Page 102 of Incisive

“That fucking cunt,” he mutters.

“Easy, buddy,” Leo says. I don’t miss how he’s not stepping in and taking over from Jordan. “What have I always warned you?” Leo adds.

Jordan doesn’t miss a beat. “To never leave trace evidence?”

I struggle not to snort bourbon through my nose as I laugh and choke, all while a playfully evil smile curls my Sir’s lips.

“Yes,” Leo chuckles, “but I didn’t meanthat. Whatelsehave I always warned you about? Meaning advice that’s immediately applicable inthissituation?”

Jordan walks over and sits on my other side. “Not to rush into revenge,” he finally says. “Because it’s better to step back and wait and plan and hope karma, or their own stupidity, takes care of things for you before you need to act, leaving your hands clean.”

“Exactly,” Leo says. “We don’t need to kick that hornet nest right now. Let’s wait and see what happens. Although, to be honest, I think letting staff off their leashes and removing Stella from off-limits territory is a wise move. If you don’t rein Stella in, no telling what kind of wild bullshit she’ll try in the future. It only emboldens Ellis if you don’t smack her down and keep her in her place. We need to embed the fear of failure and public humiliation into her and him, both.”

“Don’t you mean the fear of god, Daddy?” Jordan asks.

“No. Assholes like Ellis don’t fear anything but failure and losing face. I doubt he honestly believes in any god, regardless of the lies he shovels at church congregations when he goes to them begging for their dollars and their votes.” My eyes drop closed as Leo buries a hand in my hair and starts massaging my scalp. “Where are we with the info on the AG investigations about his family’s dealerships?” he asks Jordan.

“One of my sources says there will likely be a grand jury indictment handed down by January 15th in Georgia,” Jordan says. “And Alabama will most likely have their grand jury empaneled by mid-February. Florida’s still building their case because there’s a lot more evidence to go through and witnesses to interview. Not to mention, some of Ellis’ buddies in state government and the legislature have been trying to gum up the investigation but it’s still chugging along and gaining steam.”

“Excellent.”

They continue talking about Ellis’ impending legal jeopardy as if I’m not even there, which I’m fine with. I don’t need to know any of this. In fact, it’s best Idon’tknow any of it. Let them handle it for me.

Not just for plausible deniability but because I need every available brain cell to remain focused on my job and my self-care, not on my brother-in-law’s hopefully imploding life.

I only tune in again when my men both fall silent for a moment.

“Coordinate with Casey-Marie and Ken Windham,” Leo tells Jordan. “Keep the details close to your vest but schedule Elliot’s official campaign announcement to take place the same day the grand jury is announced, if at all possible. Make sure Stella is standing right behind the boy and smiling a mile wide when he announces.”

I know Jordan’s making notes on his burner phone because I hear the softtapsas his fingers fly across the screen. “What about Ellis?” Jordan asks amid more rapidtapping. I know it’s his burner phone because no way he’d take notes like this on either his official or personal phones. Once he transfers his notes to shreddable paper, he’ll delete the phone notes, too.

“Nope. Make it clear to Stella that Ellis is not allowed through the door, and if she doesn’t want to be permanently excommunicated from the White House or other official events during the rest of El’s tenure, shewillbe present with bells on.”

“Got it.”

“It sends a very clear message where her loyalties lay if she’s publicly at El’s announcement event and not with Ellis as the shit hits the fan.”

“Meaning we don’t tell her what the event is until after she shows up?”

Leo chuckles. “Exactly. Wouldn’t shock me if she guesses but be bitchy and don’t confirm it.”

Even I smile.

Leo stops massaging my scalp and his fingers close around my now-empty glass. I let him take it and when he stands, I shift position so I’m leaning against Jordan instead. Jordan nuzzles my head with his but I hear he’s still typing notes into his burner phone.

“You’re an evil Daaaaddy but I loooove you,” Jordan jokes in a sing-song voice, cracking up me and Leo both. It’s a variation of a line from one of Leo’s favorite songs.

“I can be,” Leo says from what sounds like the area of the wet bar. “That is, if the petisrunning for re-election.”

Another long pause, this time from both of them. When I process Jordan’s no longer typing I realize they’re waiting on me to respond.

Finally opening my eyes, I sit back and nod as I run my hands through my hair. “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Let’snotmake that your campaign slogan,” Jordan snarks.

Leo’s pouring more bourbon, two glasses for him and Jordan and another, only a little this time, for me. “I think we can do way better than that for a campaign slogan,” he says, picking up all three glasses and carrying them over to us before he retakes his seat on my other side, except sitting half-turned toward me this time.

“But we need to know how youreallyfeel, El.” He stares into my eyes. “We want whateveryouwant, and we’ll remain by your side regardless of what you decide. It’s perfectly okay to want to run again. It’s perfectly okay to choosenotto run again. If you do run, it’s also perfectly okay to have doubts during the campaign because that only means you’re human like the rest of us.