AllFreeNovel
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If I weren’t here, in charge of her, she wouldn’t be constantly – viscerally – reminded of my role in the massive clusterfuck of four years ago.
The senator and Monica want her to be uncertain. They want her to be unsteady. If she were centered and grounded, she’d be powerful.
A force.
Demanding.
And the last thing a man who’s leveraging his way up the ladder to become the leader of the free world wants is a daughter with a sense of her own true strength.
The blood drains out of my face as I watch Lindsay touch Gentian’s arm, stand on tiptoes, and try to get him to step out of his role and smile at her.
He’s steady as a Beefeater.
Good man.
All across the country, over the next few months, similar stage displays will happen. Republicans and Democrats and Libertarians and Independents and Greens and smaller political parties will have people declare their candidacies for the primary runoffs, to become the party candidate in the actual national election in November, two years from now.
Harwell Bosworth isn’t all that special.
He’s been in politics for most of Lindsay’s life, but he’s at the beginning of the long slog to the White House. So are all his rivals, each competing for the top spot.
A position people would kill to have.
How far would you go to be leader of the free world?
“Drew?” It’s the dispatcher at my call center. “Ready for a transmission?”
“Bad timing.”
“You said if anything came in from that number -- ”
“Scarves?” That’s our code for Stellan, John and Blaine.
“Yes.”
“Go.”
“New text.” I watch in slo-mo as Lindsay reaches into her purse to retrieve her phone.
“What’s it say?”
“‘What color is your underwear?’”
“Not funny!” I shout, exploding.
“That’s what the text says, sir!”
“Fuck.”
“And a new one says, ‘We can’t wait to find out. And we will.’”
I tear off stage, knowing I can’t bullet my way across in view of the crowd, needing to get to Lindsay before she reads that fucking text. They’re toying with her, mindfucking her before the biggest performance she’s faced in four years, and I don’t care how much she’s hurt me in the last two days, or how angry I am at her for stealing my gun and lying to me, she’s still a human being.
And my client.
And I still love her.
“Gentian,” I snap into my headpiece. “Don’t let her read her phone. Repeat – don’t let Lindsay read her phone.”
