Dani chuckled. "I believe the phrase was 'butthead.' She's such a sweetheart. I can't believe how cruel those kids were to her. The things they said."

"There's no law against being stupid."

"Speaking of which," she said, staring at the blanket on her lap. "I believe I'm falling into that category." She forced herself to look at him. "I guess Fiona sucked me in."

He stared into her eyes. "I haven't slept with her. I'm not interested in her. I won't go so far as to say I hate her because that implies a level of energy I don't have where she's concerned. She's nothing to me, Dani. I want you to know that."

"I do. Really. I should have thought it through. I should have asked instead of yelling."

"No. I'm to blame for that. Your accusation caught me off guard. My pride got in the way. I thought you should have believed in me. Later I realized that given your past and how short a time we've known each other, believing what looked like real proof made sense."

"Yeah?" Did this mean he wasn't going to let her get away?

"Yeah." He leaned in and kissed her.

"It's just she knew stuff about the house. Like the fireplace being on a remote."

"She'd seen the place. She was pissed I'd left her so when she found out I was interested in that house, she bid against me. The irony is that because of the divorce settlement, she was bidding against me with my own money."

Dani sighed. "I never thought of her seeing it any way but with you. I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I should have handled things differently. The pregnancy thing threw me. I was trying to figure out who she could have been seeing. After the fact I thought maybe you would have seen that distraction as guilt or surprise."

"Kind of."

He kissed her again. His mouth was warm and promising. She wanted to keep kissing him, but considering their location and how much her head hurt, it was probably not a good idea.

"I don't want her," he said. "I want you."

"Good answer."

"Are we okay?"

She nodded, then touched her head. "I have to stop doing that."

"What about the poll numbers?" he asked. "They were bothering you before."

"I don't know. You're the expert at this-not me. Do we ignore them and hope they go away?"

"You can't run your life based on the campaign."

Which sounded great, she thought. But was it reality? Mark was her father. What did she owe him?

"I don't want to ruin anything," she admitted. "I don't want to be the reason he doesn't become president."

"You'd walk away from me?" Alex asked.

She studied him, trying to figure out what he was thinking. "Are you saying you wouldn't? That if Mark asked you not to see me, you'd tell him to go to hell?" She placed her fingers on his mouth. "Be honest. He's your father. You value loyalty above everything else. This is his dream. Do either of us have the right to destroy that?"

“There will be other scandals."

But right now she was the scandal du jour.

"We don't have to deal with this tonight," Alex told her. "Get some rest. I'll be by to take you home in the morning."

"I look forward to it."

He kissed her and left.

She shifted on the bed, trying to get comfortable. Her head still pounded and that would make it difficult to sleep, although she was plenty tired. Maybe she should-

Someone knocked on her door. She looked up and saw Mark standing in the shadows.

"You're still awake," he said.

"I am."

"Good. Good." He walked into the room and smiled down at her. "How are you feeling? That's quite a black eye."

"I know. I looked in the mirror earlier and frightened myself."

"You'll heal."

He was alone for once. No entourage, no family or staff. Just the man. He seemed less grand by himself, she thought. Still handsome and very much a stranger. Would he always be? Was that just who he was? Someone she couldn't get close to?

He settled into the chair Alex had just left.

"Do you need anything?" he asked. "They're treating you well here?"

"They're great and I'm doing fine. I'll go home in the morning."

"Good. Excellent." He patted her arm. "You made the news. You and Bailey are heroes. That's what's important. We're expecting this to play favorably with the voters. Show them my family has character. The numbers will be back up, especially now that we can leak that you and Alex aren't dating anymore. Interesting about you and Alex. Not a pair I would have put together. But it's over now. All's well."

All was not well. She and Alex were very much a couple. At least they were trying to be. The road of their relationship was rocky, to say the least.

She looked at the man who was her father. She knew in her heart he wasn't the fantasy she'd hoped for. But he was a good man who had plans. Big plans. He wanted to be president. She'd only ever wanted to run Buchanan's. Who was she to stand in the way of his future?


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN


Alex showed up at his parents' house early in the morning. Katherine was still in her robe, making coffee in the kitchen, when he walked in. She looked up and froze. Her mouth twisted, her eyes widened, but she didn't speak.

He'd been more angry with her than he'd ever been in his life. He'd known that not talking to her was punishment because she hated to be disconnected from her children in any way. He'd wanted her to suffer.

But then he'd remembered who she was. That she'd found him, a half-wild boy who had screamed most of the night as he relived the nightmare of his birth mother's murder. He remembered how she'd patiently taught him how to read, how to add and subtract, how to take a shower, to function in normal society. She'd been the one to assume he would catch up in school and go to college. He still remembered the amazement of overhearing her talking with one of her friends.

"Alex is brilliant. I can already tell. He's going to do something special with his life. I wonder which college he'll go to."

He'd been ten at the time, still struggling to fit in. Her casual words had inspired him. She'd worked a miracle in him. He owed her everything.

But even if he didn't, he would still have come to see her this morning-because he loved her. He would always love her. Everyone was allowed to screw up-it made her human.

He held open his arms.

She rushed into them and he pulled her close. She was so small, he thought absently. He always saw her as such a powerful woman, but she was almost frail. On the outside-on the inside, she was a powerhouse.

