Maggie cupped her left hand around her husband’s neck and pulled him close. Nash kept his family jewels covered on the off chance she was luring him in for a knee to the groin. Maggie laid a big exaggerated kiss on her husband replete with sound effects. She turned back to Charlie, who was still crying, and said, “See, Mommy and Daddy love each other.” He was still crying so she went back to kissing her husband.

Nash decided she wasn’t going to hurt him, so he joined in with gusto. Ten seconds later the two were still locked in a passionate kiss that was suddenly much more than acting. Nash’s hands began to wander over his wife’s body, and he pulled her in close. Charlie slowly stopped crying, but they kept going. Maggie reached her hand down below his belt and gave him a soft squeeze.

She moved her lips away from his and offered her cheek. “It appears everything is working just fine down there.”

Nash nodded enthusiastically. “Let’s go upstairs.”

“You’re going to have to wait.”

Nash let out a long groan. “I love you,” he moaned.

“I love you too.”

Charlie began to giggle and smile.

“That’s right,” Maggie said. “Mommy and Daddy love each other.”

Charlie said the word again, although this time in a soft and sensitive voice.

Nash looked down at him and said, “That’s right, buddy.”

Maggie finally broke down and started laughing. “You are horrible.”

“I know.”

“How was your day?” she asked with a touch of concern.

“It was interesting?”

“But you can’t talk about it.”

“No.”

She stiffened a little. The happy moment was gone and the stress of his job was back in the happy little home. “Just promise me you’ll tell me yourself. I don’t want to wake up one morning and read it in the paper.”

Nash kissed her forehead. “I promise.”

CHAPTER 46

CAPITOL HILL

SENATOR Lonsdale stepped quietly out of her Capitol office and onto the veranda. She stood still and took in the beautiful sight before her. The setting sun was bathing the alabaster columns of the Supreme Court in a brilliant orange glow, but it was lost on her. She was frozen like a love-struck teenager staring at Wade Kline as he stood with his back to her, one hand on the stone railing and the other holding a cell phone to his ear. She’d never seen him with his suit coat off, and her eyes worked their way from his broad shoulders down to his narrow waist and finally his backside. Lonsdale took in a slow breath as she bit down softly on her bottom lip. She may have had crushes like this as a teenager but never such erotic thoughts.

Since her husband’s death she’d had her fair share of lovers, but none this young. This, she told herself, would have to be handled very discreetly.

Kline turned around and greeted Lonsdale with a smile as he held up a finger. “I have to go,” he said. “The senator is here. I’ll call you later.”

Something about his tone told Lonsdale that it was a woman. “Who was that?” she asked as casually as possible.

Kline hesitated and then said, “My wife. She’s up in New York.”

“Oh,” Lonsdale said as she noted that he didn’t tell her he loved her before hanging up. “Do you commute?”

“Yes and no,” he said a bit sheepishly. “I have an apartment down here, but my workload is pretty heavy, so I’m lucky if I get back every couple weeks.”

“Well,” she said as her eyes danced over his body once again, “you obviously find time to work out.”

“It’s the only thing that keeps me sane.”

“Just remember, life can be short. I found that out the hard way with my husband. He worked seventy, eighty hours a week, building his family business and he ended up dropping dead at age forty-five.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“It’s all right,” she said in a lighthearted voice. “He gave me a beautiful daughter and a lot of financial security.”

“I’m sure the beauty comes from you,” Kline said with a smile.

“Well, thank you.” Lonsdale had learned long ago how to take a compliment. “Are you in the mood for a drink, or just a smoke?”

“I’d love both.”

“Good.” Lonsdale walked back inside. “I’m having a vodka on rocks with a lemon twist. What would you like?”

“The same, but let me get them. Just point me in the right direction, and I’ll take care of it.”

Lonsdale got him started and then retrieved her cigarettes and lighter and met him back out on the veranda. Kline gave the senator her drink and said, “God, I need this.”

Before he could get it to his lips, she stopped him and said, “A toast.” She extended her glass and said, “To living a life without regrets.” Lonsdale gave him a little wink and then took a sip.

“I’ll drink to that.”

“So how was your day?”

“Pretty shitty,” Kline said in a matter-of-fact way. “In fact… I’d say it was one of the worst days I’ve had in a long time. Maybe ever.”

Lonsdale set her drink down on the small black bistro table. “You’re serious.”

“As a heart attack.”

“What happened?”

He thought back on the day, regretting rather intensely that he had given in to his more basic instincts and even worse that he been so foolish in underestimating Rapp. When you stripped it all away the man was a Goddamn professional killer. Even if only a third of the rumors were true, he had pulled off some pretty amazing shit. Who were they to think that they would be the ones to take him down? And it would be one thing if they could confine the fight to the justice system, but he’d been foolish enough to cross the Rubicon with Rapp and enter his arena of violence. He thought back on what had transpired in the cramped interrogation room and knew he was going to have nightmares about it for a long time.

He was lucky the psycho didn’t kill him. After choking him unconscious, Rapp had put his handcuffs back on and called for the guards. Kline awoke to find himself in the ridiculous situation of having to say he didn’t know what had happened. Kline had been in a couple of fights in his life. More like scuffles, really. One was in college and one was in his mid-twenties. Both times had been to defend the honor of his hot dates. There were some torn shirts and some minor scrapes, but that was it. No punches connected and the bouncers broke things up before they got out of hand. He remembered going home with his dates, though, and being rewarded for his bravado. There would be none of that this time, although, he had no doubt he could bed the woman standing before him if he so chose. She was gorgeous, elegant, and one of the most powerful women in America, and there was something about the age difference that for the first time in his life turned him on. It would all have to wait, though. It was far too valuable a card to play so carelessly, and so early in this game.

His thoughts jumped to the moment when he looked down and saw Rapp’s cuffs lying in his lap. The absolute terror that he’d felt at that moment was unlike anything he had ever experienced in his life. Primal fear gripped him with the sudden knowledge that he was stuck in a ten-by-ten-foot cell with a predator as dangerous as any he’d find in the wild. If he had known Rapp was uncuffed, he never would have poked and prodded him the way he did. He couldn’t believe he had been stupid enough to think he could fuck with him.

And then it was all a jumble of movement and pain. Rapp was on him like one of those big fucking lions that you see on the National Geographic channel late at night, and he was helpless. Looking back on it, he couldn’t say whether it was due to his own incapacitating fear or Rapp’s skills, or both, but the bottom line was that he was completely and utterly feeble. Kline considered himself to be in better shape than 99.9 percent of the people out there, and he’d taken kickboxing classes and even done some sparring, but it had all failed him when he needed it most.