Tempting

by Susan Mallery

  "It's barely two in the afternoon," Gloria said as she entered the room. "You'd have to wait to scream and run."

  Dani felt the space-time continuum shift and fold. Her grandmother wore a suit Dani had seen before. Elegant, perfectly fitted and in a shade of gold that was both fashionable and flattering. Gloria looked like what she was-a powerful matriarch.

  For a second Dani felt swept back a year, to when she'd been doing her damnedest to impress Gloria by making Burger Heaven the best it could be. She could almost feel the burning on her forehead from pounding it against a wall she couldn't see or understand, but also couldn't break through.

  "Is it bad?" she asked before she could stop herself. "The reason for the meeting? Is it really bad?"

  "It's not bad at all," Gloria said, pointing to the leather sofa in the comer "It's good. Have a seat. Walker and I want to talk to you about something."

  "If you're going to tell me I'm not my mother's daughter, either, I'm not sure I can take it."

  Gloria smiled. "You can be very dramatic. I think you get that from me." She looked at Walker. "Do you want to tell her or shall I?"

  "It should come from you," Walker said.

  Dani felt as if she was going to throw up. Was someone dying? Was there a genetic disease that was going to eat her flesh? Was the sky falling?

  "We want you to run Buchanan's," Gloria said. "The manager is leaving and we need someone brilliant in charge. We've all been talking about it and you're the most logical choice. Not to mention the best one. You've always loved the restaurant, you're good at what you do and you're family. So, what do you think?"

  Dani opened her mouth then closed it. She'd never expected anything like this. Buchanan's?

  "No one's sick?" she asked.

  "We're all fine. Say yes."

  Say yes? Just like that?

  While it was true Buchanan's was her favorite of all the family restaurants, the offer was totally unexpected. "I just started working for Bernie," she said, more to herself than them. "I love it there. I'm learning a lot. It wouldn't be right to leave so quickly."

  "She's a good negotiator," Gloria said to Walker. "We haven't even started talking money and already I'm going to have to increase my offer."

  "This isn't about money," Dani said, even as she wondered what the opening offer would be. How much did her grandmother think she was worth?

  "Of course it's about money," Gloria said. "Get as much as you can. Walker's no kitten to work for."

  Dani laughed. "Hey, I survived you."

  "Yes, you did. You were wonderful at Burger Heaven. I probably never told you, did I?"

  Dani was humiliated to feel tears burning in her eyes. "No, you didn't."

  "I'm sorry about that. I'm telling you now. You did an incredible job and I was always proud of you. While Bella Roma is a perfectly fine restaurant, it's not enough for you. Besides, Buchanan's is family. We need you, Dani."

  Dani looked at her brother. "You're being very quiet."

  "She's doing a-good job of explaining my position. I figured if I said it you wouldn't believe me. But coming from Gloria, it has to be true."

  "Interesting point," Dani murmured.

  "You're the only one on the list," he continued. "You're the one we want."

  She was seriously tempted, but there was a lot to think about.

  "Give me a few days," she said as she stood. "I'll get back to you by Friday."

  "We should talk money," Gloria insisted.

  Dani grinned. "If I decide to take the job, we will. Don't worry. I'm going to make you pay for the best."

  Gloria smiled. "That's my girl."

  ***

  Dani figured her day couldn't get much better than it was. Last night had been spectacular, the morning relaxing and now she had a shiny, new job offer.

  Running Buchanan's was tempting. Honestly, the only thing holding her back was the fact that she'd only worked for Bernie a few weeks and she hated to hire and run. Of course, if she gave him a lot of notice, that would help.

  She laughed out loud as she realized she'd already made up her mind-she wanted the job at Buchanan's. In some ways it would be like coming full circle.

  She walked toward Bella Roma and didn't notice the woman lurking by the front door until she nearly ran into her. Dani hastily backed up, then stared.

  "Fiona? What are you doing here?"

  The beautiful redhead drew Dani to a bench by the front door. "We have to talk."

  Dani didn't like the sound of that. "Actually, we don't. I need to go. I'm due inside in about thirty seconds."

  "What I have to say won't take much longer." Fiona clutched her small purse to her midsection. "It's about Alex. Based on what I read in the paper I'm guessing he hasn't been honest with either of us."

  Dani instinctively tensed, then told herself not to be crazy. Fiona was trying to make trouble for her own reasons, but there was no way she was involved with Alex. She couldn't be. He wasn't the kind of guy to play someone. Plus, he would never forgive Fiona for cheating on him.

  "He's been honest with me," Dani said flatly.

  "Oh, really. So he told you he's still seeing me? That I was over there two nights ago, and the previous week and so on?"

  Dani took a breath. She would stay calm. Fiona was bluffing. "That's bullshit."

  Fiona tilted her head. "Don't you love the fireplace in the bedroom? How it turns on with a flick of a remote? So romantic. Have you used the jetted tub in the bathroom yet? I have."

  Cold thickened Dani's blood until it nearly felt frozen in her veins. "You're lying."

