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“How long have we been family now?”
I stare at him, groaning. “Too long.”
He waves his hand, dismissing me. “This arrangement may be business as usual, but I want you to be acutely aware that you are doing this. I know your spoiled ass. Your first reaction is to have an attitude.”
I throw the napkin on the table and stand up. Buttoning my suit jacket, I face Kieran. But that doesn’t deter him.
“We can do this the easy way or the hard way. I’m okay with that. Just don’t make me lose my fucking favor because you’re too stubborn.”
“Whatever. I don’t need you as a babysitter.”
Of course, he doesn’t listen. In my car, I see Kieran in the rearview mirror following me in his Lamborghini.
We reach the entrance to Governor Campbell’s brick mansion in stiff silence.
“You’re doing this,” Kieran reminds me unnecessarily.
“I will, Dad.”
“Stop being obnoxious.”
Campbell waits for us at the entrance. After a short greeting, we accompany him inside. He nods in Kieran’s direction as a gesture of gratitude. The asshole should be thanking me.
His wife, Bridget, approaches us, along with their youngest daughter. I wonder, and not for the first time, where Violet is. I don’t think anyone has seen her since she was a child, and no one in this household has said anything. It would be intriguing if I were interested in his family dynamics.
The little one waves at me. “Hello, Cameron.”
I smile at Serena. She giggles, and her father says, “This is adult talk.”
“Okay, Daddy.”
“Would you like something? Coffee?” Bridget asks.
“No, thank you,” I say.
His wife takes Serena’s hand, and they retreat.
The governor gestures for us to take a seat inside his office, pointing toward the bottle of whiskey and glasses on top of his mahogany desk. I offer a tight-lipped nod, and Campbell pours each of us a glass.
I remain standing. “Start. I don’t have all day.”
He offers a glass to Kieran, who takes a sip while looking at me intently in a sign to behave.
“It’s incredible how he can be a charming politician and an asshole at the same time,” Campbell says.
I take it as a compliment and lift the glass, sipping. As if I would ever allow anyone who isn’t family to get to know me. I am all for using my so-called charm when I have to, and everyone is a sucker for it. It’s also the underlying current of danger in my smiles, which would make anyone wary of crossing me. It’s not arrogance, but facts.
The governor takes a long gulp of his drink. “I understand you’re not happy about the news.” Understatement of the fucking millennium. “But helping each other will bring us where we both want to be: at the top, running this country.”
I’m already bored. I look at Kieran, who tells me to get through this with his strained facial muscles. It would serve him right if he gets an aneurysm from all the stress.
“I am a hot commodity.”
Campbell sits in front of me with a sigh.
He leans in further. “Family is a fundamental factor in everyone’s life. People naturally want their representative to uphold this value. It’s intrinsic.”
“So, you’re telling me you’re genuinely concerned about the people of Massachusetts, the state that I run from the shadows? And they’ll suddenly question why I’m not married?”
