Page 50 of Accepted Precedent
“Chris being guaranteed the nomination if he married Jaclyn,” Kristin answers.
“Thank you. The wedding was never supposed to happen, but his brother stood in for him.”
“Fuck,” I sigh, combing a hand through my hair. “Evelyn was right.”
“Because she’s smarter than you. Yes, Alex married the Washington darling yesterday. But now Mick and I have to secure a few more congressional seats to ensure balance. Maryland loves you, so there are no concerns there.” Finn takes a dramatic drink and groans. “Ms. Proctor will be working on another campaign in a few weeks.”
“Whose campaign?” I ask curiously, sipping my coffee. He’s right—I do need an upgrade.
“Taylor, for now.”
My brows pinch, and I nearly spit out my drink. “What could he possibly run for?”
“Not him,” Kristin whispers.
“Who? Jaclyn?” I huff a laugh. “For what?”
“President of the United States,” he states without a hint of irony or sarcasm in his tone.
“I’m sorry, but are you and Mickey out of your minds?”
“It won’t happen right away. But Ms. Proctor will help with her campaign, and assist whoever will be her running mate,” he explains, then tells Kristin, “You’ll work directly with my brother moving forward.”
“Of course, Mr. Gallagher.”
I love and hate that Kristin won’t be working for me. Her work ethic is unmatched, but maybe without her in the office every day, I won’t be constantly disgusted with myself for imaginingher sitting on my desk with my face between her thighs. It’s for the best.
“Now that that’s settled, the investor who contacted you yesterday—keep the meeting. I want both of you to attend. I did a little digging, and they’ve been linked to a PAC that funds protests nationwide. It’s important to Mickey and me that we gather intel.”
Kristin takes out her notebook and begins writing. “What sorts of protests?”
“Privacy laws. They have been quietly funneling money that supports legislation to end HIPAA protections. I want as much information as possible about it without raising suspicion.”
“Women’s healthcare,” Kristin mumbles under her breath, then clears her throat. “It has nothing to do with HIPAA. They want to criminalize women who have miscarriages and abortions. If they’re funding anti-choice protests, why would they want to support Andrew? Evie lobbied against people like this.”
“Could be a number of reasons, which is why I need you both there. Also, I have some bad news…”
Finn goes over recent market research data I requested, and I’ll likely lose my next election if I divorce Evelyn. While he’s correct that Maryland loves me, they love her more. Even if the numbers favored me, there’s no chance she could be with Mickey—at least for several years. I love both of them so damn much and hate that they’re miserable because of me. If I’d known we would be married this long, I never would’ve let her agree to it.
Kristin excuses herself to use the restroom, and Finn pins me with a murderous glare. “You’re going to keep your cock to yourself where Ms. Proctor is concerned,” he seethes. I’m aboutto protest when he continues. “I don’t fuckin’ care if my brother’s balls-deep in your wife right now. If they got caught, the media would paint her as a slut, but your political reputation would survive. If anything, you’d secure more votes. Mick knows the risks—they both do. But if you get caught with Ms. Proctor, it’ll be the end of your career and hers.”
“Nothing happened,” I insist, but it seems to do little to assure him. “I promise if either of us cross that line, you’ll be the first to know.”
“No, I won’t, because you’re not going to fuckin’ cross it. Understood?”
“It’s not like?—”
Finn snaps, “Understood, Mr. Adams?” I nod. “Good. I need to clean up the mess with the Blake twins. Let me know what you find out from the meeting.” He stands and rolls down his sleeves, fastening his cuff links, then drapes his jacket over his arm,
As places his coffee cup in the sink, Kristin enters, and he gives her a curt nod before putting on his blazer. After he leaves, she returns to the table and sits next to me. “Can we talk for a minute?”
“Sure, but you know that phrase usually means someone’s breaking up with you,” I tease, but I’m not loving where this is going.
“Yeah.” She draws her lips in to stifle a laugh.
“What’s on your mind?”
“I need you to know why I asked to work with Mickey.” Her gaze drops to her folded hands in her lap, taking a deep breathbefore her eyes meet mine. “As much as I’ve loved working on your campaign and managing your staff, I’ve had…” She takes another deep breath. “I have unprofessional, inappropriate feelings for you. But my career is too important to me to risk acting on them, and you’re married to my sister—even if it’s just for show—so I asked Finn if I could work with another politician or with Mickey. I’m so sorry, Andrew. I promise I don’t expect anything from you, but I owe you the truth after all these years.”
