Page 18 of Betrothed To Love

“I didn’t mean it like that,” he counters as he enters. “I didn’t know what I was walking into and seeing you look this relaxed and calm is… I guess… unexpected?”

“It’s the latte. Sit so we can talk,” I say and he sits on the sectional. “Do you want something to drink?”

“No, I’ve already had three black coffees.”

“Rough morning?”

“Depends on what you have to say. Despite Richardson’s best attempts to undermine you and your record, we are still favored in the polls. His past statements on prison reform are still hurting him but we know the sweet family he parades around at each event is helping him climb. Married couples favor him, regardless of his ridiculous statements. People erroneously support married candidates. You being married could solidify this for us. It’s close and anything can bridge that gap,” he explains, as if I’m not keenly aware of my predicament.

“I know, which is why you are here and I’m not going to beat around the bush,” I say, then sigh. “Friday night, at the ball, I was a little reckless.” He sits all the way up, anxiously awaiting my next words. “I got married online.” Duke’s mouth opens, as if to speak, but I continue before he can. “He’s a defense attorney and he appeared in my court yesterday morning. I didn’t remember marrying him but I did. There’s a video.” Duke’s mouth opens even wider then he falls back on my sectional. “Naturally, I had to recuse myself from the case…conflict. It’s all on record, the marriage license and my recusal. So there’s nothing I can do but⁠—”

“Stay fucking married,” he huffs, interrupting me. While shaking his head, he lets out a few deep breaths then gets into crisis prevention mode. “What’s his name? Are you familiar with his records? His typical clients? What’s his family situation? We need to get in front of this before Richardson’s camp gets wind of this. Maybe make an announcement in The Chronicle? Yes, and a personal appearance together? Maybe an official announcement or dinner with family, friends, a few constituents. Wait, were you even seeing him?” he rambles.

Choosing to answer what I want how I want, I begin with his last question. “No, I wasn’t seeing him. I met him at the ball. I wasn’t fully lucid.”

“Was your lack of lucidity induced by legal substances, at least?”

“Seriously! Of course, it was. Bourbon and liquid THC, legal but a bad combination for me.”

“I’d say,” he utters before quickly apologizing. “Sorry, I just…wow! Well, at least we don’t have to disclose that. But we do need to act fast. We have to announce this before his camp does. They can’t scoop us. I’ll contact my connect at the paper and get it to run tomorrow. A quick announcement. I just need his name so I can do the write up.”

“His name is Quintus, Q-u-i-n-t-u-s, Bako, one K, but don’t contact your guy just yet. I need to talk to him first. We’re meeting later today.”

“He does know you’re in the middle of an election, right? He can’t be camera or public shy.”

“He knows and I don’t think there’s anything shy about him. He’s a charismatic defense attorney. He’ll be fine, but it is still his life. I’m sure he’ll be okay with the announcement but I still want to run all this by him first.”

“Okay and the celebration dinner? It has to happen within a week, two weeks is too long. I can contact Haute Events to handle the dinner party. Maybe at The Metropolitan.”

“The scene of the crime? That’s a no. Maybe somewhere on the mountain or near it. See if she has a suggestion. Small though. I’m not trying to attract more attention than needed. Maybe like twenty people.”

“Twenty? Mireya, the constituents make up twenty and you don’t know about his family. Give me something I can work with, please. Fifty?”

“Okay,” I relent. “But not a number over fifty, hard line.”

“Got it. But when am I going to meet him and brief him on appearances?”

“Limited appearances. I want to expose this to minimize damage but I’m not parading this situation. It’s awkward enough, besides, it’s not real. As soon as I’m re-elected, this marriage is over.”

“Well, not as soon as. That would look like a political stunt. You have to wait a period after the election,” he says and I sit all the way up.

“How long?”

“At least a few months. Think about it. You have to wait.”

“So, January?” I question because doing this until November is already unthinkable.

“Like the end of January. The new term doesn’t start until January first. We need to wait your first month out. After you win, we will start working on an exit strategy. Let’s just focus on the announcement and dinner party. I’ll work on those while you work on him. Let’s connect again this evening,” he says then stands.

When he pinches his tight pants and pulls them down, I hold in my laugh. Duke is always impeccably dressed. In fact, he has on a nice ass, deep burgundy suit today and it’s Saturday. However, his pants are tight as hell.

“I’ll call you as soon as I speak with him,” I assure him.

“Perfect,” he says and I start to get up. “Don’t. I can let myself out,” he says with a nod before walking to my front door. When he’s out, I fall back on my sofa.

January!

Can I do this until January?