"I'm sorry," she began.

"No," he told her. "You've apologized. I didn't come here to get you to say it again. I came to say I appreciate that you regret your actions and that we're okay."

She raised her head and looked at him. "Oh, Alex, I love you so much."

"I love you, too."

"I can't believe you've forgiven me."

"I'm an amazing guy. You're lucky to have me in your life."

She smiled, then started to laugh. "I guess I am." She stepped back. "I was making coffee. Want some?"

"Sure." He settled on one of the stools. "I need to talk to you about a couple of things."

"I didn't think you were here for my cooking."

"You make a mean cinnamon roll."

"If only. I do a fabulous job opening the package and putting the prepared rolls onto a pan. Later, I'm almost artistic with the little container of icing."

"Still, I like them."

“That's why I make them."

She would always go out of her way to do something special for each of her children. She was honest to a fault, never searching for the spotlight. She pushed everyone else ahead of herself. Family was her world. A family he was about to rip apart.

"I'm resigning from the campaign," he said.

Her breath caught. "Alex, no."

"I have to. I'm not the right person to help him."

"But it means so much to have you involved."

He knew he was offering her an impossible choice-siding with the father or the son. Ultimately she would pick Mark because he was her husband, but it would devastate her to choose.

"I haven't made this decision lightly," he told her. "He's important to me, too. I want to do the right thing, but I can't ignore the feeling in my gut I'm not political. I don't like it and I don't do it well."

She folded her arms across her chest and looked at him. "I know," she whispered. "I know you were only there because he asked you. Because he wanted it to be a family affair."

"I'll still campaign, if it comes to that. I'll show my support in other ways."

"He's going to be disappointed."

"He'll get over it." Alex had a feeling Mark's biggest concern would be how it looked to the voters, which probably wasn't fair.

“This can't have been easy for you," she said, showing the understanding that always came so natural to her. "You would have seen staying as your duty."

He shrugged. "This way is better. Ultimately for both of us, although I'm not sure he'll see it that way."

She nodded. "He'll understand with time. When are you telling him?"

"The end of the week."

Even as he said the words, he felt guilty, as if he was doing the wrong thing. Everything he'd been taught, everything he owed Mark and Katherine, told him he should stay. Just suck it up and deal. But he couldn't. She'd also taught him to be his own person.

"I'm sorry," he told her. "It's just one more thing, after the hell you dealt with yesterday."

She wrinkled her nose. "Not me. Dani and Bailey are the ones who really suffered. I'm so glad no one was seriously injured. If those boys had hurt either one of them…"

There was a fierceness in her voice, an anger and a strength. He liked that she was protective of both of them. "They would have had to answer to us."

She flipped on the coffeemaker, then leaned against the counter. "Are those boys going to be charged?"

"They're going to be convicted. I'll make sure of it. How's Bailey?”

Katherine relaxed. "Mostly empowered. She seems very clear that the boys were bad and what they were doing was wrong. Dani protecting her made her feel special and her being able to save Dani makes her feel tough and capable."

"Good."

"I know she's your favorite."

He shifted on the stool. "I love all my brothers and sisters equally."

"Oh, please. You have a soft spot for Bailey. You always have."

"Maybe."

"I'm glad. Dani really cares about her, too. Dani's very special. I like her."

There was something in the way she said the words, as if testing the waters.

"She hasn't been easy for you," he said. "Not because of anything she's done but because of who she is."

"Agreed."

"Is it okay?"

Katherine stared at the coffeemaker. "Okay is such a weasel word. What does it really mean? Do I like what's happened? Do I enjoy people talking, speculating? Of course not. Do I blame Dani? Not when I'm myself. Do I wish she'd never shown up?" She looked at him. "Never."

"I love her."

He hadn't meant to say the words. He'd barely recognized the truth of it himself. But last night, after he'd left her in the hospital, he'd realized how much he would have been destroyed if she'd been critically hurt. He hadn't been looking, but he'd found her all the same.

"I sort of figured that out," his mother said with a smile.

"How?"

"There's something about your eyes when you talk about her. A light. I don't know. It's subtle, but I saw it."

Hated it, he thought. She had hated it, then accepted it and now she would embrace it. Because of who she was.

"It's serious," he told her.

"I figured that, too."

"I want to marry her."

He waited for her to react-to collapse or fall into tears. He thought she might get angry or beg him to change his mind.

Instead she poured them each a cup of coffee, handed him his, then said, "Let me be clear. This time I expect grandchildren. Lots of them."

She smiled.

He might have known, he thought as he put his arm around her. She always took the high road. No matter what.

"Damn, you're good," he said.

"I know. I' m a constant surprise. It's part of my charm."

Katherine closed her eyes and knew that finding a way to welcome Dani as Alex's wife would be easier today than it would have been yesterday. Dani had more than proved herself and was exactly who Katherine would have wanted for her son.

She refused to think about the gossip or potential scandal. That would happen and she would deal with it because she was good at dealing.

"When are you going to propose?" she asked.

"Tomorrow night I'll plan a romantic dinner. I'm picking her up at the hospital this morning. She probably still hurts from what those bastards did to her, so I'm giving her time."