Affairs of State by C.A. James

Author:C.A. James [James, C.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

LIZ LEANED HER elbows on the dining room table and took a sip of the coffee from the White House kitchen. She scanned the headlines of the morning newspaper, holding a bag of frozen peas against her face where Warrick had hit her. Her face was a bit swollen where his fist had connected with her cheekbone, but with any luck she wouldn’t have a black eye. Some cleverly applied makeup would hide the swelling. Thank God for small favors.

She heard the familiar sound of his steps behind her, but didn’t turn around; instead, she pulled her thick, warm bathrobe tightly around herself and tugged the belt to hold it closed. The sound of a coffee cup being placed on the counter was followed by coffee being poured. Then a long silence.

“Good morning,” he said.

She didn’t respond.

“I said good morning! I’m talking to you!” he exclaimed.

“Fuck off. Leave me alone,” she replied.

“Don’t be such a bitch,” he smirked. “You got what you deserved.”

“You’re a small man, Warrick Caen,” she said icily. “President of the United States, but you can’t even stay hard long enough to rape your own wife.”

Caen’s face turned red, and he stepped toward her, his fists bunched. She half expected a blow. But he stopped, and a moment later relaxed and laughed.

“You have no idea,” he said.

“Oh, I think I do,” she replied. She turned away, picked up the newspaper and pretended to read.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said. “There’s a dinner tonight with the French ambassador and his wife. It starts at seven, so we need to be out front at six forty-five to greet them and do a photo op for the media.”

Liz spun around to face Warrick and lowered the bag of frozen peas from her bruised cheek. “You are joking, right?”

“Six forty-five,” he repeated. “We’re working on the trans-Atlantic energy agreement, and I need you to sweet-talk him a bit.”

“Like this?” she said. “You want me to host the French ambassador and his wife with a bruised cheek? And maybe a black eye? You pig! You should have thought of that last night before you turned into a raging macho asshole!”

He cocked his head, examining her face. “Oh, good grief. What a baby. It’s nothing a little makeup won’t cover. Maybe you should have used your brain before you opened your sassy little mouth.”

Liz stared at him in silence for a moment, then said, “You’re unbelievable.” She returned the frozen peas to her cheek, then turned back to the newspaper.

“You’re going to be there tonight, right?” asked Warrick.

“You’ll be lucky if I’m here at all,” she said without turning.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he said.

She turned around to face him. He lifted his coffee cup nonchalantly and took a sip, waiting for her reply. Time seemed to freeze. She’d been mentally preparing for this day, grieving for what she was about to lose, hoping against hope that maybe the Warrick Caen she’d married would return to replace this hateful man. All of her past

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