Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 108483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108483 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 542(@200wpm)___ 434(@250wpm)___ 362(@300wpm)
The line goes as dead as any affection I thought I’d salvaged for him. Every time I think we might be able to fix all the things that have gone wrong between us, my father does something to remind me why I left in the first place.
This isn’t how I saw Christmas going. Somewhere in my mind, I hoped Lennix and I would have worked things out by now. She said each Christmas she goes to the site where she whispered her mother’s name and laid her to some kind of rest. She probably sees the Cade Energy pipeline there and remembers all the reasons she shouldn’t trust me. My father. My family’s business. My lies.
None of those are things I can fix or change. How I hurt her, deceived her, is in the past, but standing out here in the cold alone under a Yuletide moon and falling snow, I wonder if we’ll ever find our way to the future.
CHAPTER 46
LENNIX
“Everything’s incredible, Mill,” I say. “And the house looks beautiful.”
An army of servers circle the room carrying trays laden with champagne. Christmas lights sparkle overhead and along the stairwell banister. The branches of a huge tree in the corner stretch toward the ceiling, its decorative cheer adding to the festive atmosphere.
“Even more beautiful with all these students here.” Millicent scans the room, packed with the faces of so many young leaders from all over the country. “This was such a great idea. Everyone’s excited, even though they don’t know what’s coming.”
“I’m sure some suspect. CNN, MSNBC, Fox, and every major news outlet are at this party. They know we wouldn’t have them here just to ring in the New Year.”
“After tonight, everything changes, huh?” Her blue eyes find mine, and they’re sober in this festive scene. “Once he makes it official, our lives change forever.”
“We’re just announcing the exploratory committee tonight. He’ll announce he’s running in February, and then we’re off.”
“You wouldn’t have taken him on if you didn’t think he’d win,” she says, her smile knowing. “You bet on the winners, don’t you?”
I think of all the battles I’ve lost. All the pipelines that got built anyway. All the young men still languishing in prison despite Kimba’s and my best efforts.
“Not always, no,” I reply, staring into my champagne. “I just fight for the ones I think should win.”
“Hey,” Kimba says, appearing beside us. “CNN wants an interview after.”
“Excuse me, ladies. I need to go find my children,” Millicent says by way of exit. “See you in a bit.”
“What time do they want to do the interview?” I ask Kimba.
“’Round midnight, and you know I don’t do that shit.”
“Okay.” I laugh and roll my eyes. “But one day you’ll get shoved into the spotlight, so you better be ready.”
“Not if I can help it.” She pulls an iPad from where it’s tucked under her arm. “So Owen starts his speech at eleven thirty. He makes the announcement. We do the countdown to midnight and then the interview.”
“Right. I’ll be ready.”
I search the crowd for Maxim. He’s been working the room all night. I know it’s for Owen, but he freely admits he has his own agenda, the same one he has been advancing for the past decade—to wean this country off fossil fuels and direct our resources to cleaner, more sustainable energy. He’s a single-minded man. It’s hard to remember how it feels having all that power and intensity focused on me since he hasn’t looked at me all night.
He’s striking in black, perfectly tailored pants and a button-down shirt. There’s a satyr-like look to his dark hair and brows, the sensual curve of his mouth, the wild, wicked light in his eyes.
“Who invited the Russian?” Kimba asks.
I shift my attention from Maxim to the woman at his side. It’s the Russian ambassador’s daughter. The one who kissed him. He’s laughing down at her, easy affection in his expression. She reaches up to cup his face, the gesture familiar and intimate. My breath gets hung on irritation like a dress on a nail. A sharp, tiny thorn pricks my heart, but before the pain has time to take root, Maxim pulls her hand away from his face and shakes his head. His smile is gentle, but it’s a firm dismissal that reassures me. He said there had never been anyone else like me. I believe him because for me, there’s never been anyone like him.
My father told me to want something, to take something for myself.
I want Maxim. Will I take him tonight? After hiding so much about myself from myself, lying to myself, can I tell him the truth?
“We’re thirty minutes from the announcement,” Kimba says, her face taking on a serious set.
“I’ll go check on Owen. I think he went upstairs to review his speech.”
With one last glance at Maxim, now laughing with a congressman from North Carolina, I make a dash for the stairs and toward the guest room where Owen is supposed to be. The two men who are always with him stand outside the door, wearing identical impassive expressions. I stride down the long hall, anxious to make sure he’s prepared for the biggest speech of his life to date. He has an excellent speechwriter, but he drafted most of it himself. Maxim, Kimba and I weighed in and offered suggestions. The speech is loaded to a teleprompter we brought in, so he should be set, but I want to make sure. I lift my fist to knock, but the door opens before I get the chance.