Fixer: A Bad Boy Romance (2 page)

"Aww, that's so sad," commented one of the brunettes, not sounding sympathetic at all. Instead, she already sounded hungry. Tanner swallowed his grin.

This was going to be too easy.

"It is. His wife's a complete bitch, has no respect for his job. He does a lot of work to help the people from his state, and no one ever appreciates him for it." He noticed a waitress passing by, and waved her over. "A bottle of Dom, and four glasses - three for my companions, here-" the girls giggled, "-and one for their guest."

As the waitress hurried off to retrieve his order, Tanner turned to the girls. "So? Can you go and cheer up my buddy, the senator?"

The two brunettes looked ready to hop over to Waltz's booth right away, but the blonde's eyes remained on Tanner. "And I was hoping that you'd be the one partying with us," she purred.

He smiled back at her, beckoning her forward - and from his pocket, he drew out a business card. "Entertain my buddy for tonight, and I'll be happy to thank you whenever you next feel like... partying," he offered, passing the card over to her.

The blonde made the card disappear, although given her skimpy little outfit, Tanner wasn't sure where she managed to secret it away. "Deal," she said, just as the waitress reappeared with the champagne and glasses.

Smiling, Tanner leaned back in the booth, sipping at his scotch as he watched the girls bounce over to Senator Waltz's booth. He looked surprised and opened his mouth to protest at first, but the blonde leaned forward to dangle her breasts in his face, cutting off his complaints. Tanner nearly snorted into his glass.

So easy.

The waitress handed over the champagne, and the blonde tossed back the entire contents of her glass in a single swallow. Her eyes flicked briefly over to Tanner before returning back to Waltz, making sure that he saw her open up her throat.

Waltz didn't miss the implications, either. His hand curled out around the girl, and she snuggled in against him, her hands already straying to dangerous areas. Tanner watched for a moment longer, making sure that Waltz wasn't suddenly about to grow a conscience - and then reached into the inner jacket pocket of his suit.

Drawing out a small but powerful camera, he snapped several shots, varying several settings to make sure that he captured every angle of the senator's features. At one point, Tanner even leaned a little bit out of his booth, holding out the camera so he could capture the blonde's hand as it rested firmly on the man's crotch.

Snapping the pictures only took a few moments. "Just like that," Tanner murmured to himself, stowing the camera away. "Easy."

Of course, these pictures would likely never see the light of day. Tomorrow, as Senator Waltz recovered from his hangover, Tanner would pay a surreptitious visit to his office. With just the two of them alone in the office, he'd bring out a few chosen images from the album, spread a couple of glossy, high-resolution prints out on the senator's desk. He'd let the man mull over these images for a few minutes, letting the desperation grow.

And then...

Well, some of the Pentagon defense contracts were up for renewal - and Senator David Waltz sat on the Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight. Although the senator was known for taking more of a dove stance, rather than a hawk stance, on military spending, Tanner suspected that he might change his mind, especially after seeing these pictures.

After all, Senator Waltz built much of his Senate career on his integrity. Wouldn't it be a shame if that integrity was compromised by some very illicit pictures surfacing at the absolute worst time, appearing on the front pages of several newspapers and all over the web?

Sitting back in his booth, Tanner let himself smile, his lips pulling back to reveal perfect white teeth. He savored the last of his Laphroaig, considered ordering another.

In fact, he did want another.

He checked out the waitress's ass as she sauntered away with his empty glass, promising to bring him a refill. Not bad. If the blonde ended up going home with the Senator after all, he had plenty of other options.

Yes, Tanner thought to himself, he had everything a man could want. Wealth, power, women drooling over him... all of it was second nature.

And moving among them, like a shark amid tuna... all in a day's work.

Chapter Two

*

The next afternoon, Keegan Tanner strode across the National Mall, breezing along and doing his best to not notice the occasional crowd of milling, gawking tourists. Amateurs, he thought to himself with disdain. Coming here, staring wildly at the monuments and snapping photographs of sculptures, as if that was where the power lay.

