Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 96802 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 484(@200wpm)___ 387(@250wpm)___ 323(@300wpm)
“Stop pacing,” I ground out. “If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose. You’ve done everything you can.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I can always do more.”
But she stopped pacing.
“You’re coming to the party tonight? It would look good to have you onstage with me for the win.”
“Unlike the last month where you wanted me nowhere near your events?”
Her eyes hardened. “I would have loved to have your support. But at that time, it wasn’t advisable. We’ll see if everything Anna has done is valuable.”
Anna. I almost laughed. I’d gotten so used to calling her English that Anna almost felt strange. “English is great at her job. Even if she drives me crazy.”
“Good. That means she’s keeping you in line.”
I kept a tight rein on what I wanted to say to that comment.
A knock sounded on the door. Thank fuck for that interruption.
“Come in,” my mother called.
The door opened, and a face appeared. A face I hadn’t seen in months.
“Penn?” I asked in surprise. I stepped forward and shook my younger brother’s hand. “I didn’t think you were back from Paris.”
He’d disappeared at the start of the summer. Literally left the day after my arrest with no intention of returning until the semester began at Columbia, where he was a philosophy professor. I didn’t blame him one bit for ditching the summer campaign season.
“Just got back today,” he said.
“What a surprise,” our mother said with a genuine smile on her face. “I hope you voted.”
Penn pushed the door open a little wider. “We both did.”
And standing there in a green sundress was Natalie Bishop. She grinned up at my brother as if he was the only one in the room. The center of her entire universe. I wondered what that felt like.
“Hello, Mayor Kensington,” Natalie said, taking a step inside. Penn closed the door behind her as her gaze shifted to me. “Hi, Court.”
“Natalie,” my mother said with raised eyebrows. “Were you both in Paris this whole summer?”
“Actually,” Penn said, taking Natalie’s hand in his, “we have something we wanted to tell you both.”
Natalie held up her left hand. “We got married.”
My jaw dropped open. I didn’t have to look at my mother to know that she was making the same face. I jumped in before she could say something stupid.
“Fuck! Congrats, man.” I held my hand out for him again and shook it. Then, I dragged Natalie in for a hug. “You’re family now… Natalie Kensington.”
Natalie flushed. “I suppose I am.”
“When did this happen?” our mother asked, shock evident in her voice.
“In May, in Paris,” Penn said.
“But… it’s not legal in the States if you were married in France,” she said, calculating something in that quick mind of hers. “You’ll need a ceremony here.”
Penn grinned. It was a Kensington grin that said he’d already figured that out. “We actually went to the courthouse this morning to make it official here.”
“I guess we have two wedding dates now,” Natalie said with a strained laugh.
I could see that she was trying to hold it together in front of our mother. I knew they had fraught history. But who fucking cared? Mommy dearest was going to have to get used to it now. Penn never did anything this rash. It was fucking great.
“A reception,” my mother blurted out. “You’ll let me throw a reception.”
Penn and Natalie exchanged a glance. They’d already discussed this, too. That made sense if they’d had all summer to plan out this attack.
“We’d love you to,” Natalie said kindly.
“Wonderful,” she said. “Just wonderful.”
Then, she stepped around her enormous desk and came to face her son and daughter-in-law. To my surprise, she pulled Natalie into a hug.
“It’ll be great, having you in the family.”
And she sounded sincere.
Natalie swallowed and nodded her head. “Thank you.”
“What this means is, we need drinks,” I insisted. “Have to toast the newlyweds.”
My mother and Penn rolled their eyes at the exact same time. But Natalie just laughed.
“That sounds like a good time. Right, Penn?”
Penn shrugged. “I could go for a drink.”
“Have one at the victory party tonight,” my mother said. “We’ll have two things to celebrate then.”
“Oh right, the party,” Penn said. His eyes cut to mine, and he arched an eyebrow. “I forgot.”
“You’ll have to be there to show off that pretty diamond to everyone,” my mother insisted.
She tugged Natalie aside and began to discuss stuff for the reception. Already, Natalie looked overwhelmed.
“So… getting married without all the fanfare during campaign season. Nicely done, little brother.”
He shook his head. “How have you been? Dealing with the arrest all right? I didn’t hear much while I was gone. Charges were dropped?”
I shrugged. “Charges were never officially filed. Mom thought they were going to come back with questions for us. It was in a lot of the papers that I was getting charged. But it never panned out. Mom did the only sensible thing and hired me a publicist. Can you believe that I get to play the part of the golden boy of the Upper East Side?”