28. Spencer

CHAPTER 28

SPENCER

Nash and I had picked an apartment in downtown DC on Mount Vernon Street. It was a new building, which was great for us—no previous residents and a fresh place for us to begin our life together. We'd signed the lease on December 30 with a move-in date of January 3, the day after the interview with Caroline Bering-Turner aired.

On advice from Sean, I hadn't been there when his friend, Ingrid Mohr, sat down with Caroline, but he sent me the unedited cut, and Nash and I watched it together. The woman didn't hold back anything.

At the end of the interview, I felt wonderfully vindicated and couldn't wait for Senator Turner to see it. I knew the networks would be clambering for his response after the piece aired on NBS's Sunday morning show, and the old goat wouldn't know what the fuck hit him. I wished him the best of luck.

"How much longer? I could use a bottle of water." Nash had been reading through the contract he was going to sign with Naomi Chu, and I'd been daydreaming.

It was New Year's Day, and we were driving down to Portsmouth, Virginia. I'd vowed to myself that I would rid myself of the burden of being angry with my parents over what they did to me, years ago and now. I was going to confront them about outing me and tell them goodbye forever.

I took the exit ramp that led to the gated community where my parents' large home was located. I was dreading the quarrel, but it was something I should have done a long time ago. I'd let them bully me my whole life, and it was time I stood up for myself.

There was a convenience store on the right side of the street, so I pulled into the parking lot. Nash unbuckled his seat belt and turned to me. "You want anything?"

I smirked. "For this to be over and for you to give me road head."

"I see a future where both things can happen." He laughed as he went into the store. My dick and I contemplated the idea of road head, and we were both on board.

Slowing the SUV, I flipped the blinker on to make the left into my parents' circle drive. The house was ostentatious by anyone's tastes, looking far too much like a plantation than a home.

When I stopped near the wraparound front porch, I shut off the motor and turned to Nash. "Don't be offended by anything you hear them say. They are bigoted people whose minds are stuck in the 1950s, and remember I love you. You don't have to come inside."

We'd argued about it for most of the drive, the prudence of Nash coming inside with me to witness the showdown. "As I've said for the last three-and-a-half hours, I want to be there to support you. If you believe they'll say something you'd rather I not hear, then I won't go in, but I'm worried about you going in there alone, Spencer." His love for me solidified my resolve.

"Okay. Let's go in." We both hopped out and met in front of the SUV.

I took Nash in my arms. "Thank you. You're my new hero." I gently kissed his lips and took his hand, leading him to the large brick home with the stone front porch. I rang the bell and took one more deep breath.

When the door opened, I was surprised to see my mother standing in front of me instead of the housekeeper, Matilda. Her bright smile quickly shifted to the frown I was more used to seeing. "What do you want Spencer?"

Nash's hand slowly tried to slip from mine, but I grasped it tighter. "I wanted to update you on what's going on in my life. Is Dad home?" No use telling it twice or leaving things to Hillary Brady's interpretation.

"Your father is on a conference call, and we're expecting guests for lunch. What do you want, Spencer."

Much to my surprise, Nash reached up and pressed the doorbell a dozen times in rapid-fire succession. Matilda came running into the hallway, and my father stomped in right behind her.

I turned to Nash. "Thank you, my love." He winked.

Now that the gang was all there, I stared at my mother. "Aren't you going to let me in? Or do you want the neighbors to hear your dirty laundry?"

"For god's sake, Hillary, move." Dad stared at me. "You've got five minutes."

"I've worked with less time before." Nash and I stepped inside, and I closed the door. They hadn't invited us to sit down, but I wasn't surprised.

"Okay, first things first. Vanessa and I are getting divorced. She's already moved to New York, and we're moving to DC in a few days. We're selling the house in Great Falls. Neither of us need all that space." Their faces showed no response, leading me to believe they already knew. I'd have been a fool if I didn't think my father had spies all over the metro area.

"I thought we made it clear to you that we didn't care what happened to you after the election." My dad was a son of a bitch.

"Yes, you did, but you didn't tell me it was because you conspired with someone on my own staff to out me and leak the story to the press before the election." There's the surprise I wanted to see!

"Wha— Wha— How dare you accuse us of something of the sort. No one was more shocked to see those pictures than we were," my father blustered indignantly. Mom said nothing, and Matilda reached behind her and untied her apron.

"I bet. For what you paid Gregor Jablonowski, he should have taken better shots. You almost couldn't tell it was Blaire Conner I was fucking at the time." Mom's gasp at my use of the f-word was comical. Nash chuckled quietly next to me.

Matilda turned to my mother, her eyes narrowed in anger. "What did you do to your only child?"

"This is none of your business." The haughty nod of my mother's head almost had me laughing.

Matilda had worked for our family for so many years I couldn't remember a time when she wasn't there. She tolerated my parents, but she had always cared for me. It was when I got elected to the Senate that we grew apart. It was my fault.

I stepped over and gave Matilda a hug. "I'm sorry I haven't called for a while. I'll rectify that, I promise. Matilda, this is my partner, Nash Lincoln. Sweetheart, this is the woman who raised me, Matilda Jones."

