Page 2 of Escape into the Night

“How’s the family, Eli?” Adelaide glanced toward Caleb with a faker than fake smile.

“You don't get to ask that.”

Shots fired. Caleb had to work extra, extra hard to refrain from shouting, “Burn!”

“Don't be like that.”

“Except it's exactly like that, Madam President.” Elias’ body was rigid beneath the mask of his tux. With a gentle tug, Caleb pulled him closer and interjected.

“I'm curious to hear your talking points. How much of the campaign promise will you borrow from the original one Elias wrote for you?” Caleb reveled in the brief narrowing of Adelaide’s eyes as she turned her focus toward him.

“You'll have to make a point to tune in for the speeches, Caleb.”

“Mn, yeah. I'll pencil it in. Best of luck, Addy!” He lifted his hand and fluttered his fingertips against the side of his champagne flute. “Excuse us, people to do, things to see, drinks to refill.”

Matt muffled a snicker and Elias fought back a grin as Adelaide schooled the scowl from her expression and put on a winning smile. Naturally, it was just in time to catch the nearest flash of a prime time news reporter’s camera. The perfectly timed picture of fake smiles and the pretense of being unified with the president despite the fact that they were anything but unified made Caleb’s blood boil. Her team had done a brilliant job on the optics—Caleb and Elias’ resignation from the Chief of Staff office was painted as the most amicable parting of theways, completely glossing over the months of fighting and the complete deterioration of what had once been a close friendship between Addy and Elias. No one knew the half of it, especially when it came to the truth of the matter. Adelaide had turned her back on everyone. Friends, the country, even her own damn family. His stabbiness took on a new level of intensity as he watched her disappear into the crowd of deluded supporters who still thought she was a decent person and the best option for the country's leadership.

“So. Much. Violence.”

“Cay,” Elias warned under his breath.

“I've gutted her thirteen times in my head, for the record.”

“Man, you still have the spark, Caleb.” Matthew clapped a hand to Caleb's shoulder with a laugh. “This is why the country needs you both.”

“Sign me up. I have a proposal for bringing back the use of public shaming. Stocks. Cages. Rotten tomatoes. Tarring and feathering, maybe?” Caleb squeezed his husband’s waist and tried to bring levity to the moment with his antics.

“We’ll talk more this weekend.” Elias’ brush off came with another alarming movement. Caleb's focus immediately switched toward his partner, noticing the press of his knuckles to the center of his chest, there and gone in a flash. He’d been doing it more and more often, always writing it off as indigestion or heartburn. Caleb narrowed his eyes and left the admonishing words unspoken as Elias sighed and turned his gaze away.

“I'm fine, Cay.”

“Let's get some water and air.” Caleb turned an apologetic glance toward Matthew. “I'll talk to your better half about our weekend plans.”

“See that you do. I have some ideas I'd like to throw at you both.”

They all shook again, sharing genuine well wishes and more promises to talk soon. Caleb's skin crawled the longer they spent in the ballroom, and he suddenly had a much better understanding of why their Theo was a hermit of the highest order. If this level of social anxiety was only a portion of the way Theo felt, he understood completely. The damn walls were closing in around him and he didn't even want to think about what the stress sweating would do to the silk blend button-down beneath his tux.

Progress toward the exit was slow and monotonous as people stopped them far too often with sweet platitudes and pretend posturing. The whole lot of them were nothing more than shallow puddles of greed and self-serving ignorance. Nevertheless, he played his part, supporting his partner and putting on the power couple show of force that had carried them this far. Sometimes, he still struggled with niggling doubts and a whole lot of feelings of inadequacy, but that was his secret. Nothing if not a showman, he put on the confident, effusive mask and stood rock solid beside the indomitable force that was his husband.

They were home free with their sights set on the bright red beacon of the exit sign when Elias stopped short and froze in place. Startled, Caleb stumbled to a stand still and tracked the icy cold glare of Elias’ silvery blue eyes until he found the source of his abrupt stop. Aaron Evans. The biggest threat of them all. Also the greatest inspiration for Caleb’s new-found obsession with murder mystery and true crime shows.

“He really has such a punchable face, Baby Doll.”

“Mn.” Elias released a ragged breath and shook his head in disapproval as they watched Adelaide sidle closer to her secret fiancé. The fact that they had managed to keep that news quiet so far was a true testament to the subversive nature of the government they once swore to protect and preserve.

“Next time, use a left hook. His nose isn't crooked enough.” Caleb gently urged his partner to resume their egress strategy. “Let’s get you home. I promised lots of good things in your future, remember?”

“That you did, love.” Elias finally relaxed, his body melting from the tense posture he'd carried all night and his smile softening to the one he reserved just for Caleb. “Thank you for tonight.”

“Thank you for everything. Now move your fine as fuck ass before I take matters into my own hands.”

Residual tension clouded the car as they drove, silence pervasive and thick enough to drown out the whirr of tires on asphalt as Elias drove the BMW toward their sanctuary. It had been an exhausting night of internal rage screaming for them both and Caleb was eager to get home and try to shake the rest of the fog from his husband’s mind. He had plans. His plans always worked when it came to resetting his overburdened lover’s mind. They had agreed to take time off after leaving the White House Chief of Staff office. Unfortunately, the downtime weighed heavily on Elias. The man was plotting. They both were. Elias just had to admit out loud that he was about to make the choice they both knew was already made in his heart.

The massive house was too quiet as they entered, the atmosphere still thick with unspoken words and lingering tension. Parting in the foyer, Caleb rushed to use the restroom and change out of the stifling tux, but his inner alarm bells started ringing the second he returned to the bedroom to discover Elias seated on the edge of the bed with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands.

“El, baby?” Caleb dropped the hanger holding his tux and rushed forward. “Hey, what's wrong?”

“Cay, I don't know if this is the right move.” Elias sat up a little straighter, wrapping Caleb's waist in his arms before burying his face against his chest. “This feels like a mistake.”

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