Dinner with the Senator (2)
Chris observed May's reaction, worried about her. He didn't want to frighten her, but he had failed to keep his tone under check when he had heard what Leonard Thorne had asked of her.
She was his granddaughter! Part of his family! How could he ask her to spy on Chris, with all the risks attached?
«I'm not angry,» he said, trying to comfort her. «Not with you.»
«I'm not frightened,» she replied, her gaze challenging but her body still showing the stress from before. She was clenching the armrests, her eyes wide open and her lower lip trembling slightly. She was sweating cold as if he had cornered her.
But he didn't want anything from her! On the contrary, he was concerned about what her family wanted from her.
«Is the Prime Minister blackmailing you? he inquired.
«No,» May said. Her response was so fast that Chris couldn't help but doubt her.
He leaned on the armrests, blocking her in the seat. His eyes swept over her expression, his mind wondering if that would only frighten her more.
«Why are you so nervous, then?» he asked. «I won't hurt you, I promise. Just tell me what is happening...»
«I can't trust a promise from a politician,» she laughed, and that laugh hurt his pride.
He was a politician, but he kept his word. Always, even when he promised too much during the campaign. However, he noticed how May was a little more relaxed.
Was it because he had become a challenge instead of a threat? She was still on alert, but not trembling like a leaf. It was an improvement, even though she didn't seem willing to tell him more.
Not yet. But insisting would have brought him nowhere.
«Dinner is ready. Let's eat,» he said.
«Sure,» May replied, but she didn't get up. He was still blocking her.
She waited for him to move away, and it took forever. Then, once she was standing, she noticed how he wasn't letting her go yet.
He wasn't done with his interrogation, was he?
«Just a moment,» he said, his hand reaching her arm and then surrounding her waist. He pulled her into an embrace, without any warning. Against all odds, May didn't push him away.
She stood there, petrified, but she didn't complain. She let him hug her as if it was all normal; as if enemies were supposed to comfort each other like that.
She wasn't sure if he was doing it because he thought she was sad, or if he was just taking advantage of the situation. But she let him do it.
The warm thrills running down her back should have warned her to stay away from him, but that hug was so cosy that she couldn't step back. As if she had needed it for a long, long time.
«Just a minute,» he added, then. «You can count the seconds if you're afraid I'll trick you.»
«Sure,» she hummed, but the numbers flowed so slowly in her mind. She might have needed his hug way more than him.
It made her relax, after a while. When she reached twenty, her muscles weren't stiff anymore. Even her expression had sweetened.
She had read somewhere that hugs were good for health, but she had never believed it. Maybe, it was not fake news. Maybe they were right and she had missed out on the best medicine in the world.
She should just tell him about what her grandfather asked of her. In the end, he already knew it. He wasn't stupid. But something deep inside her didn't want to admit that she was there with a purpose.
She wanted to pretend they were just random people meeting because they liked each other, even if she was afraid she liked him way more than he liked her.
When she reached sixty, her mind was miles away, in a land she had never explored before.
She parted from him, unwillingly. Yet, she couldn't stay hugged any longer.
«I'll tell you everything,» she sighed.
When she glanced at him, she found a gentle smile. Was it all a plan to make her trust him? Was that hug part of the plan? She hoped not, because it would make all her feelings become stupid.
She was being irrational, but he was being a politician. She needed to be more careful around him, especially when she felt her control disappearing.
Chris moved the chair for her, even though there was no need since they were alone. He poured some tea for her personally, dismissing the maid soon after she had delivered the food.
He didn't force May to talk, and she was thankful for that. She was almost ready to confess, and the absence of any hurry enforced that feeling.
«My grandfather asked me to stay by your side. And to try convincing you to support him to pass some kind of regulation. He also said his plan was to force early elections, but the incident at the gala forced him to forget his plan. Since he won't be able to obtain more seats in the Senate, he can't continue with his initial intentions anymore.»
«I see... I've figured this much,» he said.
«It's the truth,» May said.
«I know... But it can't be all, right? You were trembling like a leaf before. I was considering whether he asked you to kill me.»
«No. This is pretty much everything. My grandfather asked me to seduce you and then whisper to your ear in his favour.»
«And you were panicking about that? It's quite a transparent plan.»
«Uh... Yes?»
Chris felt better. Since May was safe by his side, he could use the situation to reach his own purposes and, at the same time, to protect her.
It also seemed like the first time the Prime Minister sent her somewhere like that. He was concerned about May, still. But she was in no danger next to him. As long as Leonard Thorne had a reason to let her stay next to him, she was safe.
She was eating next to him, enjoying every bite with such a calm face that he couldn't believe she had just had a panic attack. Was she made of iron?
«So, are you going to proceed?» he inquired. Oh, it would be simply awesome even though he couldn't imagine her being so forward. She was too shy for that.
Seduction? Did Leonard Thorne have any working neurons in his brain? How could someone as delicate and shy as May do what he asked of her?
«I wouldn't tell you everything if I was planning to,» May pointed out.
«Isn't it part of the plan itself?»
«I'm not like you or like my grandfather!» she complained. «I can't think so much ahead. Admitting to something just so that you don't suspect is simply too much for me. I told you because you seem like a reasonable person. And because I don't do what my grandfather asks just yet.»
«You don't, I see...» He crooked his lips, not really amused by her words. So, no seduction? He was expecting it, but it didn't mean he wouldn't feel disappointed.
«Can I ask you one thing?»
«Sure,» he said.
«Did you plan to create a scandal from the start? I mean, at the gala... Was it all a plan to prevent early elections?»
He looked at her in disbelief. She had quite the theories for someone unable to think two moves ahead.
The only reason he had ordered Morgan to publish the pictures was that the brat had pushed May into the pool. Even though it was a warm evening, he had worried May caught a cold. That cousin of hers had no brains nor heart.
However, admitting he had acted on impulse didn't seem wise either. What if she feared him instead of finding it nice? He wanted to defend her, true. But he was being a little difficult to predict.
«I planned to move. I didn't expect I would have the chance so soon, but the situation was too alluring.»
«I'm not complaining!» she exclaimed. «Don't take me wrong. I'm happy since you helped me, in the end.»
«About help... Has your grandfather investigated your incident?»
«The bruises and shocks? Oh, I'm not sure. He said he didn't find anything, but I didn't care much to listen. I have never expected him to find anything, in truth. I guess he gave up since the video of the assault doesn't exist.»
«I don't understand you, Miss Thorne. Why are you even staying with them? Your own grandfather uses you like a tool. Your cousin pushed you in the pool for a prank. Why the hell are you still staying in that family?»
«I don't spend much time with them. I'm usually at the dorm or at my mom's. I spend little time with the Thornes. That's what makes my life tolerable,» she chuckled.
«They don't deserve you.»
«Oh, they know so little about me.»