“I know,” she whispered as her face dropped toward the floor. “But first I need to tell you I’m sorry.”
Brett touched her face and nudged her chin up. “For what?” The only people he blamed for the situation were Phillip Young and whoever else worked for Ted Smith.
“The story in today’s news, of course.”
“Talk to me.” He needed to know what he was dealing with. “Is any of it true?”
Jen sighed and sank back against the sofa cushions. “Yes and no.”
He’d hoped for a resounding no but hadn’t expected it. Carl and Dad were right. Smith’s camp wouldn’t have released such intel if they weren’t confident it was true. “Start with what they got right.”
“The man mentioned in the article, Dominic Russo, is my biological father. I wasn’t trying to hide him from you. I never think of the man, except when I get those family medical history questionnaires at a doctor’s office.” She paused and cleared her throat. “My biological mother, Tina Russo, died in a car accident when I was eight. She and my mom, the woman you met, were first cousins. Dominic was arrested about three years after the accident. He knew enough to give the authorities Mom’s name as my next living relative. Mom and Dad took me in immediately, and as soon as they could, they adopted me.”
“Russo was arrested for murder?” Brett had all the details from the article memorized.
“We were never close, even before my mother’s death. At some point, he and two other men started holding up banks. I guess they did it while I was at school. I don’t really know. Anyway, during their last attempt, a security guard inside the bank intervened, and Dominic shot him. They’d never hurt anyone before that day, so I think he panicked.” She shrugged and reached over to pet Bo. “After he went to jail, I sent him letters for about a year. He never responded to any of them, so I stopped. As far as I know, he’s still in prison.”
He knew some people had terrible childhoods. Brett had never realized Jen was one. Despite the rotten parent she’d been born to, she didn’t sound bitter or sad. Unsure of an appropriate response to the story she’d shared, he said, “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. From the moment I walked in the house, Mom and Dad treated me the same way they did their biological children. Kristen and Keith have always treated me as a sister. Regardless of what my DNA says, the four of them are my immediate family.”
Not all children in a situation like Jen’s got a chance at a loving family. She’d been lucky. “I’m glad you have them.”
“Then you believe I wasn’t trying to hide the truth from you?” she asked, sounding uncertain.
Brett cupped her face in his hands so she couldn’t look away. “Affirmative.” What the media and Carl believed would be another story, but he’d worry about it later. “What about the rest?”
“The part about me having a run-in with the police is mostly exaggerated.”
Either you’d gotten in trouble with the cops or you hadn’t. But he wouldn’t jump to any conclusion. He’d hear Jen out. “How?”
She blew out a deep breath. “It happened about six months before Dominic was arrested. We’d moved to another new town, and I really wanted friends. There was this group at school. They were the cool kids. Everyone wanted to hang around with them.”
He knew the type. Every school had them.
“In order to be in their group, you had to pass their tests,” she said.
Jen reached out again to pet Bo. He noticed since arriving she hadn’t touched him once. Usually when they sat like this, she’d lean her head on his shoulder or take his hand. Not tonight.
“There was another girl, Laura, who wanted to be part of their group too. Our test was to spray paint the shed behind her aunt’s restaurant. One night we did it. Neither of us knew there were cameras outside. They captured us both on video. Laura’s aunt, who happened to be married to the chief of police, called the authorities. They took both of us to the station in a police car and gave us a long lecture. Then I sat there until Dominic came and picked me up. I sat there for several hours,” Jen said. “Thankfully, Laura’s aunt didn’t press any charges. I think she only called the police because she wanted to scare us. Make sure we never did something so stupid again. As a punishment, we had to help her repaint the shed.”
“Yeah, I’d call that a definite exaggeration and not something the press should’ve printed.” A new burst of anger exploded inside him. It was bad enough to drag up parts of her past that were true, but making a situation sound worse than it really had been and putting her reputation in question was unacceptable. “Other than the phone calls and the media outside, has anyone bothered you anywhere else?”
“Reporters were outside work again. And there were twice as many reporters when I got home then there are now.”
Tomorrow they’d be back at her office and the number outside her house would double again. The media would get all they could from this story before leaving her alone.
“Brett, I’m sorry about all this.” Finally she reached over and took his hands. “Even I know this can’t be good for your campaign.”
“It’s not your fault.”
He had the truth. Now he and Carl could develop a strategy to handle it.
“Your campaign is important. Do whatever you need to.” Her voice cracked on her last sentence.
“I plan to.”
He pulled out his cell phone and called Carl. The man answered on the second ring despite the time. “I’ll be at your office in about ninety minutes. Have Lily met us there as soon as she can.” He’d need his press secretary too.