Liz’s heart stopped in that moment. No. Not a reporter. No one had found her who didn’t already know that she existed. The voice on the other end of the line was unmistakable.

Heather Ferrington, Brady’s press secretary.

The last time Liz had been near Heather, she had told Brady to end it with Liz, and Brady had told her no. She was a fierce woman who had been with Brady since the start of his career and did whatever she could to protect him. Liz was not looking forward to this conversation.

“Who is trying to reach her?” Liz asked carefully.

She didn’t want to talk to Heather, but maybe this was her ticket to Brady. She tried not to let herself get excited for yet another letdown. This one was pretty much a guarantee.

“This is Heather Ferrington with Congressman Maxwell’s office.”

Liz sighed.

“This is Liz. How can I help you, Heather?”

Victoria looked at her with questions in her eyes. Liz mouthed, Brady’s office.

Victoria’s eyes bulged and she whispered, “Are you going to talk to him?”

Liz shook her head and tried to focus on Heather rather than Victoria.

“Miss Dougherty, I would like to keep this conversation brief and private. Strictly off the record, if I can get your guarantee on that,” Heather said formally.

What did she have to lose?

“Of course,” Liz whispered. If Heather thought Liz was going to write about this, then she was out of her mind.

“I don’t know what possessed you after more than a year and a half to divulge the information of your . . . relationship with Congressman Maxwell.” Heather said the word as if it physically pained her. “But whatever it is, you won’t accomplish it. And I would suggest to you, Miss Dougherty, to not further divulge any information without realizing that you are risking your own career, which I believe is quite important to you.”

“Is that a threat, Miss Ferrington?” Liz asked, seething.

“Hardly. Perhaps I should make myself clearer. Brady doesn’t want you. Your pathetic attempt at ruining his career isn’t even a blip on his radar. You are nothing.”

“If I’m not even a blip, then why are we speaking?” Liz spat back. She wanted to reach through the phone and slap Heather straight across the face. Liz knew that Heather was only trying to protect Brady, but her methods weren’t always that effective.

“We’re talking because any and everything related to the Congressman is on my radar. I didn’t trust you the summer you hid your relationship and I don’t trust you now. My job is to minimize problems. You’re a problem, and I’m minimizing.”

Liz ground her teeth together. What the hell was she supposed to say to that? She was a problem for Brady. Heather was only doing her job. Liz would do the same thing if she were in Heather’s situation. She saw the problem for what it was and went straight to the source. No beating around the bush.

“So the best thing for you to do going forward is to do absolutely nothing. You gain nothing by revealing yourself further.”

“Does he even know that you’re speaking with me?” Liz asked softly. She didn’t have to tell Heather that she wasn’t going to say anything else. She already felt as if she had died a thousand deaths knowing that it was in the papers. Heather would deal with the article however she felt best anyway.

“Congressman Maxwell knows everything that he needs to know in this situation.”

“So no,” Liz said, disappointed.

“Whether or not he knows doesn’t matter to you, because he no longer matters to you as anything more than a congressman in your district. And I’m going to say this once, so listen closely. If you ever cared for Brady at all, then you’ll think twice about what you do from here on out. Are we clear?” she snapped.

“Crystal.”

“Glad to see we’re finally on the same page. Try not to do anything to gain another phone call from me.”

“I’ll do my best,” Liz said sarcastically.

“You’ll do better than that.”

The conversation ended and Liz dropped the phone into her lap. Her hands were shaking. She felt anger bubbling up under the surface. She wanted to release it, but there were only two people she could blame for what had happened: herself and Hayden. Hayden wouldn’t return her calls . . . so that left herself.

Then again, she had the sneaking suspicion that she could blame Calleigh Hollingsworth too.

“So . . . that didn’t sound good,” Victoria said. “Who was that?”

“Heather Ferrington, Brady’s press secretary. She was telling me not to do anything else stupid.”

“Does she think you’re an idiot?”

Liz bit her lip. “Yeah . . . I think she does.”

“Well, bitch needs to step off,” Victoria cried. “And Brady? Are you going to talk to him?”

“She told me not to do anything stupid, Vic. Calling Brady is probably the stupidest thing I could possibly do right now.”

Chapter 23

TRYING TO FORGET

Hayden never called.

Liz held her phone in her hand all evening waiting for him to call her back, but he never did. She knew that he had ruined their relationship, that he had sacrificed her trust and chosen his career over her. Still she wanted to talk to him. She wanted to know why. Why would he do this to her?

She and Brady kissed once while she was dating Hayden. Everything else that had happened was before she and Hayden had even gotten together. She knew that he wasn’t happy that she had hidden it from him, but he’d had no reason to know until she had kissed Brady that night. And now Hayden had ruined everything.

When no one seemed willing to move from the living room, Daniel went out to get dinner for all three of them. He knew that something was wrong. He returned with a plastic bag full of Chinese food and a bottle of Maker’s Mark. Liz smiled when she saw it and reached for it. Victoria got to it first and snatched it out of her hands.

“I’ll just get us some glasses. Eat,” Victoria said.

Liz groaned, but let Victoria take her liquor into the kitchen. She couldn’t keep it hostage forever. Daniel handed her a box of Chinese, and Liz flipped the lid open. She swirled the food around in her takeout container, took a few bites, and then set it back down. She was too jittery to eat. Her stomach couldn’t take it.

Victoria returned with three glasses of Maker’s on the rocks in her hands. She passed one off to Daniel and then set hers down on the side table.

Liz brought the glass to her lips and, taking a long swig, she cringed at the taste and set it back down. “That’s disgusting.”

“It’s delicious,” Daniel said. “Don’t hate on my favorite drink.”

Victoria rolled her eyes at him. “You should probably eat more before drinking more anyway.”

“I’m fine,” Liz lied. She tipped the glass back again. This was going to end poorly.

Two drinks later and the alcohol was numbing her pain. Somehow she convinced Victoria and Daniel that heading to Franklin Street in her condition was a good idea. She wasn’t sure if they actually believed her or if they were just going along with whatever she wanted. She was so pissed off at the entire situation that she really just didn’t care. She would have walked out of the house and gone drinking alone if they hadn’t wanted to come with her.

Wanting to do anything but think about what had happened, Liz took extra special care curling her hair and applying her dark smoky makeup. She changed into the sluttiest outfit in her closet, a skintight black-and-white patterned strapless minidress, which she had to pull down when she was walking, and six-inch leather strappy high heels. Even Victoria would be proud of her.