Page 211 of Incisive

Leo and I didn’t exactly start a food fight but I playfully pushed the piece of cake into Leo’s nose, and then he did it back to me, and before I knew it both our faces were covered in frosting, we were laughing our asses off, and everyone else was laughing and applauding and egging us on.

And then we kissed and, no pun intended, it was the sweetest kiss in the world. Maybe the sweetest kiss ever.

It was the kiss of a guy who’d finally de-assed his head, decided to move forward with his life, and grabbed love with both fists and held on tight.

Then we both turned and smeared Jordan’s face with cake and somehow managed not to kiss him in the process.

Although that was hard to remember not to do.

At the museum, during the first part of the tour Kayley and I walk arm-in-arm behind Leo and my mom, while Dad walks with Jordan, and Leo’s parents bring up the rear as we follow the curators.

“You’re spending your honeymoon night, with all your in-laws, in a museum,” Kayley softly teases. “How romaaaannntic.”

“Hey, have youseensome of the fertility artifacts they have in their collection? They’re haaaawwwt.”

She giggles. “Since it’s obvious you aren’t doing things traditionally, can you spare a few minutes to talk when we get back? All three of you. Without our parents around.”

“Yeah, sure.” Unease rolls in my gut. “Will I need alcohol?”

“Might not be a bad idea.”

We don’t return to the White House until nearly midnight. My parents are exhausted and head straight to bed. Leo’s parents say good-night and retire, too.

Leo’s smile fades once his parents have closed their bedroom door. “Let’s go into the living room,” he softly says, his tone all business. “I have a feeling I’ll need booze for this.”

Jordan closes the door behind us and he and Leo pour our drinks. Once we’re seated and have the TV turned on, just in case we need the extra noise to cover our conversation or one of our parents unexpectedly pops in to check on us, Kayley leans forward in her chair.

She props her elbows on her knees while she slowly rolls her glass back and forth in her hands. “This certainly was an eventful day.”

“Thanks for the distraction earlier,” I tell her. “With Ellis.”

She nods but Jordan scowls. “What? What’d I miss?” Leo tells him and Jordan looks murderous. “Thatfucker.”

“Leaveit,” Leo says. “Donotretaliate.”

Indignant, Jordan’s jaw gapes. “Why thehellnot?”

“Because they’renotworth it,” Kayley says. She sips her drink. “It might have been better not to invite them today. While I agree you were right not to cave to their demands upon their arrival, the dressing down your mom and dad and President Samuels gave them, followed by the embarrassment they experienced with their peers at the reception, might have been a bridge too far.”

“Those aren’t Ellis and Stella’s peers,” I snark. “They actually have a few ethics and a desire to uphold the Constitution.”

Jordan’s seated on the sofa between us. He turns sideways and drapes his legs over Leo’s lap while leaning against me so I can drape my arm around him. “IknewI should have let their invite get ‘lost’ in the mail,” he mutters before sipping his drink.

“That would have been worse,” Kayley says. “I mean, easier in the short-term at the event, but worse in terms of the bad PR and narcissistic injury they would have publicly nursed and milked for weeks. They would have complained they were ostracized because of their politics. It would always be brought up by hostile interviewers, and mentioned in right-wing podcasts and articles. Theylivefor shit like that, the professional victimhood. It’s baked into their DNA because there’s no positive substance to build their framework of views upon.”

“True,” Leo says.

“Guess I need to tell you about my exchange with Stella during our dance,” I say, and then recount the conversation.

Jordan snorts, an evil smirk quirking his lips while Leo slowly nods and Kayley melodramatically sighs and shakes her head.

“Do I need to definenotpoking the narcissists to you, Elliot?”

“So what didyoumean earlier,” I ask her. “When you said you needed to know what cards Leo hasn’t flipped over yet.”

She focuses on her brother. “What elsedoyou have on them? I’m guessing, based on what you’ve revealed to me, and Stella’s reaction to Elliot, that you have a lot more, or that there’s a deeper vein of oppo research you could mine but haven’t yet.”

He takes a sip to buy him some time. “I can’t tell you that,” he finally says, glancing at me and Jordan. “I mean I do have more, yes. But I can’t tell you more than I already have, much less how I came by it. Plausible deniability. Some of what I know was obtained in ways that could get people arrested. I can’t risk spreading that liability to others. Especially to you three. Iwon’trisk it.”