldn’t do that.”
Nate’s eyes rolled. “Fine. You can go. I sincerely suggest you get the hell out of my town before the Russian decides to take your head off. I think Doc there will let you get by, but the Russian has gone a while without killing someone. I’m worried about him.”
“Doctor?” Scott looked at Caleb, his mouth dropping. “Holy shit. You’re Caleb Sommerville.”
“Damn it.” Nicky frowned at his father. “She didn’t know that.”
Caleb flushed, his skin turning a dark red.
“What?” Holly asked. “You’re wrong. His name is Burke.”
Jessie put her hands up. “Alexei, you can’t blame me for this one. I didn’t let the cat out of the bag.”
“What are you talking about? Alexei?” She turned to Alexei, who seemed to know something she didn’t.
Alexei’s rage seemed to flee in favor of a deep guilt. It was written in the lines that creased his face. Cam stepped back as though realizing the thre
at had passed.
“Dushka, everyone in Bliss hide something,” Alexei said. “Caleb does not like his original name. That is all.”
Oh, but it wasn’t. Alexei might be an excellent liar, but he didn’t seem capable when it came to her. There was something else going on, but she let it go. She turned to Caleb. She still wasn’t sure what was such a big deal. Alexei was right. A lot of people came to Bliss because they wanted to forget something. “Sommerville is a little stuffy, babe. I like Burke better.”
“You’re okay with it?” Caleb asked. Every muscle seemed tense.
She shrugged. “Why would I care? Lots of people change their name. Laura changed hers. Rachel did, too. Nell went through a phase where she called herself Moonbeam Laughingstick. I should have changed my name, but I’m way too lazy.”
Nicky slapped his hands together. “Good, excellent. Then we’re all happy. Dad, you should ship out. Don’t you have voters to defraud?”
Scott’s eyes narrowed, speculation plain in the blue orbs. “She doesn’t know.”
“Dad.” The word sounded like a warning coming out of Nicky’s mouth.
Holly got a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Nicky knew something, too. Everyone knew except her. She looked at Caleb. “What are they talking about?”
He seemed to find the floor behind her endlessly fascinating. “Nothing that matters. I’m Caleb Burke.”
Scott rubbed his hands together as though something pleased him greatly. “No, you’re Caleb Burke Sommerville of the Chicago Sommervilles. Holly, darling, if you think you couldn’t handle the Langs, you really should meet the Sommervilles. Talk about old money and power. They invented the terms. That family came over on the Mayflower, didn’t they? Well, it didn’t take them long to become one of the premiere families in American politics, and they’ve kept it that way for a couple of hundred years.”
“You’re an asswipe, Dad.” Nicky’s fists were clenched.
Holly looked around the room. “Nicky, you knew who he was?”
Nicky’s eyes turned down. “Yes, Mom. I lived in DC long enough to know who the power players are. I knew who he was the minute I laid eyes on him. And I knew he was different. He wouldn’t be in this town if he wasn’t.”
