Page 9 of Twisted Hearts

I swallow. Yeah. I know him. As if it would be possible to know Brooks McKinnley andnothear—usually from him, repeatedly—about his father. Senator Harrison McKinnley isverywealthy,extremelypowerful, and a favored probable pick for a presidential candidate in another election cycle or two.

He’s also, by all accounts, just as much of a slimy douchebag as his son.

“I do.”

“And have you heard that Senator McKinnley has recently assumed the chairman position on the newly minted Senate Committee on Organized Crime?”

I nod to nobody in particular. “Also yes.”

“I figured as much.” I can hear the slow intake of air as he draws on the vape he’s been using lately to quit cigarettes.

My brows knit. “So…what’s up?”

“I want you to know it kills me a little to have to even bring this up to you, Eilish.”

He sighs heavily.

“Brooks and his father reached out to me last night to posit the idea of you and Brooks marrying.”

The breath leaves my body in a rush. My knees buckle, the very ground under my feet sways, and it feels as if a knife has been jammed between my ribs.

“Eilish.”

“Yeah, I’m here,” I’m finally able to mumble.

“This is a question, not a decree. I just want to get a read on how you might feel about this. That’sall.”

I nod, my mouth dry as the events of that awful night rush through my head. As my body remembers, and curls in on itself. As fury rises like bile in my stomach.

I clear my throat, shoving the nightmares from my head.

“With Harrison being the chair of the organized crime Senate committee, it’s either a threat, or an olive branch,” I begin.

“I agree,” Cillian growls.

“And given Brooks’ and my…” I squeeze my eyes shut, fighting back the urge to puke. “History, I’d bet on the olive branch.”

“You should know this isn’t the first time this idea has been floated.”

My mouth twists with nausea. “Seriously?”

“Yes. It came up before, when you were still in high school. Something tells me Senator McKinnley is more than a little interested in aligning himself with a family like ours.”

“As a shakedown, or for mutual benefit?”

Cillian grunts. “I’m guessing the latter. He’s ambitious to a fault. Guys like him are never satisfied. Even being a goddamn Senator and Presidential favorite in a few years isn’t enough. I don’t know if it’s ego, greed, a lust for power, or all three, but I think the good Senator wants to get his hands a little dirty. And given the position he’s just moved into, and the sort of information he may be able to offer us—”

“It makes sense,” I blurt out, mechanically. And suddenly, armor, mask, and all, I’m slipping right into the role I play in my family: the smart, good, crossed T’s and dotted I’s,logicalEilish.

Cillian sighs. “You really are the business-minded one, aren’t you.”

“I’m just looking at it objectively. To align our family with that sort of power, especially if he’s probably going to be president? That’s just smart.”

Cillian doesn’t say anything for a full fifteen seconds.

“To be clear, I amnotasking you to do this.”

“I—”

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