Page 34 of Desire

She walks over to him and hugs him, nods when he whispers something in her ear, then kisses the top of her head even as he’s looking at me and I’m nodding.

We get the kidsup and moving, and they’re happy to see Uncle Kev. I can see he’s happy to see them, too. I’d hoped this would help him, reminding him these kidslovehim.

His strength comes not from within, but knowing someone else needs him. If he wants to make it through the next couple of weeks, he’ll have to take that to heart.

While he’s sitting with the kids for breakfast, I follow Shae into the bedroom,and into the large, walk-in closet area.

I grab her by the throat and slam her against the wall almost hard enough to drive the wind out of her.

She’s shocked, stunned, not expecting the sadist right now, but I need to jumpstart this process or we’re all fucked, and especially poor Kev. “Do youreallylove that man out there?”

“Y-yes, Sir,” she whispers.

“Do you want to win?” I growl in herface.

“Yes, Sir!”

“Then get yourheadout of your fuckingassand into the game, girl. If you lose this election, it’ll break Prophet’s heart. Do you want to do that?”

Her eyes widen. “N-no, Sir!”

“Okay, then. Fake it until you make it, girl. Day after the election, we can all chill out and have a long cry together, but don’t youdarefucking let that man down. This is an order fromme. Doyou understand?”

Mega asshole dick move?

Check.

Do I care?

Nope.

“Yes, Sir.”

In this case, the means totally justify the ends. I will do whatever I fucking have to for my boy. I will kill and die for him.

I will break out every psychological dirty trick in my book.

I would divorce my wife, if need be. And yes, Idolove her, aminlove with her.

But I willnotlet my boy down.

Failureisnotan option.

Stick…

Meet carrot.

I lean in and kiss her, hard, the sadist still in residence. “He needs a win, sweetheart. You’re theonlyone who can give it to him. I know you won’t let him down.”

I see the firefinallyreturn to her eyes.

Thank god.

I release her throat and pull her into my arms. “You got this, baby. It’s yours. Reach out andtakeit.”

She hugs me, hard, then stepsout of my embrace to start getting ready.

I return to the dining room, where the kids are finishing up breakfast. “Come on, gang. Let’s move it,” I tell them.