“What, exactly, are you asking of me and my husband?” She addresses this to Leo.
He runs a hand through his hair. “I don’t honestly know. This was more an FYI and I drew the short straw. We’re still working on the spin.”
That makes her smile, which shocks me. “Lucky for you Kevin Markos is over in the office with us today.” She pulls out her cell phone and makes a call.
Ten minutes later, Kev joins us.
“This place feels familiar,” Kev jokes when he walks in and closes the door behind him. “What’s going on?” He settles on one of the sofas.
We all look at Leo, who rolls his eyes and spits it out.
I thought Kev might blow up but he surprises me with calm, silent contemplation.
None of us interrupt.
Eventually, he slowly nods. “Youreallywant me to run with this? Because you’re going to have to do exactly as I say. No one second-guessing me and you let me direct the narrative. I’m absolutely serious about this.”
“Yeah,” I say, answering for us all. “Whatever you say, we’ll do it.”
“Okay, then.” He stands and turns to Ily. “Let’s go back to the office.”
“That’s…it?” she asks.
“I want to be over there for my phone calls.” He looks at all of us in turn, leaving Leo for last and shaking his head. “Dumbass.”
“Yeah, I know. But what do wedo?” Leo asks.
“Not a damned thing, until I tell you.” He heads for the door.
“What?” I ask. “What do you mean?”
He pauses with his hand on the door and looks back at us. “You stay here and donotsay a fucking word toanyone. You don’t reply to that, either,” he says to Casey-Marie, pointing at her phone in her hand. “I actually have something in reserve I’ve been holding on to. Now’s as good a time to use it as any.”
He and Ily leave and the rest of us stare at each other in shock.
“Does…does he mean we don’t prep a statement or…anything?” Angie asks.
“Yeeeeep,” Casey-Marie drawls. “That’swhat he means. I suspect we’ll know it when we see it.”
“So…now what do we do?” Jordan asks.
Casey-Marie points at Leo. “Youget back to your office and stay there.” She points at Jordan. “Youpark your ass upstairs in the residence and stay there. We will get back to work.” She points at me. “Youcall your meeting back in here. They don’t need to know what the delay was.”
And that’s exactly what we do.
Meanwhile, my stomach churns. Why the hell did I ever want to be POTUS?
Oh, yeah. Because I’m a fucking dumbass.
CHAPTEREIGHTY-FIVE
I don’t knowwhat Kev has up his sleeve but it must be an atomic-bomb-worthy item if he thinks it can save our asses.
My meeting lasts another two hours and we’re about to adjourn when I hear cell alerts going off. Several people check their phones.
I perk up as Declan pulls out his phone, his eyes widen, and then he schools his expression. Happened so fast if I hadn’t been watching his face I would have missed it.
“Dec, what’s going on?” I ask him.
