9781631054631ChoiceAffairsSalisbury (26 page)

“Well, no. Jacob
wanted to speak with you first before we went off making plans.”

“My island is at your
disposal, if you’d like to use it. I’ll even see to your transportation.”

They were looking
between themselves. I’d shock
ed them.

“You don’t have to do
that, Apolo. Renee and I
aren’t
a couple of teenagers. We were sort of
thinking of something quieter.”

“I don’t see how it
could get any quieter. Caitlyn and I are planning on going to Atlanta, so the
island will be unused. I
t’s a gift, a wedding
present. You don’t want to hurt my feelings, do you?”

“No,
of course not.
Thank you, Apolo. That’s most generous.” Jacob shifted in his seat. I caught
him winking at Renee.

“Yes, thank you,
Apolo. I’ll get with you or Caitlyn on detai
ls as
soon as we work them out.”

“That’s fine. Jacob,
just make sure things are in place and in order for you to be away.”

He knew what I was
speaking of. I sprung to my feet and made my way around the desk to hug Renee
and shake Jacob’s hand. These two ha
d been with me
for a long time and were like family.

“Congratulations, both
of you. I mean that.
Though I will
say you could have given me some warning.”

“No,” Jacob replied.
“The look on your face was priceless.”

Chapter
Fifteen

“Did I hear you
right? Because I could have sworn you just said Renee and
Jacob are getting married.”

“You heard me right.
It seems the two of them have been quietly having an affair right under our
noses.”

“When do they plan on
getting married?
Where?”

“The only thing I
know for sure is it will be right around the Christmas
recess. I don’t think they know. In fact, I believe they wanted my blessing
before they made plans.”

“Why?” I asked, as I
tried not to giggle. The thought of the two of them carrying on right under Apo
lo’s so-called super-observant nose was funny.

“What, may I ask, is
so funny?”

“Just
you.
I’ll give Renee
a call tomorrow,
see
if I can get anything out of her.”

“Good luck with that.
Has Tina called you, yet?”

“Changing the subject?
Yes, as a matter of fa
ct.”

“I’m not changing the
subject. I’m curious.” He shook his head. “By the way, I did offer Renee and
Jacob the island for a honeymoon. I told them we were planning on being in
Atlanta for the holidays.”

“That’s fine, sweetie.
I already planned on us bei
ng in Atlanta. I’ve been
in touch with staff about decorating.
And not to change the subject, either, but I really like Tina.
We spent about an hour on the phone. I
think we’re going to work well together.”

“Good, I knew you and
Tina would hit it off,” he
replied, swooping in for a
kiss. “Thank you for taking care of things at home.”

“You don’t have to
thank me, husband. Quite frankly, I’m looking forward to spending the holidays
anywhere away from here.”

“As
am I.
So, what did you and Tina
decide
?”

“Come s
it with me in the kitchen and keep me company while I
finish dinner.” I took his hand and pulled him in that direction. I led him to
a stool on one side of a counter. I pushed a bottle of white wine in his
direction.

“Smells
wonderful.”

“Veal
parmesan with
red sauce and linguini.”

“You didn’t.”

I knew it was a
favorite of his and had his cook show me how to prepare it. This was the first
time I was making it on my own. “Yes, I did,” I replied. “Tina and I went over
what we want to accomplish, what we feel w
e need to
run a foundation, that sort of thing. I gave her the budget we had set, how
much you were donating to get it off the ground, etcetera.”

“Good, it sounds like
you two made some headway.”

“Yes, we did. She’s
also going to begin to look around for p
eople seeking
such a position. She’ll do some stats for us, and with any luck, get back to me
the first of next week.”

“Did you talk about
her coming to visit?” he asked, inserting the cork screw into the top of the
bottle.

“We’ll discuss that in
more deta
il once she’s had a chance to do some
research. She also asked some questions about what’s been going on with you.
The stuff concerning Choice Enterprises.
I hope you don’t mind, but I was pretty
honest with her.”

“No, I have no problem
at all with that. S
he’d find out, anyway, in her
research, I’m sure. That’s one thing I do know—Tina’s thorough.”

“Well, that’s
partially why I did it. I didn’t want her flying all this way and being
blindsided and backing out.”

“Good.” He handed me a
glass before picking up
his own. “Here’s to the
Choice Foundation.”

“To
the Choice Foundation.
I really feel like I’m finally getting something
accomplished, Apolo.”

“That’s what I want to
hear.”

“By the way, has
anyone heard from anyone? What’s the status with my brother?”

“No
change. So far as I know, he’s laying low. At least that’s
what Jacob’s been able to find out. I take it your mother hasn’t called.”

“I think she finally
got the idea. She’s chosen her path, now she must deal with it. If Tom does
flee, it’ll be the good
senator she’s chosen that’ll
feel the pinch.” I giggled at the thought.

“What’s so funny?”

“Just imagining if Tom
skipped, the mess, not to mention financial ruin, it’s going to cause someone.”

“Well, we can always
hope,” Apolo replied, the side of his mou
th curling
up.

“Apolo!”

“What? I have no
sympathy for anyone who is ruined trying to bring me down. I built Choice
Enterprises from the ground, and I’ll be damned if I’m going to let anyone,
anyone at all, disintegrate it.”

