speaking and to thwart him from stepping too close to me. “There won’t be any phone calls to anyone.”
“Then that means either Lola or you will be providing the services I paid for.”
“I don’t think you’re listening to what I’m saying, Senator.”
“I’m hearing you all right. It’s you who isn’t listening.” He begins to unbuckle his belt as panic reverberates through me. “I think you forget who you’re dealing with here. Don’t you know who I am?” A goading smile. A condescending chuckle. “Don’t you know I could ruin you? You’re nothing but a two-bit whore, Vee, and I’m—”
“Uh-uh-uh,” I warn, needing to toughen up despite his words hitting me harder than they should. “You broke the terms of the contract you signed. You’re required to pay for the damages.”
“I’m not paying you a dime more. In fact, I want a refund or the services I paid for. Besides, it’s a bullshit contract.”
With my eyes locked on his, I pull my phone from my pocket. “Then that must mean these photos are bullshit too. Right?”
He visibly jars at my words as his eyes flicker down to where my thumb scrolls across the screen of my phone. “I don’t play games,” he grits out.
I take my time finding what I need despite knowing exactly where the images are stored. I don’t hide my wince when I open the folder marked “Carter Preston” and the first picture fills the screen.
“Neither do I,” I murmur as I turn the phone around and show him the image of him with his pants around his ankles in front of an unknown female. A female who definitely looks underage.
His face pales and his eyes widen. The sudden panic that flickers through his expression is fleeting before he puts his practiced politician’s face back on so that the righteous sneer owns his countenance again.
“That doesn’t show anything. Nice try, though. You might want to tell whoever you pay to collect your dirt that they need to do a better job.”
He says the words nonchalantly, but the forced bob of his Adam’s apple tells me all I need to know. I’ve got him right where I want him.
“Do you actually think that’s the only image I have?” It’s my turn to chuckle as the tables begin to turn. Affluence often comes hand in hand with a false sense of invincibility, and I’m going to have so much fun yanking this rug out from under him. “There’s at least fifteen more where this came from, and your face is clear as day in those. I’m smart enough not to show my ace the first hand I play . . . but I forgot, what did you call me? Just a two-bit whore while you’re a Harvard-educated prick?”
“You bitch.”
“Thank you for the compliment.” My smile taunts him in response.
“Sex scandals are a dime a dozen, Vee. You’re not successful in politics unless you’ve had one.”
“So your wife won’t mind. Other senators? Voters? You think they’ll applaud you for fucking underage girls?”
“I’m not scared of you.”
We stare at each other like dogs circling, each trying to gain the upper hand. Both trying to find a foothold in the situation.
“Then don’t pay for the damages, and we can test your theory.” My tone drips with saccharine. “Simple as that.”
“Try posting that photo, and I’ll bury you with everything I have.” He shakes his head and starts to pull his shirt on as if this conversation is over. Arrogant prick.
“Number one rule: always know who you’re working with, Senator.”
Carter falters with his arms halfway in his sleeves and meets my gaze. There’s a hard glint to his eyes that tells me he revels in playing dirty, and hell if I just didn’t bring a dump truck full of dirt to roll around in.
“I wouldn’t push me,” he threatens.
“Then I guess you better pay up.”
“So you have a private investigator, do you?” he asks, changing the subject and leaving me to unscramble where he’s going with this. “You think you’re the only one in this situation who has information to hold over the other one’s head?” He quirks an eyebrow, and a smarmy smirk fails at lighting up his features. “Number one rule and all that.”
My nerves rattle violently beneath the surface as our eyes hold and his threat takes hold.
He’s bluffing.
He has to be.
No one knows who I am. Where I’m from. What I have at stake here.
There’s no way he can know.
Panic like I’ve never felt before claws over my throat and