“That’s correct.”
“But according to official records, your wife was a student when you were a professor at the University of Wisconsin.”
My heart seizes. “Yes, but she wasn’t my student.”
Hamilton barks out a laugh, as if that makes no difference.
“She was a student, Professor West,” Stafford says. “When did you begin a relationship with her?”
A sick sense of foreboding fills my throat. “I’m not talking about this.”
“You’d damn well better talk about it,” Hamilton says. “You have a precedent for screwing students, and if you think—”
I’m out of the chair in less than a second, rage blinding me as I reach for him, wanting to smash that smug expression off his face, shut him up. I hear Maggie’s gasp, feel both Frances and Stafford grab my arms.
“Dean!” Frances snaps. “Sit down.”
“Go on, do it,” Hamilton tells me, his voice hard. “I’d love to hit you with an assault charge.”
“Fuck you.” I want to beat him until he bleeds.
“Dean, sit down!”
Somehow Frances’s voice penetrates my rage. I sit down.
“Everyone, please calm down,” Stafford orders, tapping his finger on a piece of paper. “Mr. Hamilton, if you and Miss Hamilton will sign your statements, I will continue this meeting alone with Professors West and Hunter.”
Edward Hamilton glowers at me. For a second I don’t care what I’m charged with if I can beat him to a bloody pulp. Then he gestures for Maggie to get her things and sign the paper.
As they do, Frances leans toward me to whisper, “Calm down right this second, Dean. If you don’t, they’ll have more ammunition against you and will just dig deeper. Is that what you want?”
I shake off her grip and take a breath. My heart is racing.
After the Hamiltons leave, Stafford sits back down and pins me with a look.
“How the fuck does Hamilton know about this?” I ask.
“He’s looking into things on his own,” Stafford explains, “which is within his rights as long as he doesn’t impede the OJA investigation. I assure you I have not given him any information. Now when did you start a relationship with Olivia Winter, Professor West?”
I dig my fingers into my palms and try to block an image of Liv. “I’m not talking about this.”
“You’ll be impeding the investigation if you don’t,” Stafford warns me.
I shove away from the table and stalk to the other side of the room. I force the words out of my throat. Try not to think about her. Try not to remember.
“September,” I finally say. “The year I started my visiting professorship.”
“So right about the same time you started the job,” Stafford says.
I sense Frances’s sudden wariness.
“It wasn’t against university policy.” I battle another surge of anger. Sweat erupts on the back of my neck. “I checked, before I even asked Liv out. As long as a student isn’t under a professor’s authority and the relationship is consensual, it’s not against regulations.”
Stafford sighs. “I’m afraid that’s not the point, Professor West.”
“What is the fucking point?”
“The point is that Olivia Winter was a student,” Stafford says. “You were a professor. And when I asked you in January if you’d ever had a sexual relationship with a student, you responded that you had not.”
“The question implied a student of mine, which Liv was not.” I want to throw something against the wall. “I have never had a sexual relationship with a student of mine.”
“Any other students, of yours or otherwise, that I should know about?” Stafford asks.
“No.” Goddammit.
Stafford studies me for a minute before collecting his notes. “Well, this discovery has delayed things further, Professor West, and I’ll have to include it in my report. I’d appreciate your cooperation if anything else relevant to this case comes to mind. I should have things wrapped up soon.”
Provided we don’t end up in front of the university’s board of trustees.
Stafford says goodbye and heads out, closing the door behind him.
I try to breathe, but my chest is so tight it hurts. I can’t stand the idea of Liv getting anywhere near this shitstorm. I’d hoped it would be over by now. Instead it’s like a deadly virus that won’t go away.
Frances is still glaring at me. “This isn’t good, Dean.”
Shut up, Frances.
“I didn’t do anything wrong.” I tug at the knot of my necktie. “There was never a goddamned thing inappropriate about my relationship with Liv.”
“As Mr. Stafford said, that is not the point. Words are power, Dean, and the words student and professor and relationship do not go well together.”
I stare at the empty whiteboard on the opposite wall. “I’ll quit, Frances.”
“Dean—”
“If it’ll end this whole thing… I’ll quit right now.”
“That’s as good as admitting guilt.”
“I don’t care.”
“I think you do.”
I turn to look at her. “Then what, Frances? I let that girl destroy my career?”