Page 86 of His Promise

COLTER

In my office at campaign headquarters, my door is closed so I can concentrate, something my manager has insisted I do. It’s a laughable attempt, but I push through phone calls anyway, apologizing profusely to all the donors I’ve ignored.

The walls of my office are made of glass, so out of my periphery, a mob of people rush around like there’s a fire. Phones ring off the hook, and the hum of printers and fax machines is a constant.

Concentration? Hopeless. But it doesn’t have to do with the physical distractions.

I told Abi I loved her. A few weeks of having this woman in my arms and in my head, and I’ve already professed my love to her. What a pathetic thing to do.

The worst part of it is that it’s true. I didn’t know it until the words left my mouth, but once they did, two things happened. One, I was horrified with my words. Two, I was shocked with my own revelation that those words were true. Probably as shocked as Abi, although with the way she hurried out of the room, I’d say I succeeded in scaring her off. I’m glad I’ll be kept busy today, with a press conference at one and one last debate at six thirty, I won’t have the chance to say something moronic and make things any more awkward between us than they already are.

I roll my neck and hold the phone away from my ear, giving myself a few seconds break. Something I can’t afford.

I check the next number I need to call and dial it, bringing the phone to my ear. A donor, Mr. James Lanagin, and I talk for a solid five minutes about our golf games before getting into the reason I called. I’m about to ask him for an extra ten thousand dollars to help ramp up our TV ads over the next few days.

My eyes catch something, or someone, out of place in my periphery, and I flick my gaze up toward the entrance to the busy office space. Through the glass I see Anthony scanning the row of offices until his eyes train on me.

James is in the middle of the longest run on sentence I’ve ever heard when I cut him off. “Sorry, James. Something just came up. I’ll have to call you back.”

I hang up the phone and stand just as Oliver reaches Anthony. He sticks out in here with his black suit and aura that screams authority. You wouldn’t need to recognize him to tell he was a Gruco.

I wave him over, and he and Oliver exchange a few words before Oliver looks over his shoulder for my okay. I nod and Anthony steps around Oliver and makes his way into my office.

I shut the door behind him and turn my back to the hectic office.

“What the hell are you doing here?”

Anthony raises an eyebrow and smirks. “Good to see you too.”

I shake my head and scoff. “You know, for months you people have made it clear I’m to be discrete when dealing with you. Now you’re going to show up at headquarters like this? Do you not give a shit about your own election?”

“Jesus, Colter, relax. I’m not Settimo. My face hasn’t been plastered all over the papers. No one is going to suspect anything from some random guy coming to see you.”

Of course they will. Everyone knows who my family is, and this is exactly the kind of thing they’re watching for. I don’t bother to say this.

“Besides, didn’t you tell Lorenzo you were done working with him? So there isn’t a whole lot to gain from your election anyway… not that I would mess it up for you.”

“What do you want, Anthony?”

Anthony frowns. “I want to talk to you, all right? I come with good intentions. I just want to take you to lunch.”

I don’t let myself believe that’s true. More than likely, I’d be walking into some sort of trap. It’s pretty low of them to send Anthony.

Working for them has been the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. Fuck my ambition.

“As you can see, I’m incredibly busy.”

Anthony glances around my office and nods. Disappointment shines in his eyes that seems genuine, and it makes me question myself.

“Yeah, I get that.” He lets out a breath and shifts like he feels awkward. “But, uh. I don’t know, maybe it’s not important, but I want to talk to you about something anyway. Just an hour, Colter. You can spare an hour. Hell, from what I hear, you’ve spared plenty lately.”

“What is it you want to talk about?”

He glances to his right, through the glass and then meets my eyes. “Something we can’t discuss here.”

I run my tongue over the back of my teeth as I think about it. It’s curious he’d come see me during the day, showing up here at my office. It doesn’t make a lot of sense for them to do something right now, not when they’re being so obvious. There isn’t a doubt in my mind there will be retribution for what I said to Lorenzo, but time will tell what that will be.

This isn’t Lorenzo, it’s Anthony. He helped me speak to Lorenzo in the first place, knowing I was pissed, and Lorenzo was surprised when I showed up. Anthony didn’t tell him.

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