Under His Protection by Isabella Laase

Author:Isabella Laase [Laase, Isabella]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Stormy Night Publications
Published: 2019-11-21T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eleven

For the first time since he’d moved to Maryland, he found himself wishing for a traffic nightmare to slow the trip, but they made it back to the city in record time. Neither of them spoke more than a word or two, his eyes glued on the road, and Victoria stared out the window at the suburban shopping malls and housing developments that dotted the freeway. He had no idea how he was going to walk away from her, but her life was hard enough. She needed a consistent message defining their relationship, and the only way he could deliver one was to try to figure it out in his own head first.

They stopped at her apartment to let her change into a conservative tweed skirt and navy blue blouse, abandoning the borrowed black cocktail dress as a dismal reminder of her misdeeds, so it took over an hour before they’d settled in the main living room on the second floor of the White House. President Bradford was meeting with several of his legislative aides, and he raised his eyebrow when he saw his daughter, nodding Cruz and Victoria toward a formal-looking couch to continue his conversation.

For a second, Victoria looked like she’d bolt, but she took a deep breath and sat to wait for what was probably going to be a very unpleasant scolding from her father, no matter how hard Cruz had spanked her the night before. He caught her eye to help settle her nerves, but she smiled weakly. “Don’t worry. This was my fault, Cruz. I’ve got this, really.”

“Good girl,” he said sincerely. His little spitfire was going to be okay, and he’d use his talents to figure out who was harassing her. From there, they’d just take whatever this was a day at a time.

While the president was focused on the demands of his job, a woman entered the room, causing Cruz to tense until he registered the identity of the thirty-something-year-old maid, Teresa Maddox. She and Victoria apparently knew each other well enough to exchange the small nod of acknowledgement, but Teresa didn’t respond with the same genuine smile as Victoria. Like all of the well-trained White House staff, she blended quietly into the background while removing a tray of empty dishes and coffee cups from the center of the conversation. She headed toward the side door to the president’s bedroom, pausing for a second to adjust her load, and the aides moved to a large table covered with more papers.

Given a small window of opportunity to talk, the president turned to Victoria and Cruz. “Sounds like you both had quite the evening last night. Maybe it’s time I got the details.” The president’s innocent expression made clear he was talking about the nightclub drama, but Victoria choked back a giggle.

Without warning, the explosion was so deafening that it took him a split second to react to the uncertainty. Accompanied by a pounding white light that temporarily consumed all of his senses, the acrid smell of gunpowder and a layer of confusing haze filled the room.

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