Page 139 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

“Car trouble, apparently.”

“I’ll call him. Any word on Dani?”

“Nothing yet. I called Gigi to let her know what happened. She was relieved to hear Dani is sick and not something worse.”

“As am I. I’m going to talk to Calvin Worthington’s mother. I’ll be back in an hour or two. Let me know if you hear anything from Dani.”

“Will do.”

Sam started to walk away but stopped herself since she rarely got a moment for a one-on-one with Green without others nearby. “What you said the other day about Gigi…”

He grimaced. “Moment of weakness, Lieutenant. Didn’t mean to cross any lines.”

“You didn’t cross lines. You expressed your truth. Now I’m wondering what you’re going to do about it.”

“Because Gigi and I work together,” he said, nodding. “I get that it’s a problem—”

“Cameron. Stop. I’m not asking because you work together. I’m asking because the last I knew you had a girlfriend, and it seemed kind of serious. This is your personal business, so if I’m the one crossing lines, feel free to say so. It’s just that I was there the other day in the hospital, and I know what I saw.”

His cheek ticked with tension. “What did you see?”

“A man who cares deeply for a woman, even if he’s not supposed to.”

He blew out a deep breath, his shoulders hunching. “I’m crazy about her, even though I’ve told myself a million times not to be.”

Sam leaned against Freddie’s desk. “Why’s that?”

“She was with Ezra, who’d been giving her a hard time for a while before he lost his shit and put her in the hospital. I’ve been with Jaycee for almost a year, and I know she thinks we’re heading for happily ever after. Jaycee is great, and I like her so much, but…”

“You don’t love her.”

He shook his head.

“And you might love Gigi?”

“I think it’s more than possible that I love Gigi.”

“Do you want my advice?”

“God, yes. I have no idea what to do, and I’ve been tied up in knots over this for months, all the while knowing she was with a guy who so totally didn’t deserve her.”

“You didn’t know me before I was married to Nick, but you were here when my ex-husband, Peter, was murdered, so you know I had an ex. I met Nick six years before we ended up together. I was living with Peter when I first met Nick. Peter was my platonic roommate, or so I thought. Turns out, though, he decided not to give me messages from Nick because he was interested in me himself. The whole time I was with Peter, I was thinking about that amazing guy I met that one night and wondering why I never heard from him. My greatest regret is that I didn’t go to his house and ask him why he never called me. If I’d done that, I could’ve skipped the entire miserable four years I spent married to the wrong guy. Do you get why I’m telling you this?”

“I think I do.”

“I married Peter knowing I was in love with someone else. I blame myself even more than him for the disaster our marriage was. There’s absolutely nothing like being with the right one. You already know what you need to do as far as Jaycee is concerned. You don’t need me to tell you that.”

“No, I don’t,” he said with a sigh.

“If you were going to love her, Cam, you would by now.”

He nodded. “You’re right, and I really appreciate your advice. Do I need to worry about a conflict if something happens with Gigi?”

“We’ll keep you on separate shifts. Should be fine.”

“When I heard about Nick becoming president, you know what my first thought was?”

“What’s that?”