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I take one last look at the dead piece of shit on the floor. A smile creeps over my lips.
There’s a darkness in me. Always has been. Over the years, I’ve found a few different ways of releasing the pressure of it. Destroying predators who escape justice might not be my favorite. But goddamn, I enjoy it.
“Rot in hell, fucker,” I spit. Then I turn, stride out the door, and disappear into the night.
Whatever darkness is still within me recedes as I step out of the cab back at my place and look up at the brownstone. I’m hosting a dinner tonight, and I can see through the lit-up windows that my family and friends have already arrived.
Alistair and his fiancé Eloise. Our sister Tempest and her husband Dante, who owns and operates the infamous Club Venom. Taylor, who’s like an honorary sister to Alistair and I. Dante’s little sister Bianca. Alistair’s, Tempest’s and my young aunt, Maeve.
A few months ago, Alistair and I got Maeve out from under the abusive influence of her parents—our grandfather Charles and his young trophy wife, Caroline. For a while, she was living with me while she finished high school. But she’s graduated now, and moved into her first apartment with some friends before she starts NYU in the fall.
Time passes, and the people around you grow up and start their own lives, families and adventures. Which is why I look forward to these family dinners so much.
Tonight, though, is about more than just catching up.
As if on cue, a sleek black Porsche pulls up to the curb next to me. The engine turns off, and an attractive blonde in a fashionable outfit and towering heels slips out from behind the wheel.
“Meredith,” I nod as she approaches, her Louis Vuitton bag over her shoulder and her heels clicking smartly on the sidewalk.
“Gabriel,” she smiles. She arches a brow, nodding past me to the smiling, laughing group of people inside. “You ready to do this?”
Meredith is the head of Operations for Empire Political Consultants. She’s also about to become my campaign manager.
It’s hard to pinpoint when I decided to try this path. Part of it comes from wondering what’s next, I suppose. I’m at the top of my game, with a nearly perfect trial record, and a firm that Alistair, Taylor, and I have nurtured into one of if not the most prestigious law firm in New York.
Where do you go from there? There’s always a judgeship. Teaching at law school. Or hell, a seat on the State Supreme Court. But I’m also only thirty-four years old, and all of those things scream “put out to pasture”.
Yeah, no.
So instead, this is the path I’m taking. Alistair and Taylor have both suspected for months that I’m up to something. They even have an idea that it’s political in nature, since they know I’ve been talking with Meredith.
Tonight, everyone’s going to find out just how high I’ve set my sights.
I shrug. “It’s past time they all knew, Meredith.”
She nods. “We’ve talked about your brother or Taylor putting up roadblocks to you potentially leaving the firm. If that comes up?—”
“It won’t.”
Her brows knit. “You know I prefer to be prepared for anything. Should we run through some of the lines we tried with the focus group? We can start with pushback from Taylor?—”
“Meredith.” I shake my head. “There’s not going to be pushback. Trust me.”
“How can you be so sure?”
I fix her with a look. “Because if it was Taylor or Alistair running, I wouldn’t put up any roadblocks for them.”
She smiles. “Well, before you start sharing…” She reaches into her bag and pulls out a manilla legal envelope. “The NDAs we put together. I know they’re all family and friends. But I have to insist that we maintain media silence until you announce?—”
“Meredith. I got it,” I smirk, taking the file from her hands. I notice her pointed silence and the crease in her brow. “What?”
She exhales slowly and glances away. “There’s…uh…”
“Meredith.”
She takes a breath and levels her gaze at me. “We ran some more focus groups.”
I roll my eyes. “At a certain point, I have to actually run a campaign, you know. Not just focus groups.”
