For the Love of Gina: The President's Girlfriend Read Online Free PDF Page B

crowded city around them,
she exhaled.   She could tell he had
heavy-duty issues on his mind.
    “Jade’s
getting out today,” she said to him, deciding, of all the things on his mind,
his daughter’s release from a mental health facility was probably paramount
among them.
    Dutch
exhaled.   Another ghost in a closet
already filled with too many.   “Yes.   Jade gets out today.”
    “I
had the housekeeping staff prepare the East Room for her.”
    The
location of that room wasn’t lost on Dutch.   It was the room that was furthest from Little Walt’s.   He looked at Gina.   “How do you feel about that?   About her coming to spend a couple days with
us?”
    Gina’s
eyes couldn’t conceal her distress.   “She
asked and we said yes, she could come.   I
agreed to it.”
    “Everybody’s
entitled to change their minds, Gina.   How do you feel about it now?”
    Gina
had to think about it.   Dutch loved her
thoughtfulness.   “I’m concerned, to be
honest with you,” she admitted.   “The
closer it gets, the scarier it gets for me.”
      Dutch removed his hand from her hand and
placed his arm around her shoulder.  
    “I
still remember walking into her house in DC,” Gina continued.   “I still remember seeing her standing there,
and how she didn’t say a word.   She knew
I was walking into a deathtrap, but she didn’t say a word.   I can’t get that out of my mind.”
    Dutch
squeezed her arm.   “I know sweetheart,”
he said.   “I know.”
    “And
then later, when she told the press I got what I deserved, it was kind of
heartbreaking.   I was in the hospital
fighting for my life, and she said I got what I deserved.   So I’m gravely concerned.   I’m not going to pretend I’m not.   I am.   But she’s your daughter.   And I
want you to have a special relationship with her just like you have with
Walter.”
    Then
she exhaled and looked at him.   “You
think she’s ready to be released?”
    “They
say she’s ready.”
    “But
you aren’t sure?”
    “No,”
he admitted.   “I’ve visited her every
chance I could, and I’ve been impressed with her progress.   The psychiatric staff at Hammersmith
certainly are.   But . . .”
    “But
what, darling?”
    “I
want my family together, as one unit.   Lord knows I want that.   And Jade
is my oldest child.   But for you and
Little Walt’s sake, I have to be certain.   It may seem cruel to her and her mother, but I have to be certain.”
    Gina
leaned against him.   She was glad of his
skepticism.   She was glad he was the kind
of man who put his wife and child’s welfare above all else.
    But
that was also why, when the car stopped in front of BBR’s headquarters
building, Dutch began looking around, as he always did, at the rough
neighborhood.   He already had too much
security in place as it was.   Between
Mitchell, Gina’s assigned Secret Service agent, and Dutch’s own people, it was
too much.   But he allowed her to keep BBR
where it had always been since its inception.   The compromise was the security, and she gladly compromised.
    She
stuffed her paperwork into her briefcase as Mitchell got out of the car to open
her door.   He was a tall white man who
looked like a Ken doll, only always serious as hell, but she knew Dutch had
handpicked him for the assignment.   She
didn’t complain about that either.
    “I’ll
call you,” she said to her husband as she leaned over and kissed him on the
lips.
    He
moved to get out too, to walk her in, but she stopped him.
    “No
need, honey,” she said.   “You have a plane
to catch and you’re super-late already.   I’ll see you when you get back tonight.   All right?”
    Dutch
pulled her into his arms and held her, closing his eyes tightly as he did.   “You take care of yourself,” he said.
    “You
take care of yourself,” she said as she held him too.
    They
kissed, long and lovingly, and then she got out of the SUV.  
    But
Dutch didn’t allow his