Chapter 12
Aubrey
The power outage only lasted a day and a half, and we're back to regularly scheduled programming. The whole point of this summit is to meet with world leaders and share policy Olivia has been championing since becoming Governor. Instead of schmoozing, I’ve selfishly spent most of my free time with Jamie.
With it being the last day, I need to get my shit together.
I can’t even write off what’s happened as being just sex.
Jamie and I haven’t even slept together since the second night, but we’ve been sharing nearly every meal all week; sometimes with our colleagues, sometimes just the two of us.
The biggest struggle is not melting into a damn puddle when he speaks to someone in Spanish, when he rolls up his sleeves exposing his tattoos, or if he smiles at me from across the room.
Since when am I the girl who swoons at a smile?
I’m preparing for one of the final sessions of the summit, when my phone vibrates in my purse, mimicking the zzz-zzz-zzz setting on my vibrator.
Worried I may have accidentally stowed my toy in my purse, I quickly check my bag.
No vibe, just a dozen alerts on my phone.
I can’t manage to click on a single one because they’re coming in too quickly.
Each notification is from either a news outlet or tabloid, all of the headlines saying there’s a leaked image of Isaac and Olivia in a conference room from a couple of days ago… kissing.
Fucking hell. If it’s real and not some AI slop, I have my work cut out for me. I’m able to open one of them, and sure enough, it’s a grainy photo of the two of them sucking face. I can only hope he didn’t fuck her on the conference table, or we’re all out of a job.
Swiping away, I call Olivia, and am grateful she picks up on the first ring. I don’t wait for her greeting, seething, “I warned you this was going to happen.”
“It isn’t what it looks like. He just kissed me.”
“Just kissed? You’ve been fucking like rabbits since we got to Canada. Please tell me you didn’t let him bend you over in the conference room.”
“We didn’t do anything there. It was just a kiss, I promise.”
I sigh in relief. “Have you talked to him? What has he said to the press?” There’s a pause, which is never a good sign. “Olivia! Focus. I can’t give our team direction or talk to Ned until I know what we’re working with.”
“You know I’ve always loved him. I tried to follow Ned’s instructions and keep my distance, but he’s…”
She doesn’t have to complete the sentence for my heart to squeeze.
I watched how the two of them fell hard for each other when we were younger.
I was also there when he had to return to Canada and both of their hearts were broken.
From a PR standpoint, this is a fucking nightmare, but as her friend, I can’t let her suffer if she has a chance to be with the guy who got away.
If I can’t be with someone like Jamie, I need to find a way for Livy to find happiness.
“What do you need?” It’s the only question I can muster at this point—the same one she asked me when I found out my ex-husband was cheating.
“I want to serve as Governor, but not if it breaks my heart a second time.”
That's all I need to hear. I don’t care what it takes, I’m going to fix this. “I’ve got you, Livy.”
We hang up, and since Olivia hasn’t heard from the impulsive Prime Minister, I do my best to make contact. Should I have his cell number? No. Do I have it because Livy was careless one day and left her phone unlocked?
That’s up for debate.
I try calling first, but when he doesn’t answer, I text him.
Isaac, this is Aubrey, we have a situation.
Please call me or Livy back ASAP.
As in right fucking now.
It feels like eternity, but he finally replies.
Isaac
Let her know I have it handled.
Handled? Are you fucking kidding me? In what world could this ever be handled? As I’m about to shred him a new one via text, another message appears as a new notification.
Jamie
I can’t control what’s about to happen. Please come downstairs. If not for me, then for Olivia.
It has to be the most ominous text I’ve ever received, but when I try to call him, he sends me to voicemail. I quickly stow my laptop and let Olivia and Tracy know to meet me downstairs. Jamie didn’t tell me where to meet him, but I’m able to find Joyce who is part of Isaac’s media team.
“Aubrey,” she squeaks, “thank God you’re here! We’re not drafting a statement, but I have a feeling Isaac is going to resign over this.”
“Resign?” My brows pinch. “Why would he resign? Olivia said they just kissed. Unless you know something I don’t…”
“No, Isaac said it was just a kiss, but let’s be honest, he’s down bad for the Governor. I think he’s going to do some kind of grand gesture so Olivia won’t take any heat for it.”
