AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She sighs. I haven’t gone running with her this week, but family talks aren’t at the top of the list when you have a few boxing bags and bury yourself in work so you forget about the looming deadline. I could have had sex, but it fucking depressed me thinking of that as my last hurrah, but maybe I wouldn’t be so tense that I am about to snap.
It’s Aurora who pats me on my chest after rearranging my tie. “Look, if there is anyone who understands, it’s me.”
“Sweetheart?” Of course, Kieran had to hijack our conversation.
“I didn’t want our marriage in the beginning,” Aurora continues.
“Preach,” says Chiara, sipping from her champagne glass while Cato smiles smugly.
“When you see her that very first time, if she intrigues you, that’s a good sign.”
“I intrigued you?” Kieran interrupts again.
“Kieran . . .”
“Did I intrigue you?” Cato asks Chiara.
“You know damn well you did.”
“It was love at first sight for me.” Alessandra smiles.
Hayden looks at her, enraptured. “You will always remain my greatest love.”
“It’s like I am sharing a car with a bunch of Romeos and Juliets. Someone pass me that damn bottle already.”
Chiara offers me the bottle. “But you’re still going through with it.”
“I’m still doing it,” I mumble. She grins at me, enjoying my distress. Cato is an underrated saint.
Before I can link my elbow through hers, Cato snatches her from me and says, “Get your own. My bad, I almost forgot why we’re here.”
Asshole.
I square my shoulders and climb the few steps to the Campbells’ front door. A butler greets us, welcoming us inside.
A small gathering of Massachusetts’s biggest political players, from the former governor to a few state senators, is in the living room. They all watch me with interest and apprehension. How I fucking love that! This marriage will prove to be quite beneficial.
A band performs in the corner while staff members circulate with trays laden with appetizers and champagne glasses. I pluck one, draining the bubbly contents in one go. Campbell and his wife approach us while Serena greets everyone. She would have been an incredible princess, but American royalty also has to count for something.
These gatherings bore me to fucking death. It’s always the same topics and small talk, making me want to bash my head into the nearest wall. I am interested in just one thing: how to use their influence and support to my benefit.
Politics is all about pretense and engagement. I relish their do-good attitude, offering me support and praising my campaign’s slogan, Building a future together. Of course it’s good. I aim to win, and people want to believe they’re helping me do it.
I slip through the terrace doors. There’s a slight chill in the late summer air, thick clouds covering the moon. I breathe in, enjoying the silence.
Feet shuffle in my direction, cutting my peaceful moment short. I turn to see Campbell approaching me.
I groan. “Where is she?”
“Violet will be down soon.”
I flick my wrist, looking at my Patek Philippe classic watch. “If she isn’t here in the next five minutes, the deal is off.” Who the hell does this girl think she is?
“Cameron, patience with my daughter is imperative.”
“And maybe that’s why she’s a social pariah.”
He sighs. “We tried everything. This is my last desperate attempt.”
