Page 38 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

“Tell me you understand that regardless of what he just said about not running, they won’t let him bow out, not as the incumbent,” Scotty said, his gaze earnest and intense.

“As I’ve asked many times before—whose idea was it to send you to school?”

“Definitely not mine,” he said, as he usually did.

“I hear what you’re saying, but I can’t think about that tonight.” Not when Nick had been at the White House for more than fourteen hours—on his first day as president.

Eli was scrolling through his phone. “Twitter liked what he had to say. For the most part.”

“What does that mean?” Sam asked, even though she didn’t really want to know.

“There’re detractors, of course. Always will be.”

“They make me nervous,” Sam said. “That people will hate him simply because of the office he holds. They won’t even give him a chance because he’s from an opposing party or has ideas they don’t agree with.”

“That goes with the territory in politics,” Scotty said. “You’ll never please everyone, no matter how hard you try.”

Sam put her arm around him and kissed the top of his head. “You’re very wise, Scott Cappuano.”

“Did Dad say what took him to the Situation Room?”

“He didn’t. That’s where the secret stuff happens.”

“I hope it’s nothing big.”

“Me too.”

Sam was dead asleep when something woke her. The clock read three ten. She realized what had woken her was Nick getting into bed. Turning, she curled up to him. “So late.”

“Sorry to wake you.”

“I tried to wait for you. Is everything okay?”

“Nope. Not at all okay.”

“Can you talk about it?”

“I’m not supposed to.”

“Can we make a deal on day one—or I guess it’s day two now?”

“What kind of deal?”

“The kind where you can tell me anything, and it’ll never be repeated to anyone even under threat of torture.”

“Jesus, Sam. Don’t put that horror in my mind when I’ve got plenty of others already there.” He ran his fingers through her hair the way he often did, but every muscle in his body felt tense. “I’ll take your deal, and I’ll tell you the secretary of State and his detail have been detained by the Iranians.”

“Detained. What does that mean?”

“Not allowed to leave.” He slumped back against the pillows. “The Air Force pilots were told to take off, but they refused to leave without the secretary and his detail, so now the plane, with two dozen military flight crew, civilian support staff and traveling press corps, is surrounded by Iranian forces, and we’ve got ourselves a full-fledged international incident.”

Sam’s mouth had gone dry as her anxiety spiked into the red zone with every word he said. Just over twenty-four hours ago, this would’ve been Nelson’s problem. Now it was Nick’s. “What are your advisers saying?”

“The chairman of the Joint Chiefs thinks it’s a test to see what I’ll do. They say Nelson’s death created an opportunity.”

“What’re you doing?”

“We’re meeting at seven to go over the options the others are preparing for me overnight. Everyone is involved, from intelligence to military to allies. I may have to send in special forces, which could lead to war if it goes badly. Of course, them detaining our secretary of State is an act of war in itself, but the goal is to not let it blow up into an actual war.”