“It’s not something that happened. It’s something he did. Deliberately and without even considering what it would mean for us. For your father. For his committees. For the votes he has coming up. For anyone.”
She was past furious. Usually the family could count on her to be the voice of reason. Not this time.
“You coming in?” he asked her.
“I’ve given them my opinion already, and frankly, I shouldn’t be around Bailey right now. I would hate for this situation to get any more acrimonious than it already is, but he has really…the idea that someone with his gifts would flush it all—” Rachel patted Cooper’s arm, her face tight with controlled anger. “It’s better for everyone if I stay out of the way for a while.”
“But…” Cooper didn’t know what to say. His entire life, his mom and dad had been the team in charge of the Murphys’ political fortunes. Other families had holiday traditions, annual vacations or shared religion to keep them together. The Murphys had politics. “Don’t you need to—”
“The thing I don’t need is to see your brother right now.”
Your brother. That’s what she used to call Bailey when he was in high school and had taken some stupid risk or failed to excel in class. At least she hadn’t called him “your goddamn brother.” That was more their dad’s thing.
“Okay. Well. I’ll go in and see what Dad wants.”
She patted his arm again, this time with a tight smile. “You’re going to do fine.”
And that absolutely unreassuring little statement sent his tension soaring.
He was halfway down the hall, a few steps past the dark walnut pocket doors that opened onto the formal living room, when she called after him. “I forgot to ask, did you pick a cake?”
He closed his eyes for half a second but didn’t turn around. “The red velvet was good.”
His mom laughed. “Jorie was right, huh? You’d think you’d trust the wedding planner even if you don’t trust your bride.”
He was going to hate telling her about the wedding. He’d never liked disappointing his mom. As far back as elementary school when he’d rush home to show her his report card, he’d wanted her to be proud of him. It hadn’t always been easy for him. Bailey was the golden boy who’d been marked as their father’s political heir sometime in the few seconds between clearing the birth canal and having the doctor count all his fingers and toes. Other than ending up two inches taller, Cooper had never done anything as well as his brother. If you compared their driver’s licenses, even the height difference was erased because Bailey shared their father’s more flexible approach to the truth.
Which was probably part of the reason for this meeting. Whatever was going on was bad. Bad enough that his mom wasn’t even speaking to Bailey.
WHEN HE PUSHED THE DOOR to the study open, the first thing Cooper noticed was that his brother was standing on the far side of the room, leaning on the low table in front of the window, his back to the other two men. His dad and his cousin Theo were seated together all the way on the opposite side of the room at the library table near the fireplace, notebooks and laptops open, cell phones at their elbows, heads close together as they talked.
Holy crap. Bailey was already out.
He didn’t care what his mom had said about no decisions having been made. It was one hundred percent clear that his dad and Theo were working on a problem and Bailey…across the room by himself…Bailey was that problem. Cooper let his palm rest flat on the heavy swinging door for a moment, the weight of the wood grounding him. He’d grown up knowing his brother was the center of the family universe and now, without warning, Bailey was sidelined. He didn’t know if he should go to his brother or join his dad and cousin. Nothing about this situation was normal.
“Cooper,” his dad said. “Take a seat. We’ve got a lot to cover.”
Bailey didn’t move, still hadn’t looked at him, but his voice was bitter as he said, “You shouldn’t do this to him. Saint Cooper doesn’t know how to say no to you.”
“I’m not the one causing problems,” Nolan said. “Cooper will do what needs to be done. What’s right for the family. He understands what’s expected of him. He’s not the one who’s been carrying on behind his wife’s back with an investment banker who’s going to give birth to his illegitimate child smack in the middle of his reelection campaign!” He practically shouted the last words.
So much for having a lot to cover, Cooper thought. Senator Bailey Murphy of Pennsylvania, married to one woman and having a baby with another. Not much more to explain, was there?
Nolan pointed at the chair next to him. “Let’s go, Cooper. We need you now.”
He stepped into the room, letting the door swish closed behind him, but he didn’t sit down. Bailey still hadn’t turned around. Cooper had grown up worshipping Bailey. He was the kind of magnetic, larger-than-life guy a little brother either hated or idolized. He didn’t inspire moderate reactions in anyone. Even his election had been a landslide, but then, the voters of Pennsylvania had been making a statement about more than the telegenic, charismatic Murphy heir. Their dad had resigned his seat when he’d been tapped as a vice-presidential nominee. It had been an enormous coup, but marked the end of his career when his ticket got crushed in the election. He’d thrown his weight behind Bailey as the Senate candidate in the special election to fill his seat, and the voters of Pennsylvania turned out to honor him by electing his son.
Working with and for Bailey the past six years had deepened his relationship with his brother, but Cooper didn’t exactly worship him anymore. He still loved him. He admired him, and more than anything else, he knew him. Bailey was in pain. The way he’d lashed out now meant that whatever he’d done, it hadn’t been a whim. His brother was serious.
“Well, since I’m not married, it stands to reason I couldn’t mess around with anyone, much less an investment banker, behind my wife’s back,” Cooper said. “Besides, I’ve never been a money guy.”
“See?” the bitterness was still in Bailey’s voice. “I told you to leave him out of this—he doesn’t want to be involved.”
“And I told you to shut up about two hours ago,” Nolan said. “Try to see if you can do a better job keeping your mouth zipped than you did with your pants.”
Cooper winced, but he could hear the hurt in his father’s tone. His dad swore he only had high expectations for Bailey because he was capable of meeting them. Nothing made him angrier than the thought that Bailey was throwing away opportunities.
Theo tapped his pen on the table. “Whoa, guys, we agreed sniping at each other wasn’t productive.” He was wearing jeans and a hoodie from Georgetown and his Steelers cap was turned backward, but he still managed to sound like the three-hundred-dollar-an-hour lawyer he was. “Let’s get Cooper up to speed and then we’ll see where to go next. The clock is ticking—the more time we waste, the bigger chance we have of losing our one shot at spinning this our way.”
When he finished, Nolan was still glaring at Bailey’s back as if he hadn’t even spoken. Theo gave Cooper a “please help me” look. Cooper liked his cousin. Theo was supersmart and he had a wicked sense of humor. It made him a sought-after speaker and an excellent storyteller at the bar after a few glasses of Scotch. Not that he told stories about his family, but there were always tales to be told about somebody in Washington.
Theo thought Cooper was a soft touch—hell, everyone in his family thought he was. But he respected Cooper’s opinion. He pushed a chair out from the table with his foot and Cooper hesitated before sitting down. He didn’t want to be there, but this was his family. He’d do what he had to to help them out.
“Should I ask Mom to come in before we start?”
“Mom’s not talking to me,” Bailey muttered. “If