“I know. It’s just
strange to he
ar
those
sort of words spew from your mouth.” I
walked over to the refrigerator and pulled out the salad I’d made earlier,
along with dressing. I walked them out to the dining room table, Apolo
following me with our wine.

“Anything else I can
help you with
?” he smirked.

“Um, no, I think I
have it covered. You just sit down and relax while I dish up our plates.” I
started back to the kitchen when he grabbed my wrist, pulling me down for a
mind blowing kiss. “What was that for?”

“Do I need a reason to
kiss my
wife? Just call it
a pre-thank
you for taking such good care of me.”

“A pre-thank you?” I
giggled. “I’ve never heard of that before. Is that an Apoloism?”

“I suppose. Just a
little taste for what’s in store for later.”

“Perhaps we need to
write these Apol
oisms down.”

“I don’t think the
world is ready.”

I turned to walk into
the kitchen again. “Well if you want your dinner hot and not burned, you’d
better let me finish what I was leaving to do.”

He said nothing,
playfully slapping me on the bottom as I walk
ed away.

* * * *

I joined Apolo in the
living room after cleaning up. He was seated on one of the sofas that looked
out at the nighttime Washington skyline. He appeared to be deep in thought. I
had brought along the remains of the bottle of wine, but not
iced he had poured himself a brandy.

“What are you thinking
about, babe?”

“Just
playing things back in my head.
Stuff that’s
happened since we moved up here.”

“Sorry you accepted
the position?”

“Not in the least.
What I can’t get over is the undercurrent,
the
underbelly if you want to call it that, of our political system. It’s new to
me,
that’s
all.”

“You mean all the
games people play?”

“Exactly.
It’s all about
who
you know, and who can help you succeed, while at the same
time, you destroy or attempt to d
estroy anyone who
gets in your way.”

“You’ve never had to
deal with that, have you?”

“No. I’ve always been
respected and believe I’ve respected others. If I go after something, I don’t
try to ruin people to get it.”

“No, everyone just
knew to stay out of
your way. But remember, you’re
the new kid on the block. You didn’t get your seat the old fashioned way.
Someone had to die for you to get the appointment.”

“I know. I have to
continually remind myself of that. I also have to tell myself that Rome wasn’t
b
uilt in a day, so I shouldn’t expect I can perform
miracles in the short time I have here.”

“You don’t want to go
up for reelection?”

“I don’t know yet.
I’ve got some people looking into some things. When I see what comes of it,
we’ll sit down and talk abo
ut it.”

“Whatever you decide,
you know I’m with your one hundred percent.”

“I know and appreciate
that.”

“Do you have any idea
who might go up against you, if you did decide to run for reelection?”

“I’ve heard some
chatter about it. But at this point, that
’s all it
is, rumors and innuendos.”

“Like I said, whatever
you decide.”

“You’re part of this,
too, Caitlyn. Your input is very important. So far, our life here has been
anything but normal.”

“Apolo, life with you
is not normal. Whether it
be
in Atlanta or
here.
Which is how I like it by the
way.
”

“Or is it that life
with me is normal, and everything else is not?”

“Whatever the case, I
wouldn’t change a thing.”

“Just be observant of
your surroundings,
that’s
all I ask.
Especially if Jacob or one of his men
is not around.”

“Speaking
of being observant.
You remember that young reporter that was camped outside
across the street in Atlanta? I could swear I saw him the other day.”

Apolo had a poker face
for the most part, but this time, I could have sworn I saw h
im twitch. “I’m sure you were mistaken. I don’t think he’s
that good a reporter to have been assigned anything but the day to day
stories.”

“That’s what I
thought. If he were a political reporter, I might think twice, but he’s just a
beat reporter.”

“See?
You’re being observant. I’m proud of you.”

“I try.
Especially after everything that’s
happened.”

He picked up his
brandy snifter and swirled the amber liquid around the glass, placing it to his
nose. He inhaled the aroma before finishing off the remaining
liquid. As he was doing that, his phone went off. He picked
it up, looked at who was texting or calling. He stood up, looked at his phone
again, and then at me. “I’m sorry. I have to take this. This shouldn’t be but a
few minutes.”

“That’s fine. While
you’
re doing that, I’m going to start the dishwasher
and turn everything off. Then, I’m going to begin a new book I picked up the
other day.”

He was already halfway
down the hallway to his office. Shaking my head, I picked up the two glasses
and headed back to
the kitchen. I started the
dishwasher and readied the coffee maker. Turning out the lights, I headed
through the house.

As I passed the door
to Apolo’s office, I noticed the door was open a crack. I could hear him.
Whoever it was on the other end was gett
ing an
earful. Apolo was not happy. I stood to listen, not knowing if I knew about
what was being discussed.

“I don’t give in to
blackmail. If you think you can ruin me with this, you’re not playing with a
full deck. If you know anything about me, you’ll k
now
I don’t take to being threatened. Do what you want with them, but don’t think
you’re going to get me to back down.”

I glanced up, feeling
someone was there.
Apolo.
He was indeed furious. He shook his
head and shut the door, leaving me to wonder what th
e
hell was going on.