Her words strip away all my defenses.
Every calculation, every strategy, every piece of political armor I’ve spent months building is gone. Collapsing into dust.
I look at her standing here—fierce, brave, putting it all on the line.
There’s only one choice. Only one right answer.
The next morning, I steel myself to confess my secret to the man who put his faith in me to run his campaign.
Diablo waves me in, looking up from his phone with a grin. “Puppy pics. Ella’s been sending them as hints for her tenth birthday.”
I can’t smile. I can’t fake that right now. “Gabriel?—”
“Jesus, Dakarai, you look like you’re about to tell me we lost our biggest district.”
“I’m just going to say this outright so we can deal with it.”
“Okay.” He braces, setting his phone down.
I don’t sugarcoat it. I don’t spin it. I just lay the truth bare. “Rayne and I have been seeing each other secretly since July.”
The ensuing silence stretches thick enough to needle my skin.
“We’re not hiding anymore. Rayne’s campaign is issuing a statement today. I’m sorry I wasn’t upfront and honest about it with you before now. I’m sorry to drop this on your doorstep four weeks ahead of the election.”
He stares at me, utterly shocked. His eyes blinking in disbelief until his brain registers the full extent of my admission.
“Sorry?” He seethes, the color rising in his face. “You write my strategy. You advise me. You know my vulnerabilities. You know every Goddamn thing, and you’ve been sleeping with the woman trying to take my seat?”
This is the anger I anticipated, but seeing the genuine sense of betrayal in a man I’ve come to respect, who trusted me, cuts deep. “My decision not to tell you was wrong, but I have never breached campaign ethics.”
“You’ve lied to me for three months, and now I’m supposed to what… take you at your word?”
“I know that’s a lot to ask, Gabriel. But it’s the truth. I have never shared data, documents, or anything that wasn’t in the public domain with Rayne. Your campaign is clean.”
“You never shared an advantage?”
“No.”
“You didn’t bury those pictures or convince me to hire a cyber specialist for her?”
“Did I want to protect her? Yes. But the facts are that a crime was committed against a political candidate, and I stand behind those actions.”
“This is a shit show.” He ploughs a hand through his hair. “Give me one good reason not to fire you on the spot.”
That he’s even asking tells me his principles are warring with political reality. He already knows the impacts, but I lay them out anyway.
“Firing me this late in the game is a textbook admission of internal chaos. It signals weakness. It tells voters that your house isn’t in order. The donor PACs I’ve secured may get skittish.”
His eyes shoot bullets at me. “So basically if I fire you I’m fucked.”
“Yes,” I say, taking no pleasure in it.
“Then you’ll stay on until after election night,” he says, his voice cold and entirely pragmatic. “Work with Jacquie on the statement. And Dakarai…” He holds my gaze in a daring challenge. “Rayne deceived voters. I will not go easy on her.”
Then he opens a file folder, effectively dismissing me.
My chest still feels tight as I walk out of his office, but in a different way than before. The weight of our secret is finally off my chest, but the fallout isn’t going to be pretty, especially for Luna.