  Fiona's expression turned pitying. "Actually, I'm trying to save you while there's still time. My problem is I can't help loving him, no matter how much of a bastard he is. Maybe there's still time for you to save yourself. I sure hope so." She reached in her purse, then passed over a digital photo. "I'm about twelve weeks along. It's sort of hard to tell what's what, but everything is progressing nicely."

  Dani stared at the picture. It was a blob, but the kind of blob she recognized from Penny's pregnancy. "You're having a baby," she breathed.

  "With Alex." Fiona stood and smoothed the front of her shirt. There was a definite bump. "We're reconciling. I know I'll have to live with the other women, but that's the fate of the Canfield wives. To love their men, no matter what. Look at what Katherine has gone through for Mark."

  A dig at Dani's mother. Compared to Fiona being pregnant with Alex's child, it was a poor follow-up. She handed over the picture and stood.

  "I have to get to work," she said numbly, barely able to form the words. She couldn't think, couldn't focus. None of this was real, she told herself. It couldn't be.

  Of course she hadn't thought it was real, either, with Hugh or Ryan.

  She'd thought Alex was different-that he wasn't like the other men in her life. She'd trusted him, given her heart to him. But she'd been wrong and he'd been nothing but a lying, cheating, weasel bastard.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Dani curled up in the corner of the sofa, Gloria holding her and rocking her back and forth.

  Everything hurt. She could barely breathe because the sobs were too harsh and frequent. She felt as if she'd been beat up and left for roadkill, only this was worse. She'd done it to herself.

  "I trusted him," she cried. "I t-trusted him. I know better. They're all bastards. Every one of them. I thought he was different. I thought he was better than Ryan or Hugh, but he's not."

  Gloria smoothed her hair. "Shh. It will be all right."

  "Will it? Really? Can you know that?"

  "I know you're too strong to let this setback break you."

  Dani tried to laugh, but the sound that came out was more of a gargle. "I don't think so. I feel completely broken. Worse. I feel shattered. I can't keep doing this. I can't keep leading with my heart only to have it stomped on."

  She grabbed a handful of tissues and blew her nose, then began to cry again.

  There was a huge
open wound right in the middle of her chest. She wondered if her very essence was going to spill out onto the rug and evaporate. She was hurt on a level that was past anger. She'd believed in Alex. That's what really killed her. She'd totally believed in him.

  "He said all the right things " Dani said. "Like Ryan, only better because they weren't about me. He always talked about his family and being so damn loyal. Like he was this incredible guy."

  "You don't know that he's not."

  "He cheated on me with his ex-wife after telling me this whole story about how she'd cheated on him. We bonded over slimy ex-spouses."

  "So why would he say all that if he was really still sleeping with her?"

  "To suck me in."

  Gloria smiled sadly and touched her cheek. "That's a complex plan, Dani. Do you really think you're worth all that?"

  Despite everything, Dani laughed. Then she collapsed in her grandmother's arms and began to cry again.

  "She's having his baby. I saw the picture. I saw her stomach."

  "Maybe she has gas."

  The sob-giggle combined into a snort. "Women like Fiona do not have gas."

  "Everyone has gas. You don't know she's pregnant and if she is, you don't know it's really Alex's baby. Fiona has an agenda. You said she wanted Alex back. Getting her competition out of the way is going to make that go more smoothly."

  "Maybe," Dani said, unwilling to give Alex the benefit of the doubt.

  "Someone else could be the father."

  Based on how beautiful Fiona was, Dani was willing to bet there would be thousands of volunteers.

  "I don't know what to think," she admitted. "I want to believe it's all a game she's playing, but she knew stuff about the house. Specific stuff and he said she'd never been there. So he has to have lied about that."

  "I'm sure there's a logical explanation for how she knows that."

  Dani sniffed. "You're taking his side. That's not allowed."

  "I'm trying to help you see that you don't have all the facts. If it turns out he's betrayed you, then I'll have Walker hire some mercenary type to grind him into dust."

  There was a fierceness in Gloria's voice that made Dani feel safe and loved. It was no match for the ache inside, but it helped a little.

  "I like that plan," Dani admitted.

  "So we're in agreement. In the meantime, you need more information. You have to talk to Alex."

  "Not today," Dani said. She'd barely gotten through her shift at Bella Roma before escaping to Gloria's house where she'd collapsed. "Not for a long time."

  "Eventually."

  "Maybe."

  Dani wiped her face and wondered how she would get over this if Alex was the cheat she suspected. Were there really no good men out there or was she just cursed to never find one of her own?

  ***

  Alex waited until everyone had left the meeting. Mark picked up the phone in his office, then glanced at Alex. "Did you want something else?"

  "I want to talk about how you got the charges against me dropped."

  Mark shook his head. "There's no need to thank me. I was happy to do it." He looked at his watch. "I need to make this call."

  Alex ignored that. "I'm not here to thank you. I'm here to ask you what the hell you think you were doing, messing in my life? You didn't even have the courtesy to talk to me first. You just fixed everything. Like that was the right thing to do."

  His father straightened in his chair. "You could show a little gratitude. If you'd been charged, you would have had to leave the campaign. Your old law firm wouldn't have wanted you back, so what would you have done? If you'd been convicted, the likelihood of you ever practicing law again would have been close to zero. I saved you, Alex. Don't forget that."