Another scoff from my mother, but I didn't pay attention. Matilda hugged Nash. "It's a pleasure to meet you. You take care of this man. He's like another of my children." Then she turned to me. "I understand that a senator has a lot on his plate, but now you've got time to give me a call when you can."

She patted my cheek before she took off the cap Mom made her wear when they were having people over. I'd always made fun of it, and I knew Matilda hated it.

She plopped it on top of my mother's shampoo-and-set hair, and she draped the apron over Dad's shoulder. "I quit."

With that, she stomped into the kitchen and came back a moment later with her coat, scarf, and gloves. She stopped in front of me and smiled. "Don't be a stranger. I'm thinking of moving to Alexandria where my daughter lives."

Nash smirked. "We'll have you over once we get settled in our apartment. I'd love to hear stories about Spence as a little boy." He walked over to the front door and opened it, closing it once Matilda was outside. That was an unexpected pleasure!

I turned back to my parents, who were now furious, my mother glaring at me. "Look what you've done."

Nash stepped in front of me, which was a surprise. "No, Spencer had nothing to do with that poor woman leaving this circle of hell. You obliterated Spencer's life when you betrayed him. Jay, Vanessa, and I will help him put it back together. We're his family, and you are only an embarrassment to a man with integrity."

I wanted to say to him that maybe integrity was the wrong word, but I was so touched by his defense of me that I put my arm around his neck and pulled him close enough to kiss his temple.

"So, yes, I know what you did and how much you spent to do it. I'd say I'm surprised, but I'm not. There's another scandal brewing in DC, and mine will be long forgotten, but I'll never forget what you did to me. I hope you have someone you trust when it's time to pick your nursing home. You won't like where I put you."

I turned to Nash. "Ready to go? I'm hungry, and I know a great place on the way out of town to eat." We clasped hands, and we were out the door before anything more could be said.

"Spence! Come here quick!" I was hanging our clothes in the wardrobe boxes that had been delivered to Great Falls. Nash and I were finally moving into our new place in DC. We'd taken a few days to disappear to Key West to celebrate the new year and my new freedom.

Nash had signed his contract with Four Seasons, and was set to begin his training on January 20, so we had some time to just be, which was something I hadn't done in a long time. I don't think Nash had either. We had a damn blast, and nobody gave a tinker's damn who we were.

I ran down the hall to the den where Nash was busy boxing up my books and he had the television on. "What?" I stepped over to where he stood, eyes glued to the screen.

There on the screen was Blaire Conner being hounded by Ingrid Mohr. "Is it true you used to work for the DC madame, Caroline Bering-Turner? Did you sleep with Senator Turner? Is it true, your husband participated in the conspiracy to out Senator Spencer Brady last year which caused him to lose the election?"

"Shit!" Nash grabbed his phone from the bookshelf and immediately hit a contact, putting it on speaker.

"Hey, Nash. How you doing kid?" It was Denver Wallace.

"Denver, you guys didn't leak the source of Spencer's outing, did you?" Nash's face was flush with anger, but I had the feeling his friends had kept their word.

"What's with these accusations? Of course we didn't. We don't turn on our own, and you know this, Nashville. I'll accept your apology in chocolate chip cookies from Trina's Treats." The line went dead.

I took his phone and smirked. "It didn't cross my mind that they'd have even considered going to the press. And I don't think Sean had anything to do with this either."

My phone rang at the same time the front door opened. I answered as I headed downstairs to find Vani. It was the first we'd seen of her since she'd moved right after Christmas.

I held up my finger to her. "Hello?" I hadn't even looked at the number on the screen of my phone.

"Mom there?" It was our son.

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, she just walked in. You okay?" I put the phone on speaker as Nash came downstairs.

"Mom, glad you made it. Did they see it? It's the lead story on all the news channels here in Blacksburg."

"Yeah, I got a call for comment from Ingrid. I said that my family deserved privacy and any illegal activities related to your dad's outing were the product of collusion between The Honorable Ronald Brady and his wife, Hillary Brady."

Vani stared into my eyes as she said it, and I felt the tears. "Why would you do that?" I couldn't believe her kindness to me in the face of the embarrassing mess I'd made.

"I also told Ingrid that our marriage was nobody's business, I was aware you were gay from the beginning, and we're still friends."

Nash went over to the large television in the living room and flipped it on, turning to NBS's cable channel.

"In a statement given by Senator Brady's former wife, Mrs. Brady implicated the Senator's parents in the conspiracy to discredit the Senator before the 2022 election and confirmed that she'd known the Senator was gay for many years. She refused to comment further, saying it was nobody's business and that the two remain close friends."

Nash looked at us, before walking over to put his arm around the two of us. "It's not a lie." He kissed my cheek and then Vani's as I let it all soak in.

He was right. It wasn't a lie. We were still close friends, and I loved them both with all my heart. Last August, my life was a dumpster fire after being outed. All the events following could have made me jump into the Potomac—which was disgusting—and I wasn't sure if Vanessa could have kept me from doing it.

Then, on a cold night early in the fall, an angel walked into my life and those bad times are distant memories. Who knew a beautiful young bartender could save The Senator.