The Secret Service brought in Warren Strobe not long after Armani made the call. In the room was Roselle, Michelle, their lawyer, Lily, Armani, Grandma Scott, Warren, the Secret Service, and the doctor and nurses that were in the back on the edge of their seats.
"What's the meaning of this, Armani?" Warren whipped his head at the agents. "Why were your guys so forceful with me, son?"
"You've got some explaining to do," the future president said, stepping up to him, putting his hands in his pockets.
Warren eyed Roselle, who was still laying in her hospital bed, and then shifted to Grandma Scott, who was drinking her tea. "Wait a minute, what happened here?"
"YOU happened!" Roselle shouted. "Stop acting dumb. You tried to have me killed!"
He staggered back. "I . . . I don't know that you're talking about."
"One of your henchmen crashed their car into me!"
"Who?"
Attorney Holt pulled out her tablet and showed a picture. "This man."
"Benny?" Warren's mouth kept trying to move, but no words came out for a few moments. "I had him go on an errand to speak with the wedding's caterer since they were late. Maybe he crashed into this young lady by accident."
"BULLSHIT!" Roselle screamed. "YOU THREATENED ME, AND AS SOON AS I WAS ON MY WAY TO BREAK UP THE WEDDING, SOMEHOW, BY MAGIC, I GOT INTO A CAR CRASH?"
"I didn't order this to happen!" he pleaded. "I swear it!"
"But you admit you threatened Ro?" asked Armani.
"I . . . I talked to her on New Years Eve, but I never threatened her. I just asked her nicely to please respect the relationship between you and Lily. There were no threats. This is all a misunderstanding."
He shook his head. "I can't believe it. I don't know what to think. This isn't looking good for you."
"Please . . . Armani, I'd never do anything to hurt you, or anyone else. You're like a son to me."
"Oh please, stop being so manipulative." Grandma Scott rolled her eyes. "I've got surefire evidence that will settle Warren's guilt once and for all."
Everyone in the room watched her steadily, and not a creature was stirring. The old woman took a long sip of her tea, uncaring of all the eyes dawning upon her that were desperate to hear what she had to say.
"Lily Strobe isn't pregnant," she finally said. "I'm sure of it."
"What?" Armani turned to him. "Is this true?"
Warren said nothing, and looked away. "I'm sorry . . ."
He then turned to Lily. "You both lied to me."
Lily took in all the glares the room was throwing at her, and panicked. "W--well . . ." She pointed at her father. "He made me do it! I didn't want to, but he forced me to tell you I was pregnant so that you'd be more likely to marry me!" She cried. "My daddy is so mean!"
The negative attention bounced back to Warren once again. "Look, I'm sorry I lied to you, and I'm sorry we're in this predicament, but although my actions weren't the best, I hope that my ends will justify the means. Armani, please, can we talk in private, just you and me? I'll tell you the whole truth this time. I swear."
"You should have told me the whole truth the first time," said Armani. "You told me you wanted me to take care of your daughter and grandchild because you trusted me. Since you've done so much for me, I wanted to help your family at all costs. Hell, I even wanted to be a part of it because I respected you so much." He clenched his jaw. "Now, any shred of respect I've EVER had for you is gone."
"Believe me, I can explain. There are things I need to tell you that I can't say in front of everyone."
"Arrest him," he commanded. "You can tell your story to the Secret Service. I'm finished with you. Oh, and in case it wasn't clear, the wedding is off." He turned to his ex-fiance. "Nothing against you, Lily."
Lily exhaled a breath of relief. "Thank God. Nothing against you, Armani."
The secret service was putting Warren in handcuffs, but he was resisting. "No! You're making a mistake, son!" He glanced at Grandma Scott, widened his eyes, and pointed a finger. "YOU!" The agents took his hand and forced it behind his back. "I get it now. You set me up!"
The old woman scoffed. "Don't try to direct this at me. You're the one who messed up, Warren." She turned to the Secret Service. "Take him away before he poisons us with more lies, boys."
They did just that, but he was still struggling and trying to break away. "You got it all wrong. Armani, listen to me. You need to marry Lily. I'm trying to help you!"
They took him out of the room, and his screams could still be heard from inside the hall until he was so far away that they simmered out.
"Looks like Warren's gonna need a warden." Michelle smirked.
Roselle side-eyed her sister.
"What? I've been holding that one in for a while."
"I still can't believe he lied to me." Armani sank in a seat and put his head in his hands. "He was my mentor. He took me off the streets and believed in me when no one else did. He--"
"He was using you," interjected Grandma Scott, placing her hand on his shoulder. "I know his type. He doesn't see other beings as people. He even forced his own daughter to marry you when she didn't want to. Isn't that right, Lily?"
Lily bowed her head. "Totally. Worst dad ever."
"I'm so sorry for everything you're going through," said Roselle. "And I'm sorry that you had to find out this way, but it's true. He's horrible."
Armani took a deep breath. "Is it alright if Roselle and I were alone for a while? I think that we have some things we need to talk about."
"Yeah," the doctor said. He circled his index finger in the air. "Clear the room, everyone."
All the people in the room hurried out, and within a couple of seconds, it was just Armani and Roselle.
Roselle found herself becoming overly conscious of her throat swallowing, and of her breathing. Was she breathing too loud? It was normal for your nose to make a little noise as it inhaled and exhaled, right? How much noise was too much noise? She tried to breathe quieter, but the more she tried to lessen the noise of her breathing, the more she desperately longed to breathe in bigger breaths of air. Maybe for every three small inhales, she could reward herself with one big inhale.
"Hey," Armani greeted her.
"Hey," she greeted back, having trouble looking him directly in the face.
He brought his chair over to her bedside and sat on it backwards. "I'm so sorry that I got you into this mess, Ro. You must have gone through so much." He slipped his hand back through his blond waves. "I should have broken off the engagement right away on New Year's."
"Uh, actually, you should have broken off that engagement the second I stepped into Washington D.C." Roselle flared her hand around with sass. "It wasn't easy, you know. Grandma Scott basically included me in some kind of mission to break up you and Lily, and Warren was threatening me to stay out of it. Do you know what it's like to be caught in between two crazy people?"
"Wait a minute," he said, processing everything. "Grandma Scott wanted you to break up me and Lily?"
"Yes! She was going on about saying how Warren was going to use you for his own selfish needs and ruin the country or whatever."
"So, it was a mission." He sighed. "You never had feelings for me, did you?"
"OF COURSE I DID, YOU IDIOT!" Roselle shouted, grabbing him by the tie and pulling him close. She didn't mean to, but she pulled him in so close that she could feel the heat of his nose on her own nose. That certainly calmed her. "I still do, I mean."
He gave a half-smirk. "Ro, why do you always shout when you're flustered?" he asked in a soft, gruff voice.
She gradually let go of his tie, and looked at him. She continually shifted from gazing at his left eye and right eye, which were both equally beautiful. "Sometimes, when I don't know how to deal with my feelings, I start yelling," she admitted. "I guess it makes me feel more in control."
Armani held her, and her heart was going badum, badum, badum. "It's all a mess right now, Ro, and I need some time to process things. I'm sure you do too. But I do want to be with you once this is all sorted out." He let her go and faced her, smiling.
She blushed. "I might be interested in that . . ."
"My inauguration ceremony is in eleven days." He interlocked his hand with hers. "I'd like it if you came. After it's over, we can talk more about 'us'."
Roselle gave him a nod and a small twinkle. "I'd like that."
Finally, it was all coming together. In just eleven days, Roselle would finally get what she came to Washington D.C. for.
Still, a lot of things could happen in eleven days.