Page 2 of Married to the SEAL
He imagined they were hardworking people, their families warm and just a touch shy of financially stable. He knew what that was like. They deserved the best he could do for them. They needed a president who could turn things around.
He frowned. He’d been that man for twenty-six years, taking his country from a fledgling baby to the industrious teenager it was now. Six months ago he was certain he was still that man.
His chest tightened painfully and he reached in his pocket, withdrawing a metal pill vial and putting one of the tiny pills under his tongue.
You won’t do anyone any good if you’re dead. Not Grace, not Nico, not the people of this country.
Nobody.
His eyes caught on his reflection in the glass, and he felt as if he were staring at his own mortality. The time he had left on this earth was limited. He knew that. He needed to save his people from Trane before the reaper came and ended his own days.
“Please,” he whispered, staring at himself. “Just a few months more.”
The ticking of the clock on the wall became louder, its sound almost comically pronounced. He let his eyes close.
The pain began to subside, and he sighed with some relief. Too bad the pain of his opponent’s offenses would not be so easily diminished.
Someone knocked on the door of his office before pushing it open wide. Only Grace would do that. He stood up straighter as he turned to face her, the babe bundled tightly in her arms surprising him yet again. Would he never get used to seeing his daughter with a child?
Her brows pinched together in the panicked look she inherited from her mother. “Have you found out who did it?” she asked.
He would do anything to protect her, but this time he was powerless to do so. “No.”
“What about the surveillance tapes from the security gate?”
“They’re missing.”
Her eyes opened wide. “The guards were in on it.”
“Yes.”
“You need to fire them.”
“I already have.”
She began to pace. “Nico isn’t safe here. I’ll take him back to Switzerland with me—”
“Then there will be no one to protect you.”
“No one is protecting us here!”
“I have a plan to change that.”
“Your men can’t be trusted. Those tapes disappearing proves it.”
“This isn’t one of my men.” It had pained him to bring in an outsider, but he knew it was necessary. “He’s American. A Navy SEAL. He arrives tomorrow afternoon.”
“How did you get him here so quickly?”
He lifted his chin. “I made this plan before the intruder got into Nico’s room. I hired him to be your husband until the election is through.”
She rounded on him, her nostrils flaring. “You did what?”
“You’ve created quite a mess. A baby out of wedlock is still scandalous here.”
“No, Father. It isn’t. Only in your mind.” She gestured to the tall windows and the people beyond. “No one out there cares whether or not I have a ring on my finger.”
He shook his head. “They care more than you think.”
