Rise of the Notorious (19 page)

“Very clever, Jorja. But lying to the press will only get you hit with a lawsuit.”

“
Oh, I had nothing to do with this, honey. Wish I had, though
,” Jorja preened, giggling again. “
Eddie was telling me all about your little Vicodin habit. Guess someone else found out about it and decided to blab
.”

“What are you talking about?” Madison demanded, but Jorja only continued to ramble on.

“
With all that pressure you must be under, I can’t blame you. But hey, we reap what we sow and all that jazz, and karma’s coming back to bite you for what you did to poor Win. I’m just thrilled I get to see it all go down.
”

“So if you didn’t go to the press with this, then who did?”

“
Beats me. Looks like you’ve made yourself a few more enemies
,” Jorja laughed. “
Be sure to tell Linc I said hello. Looks like his little girlfriend’s daddy doesn’t approve. How sad. Let him know I’ll be waiting when he gets lonely. Ta-ta for now, Queen Bitch.
”

She continued to laugh as she hung up, leaving Madison clutching the receiver and staring at her desk, her face carefully void of emotion. As calmly as she could, she replaced the receiver.

“Well, what did she say?” Linc barked, his hands clenching into fists. “I take it she said she didn’t do it.”

“She claims it wasn’t her,” Madison said evenly, gazing up at him. “With the obvious glee she had about the whole thing, I find it hard to believe she wouldn’t take the credit if she could.”

“So what then, is Shaw behind this just like the accusation about you and dad?” Linc thundered, the very thought infuriating him.

“Why would he keep his name out of it this time if he had no problem revealing himself the first time around?” Grant put in, trying to maintain reason. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“I don’t know, because he’s playing some kind of fucking game with us and he probably just wants to make it look like we have threats coming from all sides when in fact it’s just him and Jorja.” Linc reached into his jean’s pocket for his cell phone, immediately dialing Lynette’s number.

Grant shot him a warning look. “Don’t be brash, Linc.”

Linc ignored him, only to hang up the phone moments later when Lynette didn’t answer. He turned to his siblings, frustrated. “It’s Shaw. Who else could it be?” When they said nothing, he nodded with a dark laugh. “Right. Well, while you guys think it over, I’m gonna take action and go get some real answers. I’ll be in touch.”

He swung out of Madison’s office, shutting the door promptly behind him.

Grant sighed and looked back to his sister, shaking his head. “Well, what do you think?”

Madison rubbed a suddenly aching spot on her right temple, closing her eyes for a brief moment as she gave it some thought. She had to wonder if Linc was on to something, that perhaps Shaw was just trying to make it look like the family had threats coming in from all sides. That could explain the mysterious letters, his public interview with the press, the anonymous leak to the
New York Times
. He could be staging all of this, piece by piece.

But what was his motive in doing so? Why would a sitting senator, up for re-election in just one year’s time, risk his reputation by going on an all out rampage against the Vasser family?

It just didn’t add up. Either she was missing some crucial piece of information that would justify Shaw’s actions, or it simply wasn’t him.

And yet, if it wasn’t him, and it wasn’t Jorja, then who could it be?

“I feel as though I’m missing something here, Grant,” she said quietly, lifting her eyes to his. “Why is Linc convinced that Shaw is behind this? Other than that one radio interview and those text messages, both of which I’m assuming were attempts to scare his daughter away from Linc, what motive does he have to personally attack me this way?”

Grant walked to the window behind her, his hands clasped behind his back as he stared out at the city. He hadn’t planned on telling Madison about what Shaw had told him and Linc a few days earlier, at least not until it became necessary for her to know. Now, it appeared, the necessity had arrived.

“Linc and I met with Shaw the day he did that radio interview,” he began, his jaw clenching at the memory. “We asked him why he had sent those text messages to Lynette. He proceeded to tell us something that we weren’t prepared to hear.”

“What did he say?” Madison asked coolly, masking the spark of temper she felt at being kept in the dark.

“The man who plans to run against him in next year’s election, a man by the name of Jack Morgan, is the son of the man who covered up our grandfather’s crimes.”

Madison blinked once as his words sank in, and she let out a slow, measured exhale. “I see.”

“No one else knows of the connection Morgan has to us, just Shaw. He plans on using it against him. Using
us
against him.”

“So he’s doing all he can to trash our reputation further, trash
my
reputation, all so that he can land this blow against Morgan and really make it count.”

Grant nodded silently, turning back to his sister. She could sense his anger, could see it in his eyes as he stared right at her. He hated this as much as if not more than she did. But that didn’t make it any less their reality.

“Alright, so based on what you just told me, Shaw is enemy number one,” she said smoothly, rising to her feet to face her brother. She planted both hands on his shoulders, unwavering resolve in her eyes. “While it bothers me that you didn’t tell me about Shaw in the first place, I forgive you. I know you were just trying to shield me from it.”

