Page 99 of The Rebel King

The flight attendant stands there, uniformed and solicitous. “We were waiting for Ms. Pérez before we took off. I wanted to let you know her car has arrived and she’ll be boarding soon.”

“Salina’s flying with us?”

“Yes, she is,” Salina says from the curtained door, smiling at the attendant as she retreats. “I hope it’s okay. Your father thought it would be.”

I’m sure he did. He makes it so hard to be nice to him.

“Um, sure,” I answer. “Plenty of room. I just didn’t know.”

“Millie wanted me to come.” She takes the seat beside me and kicks off her stilettos. “Feet are killing me. I was in court all morning.”

“You have an office in Philly?”

“No, I had a client here. Threat of deportation, but we got it sorted.” She angles a wry look at me, her brown eyes laughing. “Maybe when you’re president you can fix our immigration problem.”

I chuckle, lean on the armrest, and place my chin in my hand. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“You really want to be president?” she asks, smiling.

“This isn’t an elaborate ruse, so yeah.”

“Your father’s so proud of you.”

Salina has her own connection to my dad, separate from Millie, since she served as counsel for one of his companies for a few years.

“Yeah?” I ask, twisting my lips into a grimace “We’ll see.”

“He thinks you’ll win it all. He…um, does think you need a first lady, though, if you’re serious about this.”

I shrug. “It’s not in the job description that I have one.”

“But America’s nevernothad one. You’re breaking enough rules. Maybe you should be”—she reaches over and squeezes myhand, caressing my knuckles with her thumb—“conventional in that respect.”

There was a time when I would have accepted the invitation so clearly engraved on the look Salina’s giving me right now. I have it under excellent authority that there’s a king-sized bed in the back of this plane. I know this because when I was in high school, Imayhave hijacked Daddy’s plane to impress a girl or two. I may have made use of said bed in the back.

Some guys steal their fathers’ cars. I stole Dad’s plane.

“Salina, I think you’re great, but—”

“How would you know?” she asks, her voice husky. “You haven’t tried me yet. Though I’ve been practically throwing myself at you since Millie and Owen’s wedding.”

Has she? I hadn’t noticed, but by then I’d met Lennix, and every other woman was a stand-in. It never really occurred to me that I wouldn’t get Lennix back when the time was right for us both, so I stayed available. Did I have sex in the ten years we were apart? Of course I did.

Again. Not a monk.

But no one ever touched that place she staked out in my heart. The girl who chases stars landed on the moon and planted her flag, and I’ve been hers ever since.

“Sal, I’m in a relationship,” I tell her. “It’s complicated and can’t really be public right now, but it’s serious. I’m sorry.”

Her long lashes flick down, and she bites into a bitter smile. The attendant comes back through.

“Welcome aboard, Ms. Pérez,” she says brightly. “Could I get you something?”

“Vodka,” Salina sighs, giving me a stiff smile. “And keep ’em coming.”

The twins gather around a huge cake, sloppily cutting chunks for everyone with a plastic knife. Several kids their age laugh, spreading frosting everywhere, and you’d barely know anything was amiss if it wasn’t for the strained, forced gaiety of their mother. Millie’s trying so hard, but I know her. I see her pulling at the seams.

Within the hour, floodlights illuminate a line of large tents housing all the children from the party. I got a few minutes with each of the twins, and they seem to be doing well, considering. The young are most resilient. I haven’t had any time alone with Millie, though, and I need to head back to Philly and get at least some sleep before we board that bus for Pittsburgh tomorrow. And three other cities that I can’t recall right now.

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