DUTCH AND GINA: AFTER THE FALL (11 page)

LaLa choked back tears when he said that. Crader, too, was ba ling his own emo ons, which was remarkable for an unemo onal man like him. But this was different. He felt as if he was fighting for his life.

“I wish I was stronger,” he con nued, leaning his forehead against her forehead, “and was the kind of man who could agree to your demands. But I’m not that man, Lore a. You want a trial period with me, to see if I’m trustworthy again, and I understand every ounce of your fear that I’ll hurt you again. I get it, I declare I do. But if I give in to some trial period, we’ll declare I do. But if I give in to some trial period, we’ll never make it work. Because you’ve got to decide if I’m worth it now, La, in my weakened state, in my broken state, at a me when I’m not that great guy you think I can be. If you wait un ll I’m great, then my fear is that you’ll be wai ng forever. Even if I pass your trial period, you’ll s ll be wai ng for this perfect knight to shine through, and I’m afraid I’ll forever be a disappointment to you.”

Tears dropped from LaLa’s eyes as she placed her hand on Crader’s ear and then on his face. She nodded. “Okay,” she said.

Crader sat erect, his heart beginning to pound.

“Okay, you want me back now?”

LaLa nodded. “We’re on again,” she said and he smiled and pulled her into his arms. “I’m giving you a second chance. But,” she added, causing him to pull back and look at her. “You give a pre y speech,” she said to his laughter. “But If you ever hurt me again, Crader McKenzie, despite all of your wonderful talk, it’ll be on all right, but not in the way you think. And there won’t be a third chance.”

Crader nodded. “Understood,” he said, and then it was his time to place his hand on her face and wipe her tears away.

They both fell into each other’s arms. And as they held each other, the feelings within them changed from one of renewal to one of passion. Intense, sex-starved, unrequited passion. And they both, seemingly at the exact same me, began kissing with a long, enduring, sensual kiss. The kind of kiss that became almost hysterical in its intensity. And they wanted more. They had to have more. All of these days of looking at each other, feas ng on each other, and not touching each other had culmina ng into a need that was becoming ferocious.

“Come on,” Crader said, grabbing her by the hand and, just as Dutch had done Gina earlier that same day, all but dragged her into his house, around corridor a er corridor, un ll he had her in his bedroom and the door was locked. Unlike Dutch and Gina, however, they didn’t stop to have a conversa on against the door.

Crader undressed LaLa, undressed himself, and then wrapped her in his arms in a kiss so passionate that they fell onto the bed, naked and excited, Crader on top of LaLa, unable to slow their unleashed sensuality.

As Crader moved down LaLa’s body, kissing her breasts and her stomach and then her womanhood, LaLa held onto his head, moving it as his mouth moved over her. And when he moved back up, and she saw the size of his erec on, the last me she saw his erected penis flashed across her memory. It was Crader’s penis in Liz Sinclair’s mouth. And that thought, and the fact that she was about to allow herself to go down that road again, caused tears to return to her eyes. Crader’s penis, however, had already slid inside of her when he realized she was crying.

“Baby, what’s the ma er?” he asked her, pulling back out, although it pained him to do so. “What’s wrong, La?”

LaLa could do nothing but shake her head. She s ll wasn’t certain yet. Was he just using her to get her in his bed? Was all of those words he spoke to her nothing more than game? She still wasn’t certain about him.

Crader fully understood her anxiety, and he understood that he was the cause of it. He, therefore, laid on his back and pulled her on top of him. And as she cried so ly in his arms, as his penis slowly returned to normal, he held her.

He held her all night.

SEVEN

The presiden all motorcade le Ruth Island the next morning. Dutch and Gina and Little Walt in the car seat beside them, were the only ones traveling in the president’s limousine. Gina was s ll on the phone with her Social Secretary, Li le Walt was playing with one of his toys, and Dutch was circumspect. Gina glanced at him. Something monumental was on his mind, but somehow she doubted if it had anything to do with that Summit they had to a end. But for now, she stayed on the phone, handling her own business. She had to make sure that her people hit all the right notes for this gathering of the eight largest economies, a gathering she wasn’t looking forward to but knew she represented Dutch and the United States and therefore had to be impressive.