“Mads, I—”

“Don’t,” she murmured, attempting a smile as she reached up to touch his face. “Just be my strength and my reason, darling. I need your composure now more than ever.”

He nodded and pulled her close, wrapping his arms around her.

While she held on to him and gave him the assurance he needed that she would be alright, the wheels in her mind were turning over how she was going to make Shaw pay for what he had done.

Especially for those damn letters.

When Lynette arrived
home from rehearsal, Linc was waiting, furiously pacing back and forth in her kitchen. She froze, her keys dangling from her hand as her eyes widened with alarm.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, immediately dropping her duffle bag and keys to the floor as she rushed to him. “Did something else happen? What is it?”

Linc stopped pacing and tossed that day’s edition of the
New York Times
down on the kitchen island counter before her, opened to the article about Madison.

Lynette hesitated, brow furrowing as she read the headline. Her hand lifted to her lips in shock. “Goodness, not again.”

“Exactly,” Linc snapped, slamming his fist down upon the counter to emphasize the word. When she edged away from him, caution in her eyes, he tried the best he could to control his temper. He didn’t want to blame Lynette, couldn’t find the reason in it, and yet there she was. The daughter of his greatest enemy. “Just answer me one question, Lynette. Did your father do this?”

She gaped at him, her head shaking automatically. “I don’t think so. Why would he?”

“Don’t react, think. Could he be responsible for this?” Linc planted both hands upon the counter and leveled his gaze with hers.

“No,” she asserted, crossing her arms. It was as much a defensive gesture as it was a divisive one. “He has no reason to make up lies.”

“You mean like he did the other night on that radio show?” Linc rolled his eyes. “Remember what I told you about Morgan. Your dad has a motive to destroy my family so that when he reveals Morgan’s connection to us, it makes Morgan look just that much worse.”

“Yes, but he wouldn’t out and out lie, Linc,” she argued, a shiver running down her spine at the thought. “There’s too much at stake for him.”

“So you think that what he said about my sister being responsible for my dad’s death is true? Because despite how upset you were about your father the other night, now you’re telling me that he wouldn’t lie.”

She bit her lip uncertainly as she tried to think of what to say to him. “Linc, I—”

“Just answer me,” he ordered, hostility flavoring the words.

It took all she had not to rush from the room to avoid the conflict. It was driving her mad to be wedged between two such violent forces, pushing and pulling her in every direction. All she wanted to do was crawl into the shadows and disappear.

But she couldn’t do that. Instead, she let her own resentment and anger over the situation flood her system, and darken her tone. “Maybe it is Madison’s fault your father is dead. She did lock him up for days on end, and we have no proof that she
didn’t
tamper with the drugs. It’s entirely possible that my father wasn’t lying.”

Linc’s face flushed with indignation. “How can you
say
that? She’s my sister!”

“And he’s my father!” Lynette shot back, angry tears filling her eyes. “None of this changes that.”

“Why do you keep defending him like this? You know he’s behind this just as well as I do!”

“Oh, just like how you know Madison didn’t do all she could to take your dad out of the picture?”

Linc let out a strained laugh, and he had to turn away from her or else risk doing something he’d regret later. He rubbed at the stubble on his chin angrily, yet again suffering under Lynette’s defense of her father. God, was it ever going to end? Or would he always have to compete with the bastard for her loyalty?

Realizing that if he stayed and talked with her any longer, the situation was only going to get worse, Linc made the instant decision to leave. He whirled around to face her, but kept his distance.

“Don’t come around the hotel anymore and don’t call me,” he stated flatly, derision in his voice. “If and when I feel like seeing you, I’ll be in contact.”

He left before she could respond, slamming the door shut behind him. Lynette’s breath shuddered out of her chest as she crumbled onto her sofa, struggling to wrap her mind around what had just happened.

Had he just left her?

Tears formed in her eyes as she pulled her knees up against her chest and buried her face in her arms, her heart cracking in two.

She cursed her own carelessness, her father’s arrogance, and most of all, she cursed the Vasser family for coming between what should have been a perfect romance.

“Welcome home, pumpkin,”
Senator Shaw beamed, his arms spread wide as Lynette walked up the wooden steps to her childhood home.

She didn’t return his smile, but followed through with the embrace all the same. She breathed in the familiar scent of her father’s cologne and released a heavy sigh. “Hi, daddy,” she murmured, her throat tightening as she pulled away.

“I have to admit I’m surprised to see you here,” he admitted, gesturing for her to sit down on one of the cozy armchairs gracing the wide porch of their plantation style home. “When your mother said you called and were coming home, I wasn’t sure what to make of it.”