When Dutch saw him in the hall, he stopped his progression. “In my office now!” he bellowed, and then made a beeline for the Oval.
Crader’s heart was ramming against his chest as he made it down the hall, hurrying behind the president.
When they made it into the Oval, all of the aides knew not to follow. This was private, Dutch’s actions made clear, as he slammed the door shut.
And they, Dutch and Crader, were alone.
To calm himself back down, Dutch walked slowly behind his desk and then sat down. He leaned back, his body slightly slouched, his fingers dabbing his lips as he stared at his vice president. Crader paced the floor, looking troubled and distressed, and made his way behind the desk too. He leaned against the desk, standing beside Dutch’s chair.
He exhaled. “After Vegas,” he began, “I continued to see Elvelyn.”
Dutch continued to stare at Crader. He was one of the strongest, most courageous men Dutch knew. But when it came to women. . .
“We would meet up a couple times a year,” Crader continued. “We’d have dinner.” He moved his butt slightly. “Have sex,” he added. “Then we lost contact for years. Nearly six, seven years. Until last year.”
Crader slid his butt around again, as if his discomfort was increasing. “I was in Florida, at a dinner party with some friends, and Elv was there.” He paused. “We hooked up that night and . . . spent the night. Then I hear from her a couple months later saying she was pregnant.”
Dutch stared at Crader.
“Since she had just gotten married,” Crader went on, “she knew she had to pawn the kid off as her husband’s. But she believed the kid was mine.”
Crader ran his hand through his hair. “I didn’t know if she was blowing smoke up my ass or not, Dutch, that’s why I never mentioned it. We didn’t take any DNA test. I mean, yes, she came to me claiming it was my kid, but nothing was confirmed.”
Dutch, however, didn’t see the point of his contention. “Why would she claim it was yours unless she absolutely was convinced the baby was yours? All she had to do was pretend it was her husband’s and keep you out of it, if she wasn’t certain it was yours.”
“I know,” Crader said. “That’s the thing. But she didn’t want anything from me. She said I had a right to know, that’s why she told me. But she said she was going to tell her husband that the kid was his, and it would never be questioned. Why would it be? As far as everybody were concerned, the child was Elv’s husband. I mean, who would know any differently?”
Dutch looked at Crader. “You would know the difference. You, the father.”
“If I’m the father, Dutch.”
“That’s easy to determine.”
“And I will determine it. I’m not trying to shirk my responsibilities. I’m just. . . That poor child. It’s just all so hard to digest.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this, Cray?” Dutch asked, genuinely disappointed.
“I thought this whole thing was about that Vegas weekend, that’s why I didn’t say anything.”
“You were hoping it was about that Vegas weekend. Because compared to this shit you’re telling me about right now, that Vegas weekend, even if it was recorded, was a piece of cake.” Dutch frowned. “A child’s involved.”
Crader knew he told the truth. He could say no more.
Dutch pinched the bridge of his nose. “What was the timeline?” he asked. “And you’d better not tell me you were engaged to marry Loretta when you had unprotected sex with that woman. Please don’t tell me that, Cray.” Crader said nothing, which astounded Dutch. “So it’s true?” Dutch asked. “You were engaged to Loretta when you impregnated Elvelyn?”
“It wasn’t planned, Dutch.”
“What the hell’s difference does that make?!” Dutch roared. “Of course it wasn’t planned! Is that supposed to make it a little less fucked up by claiming it wasn’t planned?!”
Dutch stood up angrily and walked to the window. He could throttle Crader he was so angry.
“I’m not making excuses,” Crader said. “I messed up. I know I messed up. You don’t have to keep telling me that. You can’t say anything to me that I haven’t already said to myself.”
Dutch turned toward him. “Did you think about Loretta for even a second while you were fucking that woman?”
Crader ran his fingers through his hair. He frowned. “Of course I did. What do you take me for?”
“A damn fool and a cheating dog,” Dutch said bluntly. “That’s what!”
This stunned Crader. He fought back tears.
