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His hands dropped in his lap. "What do you mean by that?"
"I still have the video I stole from the Mayor. At least, I did until yesterday."
Adam blinked rapidly. "I'm confused. Where is it?"
"I don't know," I threw up my hands. "I had it at the Penthouse, and now it's gone. So there's a chance that someone knows I stole it. And I have this press conference this afternoon, and I just..." My voice faded, and Adam's body stiffened.
"Why don't I like the sound of where this is going?"
I crossed over to the couch and kneeled before my brother, grabbing his hands. "I'm sure everything is going to be fine...I just want you to know…." My heart became choked in my chest, and I cleared my throat.
"I think I just need to take Claire and go off the grid for a little."
"Go where?" Adam snapped.
I couldn't tell him that. "I just wanted to tell you that I love you, Adam. And when everything settles down, hopefully, this won't be an issue."
Adam stared at me unblinking. Then he swatted my hand off his lap and jumped to his feet. "Are you fucking kidding me, Olive?"
Behind me, Mike cleared his throat. "Everything okay?"
"Fucking peachy!" Adam screamed, storming past his husband into the kitchen.
"Uhm, Olive," Mike said. "There's a driver outside. Said he was here to take you to a press conference?"
I smiled. "That would be Jeffrey." And with that, I gave Mike a tight hug. "Thanks for being you, Mike."
"Huh?"
"Tell my brother I love him."Then I spun on my heel and left the house.
22
LUCAS
As my limo pulled up to the press conference late that afternoon, I peered out of the tinted windows and shook my head.
Jessie had switched tactics with this event. He'd forgone the massive convention center in exchange for something more personal, choosing instead to rent out the second floor of one of Boston's most prolific museums. Instead of potential voters, he'd created an open door policy for the press.
Jessie didn't know it yet, but this was something he was going to regret.
What he'd given up in venue size, he'd made up for in extravagance. He'd converted the press conference into a black tie event, similar to the kind of party one would hold after they'd won the election, not the kind they held before.
But if that wasn't the definition of Jessie's narcissism, I'm not sure what else would define it.
There were many things I was dreading about tonight, but kicking Jessie down a peg was not one of them. I wasn't sure why it'd taken me this long to recognize his true nature, but just like pulling back the velvet curtain, now I couldn't unsee it.
My phone buzzed, and I glanced at a text from Olive.
See you soon.
I clenched my jaw, unsure how to respond to that. Would she really show up? I highly doubted it, but either way, it wouldn't make any difference. As the culmination of my plan unrolled tonight, it would ultimately be my full responsibility, and that was independent of whether or not Olive and Claire showed up.
I exited the limo, cameras flashing, blinding me as I walked up the steps.
"Mr. Wilson! Lucas!"
Reporters shoved microphones in my face, but I ignored them. There would be a time and place to explain things later. Except I wouldn't be the one having to come up with something to say.
