Foolish Games(102)

Roscoe stopped, his hand poised on the doorknob. Curious, Will figured it was worth a few minutes of his time to hear the senator’s excuse as to why he and his sister had used him. Hell, yeah, he wanted answers. If for no other reason than so no woman would be able to dupe him again like Julianne had.

They both turned back to face the senator, who was still seated on the corner of the desk.

“Alone, if you don’t mind.” He phrased it as if it were a question, but all three men knew it wasn’t.

Roscoe shot a sideways glance at Will, an eyebrow raised in question. Will nodded.

“Don’t do anything stupid,” Roscoe mumbled as he slid past. “We’re almost home free.”

A roar went up in the other room as Roscoe slipped out. Will remained where he was. Propping a shoulder up against the doorjamb, he tucked his arms across his chest. He tried to give the impression that he couldn’t care less about what the senator had to say, when in fact apprehension coursed through his veins.

The senator heaved a sigh. “It seems I owe you an apology.”

“Yeah, I believe that’s what the written statement is for.”

“No, a personal apology. It’s because of me you’re in this mess.”

Will arched an eyebrow at him, wishing somehow one of the hundreds of media piranhas outside could record this. “You and your sister, you mean.”

He brushed Will’s comment aside with a hand through the air. “Julianne was tangential to my reasons for giving the information to the committee. I honestly thought I was doing the right thing.”

“If you consider ruining a man’s career the right thing,” Will said tersely.

“Obviously I misjudged the whole situation. I thought I was doing her a favor.”

“By having her spy on me and seducing my secrets out of me so you could drag me in front of your committee and totally unman me?”

“That wasn’t how it was,” the senator argued. “Julianne wasn’t spying on you. I could barely get her to tell me how the baby was, much less answer questions about you.”

“Really, so I’m supposed to believe those cozy phone calls and texts every day were innocent?”

“Yes!” The senator yelled. He leaped off the desk and began pacing the room. “When I dragged you up here that first day, it was to help the baby. For Julianne. She was sick with worry over the possibility of losing her son. I certainly never intended to force her to marry you.”

Will tried not to cringe. Apparently, even the duplicitous sister of a con-man senator wasn’t good enough for a boy from the Seaside Vista Trailer Park.

“She was out of her mind, selling her business to pay his medical bills. Too proud to ask for help. So yes, I called her every day because I was worried about her and Owen. I was full of guilt for pushing her down a path she might not have otherwise chosen.”

“You’ve made the point quite clear that I’m not the first choice either of you would have made.”

The senator snorted. “Yeah, well, I was wrong. Very wrong.”

The breath in Will’s lungs began to seize up again.

The senator pinched the bridge of his nose. “Apparently, she was blissfully happy being married to you. Until I screwed it up.”

Will’s body went rigid, his heart slowing to a near-stop as he contemplated the senator’s words.

“I should have guessed that she was in love with you by the way she so vehemently defended you that day on the phone. She never intended to tell me your secret, but it was out before she could stop it. You have to know she had no inkling of anyone in the Senate investigating you. It would never be on Julianne’s radar.”

He let the senator’s words sink in. Julianne had been telling the truth. She hadn’t told her brother on purpose. And Will hadn’t believed her.

“She’s let me know in no uncertain terms how she feels about you since then, though.” He sat down lethargically in the chair Roscoe had occupied earlier. “Not to mention how she feels about me. Definitely not the same feelings, in case you were wondering.” His smile was rueful. “So please, don’t blame her for my actions. I was simply playing big brother. I saw an opportunity to get her out of the marriage before the agreed-upon time frame, and I exercised it. She would never believe this, but I would use anything at my disposal to make her happy. Even if it meant making an enemy out of you.”

Will was stunned. He was afraid to move a muscle in case this was all some sort of dream. First he’d been exonerated from Bountygate. Now he was hit with the truth about Julianne: She did love him. And she hadn’t sold him out. His heartbeat was more rapid now and his body burned to take action. He only hoped it wasn’t too late. Unfortunately, the senator was in a mood to commiserate.