Page 73 of State of Affairs (First Family 1)

“Briefings about other nightmares that await me.”

“In other words, some light bedtime reading?”

“Exactly.”

And it was the last thing he needed. “Why don’t you put it down for now so you’ll have a prayer of sleeping tonight?”

“Not sure I’ll sleep again until I’m out of office, but I’ve certainly had enough of this day.” He closed the book and dropped it to the floor. It landed with a loud crash that made them both laugh.

“That’s a whole lot of nightmare right there,” Sam said.

“Sure is.”

Sam held her arms out to him. “Come here.”

“Don’t mind if I do.”

He snuggled up to her, placing his head on her chest and putting his arm around her.

Sam ran her fingers through his hair and caressed his back.

“In case I forget to tell you, this is the best minute of my entire day.”

“Mine too.”

“Where’d you go tonight?”

“Gigi’s ex held her mother, sister and nephews hostage in Fairfax. He wanted to talk to me, so I went. I was able to talk him out, thankfully.”

“Jeez, what was he thinking?”

“No idea, but hopefully, he’ll get some help. From what Dani said, he seems to have suffered some sort of breakdown and has been acting differently for a while now. He really hurt Gigi, so I’m just glad he’s safely out of her life. For now, anyway. And get this… Cameron Green has been glued to Gigi’s side all day.”

“That’s interesting. I thought he had a girlfriend.”

“Apparently, he does. No one’s really sure what’s going on there.” She continued to play with his hair. “Are we going to talk about how you’re mad with me?”

“I’m not mad.”

“Really?”

“Really. I’m afraid.”

Ugh, Sam thought. That’s worse. “I’m sorry I did that to you, but when I heard Gigi’s family was in danger and there was something I could do, I had to go. And I couldn’t wait around for the Secret Service to figure out a plan. Every second was important.”

He raised his head so he could look at her with those potent hazel eyes. “I want you to know I truly understand how important it was that you got there as fast as you possibly could to save the lives of Gigi’s family members. And I seriously respect that you’re capable of handling something like that. I’m in awe of what you do every day and how much it matters to people.”

“You were already going to get lucky tonight,” she said, dramatically fanning her face. “But now you might get birthday- or anniversary-level lucky.”

His laughter lit up his entire face as he moved to kiss her. He leaned his forehead against hers. “Here’s our problem, though. You’re extremely vulnerable in the field without added security.”

“But—”

He kissed her again. “No buts. You are vulnerable, Samantha. We didn’t plan this, but here we are, and we have to figure it out. I know it’s not what you signed on for, but it’s our reality. And my reality is that I can’t do this job if I have to worry about one of this country’s many enemies deciding to make a point by kidnapping or murdering my wife. You’re vulnerable simply because of the office I hold. You were when I was VP, but it’s ten million times more so now.”

Sighing, she said, “I know.”

“I want you to think about how you’d feel if the shoe were on the other foot.”