Tanner knew that the monuments, the big buildings and fancy galleries full of oil paintings, were just window dressing. That wasn't where the real power lay, the true shot callers in Washington, DC.

He stepped off of the main avenue and headed up the broad stone steps to a nondescript, blocky building, on First Street, a few blocks away from the white dome of the Capitol. He ducked into the lobby, glad to feel the cold wash of air conditioned air hit him and sweep away the thin layer of sweat starting to break out on his forehead. Summer in DC tended to hang around into the fall, as if reluctant to relinquish its stranglehold on the city.

"ID, Mr. Tanner?"

Tanner sighed at the guard. "Come on, Charlie, I'm just here to drop off an envelope for Pribus. Do I really need to dig the damn card out every time?"

The guard shrugged, not without some sympathy in his expression. "Hey, rules are rules. Gotta keep this place secure. More than my ass is worth, if someone gets in here." He chuckled. "You know the secrets that we keep in this place, more than anyone."

"I do know, I suppose," Tanner acknowledged. He reached into his jacket pocket and withdrew his ID card, which he held out for Charlie to scan.

"Thank you, sir," Charlie said a moment later, after the scanner beeped and flashed green. "Sounds like things went well?"

"Quite well, yes." Tanner started to head past the guard, but then paused. What the hell, Charlie could use a bit of excitement in his life. Poor sucker was stuck standing at this desk all day, getting paid squat. "Here, you want to see what we're up against?"

Ducking back to the guard's station, Tanner pulled open the large yellow-brown envelope in his hands. He tugged out a few of the photographs he'd chosen to print off, fanning them out so that Charlie could see.

"Damn!" Charlie whistled, his eyes going wide as he leaned in to peer closer at a few of the images. "Is that-"

"Our frequent enemy, scourge of the Republican party, David Waltz," Tanner finished for him. "The last bastion of morality in Washington, speaking out against corruption and lies." He chuckled. "And no, that's definitely not his wife. Neither of them, in fact."

Charlie shook his head in mingled shock and amusement as Tanner slipped the pictures back into the envelope. "You do it again, Mr. Tanner. Best fixer in Washington, you are."

"And don't let anyone tell you otherwise," Tanner said. He made a show of glancing at his watch. "Actually, Charlie, I'm running a bit late for another appointment." He hefted the envelope. "You think that you could..."

"No problem, sir," the guard jumped in. He reached out and took the envelope from Tanner. "I'll have it right up to Mr. Pribus's office."

"No rush on them," Tanner added, giving Charlie a wink. He could see that the guard was itching to fish out the photos and get a second, longer look - probably in private. "Waltz already agreed to make sure that nobody at the Pentagon goes home disappointed that their contract's been dropped. These are just some extra insurance."

Charlie reassured Tanner once again that he could handle dropping off the pictures, and Tanner believed him. He'd trusted Charlie with other jobs before, and knew that the guard wouldn't let him down.

With a wave, Tanner headed out of the Republican Party's national headquarters. Capitol Lounge, his destination, was only a few blocks away, and Tanner made a spur of the moment decision to walk, rather than catch a taxi or Uber ride. His long legs made short work of the distance, and he relished the opportunity to check his reflection in some of the glass storefront windows he passed.

Before ducking into the Capitol Lounge, he stopped at one of these reflecting windows, raising a hand to his hair. Of course, not a single dark strand was out of place. Barely out of his twenties, and getting more handsome by the day, Tanner grinned to himself. On the top of his obvious good looks, he was also at the top of his career, with half of the most powerful people in DC on his speed dial.

Despite the sun sitting low in the sky, the heat still settled over the city like an oppressive wet blanket. Tanner grabbed the door to the Capitol Lounge and slipped inside before he could start sweating through his expensive suit.

"Hey, Keegan! Over here!"