Dutch, however, had no sympathy. He gave Loretta away to this jackass. He had that long, drawn-out conversation with him about doing the right thing and keeping it in his pants, when even before they walked down the aisle he’d already fucked up. And the thought of it just angered Dutch more.
“Gotdammit, Crader,” he said, disappointment in his voice. “What were you thinking? How could you do that to her again?”
“It just happened, Dutch, all right? It wasn’t like I went out looking for cunt! Me and Elv were through. I hadn’t seen that woman in years. When we met up again we were just remembering old times. She was married for crying out loud!”
“And you were engaged!” Dutch thundered. He was so angry with Crader he wasn’t sure if he could contain it.
“Yes, I was engaged, yes, that’s true. But. . .”
Dutch frowned. “But what?” How, he wondered, could there be a but?
“But she was there, all right?” Crader admitted. “I was engaged to LaLa, I was happy, I was trying to do the right thing. When I met up with Elv at that party it wasn’t like you think. We talked, enjoyed each other’s company. But then one thing led to another thing and dammit, Dutch, what was I supposed to do?”
“Keep that fucking dick in your fucking pants!” Dutch said. Then he calmed back down. They both calmed back down.
“Where’s the baby now?” Dutch asked.
Mention of the baby brought a new sense of dread to Crader. “With Elv’s sister from what I could find out.”
“This Stephanie Mitchell?”
“Right.”
“Why would she think her sister’s child could be mine?”
Crader shook his head. “I didn’t think she knew anything about it. Apparently Elv had confided in her. Not just about me, but about that Vegas weekend with you, too. Maybe the sister confused the two.”
Dutch shook his head. All he needed. He ran his hand across his face. “And Loretta knows nothing about this baby?”
“Of course she doesn’t know!” Crader snapped. “I can’t just tell her something like this. Besides, I don’t even know if the kid is mine yet.”
Dutch shook his head. “How could you do this to your wife, man?”
Crader almost said she wasn’t his wife yet, but even he knew how lame that would sound. “I told you being totally committed to one person wasn’t going to be easy for me,” he said, sounding lamer still. “I told you that. I’m not like you, Dutch.”
“You’re not like me?” Dutch asked, a frown on his face. “Don’t you dare try to pretend that being faithful to the woman you love is some unobtainable goal that only the perfect man can achieve. Because you know what? There are no perfect men. I’m tempted every damn day, Cray. You know I am. But I don’t run around fucking all these skirts that wanna fuck me! I can’t do that to Gina. At some point it has to be about your wife, and not just you. What about Loretta?!” Dutch screamed.
“What about her?” Gina asked as she entered the Oval office unannounced. Both Dutch and Crader looked at each other. And Gina looked at Dutch.
“What about LaLa?” she asked again.
Dutch held out his hand. Gina walked over to her husband and placed her hand in his. “What’s wrong?” she asked him. “And who’s Elvelyn Rosenthal?”
Dutch looked at Crader. So Gina did also.
“She’s somebody with whom I had a relationship.”
Gina furro
wed her brow. “You? Then why was the press . . . Okay, I’m sufficiently confused. At that press conference her sister was apparently running around telling reporters that Dutch is the father of Elvelyn’s child, which is ridiculous,” Gina added. “But. . . are you saying it’s your child, Cray? That you have an eight month old baby?”
Crader’s eyes fluttered. “That’s what I’m saying, yes. That child could be mine.”
Gina’s heart dropped. “Oh, Cray, what have you done? You and La were married---”
“Engaged,” Crader corrected her. But if he thought that would lessen the impact of his indiscretion, he was sadly mistaken. Gina fumed.
“The point is, Crader, as if you don’t already know, you had promised to be faithful to her. After what happened with you and Liz Sinclair, you had promised LaLa, Cray!”
“I know I promised her, Gina. I know I promised her.”
“Then what are you talking about? How could you father an eight month old? What, you asked LaLa to marry you, she gladly said yes, and then you went off to be with this Elvelyn person?”
