17. Nash

CHAPTER 17

NASH

My cell woke me the next Tuesday morning, which was the second week of December. I was scheduled to bartend at a holiday party that night for a big law firm in DC, and when I saw who the text was from, I wasn't sure if I should answer.

I'd left the Brady's home after I'd helped Spence upstairs to his bed, tucking him in after assisting him with removing the rest of his clothes. I fought the temptation to crawl in with him, instead, kissing his forehead and covering him with the soft blankets on his bed.

I picked up his phone from the nightstand and removed my contact information, feeling my heart crack as I did. It was best for all of us. Unfortunately, I couldn't get to Vani's phone to do the same.

The note I left for my dear friend on the counter thanked her for dinner and apologized for spending the night in their home. I knew it was off limits for them to have someone over for sex, and I'd crossed the line by blowing Spencer before I left. Make no mistake, the man needed it, and I needed to get him out of my system. Case closed.

I sat up on my shitty mattress in the weekly rental motel I'd found in Southeast DC after I'd moved out of Caroline Turner's fancy condo to avoid whatever debt she'd try to accuse me of needing to pay. Her assistant had called about several escort jobs, but I'd turned them down. I needed to separate myself from that life.

If I decided to have sex for money again, I damn well wasn't going to pay a middleman to set it up. It was my ass, mouth, and cock that provided the service, and I was keeping every fucking penny I made. I earned it fair and square.

I had the feeling it was time to pull up stakes and move on from DC—maybe head to Baltimore for a while to make plans for my future. I knew there were tons of bars, sports venues, and a few casinos in the area, so I felt certain I could easily find work as a bartender or a server, which was fine.

My phone buzzed again, reminding me of why I was awake so early. I picked it up, swiping the screen to see a message from Denver.

I'm coming to get you, Little Brother. I heard you've cut ties with the Senator, so I'm guessing you're in a rough way. Come spend Christmas with the club. You always have a home with The Volunteers, you know.

I felt my eyes sting at Denver's kind words, but I wasn't his problem. I wasn't anyone's problem but my own.

Denny, thanks man. I appreciate your offer, but I've got a full book until after Christmas. Maybe I'll come down for New Year's? Wish all the guys a Merry Christmas for me.

I tossed the phone on the nightstand and lay back against the shitty pillows, glad I had stopped at the superstore for a set of clean sheets and pillowcases as I walked back to the motel after the cab let me off six blocks away. The driver refused to go into the neighborhood, which was definitely a sign it wasn't on the social register. Unfortunately, I had to stretch my cash on hand, and the Four Seasons wasn't in the budget.

There was a banging on the door that wasn't appreciated, but the motel manager was a drug-slinging son of a bitch, and he liked to try to hit up the residents for extra cash if they were in the mood for some pharmaceutical recreation. I wasn't, and I was about to beat his ass for bothering me, yet again.

I pulled on my shorts and stalked to the door, pitying the fucking asshole on the other side. I slid the chain off and ripped the cheap thing open, seeing Vani Brady standing there in all her glory—stiletto-covered foot tapping a mile a minute, and an angry scowl in place.

"What are you doing here? No, wait—how the hell did you find me?" I snapped as I walked away, leaving the door open because I was damn sure she wasn't going to leave without a fight.

"Bullshit! You don't get to be the aggrieved party in this situation, Nashville Lincoln. You don't leave a ‘Dear Vani' note on the counter and just disappear. Spencer is beside himself. You deleted your contact information from his phone, and he's pissed at me because I won't give him the number I have in mine. If you weren't so damn tall, I'd turn you over my knee and spank some sense into you," she ranted.

I was fighting to keep from laughing. She looked like a pissed-off chihuahua, bouncing from foot to foot in the run-down room I was now calling home.

"Vani, it's for the best. You and Spence are getting ready to divorce, and if he's going to have a chance at salvaging his reputation, he needs to steer clear of the likes of me and my fucked-up life."

Hell, my life was in the shitter as much as Spencer's. The difference between us—nobody gave a tinker's damn about me, and the former Senator's fuckups made front page of every newspaper across the country.

