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The next two weeks of my life are sure to just fly by…
I told him I don’t need an assistant. I can do this job on my own with my hands tied behind my back — blindfolded — but he insisted I bring her along with me on this first trip.
Nothing personal, he said. He just needs it to go well, and Paige is the one he sends in when he needs things to go well. After his first shareholders’ convention as CEO, we’ll revisit the conversation, but I’ve already made up my mind.
No assistants. No babysitters.
Oliver Black is a lone wolf. Always has been.
Always will be.
That said…
Paige emerges from the crowd again with a bag full of campaign buttons. She pauses to breathe, her sizable chest rising and testing the buttons of her blouse. Tight pencil skirt. Perfect legs peeking out the bottom…
At least this trip won’t be boring.
“Still hiding in the dark, Oliver?”
I turn to the voice suddenly on my left. “Easier to see the big picture from back here,” I say to the familiar face.
Kingston Botsford smiles, bringing out the wrinkles of his eyes, but that only makes him look more damn handsome. If I’m able to inherit one thing from my chosen family, please let it be that.
“Sure, but then… you’re not a part of the picture,” he says.
I chuckle. He’s got me there. “Congrats to you and Fiona,” I say. “You must be proud.”
“Thank you,” he says, settling onto the empty wall beside me. “I am.”
I find Fiona on the stage again, smiling widely as she answers a thousand questions. Why are you running now? When did you decide? What’s your platform? Is your father involved in the campaign? She owns the room, completely. Not that I’m surprised, of course. Fiona comes from American political royalty. Her father, Richard Garland, was a Nevada senator for over two decades before he ran for President. He lost that election, but people still remember him fondly. That alone will take her far. The Botsford name will take her even further. But her own achievements — her seemingly endless résumé of charitable contributions, philanthropy, and volunteer work — will do most of the heavy lifting.
She’s going to win.
“So, she’s finally running, huh?” I ask Kingston.
He nods, his warm eyes shining in the dark corner. “All part of the plan,” he says.
“Really?”
“Fiona’s always been ambitious. I promised her years ago that I wouldn’t stand in the way of it and I won’t.”
“Why did she wait so long?”
His lips twitch. “Well, she got pregnant.”
“Ah,” I say with a chuckle.
“Then... again.” We laugh together. “And two more times after that, but she found other ways to get involved. To give back. To help people, as you know,” he adds with a quick look at me.
“Oh, I do.”
“She’s been building this campaign for thirty years. Now, the boys are grown, married. Two of them with kids of their own. It was time for her to get back to her own life.”
I nod slowly, taking it all in. “So, that’s why you retired early,” I say, reading his face.
Kingston nods. “Oh, I wasn’t going to miss this cooped up in this hotel all day.”
I look at the stage again as the room erupts with applause. Fiona’s now joined by her elderly father, former Senator Richard Garland — her first official endorsement.