“It wasn’t like that,” Crader said almost too low to be heard, his fight almost completely gone.
Gina shook her head. “Poor LaLa,” she said. “How could you do that to her, Crader?”
“I know, Gina. I know, all right!”
“Careful, Cray,” Dutch warned about his friend’s tone toward Gina.
“I don’t mean to raise my voice,” Crader assured her, “but don’t you think I realize how bad this is? I get it, G. LaLa may leave me, I understand that.”
Gina stared at him. Was he that far gone? “She may leave you?” Gina asked. “Are you out of your mind? You asked her to marry you and then proceeded to screw some woman and have a baby with her, and you’re saying to me that she may leave you? She may? She’d better leave your ass! Ain’t no may in it!”
“Okay, babe,” Dutch said, pulling Gina’s back against his front, and rubbing her arms to calm her back down.
Crader ran his hand across his already rumpled hair. “I know I’ve done a terrible thing,” Crader insisted. “And I know I deserve everything I’m going to get. I can’t feel any worse than I already do.”
“Who gives a damn how you feel?” Gina responded. “What about LaLa? What about her feelings? Because you obviously didn’t give a damn about how she felt or you wouldn’t have done what you did to her. Again!”
Disgusted, Gina moved away from her husband and began to leave. But Dutch pulled her back. Gina looked at him. “What are you doing, Dutch? I need to go see LaLa.”
“Where is she?” Crader asked.
Gina couldn’t even say another word to that man.
Dutch, however, looked at her. “Where is she, Gina?” he asked.
Gina exhaled. She knew she had to speak up now. “She got the baby and headed back to Blair House. She thought this Elvelyn Rosenthal was some new drama they were cooking up about you and me. So she decided to give us some space.”
“Where is she?” Crader asked anxiously.
“Oh, you’re so concerned now?”
“Gina,” Dutch said in a warning voice.
Gina exhaled again. “She got Nicole and went back to Blair House.”
Crader immediately hurried for the exit, his heart like a torrent of pain that hadn’t even seen the half of it yet. LaLa, he knew, was going to be devastated.
“Why did you pull me back?” Gina asked her husband. “I should be there for La. I’m her best friend. I’m the one who cares about her. I should be the one to tell her.”
“No, you shouldn’t,” Dutch made clear. “Crader is her husband.”
“Some husband.”
“I know, but he’s her husband. He has to tell her.”
“Did you hear that fool? She may leave him, he said. I wanted to kick his cheating ass.”
Dutch pulled her closer against him and wrapped his arms around her. “Get in line,” he said, his disappointment in Crader like a pang in his heart. And the thought of what this could do to Loretta made him even more disgusted.
“How could he do that to her?” Gina asked again.
Dutch knew how, he just couldn’t understand why. Why would Crader risk so much for some piece on the side like that? Why would he do such a thing to their sweet, kind, never would so much as harm a flea LaLa?
CHAPTER NINE
Later that evening, Dutch and Gina were back in the Residence. After having dinner and putting Little Walt to bed, they sat together on a lounger out on their private patio, a blanket covering them and keeping them warm. The wind was blowing mildly across the White House grounds, creating a cool breeze that made them feel eerily peaceful. Although Dutch knew Gina was concerned.
“I haven’t heard from LaLa,” she eventually gave voice to her concern.
Dutch sipped from the glass of wine in his hand. His other hand was undercover, inside Gina’s panties, gently rubbing the outer edges of her folds. Other than their excursion to Virginia, he rarely got to spend a quiet evening with his wife. There were always more meetings to attend. But tonight, he knew, he couldn’t allow her to be alone.
“She’ll call when she’s ready,” he said. “You have to give her some time.”
Gina shook her head. “The idea that Crader would do something like that to her again, after losing her over this same shit the last time, just blows my mind. And now a baby is involved, Dutch. A baby.” She shook her head again. “What is wrong with some of these men?”