I heard a noise on the walkway outside my room and rushed to the open door, seeing a homeless guy checking the knobs to the rooms, likely in hopes of finding one that was open and empty. I pulled Vani further into the room and slammed the door, engaging the chain just to be safe.

"How did you find me?" My phone buzzed again on the bed, but I ignored it.

"I have people. Now, what are you doing here?" Vani didn't remove her leather gloves before sitting on a plastic chair in the corner. Hell, remembering their home in Great Falls, I couldn't blame her. The place where I was staying was worse than the Bates Motel.

"Well, I decided I don't wanna sell my ass to make money for someone else, so I had to move out of Caroline Turner's place into something cheaper. Welcome to my winter villa." My response was sarcastic. I went so far as to extend my arm in spokesmodel fashion.

Vani scoffed and glared at me, her irritation evident. "Why did you leave the other night? Spencer said he asked you to stay, and you agreed."

As if I could forget that night. It played behind my eyeballs every time I closed my eyes. I had resorted to using body wash as lube in my shower because I couldn't help but jack off to the memories of giving Spencer pleasure. I was a lovesick fool for the man.

"I never agreed to stay because I know you two have a rule against it, even if he forgot it that night. I left because I'm no good for him, and we both know it, even if he won't acknowledge it."

Hell, she was an adult. Surely, she could see it for herself.

Suddenly, something dawned on me. "Do you want me there to nurse him through his heartbreak when you leave, is that it?"

It came out as an accusation, but I couldn't understand why she was pushing us together. It made no sense.

Vani sat up on the edge of her seat, her face pinched in anger as she studied me. "I want Spencer to have as much happiness as he can, Nash. I love him like a brother, and he's sacrificed too much for me as it is. I could tell the morning after Sean Fitzpatrick's birthday party that Spence was drawn to you a hell of a lot more than he was ever drawn to Blaire Conner."

I was flattered, but I couldn't let her sway me. I was no good for Spence, and she had to see it.

Vani's expression was thoughtful. "I still think Blaire wasn't completely innocent in that whole Antigua debacle. I know Denver Wallace said Mitch Flora is the leak in the office, but I wonder if there's more to it? Spence mentioned he'd never given anyone the exact number of the villa where they were staying. Someone knew their precise location to get those pictures."

"Do you think Blaire set it up and implicated himself in this shit? He lost his job, right? Wasn't he just transferred to the NBS network? What was he getting out of it that was better than the job he'd just scored?"

Vani's reasoning had merit, but I wondered if there was something nobody knew happening behind the scenes. None of it made sense to me, and based on her gaze into nothingness, the senator's wife was having a hard time reasoning it out as well.

Vani reached into the pocket of her cashmere coat and retrieved her phone, swiping over the screen before she handed the device to me. I glanced at what she'd pulled up, seeing a story from a news website.

FORMER NBS RISING STAR REPORTER, BLAIRE CONNER, NAMED AS PRESS SECRETARY FOR VIRGINIA GOVERNOR BENNETT'S PRESS SECRETARY AS EXPLORATORY TEAM IS FORMED FOR FUTURE PRESIDENTIAL RUN

I glanced up to see Vani's cocked eyebrow. "I'm not sure what this means," I responded.

"Andy Bennett was a staunch supporter of Spencer's, the two of them having known each other for years. Andy was like a mentor to Spence and campaigned with us the first year Spencer ran for the Senate, also stumping for Spence when he was running for reelection. Spence campaigned with Andy during Andy's run for governor two years ago. Fast forward after so many years of friendship, and Andy hasn't called one time to check on Spence since the shit hit the fan." Vani seemed to be getting more upset as she sat there.

"So, what does that mean?" I was totally out of my element.

"There's something more behind this, and it's up to us to find out what it is. Spencer's heartsick, so he doesn't care, but someone is out to destroy him, and as a person who loves him, I'd think that would matter to you as well."

The compassion in Vani's eyes had me feeling embarrassed for treating Spencer callously and abandoning him when he was vulnerable. What kind of a person does that to someone they claim to love?

"Damn. Of course, you're right. Let me shower and change, and I'll… Wait, how did you get here?" I asked.

