Page 4 of Saved By the Marines (Soldiers Of Misfortune)

I caught sight of the Marines moving off to the side of the room. They were hyper-vigilant. Their eyes missed nothing as they swept the room. I wouldn’t speak the words aloud, and certainly not in front of Jas, but I did feel safer with them around. Knowing that Dad was getting death threats spooked me. I always put on a brave face, but every time this had happened in the past, I’d hidden myself away inside our estate at home. This time we weren’t home and hiding away didn’t seem possible with the events that had been scheduled.

I sighed and sat down at the table, placing the notepad and pen in front of me. We all waited as staff placed lunch plates before us, then left as quietly as they’d come.

“Thank you,” I told the young lady who’d served me. She smiled warmly at me then hurried out of the room.

I’d take copious notes during the meeting today and be bored to tears, but Dad wouldn’t be able to complain that I wasn’t taking this seriously.

Listening quietly as they spoke, I wrote down anything that seemed to be important. It was hard not to let my mind wander back to my real life. My appetite had vanished, so I didn’t touch any of the food on my plate.

Before long, the meeting was over and Dad was rushing his advisors off so they could catch their flight back to the US. The fact that they’d fly here for one meeting blew my mind. It was such a waste of time.

The entire meeting they’d tried to convince him that he was needed back home and had to focus on his campaign. He wasn’t any more forthcoming with them as to why he refused to return than he was with me.

I waited for him to come back so we could go over my notes and discuss how the next few days would go. He walked back in with Kip following. I knew the other two would be following his advisors to the airport.

“Dad.”

He glanced over at me as he walked to a liquor cabinet and poured himself a drink. “What?”

I looked over at Kip, but he was leaning back against the wall, arms crossed over his muscular chest, staring at the floor. It was his way of trying to give us privacy where there was none. His hair was a bit longer than the others and he had a five o’clock shadow dusting his face. I knew if he’d looked up I’d see gorgeous amber eyes, so light they were almost golden.

Focusing back on my father, I sighed inwardly. This was the last thing I wanted to do, but it was important. “You should really listen to them. You’re down in the polls. If you don’t go home and continue campaigning, you might lose your seat.”

He glared at me over the rim of his glass. “I’m perfectly aware of that, Bailey.”

“Then why are we here?” I asked in exasperation.

“I have-”

“Don’t feed me that line again,” I snapped at him.

He looked startled and I caught movement out of the corner of my eye. Kip’s head had snapped up. I didn’t look over, but a quick side peek showed that he had a grin on his face.

“Look. I understand that you’re under a lot of pressure, but you were the one who forced me to come this summer. Why would you bring me if you weren’t going to listen to my advice?”

“I need someone to take notes,” he snapped.

My teeth ground together as I fought to hold back the tears. This was the real Senator Michaels that most people didn’t get to see. In public, they saw a handsome, older, charming man. I got his real personality. Most of the time he was vindictive and just plain mean.

His sigh was loud in the silence, as though I’d inconvenienced him yet again. He played the victim card extremely well and I almost always ended up feeling sorry for him and was the one to apologize.

“I promised a close friend that I’d be here for his events this summer. His charities need my support. And besides, being here shows that I’m so generous, I would miss vital time campaigning just to help others. Shows my priorities aren’t to myself. It also shows that I’m not afraid of losing.”

My eyes narrowed as he looked down at his glass and drank from it. I knew every tell my father had. He may be telling the truth, but he wasn’t giving me the full explanation. Faking charity, even though he really was being charitable, just to sway the polls wasn’t a new trick. It just wasn’t a full explanation. I was surprised, however, that I’d gotten that much out of him, so I let it drop.

“What do you need me for over the next few days?” I asked, ignoring the hurt that always appeared in my chest whenever I spent more than a few hours around my father.

He listed off the various meetings and events he expected me to attend for the week. It would all kick off on Monday, which meant I had the rest of today and tomorrow to relax.

“Then if you don’t need me anymore, I’ll leave you to it.” I stood up and made my way to the door.

A large hand reached out and grasped my wrist, pulling me to a stop. “Wait here until my teammates get back,” Kip told me, his deep voice had a velvety smooth texture to it.

My pulse raced under his fingers and when he brushed his thumb rhythmically over it I realized he could feel it.

He was probably a charmer in most circumstances. Not that his charm would work on me. Much.

I tugged my arm away from him. “I’ll just be up in my room,” I replied. My eyes flicked back to my father, then landed on him again.

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