Total pages in book: 113
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107115 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 536(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
She took it gratefully. My hero, she mouthed.
He gave her a tip of his imaginary cowboy hat since he wasn’t wearing his real one today. “You’re welcome.”
“Five minutes!” yelled a petite redhead with a loose braid swinging over one shoulder of her delicate yellow blouse, at odds with her loud houndstooth pants and black patent heels. Then she spotted Madison and frowned. “Five minutes, Mrs. Pershing. Are you okay?”
“I-I’ll be fine,” Madison assured as she stood, then stumbled back, nearly falling into her chair. “Oh. I’m still a little dizzy, I guess. The heat…”
The redhead frowned. “Let me get you a fan.” Then she withdrew a walkie-talkie from her stylish belt, sparing Ethan a blushing glance, then barked into the unit. “Frank, give me a fan back here. The youngest Mrs. Pershing is melting.”
Within moments, an older man rushed in, carrying an oscillating fan. The redhead plugged it in and made sure Madison got the breeze.
“Finish that,” Matt demanded, nodding at the water bottle.
“Yes, Matt.” Madison did as she polished off another cracker and bit into the candy bar.
He was gratified to see her color slowly returning.
She was still reapplying her lipstick when the introductory music began blasting. Madison and the redhead both gasped. Agatha’s minion dashed off. Madison hopped to her feet, thankfully stable this time. Matt led her to the side of the stage where a smirking Todd waited and the eldest Mrs. Pershing was just taking the microphone, waiting for the applause to die down.
What a fucking shame that these adoring voters had zero idea that, under the grandmotherly exterior of the senator’s wife lay the heart of a dragon.
Matt tuned the woman out, watching the choreography on stage, everyone’s placement, along with the movements of the cheering crowd.
Less than two minutes later, Roger and Cynthia were taking the stage, both wearing plastic smiles. As the cloud of perfume someone had applied on her, probably to cover the smell of booze, wafted past him, Matt nearly choked.
“I see you got my wife here on time,” Todd said to Matt as he eyed Madison up and down. “You look like shit. Your suit is wrinkled, your pants are still too tight, and why are you so fucking pale?”
Matt leaned in so no one could hear. “The heat outdoors sapped her, you asshole. Between that and the fact you’ve barely let her eat for two days, she almost passed out. She needed to sit.”
“Hmm.” Todd raised a brow, sounding bored as fuck. “She’s about to have bigger problems.”
Before Matt could ask what the fuck that meant, Agatha introduced her grandson and his beautiful wife to the crowd. Todd seized Madison’s hand, and they strolled onto the stage. Ethan slinked behind them before aligning himself back from the podium, where he could look beyond Agatha and watch for incoming threats.
But Matt wasn’t nearly as focused on the rallygoers. Right now, they weren’t the danger. Her fucking husband was.
As Todd stepped up to the podium, he smirked Matt’s way one last time, then grabbed the microphone like someone very comfortable in front of an audience and declared he was about to get the party started. The younger voters in the crowd responded immediately, whooping and cheering.
After Todd blathered a few words about Winston Pershing’s decades of distinguished service in the senate and that he and his whole family would be proud to serve the public again, reinforcing the values Americans hold dear while driving needed changes to make the country and the world a better place, he thanked the crowd, introduced his wife, stuck his hand in his pocket as he stepped back, then let her talk.
Matt glared. What did the little prick have up his sleeve?
Still pale and her voice unsteady, Madison approached the microphone. “Thank you, everyone, for coming out in support of this family. I’m a former kindergarten teacher who joined the senator’s team as an education advocate because I’m so passionate about early childhood learning…”
Matt wasn’t listening to her words but watching her. He glared at Toddhole—his tense body language, his eyes glittering with malice, his shit-eating grin.
All of Matt’s protective instincts went on high alert. His thoughts raced. What could the fucker possibly do to her in public with close to a thousand people staring on?
Matt didn’t know, and he didn’t like it.
He exchanged a glance with Ethan. The cute redhead was a handful of feet away, but thankfully the kid wasn’t flirting. He was completely focused, and his darting glare and concentration said he felt the tension, too.
“We hope you’ll join us for another six years of progress, benefitting all the people, but especially the littlest ones, in our communities and this great state.”
At the audience’s polite applause, Madison stepped back. But she still wasn’t steady and stumbled back, nearly losing her balance and toppling over.