LaLa was in one of the staff limos behind the president’s limo, along with Allison Shearer, the president’s press secretary, and Ed Drake, his Na onal Security Advisor. Crader stood just outside of the limo going over last minute details with his estate manager now that the Secret Service was leaving his property.

While Allison and Ed were on their respec ve phones, doing all of the last minute prep work their jobs required, LaLa was staring at Crader.

He was professionally dressed now, in a double-breasted blue periwinkle suit and Italian dress shoes, his blondish-brown hair draped over his forehead giving him an almost boyish look. He held her all night, and although they were both naked and starved for affec on, she was amazed at how he didn’t go there.

His penis would go from erec on to defla on, defla on to erec on, and would jut against her bare thighs, but he held onto her without making a move. He held her, kissed away her tears, allowing her to sleep in a kind of peaceful relaxation she hadn’t had in a long time.

She was uncertain about him last night, doub ull about her decision to give their rela onship another try. But today, watching his earnest face as he stood there listening to his estate manager, remembering how lovingly he held her all night, her uncertainty seemed inexplicable now. When he glanced her way and smiled at her, she smiled and waved too, anxious to have him beside her again.

to have him beside her again.

In the president’s limo, Gina, too, was anxious as she ended her call with her staffer. Her anxiety, however, had everything to do with Dutch.

“What is it?” she finally asked him as she turned off her cell phone.

Dutch, however, didn’t respond. He seemed lost in his own thoughts, keeping his own counsel, and Gina knew, when he was that intensely preoccupied, to leave him alone.

She, in fact, played with Walt, stared at the scenery, answered addi onal phone calls, did anything and everything as the motorcade began its journey to Air Force One.

When they finally arrived at the airstrip, she no ced that there was Air Force One idling on the tarmac and two addi onal planes. She prepared to get Li le Walt, wrap him up carefully and step out of the limousine, but Dutch touched her on her arm. Gina looked at his hand on her arm, and then into his intense green eyes.

“What’s wrong?” she asked him.

“One of these planes, along with air ght security, is going to fly you to Texas to that hearing.” Gina was astounded. She turned her body completely to him. “But Dutch, I thought we decided---

”

“I decided, and you went along with my decision.

But I was wrong. I had Roman to fax the en re case file on Marcus Rance to me and I spent a good part of yesterday evening reviewing every page.” He looked into Gina’s bright brown eyes. “He deserves a fair hearing. He may even deserve a new trial. If your presence will help to make that a reality, then you must go. I don’t want you to go, and I wish I could go with you, but that’s my selfishness. It’s not about me. It’s about your brother. You have to go.”

Gina stared at him longer, amazed that he would have bothered to do the research for her brother’s sake, for her sake, and she became overwhelmed with love.

She slammed into his arms, tears in her eyes.

Dutch held onto her and squeezed her as ghtly as he could. He didn’t want her out of his sight for a second, but he knew there was no other way. He had emergency mee ngs he had to not only a end but chair as soon as he stepped off of that plane in Europe, and Marcus needed his sister by his side. There was no other way.

“Now go,” he said, removing his arms from her,

“before I change my mind.”

Gina smiled, kissed him and then Li le Walt goodbye, and hurried out of the limousine. Secret Service agents immediately blanketed her in escort to the plane.

Dutch, with the limo door s ll opened, mo oned for Chris an, who stood outside of the limo with many of the aides, to come to his side.

Christian hurried over.

“You go with Gina,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir,” Chris an didn’t hesitate to reply, or even to ask where exactly were they going.

“Don’t let anything happen to my wife, you hear me?”

Chris an stood erect, as if he was physically taking on that burden. “I won’t, sir,” he assured him, and then hurried to Gina’s side.

Dutch closed the door of the limo, and then closed his eyes.

The arrival of Dutch Harber at the G-8 Summit became the buzz of the town as world leaders posi oned themselves for photo-ops with him; as protestors yelled their grievances behind barricades protestors yelled their grievances behind barricades and thousands of police in riot gear; as mee ng a er mee ng ne ed no significant results that could in any way curb the instability of the sagging European markets. By the me Dutch made it to the hotel it was nearing midnight Belgium me, he was prac cally dead on his feet, and Allison Shearer was handing him a note.

