Connor’s eyes widened. “I did not expect you to admit that.”
But he’d known, of course. It was there in his expression. He’d only been surprised she’d confessed to being cast aside, not that it had happened.
Dealing with any of the Perfect Gentlemen was always an intricate game of chess. Thankfully, she’d had a lifetime to become a master.
Then again, they’d had equally as long to figure her out. Did Connor have any idea what she actually planned on doing in London? Is that why he’d taken this sudden interest in her and her visit? Had Zack sent Connor to find out how close she was getting to the truth?
“It happened a long time ago. I assumed Roman had told you. If not, there’s your grand mystery. Getting dumped sucked, and I didn’t want to face any of his friends.”
“But you stayed close to Mad.” Connor shook his head, his jaw tightening. “Damn it. Of course, you did. The two of you had a thing for a long time. Mad was damn good at taking advantage of a situation.”
“Don’t,” she bit out with gritted teeth. “Don’t you talk that way about Maddox. He wasn’t like that.” Yes, it would be smarter to let Connor think whatever he wanted to, but Mad was no longer here to defend himself, and she couldn’t let anyone, even Connor, malign the one friend who had stood by her side when no one else had. “He never took advantage of me. What we had was mutual and friendly. My relationship with Mad was probably the healthiest of my life, so do not say another bad word about him.”
During that terrible first year, Mad would show up at her DC apartment some weekends with a bottle of tequila, a stash of movies, and a pizza, and he would get her through. She had no idea how she would have survived that first year without the grueling work schedule and Maddox Crawford. Taking the DC job had saved her in so many ways. If she’d gone back home, her mother would have known something was wrong and meddled.
After the pain had subsided and Gus had gotten some distance, Mad still appeared occasionally, but instead of crying her way through ridiculous chick flicks, she and Mad had fucked like bunnies, both of them secure in the knowledge that they were friends and nothing more.
Then Mad had finally lost his heart and won over Sara Bond, the girl he’d wanted for so long. Gus had let him go and fondly wished him well.
“Hey. He was my friend, too. I wasn’t maligning him,” Connor promised, staring at her like she’d given him some important information. “I was only worried about you. And I miss Mad, too.” He stood. “Thanks for whatever you can do to take Lara under your wing.”
“Of course.” She would probably have fun getting to know the woman who had conquered Connor’s cynical heart. Everly, Gabe Bond’s wife, loved her. So did Holland, Gus’s new sister-in-law. That made Lara a part of the sisterhood, and Gus took that seriously. “And you can tell Roman he has nothing to worry about. He doesn’t need to tense whenever I walk in a room. I’ll do my job and stay completely out of his way. Everything will be ready when Zack lands in four days. I’ll make sure of that. So Roman can simply broker deals and smoke cigars in the good-old-boys’ clubs and take credit for everything, as usual.”
“Your claws are showing, Gus.”
“My claws are always on display. It’s why I’m so effective at what I do.”
“Have you thought about the fact that being close to you is hard on him, too?”
Not once. “He hired me because I’m the best and he needs me. That does not mean he doesn’t find it distasteful to deal with me. I know the score and exactly what he thinks of me. He views me as…let me see if I can remember the description verbatim… Ah, yes, a man-eating anaconda who squeezes the life out of her victims before she swallows them whole.”
“Jesus,” Connor breathed. “All I’m saying is that maybe this is a great opportunity for you two to give each other a second chance.”
She frowned at him. “I can’t think of anything I want less.”
With a sigh, Connor walked away, shaking his head and muttering something she probably didn’t want to hear.
Gus reached up and turned off the overhead light, then lost her gaze in the vast darkness out the window once more. There was no such thing as a second chance. She’d learned that when she’d miscarried her baby. When her father had perished. When she’d lost her dear friend to a bullet. When she’d realized Mad had gone down with his plane.
But there was something she could do for the kindest, most misunderstood member of the Perfect Gentlemen, one thing she could offer Mad even now.
Revenge.
* * * *
“I don’t know why she didn’t wait and come with the rest of the press office.” A man’s murmur reached Roman’s ears.
