Page 133 of Where There's Smoke

I laughed. “Well, okay, as your campaign manager, Ishouldtell you this is political suicide. We’ve worked too hard and come too far.” I lowered my voice. “But…as someone who isn’t just your campaign manager, I’d rather see you commit political suicide than lose your integrity.”

He laughed bitterly. “Might be a bit too late for that.”

“Listen to me—I’ve made a career out of getting people elected. My entire life revolves around the political world. So when I say this, I’m not saying it lightly.” It was all I could do not to take his hands in mine as I spoke, and I nearly did. Wasn’t like it would make much difference at this point. “You have more integrity than I’ve ever seen in a politician. Ever. I could never ask you to compromise that. I’d rather see you do the right thing for your conscience than have you try to sleep at night knowing you let the media vilify Simone.”

“Well, we’ll see about the sleeping-at-night part.”

I smiled. “I did say ‘try to sleep,’ didn’t I?”

He laughed. “Yeah, you did.”

The door opened, and we both turned. I expected another crewman, but it was Simone who hurried into the room.

She reached for Jesse’s arm. “What’s going on? What’s this about?”

He put his arm around her and kissed her cheek. “Don’t worry about it.”

“But…what…what are you doing?”

He smiled. “Keeping my promise.”

“Jesse—”

“This is what I have to do.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Trust me on this.”

Simone’s shoulders sagged, and she swallowed hard.

“I have to go. They’re waiting for me.” He kissed Simone’s cheek again, then left through the same door.

She turned to me, eyes wide. “Anthony, please tell me he’s not doing something stupid.”

“No, he is definitely not doing anything stupid.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Whatishe doing?”

“This was his decision. He knows what he’s doing.”

“But do you?”

“Yes.”

She swore under her breath, probably realizing I was no more inclined to fill her in than I was to go chase Jesse down and make him reconsider.

We shifted our gazes to one of the live-feed screens, and the press conference started.

“My personal life has been the focus of a lot of attention, particularly over the past twenty-four hours,” Jesse said. “And I want to address some of that, specifically the speculation relating to my marriage.”

Beside me, Simone drew in a breath and her posture stiffened.

“First,” Jesse said, “I’d like to say that my passion for the issue of domestic violence is indeed a personal one, but has nothing to do with my wife, nor have I myself ever been a victim or perpetrator at any time in my life. I have seen the effects of spousal abuse and domestic violence on people I love, but their identities will not be disclosed, and I ask that their anonymity—andsafety—continue to be respected.”

“That’s asking a lot of the media,” Ranya muttered.

“No kidding,” I said. “Hopefully they’ll listen this time.”

“Yeah right.”

Oblivious to our combined pessimism, Jesse went on.

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