But hurting me?
No.
It wouldn’t shock me if she was trying to put on a show for someone, to pretend like me being her brother isn’t a big deal. I mean, I don’t consider it a big deal but other than my men and my parents the rest of the world thinks it’s a pretty big freaking deal.
And now Stella blows me off and won’t take five minutes to talk to me?
Something’s rotten.
Reallyrotten.
Likethree days, fish in a car on a hot Floridasummer dayrotten.
CHAPTERNINETEEN
I callLeo on my burner because I want to talk to him while my thoughts about this latest development with Stella are fresh and undiluted.
Settling on the sofa in my private study, I close my eyes and picture his face when he answers.
“Yeesss?”
I know he assumes it’s me because Jordan would call him on his personal or work cell.
I smile because I know he’s smiling. “Hey there, Master. I need Leo for a second.”
He chuckles. “What can I do for you…MisterPresident?”
Fuck, now my earlier erection, which had softened while talking to Stella, rages back to life. I reach down and adjust myself. “I need to pick your brain for a moment.” I quickly relate the latest developments regarding my sister’s engagement. “So…what do you think?”
He doesn’t respond at first. When he does there’s absolutely zero playfulness in his tone. “That’s fucked up.”
“Not exactly the analysis I expected.” I kind of hoped he would reassure me and tell me I was concerned for no reason.
“No, El, seriously. That’sreallyfucked up.” He must either be home or at Shae’s, or somewhere else he can safely talk without someone overhearing.
“I take it you had no warning either?”
“No. And that’s what’s got me worried. Something like that, there should have been a leak somewhere and I should have received at least a couple of tips about it.”
A cold, dense ball of worry congeals in my gut. “Should I worry?”
“You need to do what you need to do and let me worry about digging around.”
That is as good as a direct order.
But something else bothers me. “Why didn’t Kev talk to you about this? Wouldn’t he know this?”
“I’m out of town with Shae right now,” he says. “I haven’t seen him in over a week and I doubt this is something he’d want to discuss over the phone.”
“Oh.” Of course, he’s absolutely right. And it’s common for Leo to be out of town with Shae.
It’s not surprising I don’t know where Leo’s at because, for starters, I haven’t asked Jordan—or Leo—about it. Secondly, Jordan doesn’t weigh me down with information I don’t need except for whatever situation is currently in front of me. He keeps me directed and focused so I don’t have time to let my anxiety pull me in different directions and waste my precious mental and emotional energy.
Jordan, on the other hand, probably knows Leo’s exact GPS coordinates at any given moment.
I really am an idiot. Had Jordan been my body man for the majority of my tenure as VP I likely would have managed to ditch a lot of my anxiety and imposter’s syndrome long before now. I don’t know how I managed to get as far as I did without him. He manages my personal and work lives so efficiently that it honestly feels like maybe Icando this job after all.
As long as I have him beside me, I mean.