He stopped at the sound. It was late and the plane was quiet, but there was always a hum of activity. These were people who never really slept. Roman had taken the plane’s office, locking himself away to get some work done—and to stop himself from doing something stupid like reaching out for Gus. Like pulling her body against his to see if the perfection he remembered had merely been a dream.
Thirteen years had passed, and he wanted to know if foolish youth or a faulty memory made him compare every single woman in the world to Augustine Spencer and come up lacking—even the one woman he’d thought he could marry, the one woman he’d thought he could love.
“Probably because the Ice Queen has a plan to be someone’s pain in the ass.”
“Well, I’m staying out of her way.”
Roman knew precisely who they were talking about. Among the White House staffers, Gus was known as the Ice Queen. Elizabeth Matthews, Zack’s press secretary, was Glinda the Good Witch. What none of the fuckers understood was Liz was every bit as ruthless as Gus. She simply ruled her kingdom with a soft smile and easy words. But none of that charm would work if she didn’t have Gus as her enforcer.
Just like Roman was Zack’s. While Gus’s moniker had become the Ice Queen, Roman was known as the Hitman. He did the dirty work so Zack could keep his hands clean. The funny thing was, if he and Gus didn’t share such a shitty history, they would probably be good friends. They would certainly understand each other. They played the same role and should be good about helping each other out, laughing at the trash talk they endured.
“It just chaps me. Bitch thinks she’s better than us. I bet that whore got her job by spreading her legs for Hayes.”
Roman saw red. It was a sad fact that politics could still be a good-old-boys’ network, and because she was female, Gus had to hear the kind of slurs no one would ever have dared to speak about him.
He refused to listen to anyone malign her now.
Roman stepped out of the shadows and was damn happy to see both aides turn pasty white. “What did you say?”
“Mr. Calder, I didn’t realize you were still awake.” The kid with the nasty mouth couldn’t be more than twenty-eight years old. A fucking baby who was about to learn the world didn’t revolve around him.
“I’m always awake and I’m always listening. And I would very much like for you to repeat what you just said.”
The second little asshole proved that he was smarter, but merely a kiss ass. “Mr. Calder, Austin was only joking around. It’s late and we haven’t slept. We say stupid shit when we’re tired.”
“I’m not tired. In fact, I’m quite energetic and my mind is working overtime. But if Austin is that weak, he’s not cut out for this job. Since that’s the case, I’m wondering how he’s going to get home because he certainly won’t be on a plane with me.” Sometimes it was good to be the Hitman. He had no idea how Zack ever juggled everyone’s fucking feelings. “Austin should understand that when we land, he needs to find his way back to the States, go directly to his office, clean it out, and hope we never cross paths again because I’m being patient right now. If we meet again, I won’t be.”
“Mr. Calder…” the friend began.
Roman turned to him. “I don’t know your name. Do you want me to know it?”
The aide s
hook his head. “No. No, I’m good.”
Austin opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly they weren’t alone.
Connor put a hand on Austin’s shoulder. “You should keep your mouth shut or we’ll give you another way off this plane, and it will likely not include a parachute. And if your father, the senator, has a problem with the fact that Roman fired you, please let him know that Air Force Two has security features that include cameras in this cabin. What you said was recorded and we’ll release it if necessary. Your father’s progressive views on women’s issues are well known. How will his constituents feel about his son being a misogynist douchebag?”
That shut Austin up and fast. His nameless friend was smart enough to ease the fired aide away from what could become the killing zone. Because Roman wanted to wrap his hands around the fucker’s throat and see how blue he could turn.
“Do you have any idea how crazy-eyed you look right now?” Connor asked once the two young fucks were gone, glancing around the now empty area. “You made that dude piss himself and managed to send all the other aides huddling together at the back of the plane. Oddly enough, all on one side because I think they’re too afraid to go near Gus.”
Good. He didn’t feel like company anyway, at least not theirs. The only person he wanted to see was the one person he wouldn’t let himself be near.
“If I ever hear the aides talking about any of our female employees like that again, I’ll do the same. That kind of talk will not be tolerated here.”
“I think they get that now. But if you think the outrage in your expression is for any random female employee, you’re in even deeper denial than I thought.” Connor nodded toward the office. “We should talk.”