Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 108242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108242 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 541(@200wpm)___ 433(@250wpm)___ 361(@300wpm)
“Well, I’m glad that after all these years,” Warren says, ignoring my not-so-subtle dig, “we finally agree on something. I appreciate your assistance persuading my son to see sense.”
“I’m not doing this for you,” I say, glaring at him. “It’s for Owen. For the people.”
I grab Maxim’s hand and look into his eyes, blocking out his father’s manipulative presence. “For you, Doc. What if this is your launch code?”
A muscle in Maxim’s jaw clenches, and he shakes his head. “Then there is no launch because I won’t risk you.”
“Launch?” Warren asks. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m not staying here while some thief takes the Oval,” I say, ignoring Warren’s question. “Do you want Middleton to win by default while we hide?”
“And you think you can fix it?” Maxim demands.
“I have to try.”
“No.” His tone is implacable, but the fear in his eyes is evident. I know it’s for me, not for himself. “Crowds? Rallies? Public speeches? A dozen chances, a hundred ways every day for that lunatic to kill you? No. We can’t do it.”
“You can’t stop me.”
“Lennix,” he says, his voice a warning I have no intention of heeding. “Gregory Keene killed my brother, and you were supposed to be in that car. I’ve almost lost you twice to this bastard. You think I’ll risk losing you again by running for the most high-profile job on Earth in a never-ending public interview process? No.”
“Look, I told you I’ll accept the security and wear the tracker.”
“Not until he’s caught,” Maxim says, frowning.
“So indefinitely? We’ll stay here even if he doesn’t surface for the next year, two years, three? Another four years while some douchebag is president?”
“Grim has leads.”
“Fuck Grim’s leads. I will not stay in hiding while my country falls apart.”
“Falls apart is a little dramatic,” Warren inserts. “Middleton’s not that bad, but Maxim is what this country needs.”
“Don’t you mean what you need?” I turn a questioning brow on him. “What’s your agenda in all this?”
“I simply believe Maxim’s the best man for the job,” Warren says, shifting his glance to his son, “and the job is now. There’s an appetite for your vision and leadership.”
“Don’t think if he does decide to run you’ll be pulling his strings. If you want a Cade for your schemes, find yourself another one.” I position myself between the two men, pressing my back into Maxim’s hard chest and glaring up at his father. “This one you can’t have.”
CHAPTER 35
MAXIM
My father’s head may explode. His will and possessiveness collide with Lennix’s, and neither one backs down. He glares at her, red crawling up his neck.
“Dad, if you keep looking at her like that,” I say, my voice soft but absolutely serious, “we’re going to have a problem.”
He flips his heated gaze up to me, and it cools by slow degrees. He’s not used to being defied, and he and Lennix have a long history of disliking each other.
“Maybe you should leave so Lennix and I can discuss this?”
“You’d let her affect the most important decision of your life?” he spits.
I cup the curve of her neck, caressing the raging, pounding pulse there, reassuring her. “Nix is the most important decision of my life, and you’re not helping your case by antagonizing her.”
I pause, for the first time noting the toll Owen’s death has taken on him. His face is now mine in thirty years, not twenty. He’s thinner, more drawn. He’s lost a lot, and something in me wants to reassure him, too. “I’ll always choose her, but I want to choose you, too.”
Lennix looks up over her shoulder at me, her eyes questioning, slightly uncertain. I squeeze her shoulder.
“I want to be able to choose you both. Dad, we lost Owen. We’ve lost the last fifteen years. I’d prefer we not lose anymore, but you can’t hurt Nix. You can’t threaten or insult her. You accept her, or there won’t be a place in my life for you at all.”
My father and I stare, mirroring each other’s will and determination. I’ve always believed I was so much like him, been afraid of it, but he’s not evil. Gregory Keene is evil. My father is privileged and arrogant and sometimes misguided, but he’s the only father I have, and I want a relationship with him. Sometimes loving your family is awkward and hard, especially when you don’t believe the same things, don’t choose the same paths, but losing Owen has blown a gaping hole in my life where my family should be. He wanted Dad and me to reconcile, and so do I.
“Do we understand each other?” I ask him, kissing the top of Lennix’s head.
He shifts his stare from me to her, and he draws a deep breath. “Yes.” He turns and strides toward the door. “I’d like your answer by the end of the week.”