Page 127 of The Baller

“I snuck out, with my detail. Took a couple of unmarked cars, and drove up.”

My jaw dropped, as did the other three, all of us hanging onto every word. “You drove up from D.C.?”

“I mean, I was driven. I don’t get to drive these days, but it was the only way I could stay under the radar.”

“But…” I looked at the clock, trying to figure out what time she’d left. It was only nine a.m. here.

“I couldn’t sleep,” she replied softly, glancing around at our audience. “Do you three think you could give me a moment alone with Lux, here?”

Parker crossed his arms, and stood firm. “With all due respect, Madam President, you’ve come with a protective detail. Just think of us as Weston’s.” Emily Andrews’ eyes responded for her; a move I had no doubt she got to practice on an hourly basis. Parker didn’t even bother to try and win the staring competition, he just thumbed behind him to the couch. “Sure, we’ll be over here, but I want to say something first. You couldn’t ask for a better guy than Lux for Radley, so if you’ve come to break them up, you’re making a big mistake.”

I scrubbed a hand down my face smothering my grin, even more so when Tanner added quietly as he slunk off, “Let me know if you’d like another coffee.”

“Quite the household you have here,” she said, turning back once the three of them had safely arrived by the couch, “and excellent views.”

I followed her gaze, but it was one I saw all day, every day, and while impressive, I had no interest in it right this second.

“You haven’t come to talk about the view, and President or not, you can get back in your cars and go home if you think I’m breaking up with Radley.”

“I haven’t come to ask that.”

I leaned back against the still-warm stove. “Then what?”

She took a breath, shifting in her chair. “I heard about the glitter bomb. My son showed me the video in fact. It was very funny.”

I nodded. “Yeah.”

“I should thank you, really.”

“There’s no need. I’d do it again in a heartbeat. It was actually Parker’s idea.”

She spun around just after Parker’s head snapped away, like they weren’t all listening to every word we said.

“That was a very dark period for all of us, Radley especially, and that brought a little light back. If I had my way that…person,” she almost spat… “would rot in a jail cell somewhere. But unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of power.”

My head bobbed, but it didn’t seem like she required a response, so I kept my mouth shut.

“I’m here because I wanted to see for myself how sincere you were… not just take Radley’s word for it. I needed to see it for myself, and after yesterday didn’t go to plan… well, sports stars have cultivated a certain reputation…” She left the implication hanging in the air. “No offence to you.”

The pile of Cosmos sitting a foot away from her coffee cup was almost burning a hole in my brain, but I managed to reply. “None taken.”

“I wasn’t about to let Radley make the same mistake.”

“I understand that, I really do.”

She picked up her cup again, drained the rest of her coffee, and leaned into the counter. “Radley told me you knew about everything that happened to her.”

My head bobbed again.

“She’s been through a lot, you know. Radley… she’s softer than the rest of us. She doesn’t have my hard edges, or her father’s resilience, and I don’t know how she’d survive going through it again.”

I didn’t say a word, I just stared at her.

It sounded to me like she didn’t really know her daughter as well as she thought she did – or her vision was clouded. Because while Radley had been through a lot, more than anyone should go through, I had never once thought of her as soft. Not like her mom meant; weak.

Radley was the opposite of weak.

“When I heard what happened yesterday, my first reaction was panic. Panic that he’d gotten close enough to her in the first place, panic someone had seen and she’d be dragged through the same thing all over again. Panic, which isn’t an emotion they encourage world leaders to have.” She huffed a laugh, though it was anything but funny. “The only thing I can do is protect her with the best guards in the world.”

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