The Longer The Fall by Aviva Gat (best new books to read txt) 📗

her from the elevator. Her chief of staff looked weary as she left her boss alone in the elevator with an African American man. No one wants to admit they are racist, but Jane’s hesitation showed just how deeply racism was rooted inside everyone.

When the doors shut and the elevator began to move again, Hunter turned around. “Why did you come see me?” he asked.

“To tell you,” she responded as the doors opened to her floor. “I have to go.” She pushed past him out of the elevator but he followed her out. “What are you doing? Why are you here?”

“I’m doing what I should have done years ago,” he said. “I should never have let you get away with everything. I should have made you answer me. Now tell me, why did you come see me? You didn’t need to fly to New York to tell me that someone is blackmailing you.”

“I didn’t fly here to tell you,” she responded as he followed her toward her room. “I was here anyway and I didn’t want to talk about it on the phone. My phone could be bugged!”

“You didn’t want to see me?” he asked when Madeline stopped in front of her room’s door.

She stood in front of him, their faces just inches apart. It was close enough for her to feel his heat, to get caught in the electricity that radiated from him. “No,” she responded. “It was purely out of consideration. I have to go. Good night.” She turned around to open her door, just as Hunter grabbed her wrist and turned her back around. He pushed his lips on hers, pushing her back into the still closed door. His lips were heavy on hers, forcing hers slightly open to lock into his. She fought herself from getting caught in his kiss and found the strength to push him back. “Please, Hunter, I can’t.”

“Don’t tell me you don’t miss me,” he said, pressing his forehead to hers. “That’s why you came to see me. There’s still something there. I miss you. I’ve missed you every day.” He turned his head to kiss her cheeks as she stood pinned against the door.

“Hunter, please,” she said. She wanted to tell him to stop, she wanted to tell him to leave her alone, but her body felt like it was giving in. Her body had missed him, even if her brain had tried to shut that feeling out.

“Maddy,” he said airily, his lips moving from her cheeks down to her neck. With one hand he took the room key from her and slipped it into the door, opening it behind her while still kissing her. He gently pushed her inside and continued kissing her neck, her chest and her cheeks. He was still pushing her backwards toward the bed when the hotel room’s phone rang. The ring immediately snapped Madeline awake and she regained composure, pushing Hunter back far enough to put inches of distance between them.

“Just let it go,” Hunter pleaded, but for Madeline that was impossible. An unanswered phone could lead to more than just voicemails. Her job was to be available, as a senator, a mother, or whatever else she needed to be. She could not let the call go unanswered. She stepped back from Hunter to grab the phone and picked it up as Hunter sat down patiently on the king-size bed.

“Madeline? Turn on your TV!” Jane screamed through the line. “I can’t believe this. It’s totally out of left field! We were definitely not prepared for this, I can’t believe I missed it. I’m so sorry, I feel like I failed.” Jane continued to ramble through the line as Madeline looked for the remote. “Should I come up? We can talk about this. I’ll get the team on it, right away.”

Madeline saw the remote on the other side of the bed and motioned to Hunter to grab it. He tossed it to her and she pressed the red button, immediately searching through the channels for the news. What she saw made her heart pound. “Jane, I’ll call you back.”

Chapter 21

“Madeline Thomas is not who you think she is,” said the man on the TV. The man was wearing a blue suit and tie and standing in front of a wooden podium with a sign on front: Austin for Senate. Behind him stood a crowd of indistinguishable faces all carrying the same blue and red sign. It took Madeline a moment to recognize the man, he looked so different out of his uniform and with his face clean shaven. It was Officer Austin, head of the Fraternal Order of Police, who Madeline had met with weeks ago regarding the SAVER Bill. Madeline remembered how hostile he had been during that meeting. How he had even stood her up during their originally planned meeting when her office building received a bomb threat.

“Madeline Thomas is part of the system she pretends to be fighting against. She’s been a part of it for twenty years, planning and conniving with the system’s leaders and then turning around and lying to the voters about how she isn’t in their pockets. I’m so sick and tired of her lying, which is why I decided to run for her senate seat,” Officer Austin said on TV. Behind him the crowd roared. “I know I’m not well known and I am definitely the underdog here, but I think that if you really want truth and change, you’ll vote for me. I’ve been a police officer for the last forty years, serving and protecting my country by interacting with the people. Unlike Madeline Thomas, I don’t sit in some fancy office and pretend I know what’s best. I’m on the ground level, talking to constituents every day. I’m the guy that comes to your house when you need help, and the guy who stops criminals from hurting you.”