CHAPTER 44
TAYLOR
Taylor rocked her sleeping daughter in her arms while staring out into the thick clouds. “Ma’am, we’ll be landing in twenty minutes,” an attendant announced.
“Are we landing in Chicago to meet up with the governor?” Taylor asked.
“No, ma’am. We’re flying into South Bend. There, you’ll travel by helicopter to your in-laws' residence. The governor plans to meet you there.”
Taylor raised a brow. That was a different plan. She turned to one of the Secret Service agents. “What’s going on?”
The agent offered a reassuring smile. “There are some traffic hiccups on Interstate 94, nothing to be alarmed about.”
“All right.” Taylor turned around. She strapped Vicky into her baby seat before fastening her seatbelt.
“Ma’am, would you like anything else before we prepare for landing?” the attendant asked.
“Sure. I’ll take a glass of champagne and a fruit bowl.”
“Right away.”
Kim, Taylor’s grinning assistant, sat across from her and fastened her seatbelt. “Soo, bachelorette party, huh? Sounds exciting!”
Taylor chuckled. “I’m more excited to see Victor and hang out with him for two whole days.”
Kim frowned. “That’s gotta be rough... being apart so much.”
Taylor shrugged. “It’s all right. It makes the time we spend together more meaningful.”
Kim nodded. “That’s one way to look at it.”
The shrill of Taylor’s cellular phone pierced through the low-vibrating hum of the airplane. It was Bella. “Hey, baby doll!” she greeted after connecting the call.
“Yo! Wassup? You landed yet?”
“Not yet. But we're about twenty minutes out. We're flying into South Bend.”
“Sweet. That’s a lot less time in the car for you.”
“Yes, and more time to party with you. You ready for your bachelorette party?”
Bella growled. “No! You know I don’t like shit like that.”
Taylor smacked her lips. “You don’t like what? All we gon’ be doing is drinking and chillin’.”
“In fucking costumes!”
“Shut up, bitch! It’s Halloween!”
“Ughh!” Bella grumbled. “Girl, your mother-in-law done went crazy. She’s taken over this party.”
Taylor laughed. “I know!”
“So, you know damn well it ain’t gonna be as simple as drinking and chillin’.”
“Well, you know the good doctor ain’t bout to hire no swinging dicks! So, lighten the fuck up!”
Taylor grinned at Kim’s wide-eyed expression in response to her uncharacteristically foul language. “What time are you driving in?”
“I’m headed there now. I may be a half an hour out.”
“Lucas with you?”
“Nah, he’s already out there. They’re officially dismissing his medical team.”
Taylor sighed. “That’s good news. So, he must be back to normal.”
“Well, he ain’t running no marathons no time soon, but he’s stronger. He went back to work.”
Taylor nodded when the flight attendant signaled their approach. “That’s wassup. I’m glad he’s on the mend. Hey, I gotta go. I’ll see you at the Creed’s.”
“All right. See ya at the Creed’s.”
Taylor disconnected the call and smiled at her assistant. “Wanna go to a bachelorette party?”
“Thanks for the invitation, but I haven’t seen my boyfriend in weeks. And it’s my understanding that he has planned something pretty romantic.”
Taylor smiled. “Oh, how nice.”
“Yeah.” Kim sighed. “He’s something else."
Taylor knew the feeling. With Victor, she was blessed.
He had given her everything she’d thought she could ever want.
Life hadn’t always been perfect, but he’d made it feel like a fairy tale.
Taylor looked over at her sleeping toddler and sighed.
If Victor were to win the election, everything for them would change.
Four, possibly eight years of their life would be dedicated to the people of the United States of America.
Taylor and Victor were accustomed to serving; Victor, to the people of the state of Illinois, and Taylor to the citizens of Chicago.
The truth was Taylor wasn’t looking forward to life in a fishbowl.
Being the governor’s wife was hard enough.
But, as First Lady of the United States, she wouldn’t have a minute to herself.
She was already getting a taste of life with the secret service and she wasn’t looking forward to being shadowed for the next eight years.
For her man, her beautiful husband, she would happily accept her new life.
Only, she wasn’t altogether sure the presidency was something Victor really wanted.
Truthfully, it seemed more like the aspiration of her father-in-law.
