“Did you...stay in Bigfork?” She sat in her chair in case his answer was yes. Somehow it was easier to stomach if he wasn’t close by.
“I stayed.” There was a pause during which her heart skipped a beat. “Try not to let the blog bother you. My team is handling it. We’ll have this buried soon enough.”
“Okay, thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
An hour later, a sharp knock at her office door preceded her boss Nancy walking in. “Miriam, we need to talk.”
Nancy’s iPad was in her hand and when she flashed Miriam the screen, on it was the purple-and-gold Dallas Duchess banner.
* * *
Chase hadn’t lied when he’d told Miriam that his staff was handling things, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t involved.
As calm as he’d tried to sound to Mimi, he wasn’t. He was beyond pissed.
At Blake fucking Eastwood for bullying the women in Chase’s life. At the Dallas Duchess for stooping to such gossipy lows and making Mimi out to be the enemy.
The first phone call he’d made when he found out was to Zach’s wife, Penelope, PR guru.
“I thought the duchess was a friend of yours,” he grumbled after she answered.
“I saw it. It’s ugly.”
His niece cooed in the background and Pen shushed her.
“Sorry.” In his rage over Mimi being attacked, he’d checked his manners at the door. Pen was his sister-in-law, the mother of his niece Olivia first. He had no right to bark at her like one of his staff no matter how sour his mood. “I can call at a better time.”
“No, it’s fine. The nanny is here. I’m just kissing Livvie goodbye before I step into my office.” There was a brief conversation with her sitter and then Pen said, “I’m firing up my computer as we speak. Stay on the line.” She talked while she typed, outlining a plan to swing the spotlight away from Mimi and over to him.
“Maybe I’ll pay Blake a visit,” he said, practically spitting his name. “Break a kneecap or two.”
“No.” Pen laughed. “Absolutely not.”
He had to smile. Penelope handled a great many powerful clients with ease. She routinely put billionaires in their places. It was why Chase had entrusted her to untangle Stef and Blake after that mess a year ago. This wasn’t the same situation, but it felt eerily similar. A woman he cared about was being manipulated by a douchebag who was chasing his own personal and political gains.
“I was kidding about the knees. Calling him and letting him know I’m onto him would be satisfying.”
“He’ll record it and then we’ll have a bigger mess on our hands.” He liked the way she’d said we,including herself in the equation. It’s what made her remarkable at her job. Pen cared enough to jump in and get her hands dirty with her clients.
“Won’t that help?” he asked. “I’ll make sure to point out that Mimi’s a victim of his hapless plan.”
“That’d be great,” Pen’s voice resonated with sarcasm. “The press would love to spin that as you, a powerful political figure, taking advantage of her like the misogynistic chauvinist you are.”
He frowned. He hadn’t thought of that.
“Not to mention the Twitter explosion to follow.”
“Twitter?”
“Mmm-hmm. Women accusing you of mansplaining to them how the world should work, when you’re not arguing how women are too unstable to be involved in politics.”
“Man-whatting?” What the hell? “I don’t think any of those things.”
“I know.” Her tone was patient. “Trust me, Chase. It’s going to get uglier if you defend her.”
“I can’t let him do this to her.” He wouldn’t allow her to be harassed. What if this incident put her job in jeopardy? For all he knew, her coworkers might see this as her bedding the enemy. That was the tack the duchess had taken, only in his favor.