“But that doesn’t mean he has to resign. Have you seen Jamie? He said to meet him down here.”
She shakes her head. “Not yet.”
As Joyce is about to say something else, Vice President Vasileiou and her husband, Finn, approach.
I’m unsure how much information they have, but given her husband’s reputation in Washington, she likely knows more than Joyce and I do.
Before I have a moment to greet them, she groans, “Can we have one event where someone isn’t being proposed to? ”
Eyes wide, I suck in a breath. “Propose? Who is proposing?”
“Aye, rumor has it the Prime Minister is sweet on your Governor,” Finn replies with a chuckle.
His Irish lilt is almost as sexy as hearing Jamie when he speaks Spanish, but I quickly brush the thought away.
The last thing I need to be doing is swooning after the accents of a married man who I suspect is part of a mafia family or the hot Canadian I’ll never see after tomorrow.
“Okay, let’s say hypothetically he does have plans to wife her up; we need to keep this quiet,” I insist, hating how this week has ended on a sour note.
“I’ll need to meet with Ned to see what he can do to minimize any negative press.
And I don’t want Olivia to feel pressured into saying yes because of cameras. ”
“Saying yes to what?” Livy asks from behind, and all of us turn to face her.
She’s flanked by Tracy and our head of security, Westley.
The poor guy has had to work twice as hard this week to ensure Olivia and Isaac could spend time together without getting caught, but it was all for nothing because the lovebirds couldn’t keep their hands and mouths to themselves.
I’ll need to insist he gets a raise when we’re back home—if we still have a job.
“Nothing,” I rush out.
Joyce quickly adds, “There’s a press conference in a few minutes, and it’s probably something you should see in person instead of hearing it from a biased anchor.”
She leads the way to a conference room, where the press is already seated, cameras ready. Isaac is at the podium, eyes fixed on Livy. With all of this attention, I swear if this is how he proposes to my best friend, I’ll never forgive him. She deserves romance, not this.
“Thank you all for being here on short notice,” he begins.
“We’ve had quite the week with a snowstorm, power outage, and of course, the summit itself.
This morning, I’ve been made aware of a photo circulating online.
It’s customary for communications teams to respond to inquiries with ‘no comment,’ but today, I’d like to personally address the speculation. Yes, the photo is real.”
This asshole. Yes, I would’ve instructed our team to answer any questions, but he’s acting as if we’ve been on the same page when all he told me was he had it “handled.”
“This is bullshit,” I grumble to myself.
Olivia takes my hand and I squeeze it back tighter.
“I’m sorry,” I whisper to her. “I didn’t know about this.
” I glance over to her, and her cheeks are flushed.
There are murmurs in the crowd, and I hate this for her.
Isaac has two seconds to fix this before I personally storm the podium and take control of the narrative.
He continues, “I spent my entire adult life obsessed with a woman I couldn’t have. That ends now. I’m resigning as Prime Minister of Canada because I have my eye on another position—First Partner of California.”
Fuckity fuck, fuck, fuck.
There’s no coming back from this. Not only did he confirm the photo, which I could’ve spun as a one-time, heat-of-the-moment kiss, but now I have to deal with the fallout of Isaac resigning because he wants to marry Livy.
How the hell would that work? He’s Canadian, so he’ll need to apply for citizenship, but now he’s out of a job, it’s not like he can get a work visa.
Who would hire him? Does he expect Olivia to be his sugar mama? Not on my watch.
I’m about to march over to the entitled jerk when Olivia squeezes my hand tighter, keeping me in place as Isaac presses on, “There will be a transition team in place as soon as I’m back in office next week, and an interim leader will take my place during the appointment of my successor.
I love my country, but I also love Olivia Harris.
I always have and always will. I will not be opening the floor to questions, however, you may reach out to my media team for official statements. ”
How the fuck is that having it handled? He basically crop-dusted the press, leaving his communications team and mine to pick up the pieces. I don’t have everyone here—just Tracy—and there’s too much to be done in the next twenty-four hours.
Olivia storms out, and before I follow, I politely excuse our departure to the Vice President, who is already typing frantically on her phone, waving me off.
Isaac didn’t think this through; his retirement will have a snowball effect.
At second glance, she’s smirking, as Finn whispers something to her.
I can only hope he’s assuring her this won’t bite Ileah or President Taylor in the ass.