The Longer The Fall, Aviva Gat [top 10 books to read txt] 📗

a leader in the organization and bonded with other women in their circle. Life with Brandon appeared perfect to all who looked in on them. They were both ambitious, intelligent people who were obviously destined to do great things. On a personal level, they were both good-looking, friendly, and appeared like they fit together perfectly. No one could say a bad word about them.

It wasn’t long before Brandon proposed. They were out to dinner celebrating Madeline’s recent promotion to director at her consulting firm. Brandon ordered the Italian restaurant’s most expensive bottle of champagne and when the waiter brought the glasses, Madeline’s had a shiny diamond ring inside. Brandon had secretly invited their friends for an engagement party in the private room at the back of the restaurant. Once Madeline slipped on the ring, they joined the group that was already celebrating their future union.

Madeline was thinking about that time while she waited at home with the letter in her hand. Life was so simple back then. She and Brandon were ready to conquer the world and everyone believed they could do it. Years went by and Madeline still believed she could do it, but here in her hands was the first threat to her ambitions. Someone was trying to stop her from achieving, stop her from reaching the top.

Her phone suddenly buzzed and she looked over to see a text from Brandon. Got your message. Cut the board meeting short. Home in 15.

Brandon was nothing if not reliable and dedicated to her success as much as to his. They would solve this new dilemma together, just as they had solved all previous ones. On her own, Madeline wasn’t sure what could be done. But with Brandon, the other half of her dream team, she believed this was just an obstacle. A hurdle she could jump without looking back. There was no way something so trivial could ruin everything.

Chapter 4

Madeline was still sitting at the kitchen table with the letter in her hand when Brandon walked in the front door. His face was white, and lines of worry ran down from his eyes to his cheeks.

“Madeline? Is everything all right? What happened?” he started saying even before he entered the kitchen where he knew Madeline would be sitting. That’s where she sat when pondering difficult subjects. That was where she sat when she first decided to run for senate in California six years ago. That was a dire decision, one that wasn’t borne from idealistic enthusiasm and inspired optimism. When she made the decision, she knew her chances were slim—after all, a republican had not won a senatorial seat in California in more than 20 years. She knew that most likely she was running a losing campaign, but she felt driven to do it anyway, knowing she was running her family through the biggest obstacle they would ever meet. She knew running would throw a few stones through her solid relationship with Brandon and she knew it would build the foundation for the wall between her and her sons. But sitting in the kitchen, at her spot across from the window, she decided to do it anyway. Her heart was heavy when she decided to run, but it was something she had to do. For herself, and for her country.

“We need to talk,” Madeline said, sitting in her same spot across from the window. “You should probably sit down.” Brandon did as he was told and waited patiently for Madeline to gently unfold the letter and place it and the enclosed picture down on the table.

“I’m being blackmailed,” Madeline began.

“Blackmailed?” Brandon let a smile break through his lips. “That’s it? I was worried it was something serious. I thought something happened to you or, I don’t even know. Lauren had me so worried when she came into the board meeting to deliver your message.”

Of course Brandon wasn’t worried. The two of them had always discussed the importance of ensuring there were no skeletons in their closet, no fodder for hungry journalists or opponents trying to bring them down. How could somebody possibly blackmail them if there was nothing to hide?

“What are they saying? And what do they want?” Brandon asked, looking down at the typed letter that Madeline had placed on the table.

“They want $1 million,” Madeline responded. “Otherwise they will release proof to the media that I cheated on you.”

“That you cheated?” Brandon almost laughed. Their marriage was the envy of everyone they knew. Magazines had even written profiles on them about what a perfect couple they were, how they lifted each other up, provided unending support for each other’s ambitions, and held hands like teenagers first discovering love. “Don’t they realize that no one would believe them?”

Brandon then grabbed the picture that had been wrapped in the letter. It showed Madeline walking into the entrance of the Langham Hotel in New York City. The Fifth Avenue hotel was where Madeline always stayed on her visits to New York. It was centrally located and accommodating for the security and entourage that Madeline had been forced to travel with since entering the world of politics.

Madeline recognized when the picture was taken by the red suit she was wearing. It was two years ago. She was in New York giving a speech to The WISH List. Standing for Women In the Senate and House, the organization helped pro-choice women in both political parties get elected to national office. The WISH List had greatly helped Madeline six years ago when she first started her senate campaign and she had supported them after her win, championing their cause and helping to mentor other women that the WISH List assisted. She knew her association with them was controversial within her own party. Most of her colleagues were not pro-choice, and if they were, they tended to keep their mouths shut about it. But not Madeline.