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“Enough, both of you,” Senator Daubson interjected.
The rest of the meal was shrouded in a cold cloud of silence. No one except for the senator and his dickhead son even touched the food sitting in front of them, other than to shuffle it around their plate. I’d tried and failed to switch meals with Emory, though it hadn’t mattered in the end.
Having had enough, I stood, my chair scraping against the wooden floor so loudly I hoped it left a mark. Emory and Imogene quietly followed suit, but before I had the chance to lead them from the room of horror, Senator Daubson cleared his throat.
“May I have a word with you in private, Luciano?”
“Not exactly sure what you’d have to say after this spectacle, but why not?”
Turning to Emory, I placed a kiss on her forehead, then gave her a reassuring smile before following her father out of the room. We took the stairs one at a time to the second floor, where he ushered me through the third door on the right. I took note of the office, memorizing the layout for future reference.
“I’m going to cut right to the chase.” He leaned against the desk which was centered in the room.
“Appreciate it.” I crossed my arms over my chest and widened my stance.
“You’re good for my daughter’s image, so I’d like to double whatever she’s paying you.”
Of all the things I imagined he’d say, never once had I thought it would have been something quite so revolting. It took every ounce of strength in my body to keep me from launching myself across the room and punching the good senator in his smug face.
“With all due respect, Senator. Fuck you.”
“Triple, then.”
“Is it really so hard for you to see how amazing your daughter is?”
He said nothing, simply looked around the room like he was growing bored with our conversation.
Before I left, I decided to leave him with a little food for thought, hoping my words might somehow alter the trajectory of his future with his daughter. “For the record, your daughter hasn’t paid me a dime, and you’re a son of a bitch for presuming otherwise. Emory is kind, thoughtful, and caring, something you and your wife know little about. I’d suggest you take the time to get to know her before she decides you aren’t worth the hassle any longer. She and I will have children one day. My parents will be thoroughly embedded in their lives. Will you?”
With that, I spun on my heel and exited the office, making a beeline for the stairs. Hopefully, Emory and her grandmother had made it back up to our floor by the time I got there. I’d planned to order us all some actual dinner. Too bad DoorDash didn’t deliver alcohol. I’m sure we could all use a stiff drink to get through the next thirty-six hours. Maybe we’d raid the senator’s stash.
EMORY
“THANK YOU ALLfor coming here on this fine day to show me your support,” my father droned.
He’d always been rather long-winded, but it seemed to have worsened with time. I’d stopped paying attention about thirty seconds into his speech. They were all the same anyway.
We were gathered on the first floor of the building in the massive ballroom, which was decorated to the nines. Blue and silver, my father’s campaign colors, were everywhere the eye could see, even on the glass chandeliers which hung from the ceiling. It was nauseating, really.
Luc had excused himself a few minutes before to take a call and I was about to go find him when the atmosphere in the room changed. There was a zing of electricity in the air, which hadn’t been there before. The crowd, which had been dull and lifeless moments ago, was now beginning to ramp up. I probably should have paid better attention because the next words out of my father’s mouth nearly knocked me over.
“That’s why, it’s my great honor to announce my intentions to run for the greatest position one can hold in our great nation. President of the United States.”
Holy fuck! Was he crazy?
The proverbial light bulb went off in my head. Everything made perfect sense now. The threats. Demanding my attendance at this farce of a rally. He wanted to show his constituents the All-American family, and I played right into his hands.
“He won’t get past the primary election, Bear,” Gigi whispered in my ear. “I’ll make sure of it.”
My grandmother was seriously scary at times. I’d assumed she’d stopped having Dad followed years ago, however, the sheer determination in her voice made me believe otherwise. If I had to guess, she’d be calling Mr. Lawrence as soon as she had a moment of privacy.
“I can’t listen to any more of this crap. I’m going to find Luc,” I told her.
Gigi’s other favorite pastime, besides her garden, was her love of police shows––Law & Orderin particular. So when she said, “Okay. I’ll take one for the team and stay here to gather more intel,” I couldn’t help but chuckle.
I glanced around to see if Luc was anywhere in sight. At his height and with his looks, he should’ve been pretty easy to spot over the throng of people in the room, however I didn’t have any luck. He’d been gone for about ten minutes, the longest he’d been away from my side since we arrived the day before. Last night, we’d even shared the bed, sleeping curled together. I’d offered to see if there was another guest room available, but Luc had put his foot down. He’d stated, in no uncertain terms, he wouldn’t be able to protect me if we weren’t in the same room. I had no idea who he thought I needed protection from, but I was more than willing to play along. Especially when I got to wake up tangled in his arms. It was the best night’s sleep I’d had in forever.
Glancing back at the stage, I saw my father had barely taken a breath as he blathered on about his lengthy political career. Mother, being the doting wife, stood at his side with a fake smile plastered across her face. With my brother lurking in the background, the three of them reminded me of a monkey statue I saw once.See no evil. Hear no evil. Speak no evil.Or maybe it was theThree Stooges. Come to think of it, it was probably a combination of the two.
