Page 197 of State of the Union (First Family 3)

“I love you. I really and truly love you.”

“I love you, too.”

He gathered her in close to him and began to move, teaching her one stroke at a time what it meant to make love.

At Camp David, the weekend had begun with a huge surprise. Eli had come with Candace and an announcement.

“We got married by a justice of the peace two days ago,” he said, seeming happier than he’d ever been.

“You did what?” Nick asked.

“We want to be together forever, and this way, nothing can stand in our way.”

Nick glanced at Sam, silently asking how they should react to this unexpected news.

“Congratulations.” Sam hugged them. “We hope you’ll be very happy together.”

“Thank you,” Elijah said. “We’re so excited and happy and all the things.”

Thanks to the fortune his father had left behind, Eli could easily afford to get married at twenty, but Sam could only hope they hadn’t been hasty.

Later that night, when she and Nick were in bed, he asked her what she really thought of Eli getting married.

“They’ve been through hell,” Sam said. “If they’ve found peace with each other, then so be it. If it doesn’t work out, they’ll survive, although I have a feeling they’re going to be fine. They’re obviously madly in love.”

“I’m worried he’ll want the twins to live with them now that he and Candace are married.”

The thought of that nearly stopped Sam’s heart. “He’s said he has no plans to uproot them, and we have to believe he meant that.”

“That was before Candace came back on the scene. Now he has a partner who can help him raise them.”

“Elijah has acted in the twins’ best interest from the start,” Sam said. “And he knows it wouldn’t be in their best interest to remove them from our home and family. They’re happy, healthy and thriving, despite the worst possible loss. He knows where they belong. Rather than worrying about things that aren’t going to happen, let’s celebrate gaining a bonus daughter.”

“A bonus daughter. I like that.”

“She’s estranged from her parents, so we’ll be her parents.”

“This family of ours just gets more interesting all the time.”

“Yes, it does.”

“I’ve been meaning to tell you that since the speech, we’ve been overrun with interview requests. Everyone is talking about what I said at the end about not campaigning.” The response to his speech had been unlike anything he ever could’ve expected, with praise for his sincerity and astonishment over his vow not to actively seek a full term, but to serve if elected.

“Because no one has ever said or done anything like that.”

“Maybe it’s high time they did. We waste so much money on campaigns that drag on forever. When I think of how many people that money could feed and house, it makes me sick. It’s such a hideous waste.”

“I’m so proud of my maverick husband,” she said, grinning as she used the nickname the media had given him after the speech.

“As much as that nickname makes me cringe, it beats ‘the unelected president.’”

“You shut that shit down with your airplane metaphor, which was so freaking perfect.”

“Enough about me. How’s Malone doing?”

“He’s okay, I think.”

He and Offenbach had both been placed on administrative leave while the Shane Ramsey shooting was investigated. “It was a clean shoot, and I’m sure they’ll both be cleared of any wrongdoing. Sergeant Ramsey, on the other hand, is making as much trouble as he possibly can for all of us. Business as usual where he’s concerned, even if he heard his son confess to the crimes before he was shot.”

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