Dutch kissed her on the forehead, leaned her closer against his hard frame. They both were lightly dressed in shorts and t-shirts, but both felt burdened. “Yes, some men think with the wrong head.”
“But you were out there, just like Crader. You haven’t been sleeping around and bringing home babies to me.”
Dutch smiled. “I did bring a baby home to you. She was a grown baby, but still.”
Gina had to smile at that one, too. Speaking of grown. “Miss Jade,” Gina said. “That girl just loves her daddy.”
Dutch hesitated. “Yes,” he said and sipped more wine. Then he hesitated again. “I may get her an appointment with Dr. Katz.”
“Dr. Katz?” Gina asked. “That same therapist you made me sit down with?”
“That’s right.”
“You think she needs therapy? Why would you think she needs therapy? Because of that mother of hers and the way she raised her?”
“And the fact that this father of hers wasn’t a part of her life when he should have been.”
“Oh, come on, Dutch. You didn’t even know she existed until she was twenty-three years old. It wasn’t your fault. I don’t even blame Sam. She was young and she was scared. I can’t even blame her.”
“Understood. I don’t blame her, either. But that doesn’t mean damage wasn’t done.”
Gina understood that. “Jade isn’t going to want to talk to any therapist, I can tell you that right now. Not Miss Jade.”
“You didn’t want to talk to one either.”
“Yeah, but you made me talk to her. I don’t know if anybody can make that daughter of yours do anything.”
Dutch snorted at that. But then he dismissed the thought of that daughter of his and concentrated on this wife of his, instead. And specifically her folds that were getting wetter with every poke of his finger. He slid it inside and began to massage her more aggressively.
Gina leaned back and relaxed into his massage. It was nights like this, when she had Dutch’s undivided attention, that she loved the most. Although it was tempered. Because LaLa wasn’t far from her thoughts, too.
“What about Marcus?” Dutch asked. “You heard from him?”
Gina closed her eyes, the effect of Dutch’s unique massage beginning to take control of her concentration.
“Yes. I invited him to my birthday bash next week.”
“He accepted?” Dutch asked.
“Gladly. Why wouldn’t he?”
“He wasn’t exactly thrilled when I told
him he couldn’t stay here at the White House.”
“Oh, Dutch, he understood that. We don’t really know him yet. You’re out of town often. You couldn’t just leave him with me and Little Walt like that. It’ll be like leaving a stranger in your home. And yes, we have Secret Service protection, but they aren’t in our bedrooms like that. I think he understands it’ll take some time for us to get to know him, and for him to get to know us, too.”
“So you don’t think he resents me?”
“Oh, he resents you big time,” Gina said to laughter from Dutch. “He resents me, too.”
This pronouncement, however, concerned Dutch. He stopped massaging her. “He resents you?” he asked.
“Yes, me, and don’t stop.”
“Why would he resent you?” Dutch wanted to know, as he began massaging her clit. “After all you’ve done for him?”
“When I was with Block by Block Raiders, I worked with guys like Marcus all the time. They get all of this help, and you and I would expect them to be grateful, and initially they are. But then they start believing that they’re your family, and if you even think about treating them like the strangers that they really are, then they get seriously offended. They feel disrespected and they really do resent and hate you, I’m serious. I mean, it’s as if you become their lightening rod. When you said Marcus couldn’t stay at the White House with your wife and son, because you didn’t know him like that, which was the truth by the way, that did something to Marcus. I don’t think we realize just how slighted he felt.”
“Well,” Dutch said, sitting his glass of wine on the side tray, knowing he was getting too aroused to not get some from Gina. “If you ever see anything that concerns you about this resentment of his, you let me know.”
“And why should I let you know?” Gina said with a smile as Dutch began to unbuckle and unzip his pants. “So you can go over and beat Marcus up for me?”
Dutch moved her on top of him, her back against his front, and began pulling down her shorts and panties as he did. “If he disrespects you,” he said, “I’ll do more than that to him.”
DUTCH AND GINA: THE SINS OF THE FATHERS Page 10
