Page 214 of Innocent

Wecan endure anything. Ifeelit.

I’m convinced Mimi would have loved both of them if she’d met them, and have loved both of them as my partners.

Despite how busy we are, I want amoment. We’ve damn well earned it after all these years of frustration and denial. I nuzzle my head against Elliot and his other hand comes to rest on top of my head, too.

Leo also reaches down and strokes my hair.

Love swells and fills my heart, into every cranny, chasing away every shadow. I’ll follow these men into hell and back. Forget follow—I’ll lead the bloody charge myself, if they ask me to. Iabsolutelywill. I’ll do anything for them.

Anything.

* * * *

I arrange for Leo to ride with Elliot and me to campaign headquarters after we leave the White House. Normally, I’d guess this would make Elliot nervous and twitchy as hell, but not tonight.

Tonight, he seems fully relaxed and at ease in a way I haven’t seen him since I’ve returned. Like we’ve finally hit his bedrock and can excavate and free the man he’s truly meant to be.

Sexy AF.

Do I think he won’t have low points and periods of self-doubt? Of course not.

Inthismoment, however, I see his true potential. The man who will stand steady at the nation’s helm during the darkest of moments. The leader we will desperately need to stay strong and calm when the world around us precariously shakes.

The statesman who will remain tall and unbroken when the rest of the country bows and trembles.

In the shadows, Leo and I will be the ones who apply the balm to his soul and strap his supports in place to keep him vertical. No one can ever know that. Any of it.

At campaign headquarters, we get Leo an official ID badge and I put him in the small office with me, right next to Elliot’s office.

Yes, it’s a nice symmetry.

I am not unaware.

We order takeout and sit in the conference room to eat with everyone. This is the core lead campaign staff gathered tonight. The director and his deputy, treasurer, comms director, press secretary, policy chief, volunteer director, head of IT, and a few others. The ones who will play key roles throughout this process.

Including some doe-eyed guy who’s apparently working in the polling bullpen. He seems eager, but he’s not exactly experienced.

By “not exactly experienced,” I mean that I look like an old political hack in comparison. He was hired by Ed Lester, our polling expert, who’s not here tonight. I remember Doe Eyes also being in that first meeting when the door got shut in my face, so at least I don’t have to worry about him trying to push me around because he’s “staff” and I’m not.

As we eat, Leo and I sit back and observe. I understand now why Leo’s so good at what he does. Many times over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself channeling what I felt was his calm and steady nature. Not that I always felt it, but again, I’m good at wearing disguises.

Elliot is a complex man with many facets. Tonight, I see the informal professional side.

Sexy AF.

Leo and I exchange glances occasionally. But we don’t interrupt them. I haven’t heard anything requiring my input, either.

Believe me, if I had, I’d be speaking my mind.

I won’t remain silent if I think someone’s steering my boy in the wrong direction. Leo will back me up on that, but in this case, my opinion will carry far more weight.

Elliot is heir-apparent to the political legacy created by ShaeLynn Samuels. I’m heir-apparent to Kevin Markos’ legacy of political strategy. The fact that I don’t sit here and run my mouth without something important to say only serves to give extra weight to my words when I decide to speak up and make myself heard.

It’s after eleven p.m. when I finally clear my throat. “We need to wrap this up for tonight. It’s time to get the vice president home. He’s got an early morning tomorrow.”

I can tell Ken Windham and Camden Bruno, the campaign manager and his deputy, want more time with Elliot, but I stand firm. “We’ll come over tomorrow,” I tell them. “I know it makes for a late night for you guys, but my job is to think about his health. The vice president’s no good to anyone on the campaign trail if he’s cranky and can’t think straight.”

From the slow nod Leo gives me when I glance his way, I can tell he approves of how I’m handling this.