The interior of the Capitol Lounge was decked out in dark wood, with a wood-paneled ceiling and a long bar running almost the entire length of the Nixon Room. The bar was only sparsely populated at the moment, although Tanner knew that it would fill up quickly as the sun dropped below the horizon and staffers across the city managed to escape from the watchful eyes of their bosses.

At the bar, a lone man waved his slightly chubby hand in the air, as if Tanner could somehow miss spotting him. "Yo, Keegan!" he called out again.

Tanner rolled his eyes as he crossed the interior of the Nixon Room, over to the bar. "Yes, Freddie, I see you. Everyone sees you. You don't need to shout."

"I just wanted to make sure that I got your attention," Freddie pouted, as Tanner pulled out the stool beside him and took a seat. His pout turned to a smirk. "You know, since you walk around with your head up your ass most of the time."

"Big words, coming from a guy who hasn't touched a girl since his mom stopped breastfeeding," Tanner fired back.

"Not true! I also worked at a senior citizen's center for a year after college, doing IT work for them." Freddie's eyes grew misty as he gazed off into the distance. "Oh, Mrs. Constance, the way your bosom pressed against me whenever you tried to show me pictures of your grandchildren..."

"You're disgusting," Tanner said, laughing as he socked Freddie in the arm.

"Right back at you," his chubby drinking companion replied. "I'm just glad to see that you haven't dropped dead from one of the half dozen venereal diseases fighting for control of your body! Or is it up to a full dozen different strains, now?"

"After last night? Probably closer to two dozen."

Freddie's eyes went wide. "Okay, you need to tell me everything."

"What, so you can live vicariously through me?"

"Uh, duh." Freddie turned towards Tanner, spreading his arms wide. "I mean, look at the two of us! You're a... What's the term for your job, again?"

"Lobbying specialist," Tanner supplied.

"Fixer," Freddie said. "A high-powered Republican fixer, walking around in your fancy three thousand dollar suits-"

"Five thousand."

"-and flashing your exotic, overpriced watch that's worth enough to buy a car-"

"Several cars, really."

"-and with your perfectly sculpted Adonis body and white teeth and amazing hair and wads of money clogging up your pockets!" Freddie paused, frowning. "Okay, hold on. What was my point with all of this, again?"

"I wish I could tell you," Tanner sighed. "Unfortunately, I'm as lost as you." He spotted the bartender, a young woman with dyed platinum hair and a generous expanse of cleavage on display. He gave her a wave, and received a dimpled smile in response.

"Oh, now I remember," Freddie piped up after a moment of watching Tanner smile at the bartender. "My point is that I'm never going to pull as much tail as you, so I want to hear about your exploits so that I can have something to fill the void in my life."

Tanner started to protest, but he knew that Freddie spoke the truth. Maybe if he flashed his last name - Vanderbilt, yes, like the old robber baron from the nineteenth century - he might do a bit better. Not by much, however. Even with the suggestion of family wealth, any girl would still have to deal with Freddie being, well...

...Freddie. No other word for it.

Next to him, Freddie talked right over Tanner's halfhearted protest. "Look, I know that you love bragging about this, even if you deny it to my face. I see the way you grin whenever you've got something juicy. So c'mon, spill!"

Tanner sighed as he turned back to Freddie. "Why do I put up with you, again?"

"Oh, I know this one!" Freddie grinned. "Despite all your good looks and charm, you're a shallow asshole who can't make real friends, so you keep me around in order to act as your confidante! And since I'm chubby and nerdy and in IT, you don't feel threatened by me!"

"Brutal," Tanner winced, but he did have to admit that Freddie's words hit home. More importantly than the other man's physical appearance, however, was Tanner's knowledge that, of all the people he knew and worked alongside, Freddie was the only one who didn't feel jealous or envious over the level of power that Tanner commanded. For that simple reason - he didn't fear being backstabbed - Tanner trusted Freddie enough to share all sorts of intimate details of his life.