“What is it?” he asked without accep ng it as they both, along with a con ngent of aides and agents, stepped onto the elevator.

Allison leaned into his ear. “It’s from Wes Logan, Speaker Brightman’s chief of staff. He says Liz Sinclair has some information for you.”

Dutch looked at his press secretary. “She’s here? In Brussels?”

Allison nodded. “Yes, sir, in this hotel, sir,” she said and again a empted to hand him the note. “Wes has given her clearance as part of the congressional delegation. This is the room number.”

Dutch looked at the agent in charge. “What’s the latest on my wife?” he asked him.

“Her plane has landed, sir,” the agent replied. “She should be here within the next fifteen minutes.” It was only then that Dutch accepted the note, looked at the room number, and then handed it back to Allison. Liz had come to him in Florida with word that Brightman and Shelton Pra had something explosive in the works. Presumably, if Wes allowed her to come as his guest to Brussels, she now knew what that explosive information was.

“Stop on the eighteenth,” he said to the agent in charge, and the agent, through his earpiece, no fied his subordinates of the abrupt change in plans.

Liz Sinclair was ready. She sat in her hotel room and once again reviewed her strategy. He would assume that the intel she had was worthy of her request to meet with him, so he would probably be anxious to get on with it. But she couldn’t give up her trump card, her only reason for being in Brussels, that easily. She had to relax him first. That was the key, she felt. Get the man relaxed.

It was a er midnight in Brussels, so the fact that she would greet him in a very short, very red, very sheer robe shouldn’t be any shock to him. On the contrary, she thought with a smile. Once he saw her curves through her robe, it would hasten his relaxation.

But she was nobody’s fool. Dutch Harber was a hard case. No way was he going to ini ate any bed ac on with her when their rela onship had never gone there.

She had to be the aggressor. She was freshly scrubbed, her hair was in that up-do style he always seemed to like on her, and she was ready. This was going to be her last chance, she felt. He s ll cared for her, despite the efforts of his wife and friends to turn him against her, and she wanted desperately to show her gratitude.

But she wanted more than that too. She wanted him. She remembered the way he held her when they met again in Florida. She felt the reserved passion when he kissed her goodbye. She was ge ng too old now to hope that he would come around. She had to turn him around. She had to prove to him that he could have that wife of his, and so much more.

It was a drastic, risky move. She knew it was. Dutch was a strange man. Some mes she felt as if she had him completely pegged, then other mes she was clueless about the man. Like the

me when she

resigned as his Na onal Security Advisor and he didn’t so much as give her a phone call. That devastated her.

But yet, all these years later when he asked her to work But yet, all these years later when he asked her to work on his wife’s staff and, because of that episode she had with Crader, his wife accepted her resigna on, he actually a empted to reach out to her. She didn’t accept the outreach. Not because she didn’t want to, she wanted to migh ly, but he was just recovering from his collapse and she didn’t want to upset him with her drama.

But now was different. He was fully recovered, as virile as ever from what she saw of him in Florida. She was ready.

When knocks were heard on the door, however, her heart rammed against her chest. This was it, she said to herself as she made her away across the room. She had to keep it together. She had to come on strong, but not in any way that would turn him off.

“Hi,” she said smilingly when she opened the door and saw his gorgeous face again. She also saw agents parked outside her door, but that was okay too.

Her robe was so sheer that his eyes couldn’t help but move downward. “I didn’t expect to see you in Brussels,” he said.

“It was all last minute,” she replied and stepped aside. “Come on in.”

He walked in, closed the door behind him, and was somewhat taken aback when she flew into his arms.

Especially when he felt just how sheer that robe was.

He held her only briefly, and then pulled away.

“You look as if you’re about to fall on your face with exhaus on,” she said, a worried look coming onto hers.

“And that, my dear,” he said with a drained smile,

“is an understatement.”

“Don’t work yourself into another collapse, Dutch.” Dutch smiled, he appreciated her concern. “I won’t,” he said, but began heading for the sofa just in case. “So,” he said as he went, “Wes says you have some information for me.”