AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Which is what we’re going to change this week.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning you go in there and tell your family what’s about to go down. And I do my job and find you a prop wife.”
“A prop wife,” I deadpan.
“Exactly.”
“That’s the dumbest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”
Meredith smirks. “Please. This is nothing compared to some of the shit I’ve seen. I’ll call you tomorrow morning.” She nods at the folder of NDAs in my hand. “Really… Don’t forget those.” She turns and walks back to the driver’s side door of her Porsche. “Welcome to politics, Mr. Black.”
You need to find a wife, like, yesterday.
I stare at the taillights of Meredith’s car as she drives off into the night.
What the fuck?
I take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Then I turn back to the brownstone. Time enough to deal with this insane plan tomorrow. For now, it’s time to rip off a giant band-aid.
“About time you showed up.”
The rest of them look up at Alistair’s words when I walk into the dining room. Maeve runs over and gives me a big hug. Tempest kisses my cheek, and Dante gives me a firm handshake before clapping me on the back. Taylor eyes the folder in my hand.
“Whatcha got there?”
I clear my throat. “Let’s all sit.”
Taylor and Alistair arch brows at each other. My brother turns and frowns at me curiously. “What’s with the ultra-serious expression? You look like you just killed someone.”
I doubt it.
I don’t slip up like that.
It’s funny: when people compare the two of us, I end up looking like the “light” brother, the “good one”, and Alistair comes off as the “dark one”.
Reality is a bit different.
Soon, the whole group is finding somewhere to sit around the dinner table. Shawna, my new housekeeper and cook, steps out of the kitchen with a tray of wine glasses. When she sees all the curious faces and the way I appear to be holding court, she turns to leave, but I stop her.
“Actually, this concerns you, too, Shawna.”
“Mr. Black?”
“Grab a chair, please.”
Looking confused, she finds a seat next to Maeve as I clear my throat and open the envelope.
“A few of you have guessed that I’ve been talking with a political consulting group about potentially running for public office. It feels like the next step for me, and obviously, Taylor, Alistair and I will have a much bigger conversation about all of this later. But I wanted to break the news to all of you at once.”
“Let me guess,” Alistair smirks. “Head of sanitation.” He taps his chin. “No, no. Hang on.” He grins. “Head meter maid! Gabriel, I swear to fuck, if you start booting my car for those bullshit parking tickets?—”
Eloise elbows him sharply in the side. “Will you let him talk?”
I nod my thanks at my future sister-in-law before I start to walk around the table, laying one of the thick, multipage NDAs in front of each of them.
“This isn’t set in stone,” I say quietly as I make my way around. “But tonight, I wanted to have the first of probably several discussions?—”
