“I guess so,” she replied. They walked into Vincent’s study. He closed the door and she crossed her arms over her chest. “What’s this about, Billy? You going to accuse me?”
“Look, I’ll admit I went off the deep end, but right now, I have no way of proving who gave that man information,” Billy snapped. “What I do know is that there is only one surefire way to make this go away and save Vincent’s career.”
“Oh? And what is that? Why don’t you tell him instead of me?”
“Because you, my dear, are the problem,” he told her hotly. “You are the reason the beginnings of a promising career have just gone down the drain. It’s all because of you.”
Natalie ground her teeth, glaring the man down. “Wasn’t it your idea for him to use that website?”
“To marry your sister, not you! You’re not even on it! No, he had to go and marry the wrong damn twin. You lied to his face as you said your vows to him and placed a ring on his finger.”
“I told him that night what happened!” she ranted. “I came clean and he decided to try and make this work. We love each other, Billy, and yes, I made a mistake, but the marriage is real. We’re together and we’re happy. None of what I feel for him is fake. None of it!”
“Either way, I don’t care,” he admitted. “All I care about is saving my friend’s career. You are going to leave with your sister. You’re not going to talk to him first, you’re simply going to leave. In a few days, I’ll send over some paperwork, including a gag order to never speak of this again and papers saying you are filing for divorce.”
Natalie staggered backwards. “What? Why the hell would I do that?”
“Because I’m not giving you a choice. Vincent might think he loves you, but his career means more to him than some fling with you, and I’ll be sure he realizes that. He is going to divorce you and wipe his hands clean of this whole mess.”
“And you’re going to blame the entire situation on me and my sister. We’ll be run out of the damn city!”
“That is not my concern,” he said coldly.
“And if I don’t leave?” she challenged as her heart crumbled.
“Didn’t you swear to Vincent that no matter what, you would be sure not to fuck up his political chances? That you would do everything you could to ensure his victory?”
Natalie wanted to argue, to rant and rave that this was not what she meant, but she had sworn that, had given him her word. “I did.”
“Then this is what you need to do. Understand? It’s you or his chances at Congress. Take your pick.”
She opened her mouth to tell Billy to fuck off but closed her mouth quickly. Several different times, she asked Vincent why he was so set on running if he wasn’t thrilled about doing all the campaigning crap that went with the job. The first few times, he shrugged her questions off, but over the weekend, as they lay beneath the sun, tangled in each other’s arms, he told her exactly why. His father had held that seat for nearly thirty years. He was a good man who did great things for Texas and the rest of the country. He left a legacy behind, and what kind of son would he be if he didn’t try to do as much as his father did? She’d heard the love he had for his father in those words and understood in those few sentences how much winning that seat meant to Vincent.
After everything he did for her—showing her she could be loved and find her adventurous side again—how could she stand in the way of his goals?
Tears burning in her eyes, Natalie stood straight as a board. “You better tell him the truth, Billy,” she warned. “You better tell him this was all your idea. If you don’t, you’ll wish you never pissed me off.”
“I wish I’d never showed him that damn website,” he shot back. “I wish he hadn’t married the wrong damn twin.”
Natalie’s hand itched to slap him, but she resisted. She was bigger than that. Wiping the tears from her eyes before they could fall and give him any sort of satisfaction at hurting her, she left the study. Vincent was upstairs on the phone with Doris. She slipped into her sandals near the garage door and pulled Lana from her chair.
“We’re leaving. Where did you park?”
“Three streets over. What’s going on? Don’t you need to talk to Vincent?”
Her legs nearly carried her upstairs and into the arms of the man she loved, but Billy appeared in the doorway, shaking his head.
“No, not right now. Come on.” She stepped outside, letting her sister lead the way, and listened as the door slammed behind them and Billy flipped the lock. They climbed over fences and ducked through people’s backyards before reaching Lana’s car. Natalie didn’t even hesitate as she opened the door and climbed in, hunkering down low in her seat.
“Natalie, this doesn’t feel right,” Lana whispered as she pulled away from the curb. “Natalie?”
She glared out the window as they passed the top of Vincent’s street with all the press vans parked along the curbs. “Just drive.”
“Are you leaving Vincent?”
Not by choice. “Yes. It’s what’s best for both of us.” She closed her eyes and held onto the edge of the seat with white knuckles. Without Vincent to help calm her down, her panic rose and she had to take short, even breaths to stop herself from losing it completely. “We might need to leave town for a bit until this blows over.”
“And go where?”
“Let’s go visit Mom and Dad. I’m sure by now they’ve seen the news.” She breathed in deeper and longer, but nothing helped. This would be her life again, all anxiety and panic with no Vincent there to pull her up when she needed it.
Another shitty night where she lost everything. How could her life get any worse?
The sun was up when Vincent hung up the phone with his mother. She told him repeatedly not to worry and to do what he felt was right. He wanted to be a Congressman like his father, but Doris said something he hadn’t expected from her. She was proud of him for finding a wife and taking that step in his life. She was happy to see him smile and be happy, something she hadn’t seen in him since Liam died.
“So you don’t care if I actually run?” he’d asked.
“It’s your life, son. Of course I want you to run, but why should you care about what I want? I also want a son who lives his life to the fullest and gives me grandchildren one of these days,” she’d said and laughed.
“I don’t know how to fix this,” he admitted.
“Fix what? It’s the modern age. So you met your wife online, who cares? Big deal,” she chirped. “You did nothing wrong. You were lonely and you found the woman of your dreams. I say talk to your wife and figure out what to do. But no matter what, son, I love you and your father would be very proud of you.”
Vincent puffed out his cheeks as he paced around his bedroom. He should go downstairs and talk to Natalie, but he was scared of the unknown he faced as soon as he left the sanctuary of his room. Both choices would be hard, but he had to talk to one more person before he decided. He tugged on his shoes and found his wallet and keys.
“Billy, where’s Natalie?” he asked, seeing only his friend in the kitchen.
“She snuck out with her sister. She said they would go hide out at her place for a few hours until you called her,” he said but didn’t meet Vincent’s eyes when he said it.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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