“How can you say that when we know which way the party members will go?”
“They didn’t last time.”
“That was different. Nobody was beating Olivia. This is not the same. She was never the underdog.”
“Neither are you, Eddie. People will probably be more pissed off if you come out after.”
“Don’t you think I know that? But if he becomes PM, we’re all fucked. I’m the only one who can stop him. What else can I do?”
Derek gave him a sympathetic look and squeezed his shoulder, which just made him feel even more ashamed. Hargreaves was campaigning hard behind the scenes and trying to galvanise party support. Edward was hearing conflicting reports, and the stance from the press now waswhenthe PM would announce her departure, and notif.
“Don’t look now, but your boy toy is early.”
“What?” said Edward, snapping his neck up.
It didn’t take him long to spot Milo in the crowd, and he felt his stomach flutter. He was even more beautiful in person. Edward spotted some guys eyeing him up like they wanted to throw him around the bedroom. If only they knew what they’d be letting themselves in for. He couldn’t help but smile.
“Look at you getting all giddy over your man,” said Derek.
“He’s not my man.”
“Of course he isn’t. Have you fucked anyone else since you met him?”
“I need to confide in you less.”
Derek laughed. Edward saw Milo making his way towards the back, so he said a quick goodbye to Derek, pulled his cap forward, and made his way to the room they used. Thankfully nobody was occupying it. They’d had to use other rooms before, but Edward was a creature of habit, and heliked the room where they’d first fucked. There was nothing romantic about it, though, at least that’s what Edward was saying to himself.
Shortly after he was in the room, a familiar knock sounded.
“Come in,” said Edward.
“And how was your week, silver fox?”
“Eddie,” he said, not sure what had come over him.
“Okay, Eddie. How was your week?”
Eddie took a deep breath. It was fine. Lots of people were called Eddie. There was no way Milo would ever make the connection, especially as nobody but Derek and the PM called him that. How was he to know he’d just made a big mistake?
CHAPTER 7
MILO
Milo was at work making himself a coffee. Patrick was out at an external meeting for the morning. It had been a hectic week so far, with his boss having his schedule derailed every day by some emergency. Milo loved to be busy, but he was looking forward to the weekend when it got here.
Thankfully, he didn’t have to go out and get coffee. They had an excellent machine in the kitchen, which had cost a small fortune, as Milo had seen the invoice. But it was a necessity for journalists, who typically survived on caffeine and adrenaline alone. He was surprised the local coffee shop hadn’t gone into administration when they’d bought it, as everyone stopped going out, apart from Patrick. He liked to go out for coffee and went to a place on the other side of the river for some unknown reason.
“Milo!” screamed Josie, which startled him.
She rushed over and gave him an enthusiastic hug. Josie was the office manager and had been here longer than anybody, even Patrick. She was in her sixties and the biggest gossip he’d ever met. Even though she was a skinny thing, her voice boomed like a foghorn. You always knew when Josie was around.
She was a good person to have on side, because not only was she brilliant at her job, but she knew everything that was going on. It was a surprise she wasn’t a journalist because she was like a bloodhound for sniffing out scandal, especially when it was in the office.
“How was Fuerteventura?” asked Milo.
Josie always went there for the first two weeks of December. It was something she used to do with her late husband, and she had friends who went at the same time every year. It was written in the rulebook that she’d always be off for those two weeks. She’d then work over Christmas and keep things running whilst everyone was with their families. She and her husband had never had children, and she always turned down offers for her to join people for Christmas. Milo suspected she enjoyed spending the big day on her own.
“It was lovely to see everyone again. Did I miss any gossip?” she asked in a whisper.
