Sometimes, the only way to beat a monster was to become the thing they’d never see coming: a man with nothing left to lose.
Rachel smiled. It was the smile of a woman who had already played every move on the board. rachel steele gavin
Gavin was the problem. Gavin Cross—her former protégé, now a junior senator with the charisma of a revival preacher and the ethics of a hungry shark. Six months ago, she had helped him bury a story about a shadowy real estate deal tied to foreign donors. It wasn’t illegal, exactly, but it was the kind of gray-area mess that ended careers. She’d cleaned it up, burned the emails (or so she thought), and moved on. Sometimes, the only way to beat a monster
“And if I don’t?”
Gavin stared at her, the fight draining from his shoulders. He had come to confront a mentor. He had found an enemy. Gavin was the problem
Rachel laughed—a dry, brittle sound. “Insurance? Gavin, I built you. When you were a nobody state rep with a DUI and a dying campaign, who gave you the playbook? Who wiped the slate clean, not once, not twice, but a dozen times? Those emails aren’t insurance. They’re proof of my loyalty.”