“What does that mean?”
“It means the party believes Nelson won’t be able to hold on to his presidency.”
“Please drown me right now. Hold my head under and keep it there. That’ll be a less painful way to go.”
He laughed, and then kissed her. “Maybe we could hold each other under and go together.”
“We can’t do that to Scotty, and besides, Brant would rescue us, that bastard.”
“Yeah, he would.”
“Could we fake our own deaths and take Scotty with us?” she asked, brightening.
“I like that idea. We could take over an island in the South Pacific and live off coconuts, rum and nonstop sex. I could totally get on board with that plan.”
“Scotty would miss his friends, baseball and video games. And the nonstop sex might annoy him too.”
Nick kissed her nose and then her lips. “And you’d miss your dad, your sisters and your squad.”
“How can this be actually happening? You were appointed vice president and could inherit the presidency. Is that even legal?”
“Unfortunately, yes. It would make me the ‘luckiest’ politician in history by getting to hold the two highest offices in the land without spending a single day on the campaign trail.”
“Yay for luck,” she said, profoundly depressed by the prospect. Sure, they’d known it was possible he could ascend to the presidency if he became vice president, but neither of them had ever thought it would actually happen—not like this anyway. “Maybe Nelson really had no knowledge of what his son was up to.”
“That’s entirely possible, but Halliwell doesn’t think it’s going to matter in the final analysis. It’s telling that the party is preparing for life after Nelson. It means his own supporters are turning against him, and the hearings haven’t even started yet.”
Sam closed her eyes, put her hands over her ears and began to chant. “Lalalalalalalala. Can’t hear you.”
He tweaked her nipples, which startled her out of her tantrum. “That’s no way for the potential first lady to behave.”
“Still can’t hear you. Lalalalalala.”
This time he kissed the protest off her lips, subduing her the way only he could. He kissed her until she had forgotten what she was protesting. Oh right. That. Ugh! “No matter what happens, one thing will never change and that’s you and me and us and this. We got this. No matter what. Tell me you agree.”
“Don’t wanna.”
“Samantha... I need this. I need you. Tell me.”
She gave him her best mulish look.
He tipped his head adorably, imploring her with his eyes and that face. Dear God, that face... She loved him more than anything, and there was, literally, nothing she wouldn’t do for him, which she proved beyond a shadow of a doubt when she said, “We’ve got this. No matter what.”
His arms banded around her as he rested his face against the curve of her neck, his nearness sending tingles to all her most important places. “It’s going to be okay, babe. I promise.”
He’d never broken a promise to her yet, so she held on to his assurances as tightly as she held on to him while he guided them over every wave that threatened to topple them. But deep inside, in a place she rarely allowed her thoughts to stray, she was afraid—deeply afraid of what was to come for him—and for them.
LATER THAT NIGHT, gathered around a fire on the beach with Nick, her sisters and their husbands, as well as Sam’s partner, Freddie Cruz and his fiancée, Elin Svendsen, Sam tried to relax and enjoy the stories, the laughter, the endless flow of cocktails and the s’mores that Sam’s brother-in-law Mike made for everyone. They’d talked Freddie and Elin into spending the night on the pullout sofa in the living room, and she’d even gotten her straitlaced partner to indulge in a few beers. Scotty and his cousins had been sent to bed an hour ago.
With a full moon hanging over the beach, a sky filled with stars, a warm breeze blowing in from the ocean and most of her favorite people beside her or nearby, Sam should’ve been having the time of her life. But she hadn’t been able to shake off the feeling of foreboding from this morning, or forget what Nick had told her about the call from Halliwell. They had a policy of not keeping stuff from each other, but she wished he’d kept that bombshell to himself, at least until their vacation was over.
Apparently, she sucked at hiding her disquiet, because people had been asking her all day what was wrong, including her astute partner, who looked at her now with concern and dismay.
“Ah, screw it,” Sam said, startling the others with her outburst. “Tell them what you told me earlier.”
Nick glanced at her. “Do I have to?”
“Yes, you have to. If I have to be freaking out about it, everyone else does too.”
“The rules according to Sam,” Tracy said with a grin. “Spill it, Nick.”
“The DNC chair, Halliwell, called yesterday to ask if I had a vice president in mind.”
The statement was met with complete silence.
“Fuck,” Spencer finally said. “That means the party is losing confidence in Nelson’s ability to hang on.”
“Right.” Nick tended to the fire, adding another log and poking at it until the flame flared up.
No one said a word, and Sam began to regret tossing a bomb into their good time. “I didn’t mean to ruin everyone’s fun.”
“You didn’t,” Angela said. “This is a big deal. No wonder you’ve been so quiet today.”
“You should’ve enjoyed the quiet while you had the chance,” Sam said, smiling at her sister.
“What did you say to Halliwell, Nick?” Freddie asked.
“I told him I haven’t given a single thought to a VP—and I won’t until I have to. He said it might be time to start thinking.”
“From everything Nelson has said and done since his son’s arrest,” Mike said, “I don’t see him going down without a fight.”
“I don’t either,” Nick said. “But he’ll be under tremendous pressure to put the country ahead of himself. Depending on what comes out during the hearings, he may not be able to fight the tide.”
Tracy reached for Sam’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You guys have every good reason to be freaking out.”
Sam held on tight to her sister’s hand. “It’s not like we didn’t know this was possible, but we didn’t expect... Not like this...”
“Why would you expect the sitting president’s son to go so far as to kill your ex-husband for info he could use against you and your vice president husband because the son has political aspirations of his own?” Freddie asked.
Sam smiled at him. “When you put it that way...”
“No one could’ve seen this coming,” Mike said bluntly. “It’s right out of a blockbuster Hollywood thriller, which is why the press is salivating over every detail. I saw one report that the cable news channels are enjoying the highest ratings in history since this story broke.”
“Awesome,” Nick said dryly. “Glad we’re able to help their ratings.”
Leaning on his knees, Mike leaned forward, his expression earnest. “I don’t think either of you has fully grasped just how invested the American people are