Page 23 of Heartless Sinner

That was the truth. I did.

I also wasn’t worried about some stupid motherfucker shooting me. I was more worried about them going after my mother or Adelina. If someone even tried, I’d rip their fucking throat out, boil it, then make their family eat it for Thanksgiving dinner.

Clouds swallowed the sun as a cold raindrop smacked into my cheek.

Thanks, Mother Nature.

That was why I always recycled.

I was ready to bid them farewell when one question stopped me.

“Why are you okay with Adelina still being friends with Daphne Kenward?” a nasally voice asked. “We’ve heard rumors she was maybe behind the last attempt to take your father’s life.”

I searched the crowd for the man who’d asked the question. He held the microphone with shaky hands while waiting for my reply.

A few weeks ago, my father had survived assassination attempt number fucking two. Everyone knew the vice president was behind that one. Not the blond beauty I was obsessed with.

I counted to five to stop myself from shoving the microphone down his scrawny throat.

I faked a smile. “Disgraced Senator Kenward’s daughter was in no way responsible for any assassination attempt on my father.” I cleared my throat. “If she had been, I’m sure she would’ve had better aim than the losers who were responsible.”

A few reporters chuckled. Those without cameras jotted down my quote in their notebooks.

By tonight, every cable news network and political podcast would be dissecting that quote.

Was Brooks Byron joking?

Or wasn’t he?

Let them figure that shit out.

I turned and walked toward the sleek black armored sedan waiting for me.

It was time I told my father I’d chosen my Fawn for the year.

I already knew hell was about to break loose.

“Absolutely fucking not,” my father roared, slamming his fist onto the Resolute Desk.

The glass of bourbon sitting there rattled against its marble coaster.

He snatched the drink and drained enough of it to make the ice smack against his teeth before dragging a hand down his face, like hearing Daphne’s name had physically dirtied him.

Raindrops tapped against the windows as the Resolute Desk stood between us.

The same desk where I’d fucked Daphne.

Every time I stepped into the Oval Office, I saw her spread across that desk. Wet and waiting for me. I could still hear every sound she’d failed to keep quiet while I thrusted inside her. Could still remember the way her perfume had clung to my shirt afterward.

The second I became president, this office would be the first thing I remodeled. I couldn’t run a country in here.

He exhaled sharply before dropping his hand to the desk. “I already have to tolerate Adelina being friends with her. That stupid bitch should’ve been gone from our lives years ago.”

I gripped the arm of my chair and fought the urge to put my fist through my father’s face. Only I got to speak about Daphne that way.

“I refuse to allow you to choose her.” He stared me down. “I’ll fight it.”

He could do that too.