“You are a passionate defender,” he said.
“If you spend an hour at the kitchen, you’ll see the people who are down to their last rope.Some are hanging on by a prayer.People who are privileged forget their wealth came from the backs of blue-collar workers.”
He thought for a moment.She could see the wheels turning in his head, weighing all she had said.If he said no, there was no hope for their marriage, and she would suggest he pick another woman.
“You’re right,” he finally said.“You and I are privileged.The Coalition is for those on our side of the tracks, but that doesn’t mean I don’t see the hopeless.The vulnerable.I will support you, but like I said earlier, I insist you have a guard.One way to take me out would be to take you out.”
Her heart soared.“I understand.”She threw her arms around him, hugging him tight.“Thank you.Thank you for understanding.”
He hugged her back, and little tingles filtered through her body from his touch.Warmth spread through her, causing her heart to speed up, and she was acutely aware of how her softness fit against his hardness.Her gaze settled on his mouth, and she wondered how it would feel to kiss him.
Then, as if he heard her thoughts, he bent his head and claimed her lips.At first, it was light.Almost chaste.That changed in about two point six seconds.He immediately deepened the kiss, and her world tilted off its axis.All the silly romantic prose from books never described a kiss such as this.Stars flashed behind her closed eyes, and for a moment, she forgot everything.Her name.His name.Who, what, when, why.The kaleidoscope of emotion and want knocked her for a loop, and when they pulled apart for air, his eyes glittered in the moonlight.A devil come to steal her soul, and she signed the contract.
Chapter Four
“Iwill gladly castmy vote for you to become the next leader if you grant me all the city contracts.”
James stared at the owner of the largest construction company in Kaneera City.Timothy Bens was on the Veilstone’s Board of Directors, and would be one of the people that voted for the next leader of the Coalition.
“A bribe,” James said flatly.
Bens shrugged.“More like a business transaction.You know my company is the best in the city, so it should be nothing for you to give me future contracts.”
James sat back in his desk chair and interlocked his fingers, letting them rest on his stomach.His gaze narrowed.“It is something that you think I would trade favors for your vote.The Coalition works for all of us, not individually.If I agreed to your offer, I’d be working foryou, and not the betterment of the Coalition.”
The only sign of frustration on Bens’s face was the tightening of his lips and the anger in his eyes.“If you don’t cooperate, Sessions gets my vote.”
“Landry Sessions doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground, and he will implode decades of careful structure which provided growth and monetary gains for all of us,” James ground out, his voice ice cold.“You would be part of the blame when, not if, the Coalition falls under his leadership.I don’t think that’s the way you want things to go.”
“I’ll convince others to—”
“Stop,” James interrupted.He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his desk.“Coercion doesn’t work on me.I don’t, and won’t, cater to cowards trying to sabotage the Coalition.A leader’s job is to all, not to an individual’s greed.”
“How dare you!”
“How dareyou,” James countered.Then he pointed to the bookcase behind him.“You’ve been recorded.Every word you said will be accounted for during the next meeting.”