"I have a driver waiting for us outside on that shady parking lot. I'll pack your stuff while you get ready." The woman was headstrong for sure.

"I'm not…" I had no plans to leave the Shit Hotel.

"Oh, yes you are!"

"It's a bad idea!" I was shouting, hoping the volume in my voice would emphasize my decision.

"Stop arguing and get dressed. Am I going to find anything embarrassing in these drawers?" Vani grabbed the duffel I'd finally bought, tired of trash bags as luggage. They reminded me too much of my days in foster care.

"No. There's a bag of laundry in the closet, but everything else is clean."

Vani Brady wasn't one to take no for an answer. Besides, how much longer could I live without my heart? I knew beyond the shadow of a doubt I'd left it with Spencer.

"So, you contacted Denver to find me?" I questioned as I sat in the back seat of a Town Car next to Vani, who had a smug smile of satisfaction on her face. Of course, she had gotten her way!

"Denver and I are cut out to be friends. We see eye to eye on many issues, especially when it comes to you. That gentle giant thinks of you as a member of his family, and there is nobody on the face of the earth he wouldn't fight on your behalf. He had his friend, uh, Pax? I think that was his name. Anyway, he had his friend track your cell, and Denver was kind enough to tell me where to find you. He tasked me with getting you the hell out of there before you got your gorgeous head blown off."

That sounded exactly like Denver, and he'd get a piece of my mind when I had a minute. "I was perfectly fine. Look, I'm supposed to work at a catering gig tonight for Naomi Chu. It's at the Mandarin Oriental in the city."

I hadn't consented to staying with her and Spencer, but I had agreed to get the fuck out of that slum hole where I'd been hiding out. Denny was probably right about me getting my head blown off.

"Well, hoity-toity! Whose throwing it?" Vani asked as we took the exit toward Great Falls.

Instead of answering, I turned to her. "Are you going to New York before Christmas?"

If I was going headfirst into their personal business, I deserved to know some facts, and if I walked into that house and held Spencer in my arms, the fight was over, and I'd be right where I didn't want to be—in the middle of a divorce.

Vanessa glanced at me and then shifted her eyes toward the driver, giving a shake of her head that had me relieved. We shouldn't be speaking in front of a stranger, and I respected her decision not to answer. "So, whose party is it?" she asked again.

I retrieved my phone, finding the message from Naomi Chu that included the details I needed for the night. I handed the phone to Vanessa, looking out the window of the back seat to see snow was beginning to swirl in the cloudy sky. There had been the smell of it in the air, but I hadn't paid any attention to the weather before I was whisked away by Vani.

She handed the phone back to me and made a call of her own. "Hello. I'd like to reserve a room for the night."

Vani quickly gave her credit card information and requested an email confirmation before turning to me with a triumphant smile. "I'll get you an Uber downtown in a few hours, and I'll have Spencer use the car service. I've already checked you in, so you'll just need to stop at the front desk and pick up a key they're holding for you."

"Why? I have to work. I'm not a guest." I was finding the woman to be ten kinds of dangerous.

"I know, and I got you a room at the Mandarin for the night so you don't have to trek out to the house when you finish. You'll have company. I trust you'll be satisfied with it." I glanced in her direction to see she was dead serious.

"I don't know if that's a good…"

Vanessa held up her hand to stop me from talking, her eyes shifting toward the driver again.

I glanced toward the tall man in the front seat to see he had wireless earbuds in his ears, and he appeared to be paying less than any attention to us. I looked back at my companion and laughed. "You're just doing that to stop me from disagreeing with you."

The car pulled into the driveway of the incredible two-story home where Spencer was outside with a rake in the front yard. He stopped what he was doing and stared at the car, leaning on the rake until I got out of the black vehicle.

The surprise on Spence's face was instant, and I wanted to kick my own ass as I noticed the dark circles under his eyes. I'd done that to him, and I hated myself.

Spencer didn't move from his spot under the large maple tree, so I walked over to him, my duffel in tow. "I'm sorry. I don't seem to know what the right thing is to do with you."

The sexy man smirked and stepped forward, taking my duffel. "Yeah, you do. Come inside, please?"

I was completely under his spell, and I couldn't love it—or him—anymore.