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Keeping his smile twisted on his face, Jessie pinched the bridge of his nose. "Oh, you got to be fucking kidding me. You have both fucked me up the ass enough times. I'm done." He looked at Lucas. "Are you still in this? At this point, I'll just introduce you as fucking single. Hell, we'll get the single women’s votes. Might be better than the single mother’s votes."
Olive glared at him. "Nice."
"Oh, drop the act, Olive," Jessie snapped. "Any woman would kill to be in your position. If you walk away now, you're going to regret this."
"I highly doubt that," Olive smiled.
Ignoring her, Jessie turned to me. "Lucas, you in?"
Olive's body stiffened, her expression tightening. I looked at Jessie. "Yeah, buddy, I'm in."
Jessie's easy smile returned. "Great." He didn't give Olive a second glance before spinning on his heel and approaching the podium.
I shook my head and sighed. Oh, how I couldn't wait to see that smile disappear from his face.
Olive suddenly reached out and grabbed my wrist. "Lucas, there's something I really need to tell you."
Her expression hardened, and she glanced around, lowering her voice. "Don't do this," she whispered. "I know you want this, and I understand. I really do, but Jessie...he's dangerous. Maybe not dangerous...but he's a criminal. And he'll just end up dragging you down with him."
I couldn't take my eyes off of her. She was trying to warn me about things I already knew. Maybe she didn't love me, not in the way I loved her, but it was clear that she cared about me.
And that meant something. It had to.
Before I could stop myself, I leaned forward, my hand gliding up her cheek and scooping into her hair, pulling her face to meet mine. My lips pressed against hers, and although she hesitated, they eventually parted, and my tongue met hers.
Leaning back, I broke the kiss and sighed. "Please don't leave."
She blinked, licking her lips and shaking her head. Tears pooled in her eyes. "I can't depend on you, Lucas. I need to start my own life with Claire, separate from this. But I promise, I won't keep her away from you. I just need to find some stable ground first.”
I smiled, shaking my head. "No, Olive, I know you have to leave, to find what you need to find, and I'm not going to stop you from pursuing that. I just meant...right now. Don't leave just yet."
"What do you mean?"
No one knew that I'd already been here earlier in the day, that I'd already set the last piece of my plan rolling. As Jessie approached the podium to begin his speech, I grabbed Olive's hand.
"There's something I need you to see."
23
OLIVE
Icouldn't understand the strange expression on Lucas's face. The way he was talking, his body posture...even his tone. None of it sounded like him. This wasn't the strong bold man I'd gotten to know again. This was someone who had already become resigned to his fate.
But what fate? What was he hiding from me?
And how did he know that I was planning to take Claire and start over somewhere new?
"I don't understand," I whispered to him.
He squeezed my hand tighter and turned to face the podium Jessie was standing behind. "Just watch."
Senator Carter said something to Jessie and his wife. They all smiled and laughed. Jessie's wife kissed him on the cheek, and then Jessie approached the podium and adjusted the microphone. "Thank you all for being here tonight. It means everything to me to be able to announce to the world tonight that—"
Suddenly, the projector hanging from the ceiling flicked to live. A blue light flooded Jessie's face, blinding him. He lifted his hand to block the glare. Stepping down from the podium, he grinned.
"Looks like we might be having some technical difficulties." Pointing at his entourage, he waved at the projector. "Can we get this figured out?" Turning back to the cameras, he grinned. "One second, folks."
But as he stepped down from the podium, the projector now had direct access to the screen on the wall behind Jessie. And it wasn't just a light anymore.
