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“Yes. It’s too late for you to help with this campaign.”
Shifting in my seat, I cut my father off, but keep my eyes locked on his. “The next campaign usually starts within weeks of getting sworn in. It’s all closed-door happenings, but it’s there.” Shifting my eyes, I look at Murphy to see if he’s grasping the enormity of this. “Governing typically comes in a close second to campaigning.”
“Yes, Sabrina. That’s true for the senatorial race. But my last senatorial campaign will end next week.”
My heart sinks.
He isn’t planning on running for his senate seat again.
The last shred of hope I had at living everyday life out of the spotlight is about to be snapped, but I ask anyway. “Governor?”
“No.” He leaves the final statement unsaid. But it hangs there, all the same. My father has always wanted to run for the presidency. I’m well aware the sitting president has two years left in his term and his vice president is pushing eighty this year. There’s no way he’ll get the party’s nomination.
My father wants that nomination.
“I’m sorry to interrupt you two, but I’m not following.” Murphy’s eyes are ping-ponging between my father and me.
“Aiden, what my father is so eloquently dancing around, is that he is planning to run for president. To do that, he has to start building his war chest now. It’s an expensive campaign.”
Poor Aiden looks so confused. “Forgive me, but what does this have to do with me?”
“Well, son...”
My eyes whip angrily to my father. “Don’t. Don’t try to paint this into a pretty picture, Dad.”
I push up from the couch, walking to the French doors overlooking my mother’s prized rose garden. There are still a few red petals clinging to the branches, shining in the moonlight and refusing to give in to the impending winter. Do I refuse to give in, or cling on to my last shred of normalcy? Crossing my arms over my chest, I look over to Murphy, hating what I am about to do to us.
“What this means is that we’re all going to be under a microscope for the foreseeable future once he announces that he’s running...I’m thinking sometime after the State of the Union address. Right, Dad?”
My head swivels between my father, this man I’m realizing I barely know, to Murphy, the man who might very well recognize, after this conversation, that being in a relationship with me just isn’t worth it. “I’m guessing that announcement will happen six months from now. Then we’re going to be hounded. The press will pick everything apart. Penny might be safe because she’s young, but I’ll be fair game. If you stay with me, you will be too.”
“I still don’t know where I fit into this episode of Game of Thrones.”
My father laughs—actually laughs. “It’s more like West Wing, son.”
“I’d say it’s closer to House of Cards, Dad.” Annoyance is lacing every word. I hate this. “Think about it, Aiden. You’re a D1 football player. There are already talks of you going pro. That all looks good on paper, and a big, strong strapping athlete standing next to me looks good in pictures. We’re part of the strategy.”
Standing from the couch, he straightens to his full height, not sparing my father a glance as he makes his way to me. Both hands go to my face, and he brings his close to mine. “Either way, I’ll be standing next to you, Sabrina.”
“You don’t know what you’re signing up for with this. I’ve watched this go down. I’ve studied it. You don’t want this kind of a microscope.”
“Princess, do you honestly think it’ll be that much different than what I’ll go through if I get drafted? We’ve got this.” His eyes bore into me, begging me to trust him.
“The press will love the two of you.” My father stands from his chair and refills his scotch glass, a smug smile planted on his face.
And I love Aiden. So this has to be done right. “If we agree to this, I want two things in return.”
“Name it.” There’s no hesitation in my father’s voice.
This may be my only chance. “Mom stays out of my life. She’s no longer allowed to dictate my schedule, my wardrobe, my anything. If you want me to continue to be a member of this family, she has to back the hell off. If you need me for something for your campaign, have your chief of staff call or have one of your minions do it. I don’t care who, so long as it’s not her. I’ll play the part of the perfect daughter, but that’s it. I’m done being treated like a staffer by my own family.
“I haven’t signed an NDA, and if Mom ever pulls anything like this again, I’ll blow her world up, leaving us all as collateral damage. Don’t test me on this, Dad. I’m your daughter, and I’m stronger than anyone you’ve ever known because you raised me to be that way.”
His smile grows bigger. “And the second?”
“If we ever say no. If we ever say we’ve had enough or aren’t willing to share something with the press, you have to promise me you’ll respect that. I didn’t sign up for this. Aiden didn’t either. I know you, Dad, and I know your ambition. You won’t lose. What you did here tonight was tell me that the next ten years of my life will be spent in a spotlight I never asked for. You can’t get there without the picture of the perfect family, and if you don’t give me this, I won’t be in that picture. Promise me, I get to choose to say no when I want to.”
“Done.”
I hope I didn’t just make a deal with the devil.