  "I wanted to handle things myself."

  "Give me a break. How were you going to do that?"

  "By working through the system."

  “The system? The only system that matters is the one we control. You're acting like a child. Did you want to go to jail?"

  "If necessary," Alex said, determined to keep his temper. He knew Mark's style well enough to recognize the technique of trying to make his opponent feel foolish enough to walk away without finishing the discussion. Alex wasn't going to be sidetracked. "I want to do the right thing."

  Mark stood and walked around his desk. "The right thing is for you to live up to your potential. You have an outstanding career and why should some pissant reporter get to screw that up? Did I make a few calls? You bet. Would I do it again? In a heartbeat. You're so big on family loyalty and protecting those you care about. So am I, and that's what I did. I protected you."

  Alex stood. "You got involved in a legal matter that didn't concern you. You used your position to influence a district attorney. Doesn't that bother you? Because it sure as hell bothers me."

  Mark leaned against his desk. "I keep forgetting how idealistic you are. Look around. This isn't an intellectual discussion in some Ivy League law classroom. This is the real world. Do you know why you're on my campaign right now? On my staff? Because your law firm wants you to be here. They let you go because they're hoping I'll win the election. Then they'll have a connection to the White House. You know it and I know it. All of life is politics, son. It's a reality and you have to accept that."

  "Political reality has to stop somewhere."

  "Why?" Mark asked, sounding genuinely confused. "Why does it stop anywhere?"

  Alex got it then. He'd never seen his father before-not as he really was. Mark wasn't evil or power-hungry. He simply saw the world in the way that made his life easier.

  He thought of Katherine, who lived her life doing the right thing-not only because it was expected but because doing the right thing defined her. Yet she loved Mark with every fiber of her being. How did she reconcile the two?

  If she were here now, she would tell him that loving someone meant accepting them as they were-good points and faults. He could love his father, but accept the faults? That was going to be tougher.

  He had two choices. He could accept what had happened, or he could walk away. His gut told him to walk. That he wasn't the man to be a part of that.

  But his heart remembered standing next to his birth mother's dead body, sobbing because he hadn't been able to save her. His heart remembered his vow to be loyal, no matter what. That if he ever found a family again, he would stand with them, protect them and never walk away. His heart remembered Katherine teaching him that duty was everything.

  He didn't have a choice. He would stay, because it was the right thing to do.

  ***

  Dani didn't even know which channels carried political shows on Sunday morning, but she flipped through the national networks until she saw men and women in suits looking serious. Then she poured herself a cup of coffee and prepared to become informed about the American political scene.

  She'd never been interested before, but then she'd never had a parent running for national office before, either. Better late than never and all that. At least she always voted.

  She sipped the coffee and listened to the guests talk about the latest crisis in the Middle East. Her mind wandered, probably because she was so tired. She hadn't been able to sleep in four days. Not since she'd spoken with Fiona.

  Dani had been dodging Alex's calls-something she couldn't do forever. But she didn't know what to say to him. Part of her was afraid of the confrontation because it would be ugly, but mostly she didn't want to hear him admit that yes, he was a bastard and she'd been fooled yet again. Until there was confirmation, she was weak enough to want to believe the best of him.

  "Shame on me," she murmured into the quiet of the room, as the show shifted into a commercial break. "I need to be stronger than this."

  And she would be. In time. Wasn't she allowed a little weakness, at least in the short term?

  The show resumed with a shift in topic. She saw a picture of Mark Canfield and turned up the sound.

  "While the presidential el
ection is nearly eighteen months away," the host said, "already things are heating up in the state of Washington. Bill?"

  The camera panned to one of the other men in suits. "It's true. Senator Canfield, always a voter favorite, is facing a unique and uncomfortable situation. Trouble in his own home. Nearly two months ago we learned about his daughter from a previous relationship."

  Dani nearly dropped her coffee when her own picture flashed onto the TV screen. She swore.

  "Danielle Buchanan arrived unexpectedly and turned around the whole campaign. The senator was up-front with the public and the poll numbers showed the American people respected his honesty. Experts believe the main reason for that is the senator's wife, Katherine Canfield. She's seen as the perfect wife and mother. She has embraced Dani, both literally and figuratively. If the wife can forgive the husband, then the nation can, too."

  "It didn't work for Hillary," one of the other guests said.

  "Different situation," Bill went on. "The senator's relationship with Dani's mother predates his marriage. But while the numbers were climbing, they've taken a sudden downswing in the past couple of weeks, ever since the public discovered that Dani and the senator's oldest son-who is adopted-have formed a romantic relationship."

  Dani knew what was coming and braced herself to see that horrible picture of her driving away from Alex's house. Sure enough it was put up in a corner.

  "The problem is," Bill said, “the American people have a limit to what they can tolerate and they're not willing to accept the love child of a presidential candidate dating his adoptive son."

  "But they're not related," the host said.

  "That doesn't seem to matter to the polls. The senator's numbers have been dropping steadily. If this continues, there's not going to be a Canfield bid for the presidency. The campaign will be over before it even begins."

  ***