Page 114 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

“Well, that was a significant error on his part.” Nick glanced at Terry. “Please ask the secretary to come in.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Give him thirty minutes to get here.”

“Yes, sir.”

They left the Situation Room to return to the Oval Office, where Nick met privately with Terry.

“What’s your plan, sir?”

“I’ll request his resignation in exchange for not asking the Justice Department to investigate and potentially charge him.”

“That was going to be my recommendation.”

Having to fire the secretary of State on his fourth day in office wasn’t Nick’s idea of a good time, but it had to be done.

“I’ve also heard officially from the secretaries of the Treasury, Homeland Security and Education that they’re not planning to stay on. Each will be submitting their resignations in the coming days.”

“We’ll need to name acting secretaries until permanent appointees can be confirmed.”

“I’ll work on that.”

“Trevor and the communications team would like a bit of time this afternoon to prepare you and Mrs. Cappuano for the interview tonight.”

“I can’t guarantee she’ll be available for that.”

“It’s highly recommended, sir. That interview will set the tone for your entire administration.”

“I’ll see what I can do to get her here early, but that’s the best I can do.” After Terry left the office, Nick called Sam’s secure phone.

“Mr. President. What can I do for you?”

Her voice was enough to send a shiver of desire down his spine. Any time away from her was time he wished he was spending with her. It had been that way from the day they reconnected nearly two years ago. Even before that, he’d longed for her after having spent one night with her six years before they found each other again.

“Nick?”

“I’m here. How’s your day going?”

“Not bad so far. I’m about to sit down with my squad. I’ve got about two minutes.”

“I wondered if you could be here around five to prep for the interview tonight.”

“Oh, um…”

“Did you forget about the interview?”

“Of course not.”

“Are you lying to me?”

“Would I do that?”

He laughed at the way she said that. “Never.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Thank you. For this, for the photo of our beautiful family, for rearranging my desk and a million other things you don’t want to do that I’m going to ask of you over the next few years.”