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Hayden laughs. “You know my brother well, I see.”
I roll my eyes. “You have no idea.”
He smiles and it feels like awelcome to the familysmile. “I think I might. I’m already seeing the difference in him.”
I eye Bradford. “I might cheat on you. Are you saying you’d tolerate that? Or still want to give me half of your belongings?”
He gives me a look. “We both know neither of us are cheaters.”
I’m suddenly feeling flushed as memories of the times I wanted to cross that line fill my mind.
He’s right. Neither of us are cheaters. And since that’s really the only reason I could see our marriage ending, I know this postnup won’t even matter. Bradford will never have to part with his money for me, so I let the argument go.
My phone buzzes with a text and when I see Lila’s name flash across the screen, I look at Bradford. “Tell me you’re free on the fourteenth of January. And if you can’t tell me that, tell me you’ll find a way to be free that night.”
Alan steps back into the room as I say this. “I just scheduled you both to attend a charity breakfast tomorrow morning.” It’s not a question but he waits with an impatient expression for our confirmation.
Bradford shoots me a questioning look.
“I can do that.” I mentally rearrange my morning tomorrow to make this happen.
Alan taps out a message on his phone before meeting Bradford’s gaze again. “You’ll be taking part in a business panel. They need you there by six a.m. to get you prepped for it.”
At my wide eyes, Hayden laughs and says, “I imagine that whatever you need my brother for on the fourteenth won’t even come close to making up for all these early mornings you’ve got ahead of you.”
Alan narrows his eyes at me. “What’s on the fourteenth? We’ll need to check the schedule.”
“No,” I say. “The fourteenth of January, not December.” I look at Bradford. “It’s my school reunion.”
“I’m free,” Bradford says without hesitation and I can see it in his eyes that even if he has something planned for that night already, he has every intention of canceling it.
Alan pulls up Bradford’s schedule. “You’ve got a party on that night. At the Hale’s.”
“Not anymore,” Bradford says, squishing my heart all the way together.
This only earns me a sharper look of disapproval from Alan. “It’s an important party. You don’t want to piss Senator Hale off.”
Before I can cut in and tell Bradford that he should go to the party, he says, “I’ll chance it.”
“Fuck,” Alan mutters.
Bradford simply gives him a brow arch in return and even I understand this form of communication they seem to have nailed.Don’t argue with me. Perhaps I should learn how to give that brow arch.
Alan takes a deep breath before glancing at me. “Send me the details of your reunion. I’ll add it to the schedule and maybe we’ll see if we can capitalize on it. Fuck knows that people like to see the human side of a candidate. Attending a wife’s reunion fits that bill.”
As he slips back out of the room, I stand and follow him. “Alan,” I call to slow him down.
He turns back to me. The annoyance written all over his face would have stopped the old me from saying what I came to say. The new me still occasionally struggles with wanting approval, but far less these days. When it comes to Alan, I don’t care if he never approves of me.
“I understand this situation isn’t ideal, and that it makes your job more difficult, but I’m not going anywhere, so you and I need to find a way to work together.”
“Not idealdoesn’t even come close to describing what this situation is, Kristen. Whatever you think you might know about politics, you don’t. You have no clue what Bradford is up against here. My job was difficult before you came along. Now, it’s a goddamn fucking headache. Iwillfix this because that’s what I do, but don’t confuse what you and I are doing here as working together. You are simply a pawn in my game that I will move where I need.”
If my father prepared me for anything in life, it was Alan. I might dislike him but I understand his job.
I step closer to him, holding my body perfectly straight and tall. “I might not know all the intricacies of politics, but I know all about power and the world of men that Bradford moves in. I’ve been dealing with these men and the women in their lives my entire life. I know how they think and I might even know more about the web of secrets and lies between them than you do. I’ll be your pawn, for Bradford, but you’d be a fool not to align with me and work with me.”
All he gives me is a press of his lips and a long moment of scrutiny. Then, he simply carries on with his imperious ways. “Don’t be late tomorrow morning. It won’t be a good start for us if you are.”