Victor Senior, the republican senator for the great state of Indiana.
More and more, Victor’s dad seemed like the Joe Kennedy of the 21st century, intent on weaving his sons into the fiber of American politics.
“Mrs. Creed, am I coming with you to the Creed Compound?” Maya asked, taking a seat across the aisle.
“Yes, but just for tonight. I can have a car take you to Chicago tomorrow. Is that okay?”
Maya smiled. “Of course. I’m here for whatever you need.”
“I appreciate that, Maya.”
“No, ma’am. I appreciate you taking me to the White House. How many people can say they work in the White House?”
Taylor laughed. “Hundreds, I’m sure.”
Maya sucked her teeth. “Well, nobody I know.”
“Me either, Ms. Maya. So, we’re in this together,” Taylor assured.
***
Taylor emerged from the helicopter and dropped down on one of the plush, green acres of the Creed’s compound.
With Maya and Vicky in tow, she covered her face to block wind created by the aircraft’s propellers.
Waiting and flanked by the Secret Service, stood her handsome husband.
Taylor increased to a jog until she found herself blissfully swaddled within Victor’s arms. “Hey, baby,” she cooed.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Victor whispered near her ear. “I have missed you.”
“I’ve missed you too.”
He kissed the top of her head.
With his right hand, Victor cupped her face and gently kissed her lips. With his left, he reached for Vicky.
Her eyes blinked open as soon as Maya deposited her into her daddy’s arm.
“Thanks, Maya.”
“Of course, Governor.”
“Hey, Baby girl,” he sang to Vicky. She gazed up at her dad with bright eyes and graced him with a sleepy whine before tucking her head into the crook of his neck.
Taylor smacked her lips. “Why she so damn tired? You’d think she’d been moving furniture the way she was acting.”
“My baby is growing,” Victor argued. “Growing is hard work, young lady.”
“Yeah, okay,” Taylor muttered.
They walked over to a waiting golf cart. Victor climbed into the passenger’s seat and gestured to the driver’s seat.
“I guess I’ll drive,” Taylor mumbled sarcastically.
“Thanks, babe. I got my arms full.”
Taylor chuckled and climbed into the driver’s seat. Maya got into an SUV with the Secret Service agents. Taylor could see the main house in the distance, so she followed the paved trail that connected all the buildings and attractions on the property. “Who’s here, Bae?”
“Bella, Lucas, and Donna are in the house. Xander said he and Niyah were an hour out. That was thirty minutes ago. And, I haven’t heard from Lincoln and Jay.”
Taylor raised a brow. “You guys got something planned.”
“Yeah. Since we’re all here, surprisingly at the same time, we’ve decided to put something together for Lucas.”
“Copycats...” Taylor teased.
“Yeah. It's rare that we’re all here at the same time. But, on a serious note, I asked Jay to look into that video.”
Taylor sighed at the mention of the illicit video of her and Victor floating around the internet. “And?” she inquired, but Taylor knew it was impossible to vanquish a video once it hit the cloud.
“Jaysen is disseminating the video with a virus. He believes the video containing the virus will spread faster than the original. He says in time, people will be afraid to open any videos referencing our sex tape.”
“Meh,” Taylor grunted. “I guess it's better than nothing.”
“I suppose,” Victor agreed.
Taylor turned to Victor and laughed. “There’s a bright side.”
“And, what’s that?”
“My new chief of staff says that, according to the recent polls, your numbers rose with women.”
Victor frowned. “Shut up!”
“No! Seriously!” Taylor squealed. “You went up three points.”
“What the fuck? I should just drop outta this fucking shit show!”
Taylor shook her head. “No, sir. You gotta finish what you’ve started.”
“Says who?”
“Says ya daddy, Junior,” Taylor teased. “You gon’ be president.”
Victor laughed. “Get this… I plan on naming Linc secretary of defense.”
Taylor saw that coming. Again, the Creeds were mirroring the Kennedys but hopefully without the curse.
“Does your dad know?”
Victor lifted a brow. “What do you think?”
“I think it was his idea.”
“It was,” Victor admitted. “But it's a really good idea. I can’t think of anyone better. There’s one problem, though.”
“What’s that?”
“Lincoln is buck like a wild colt at the idea.”
Taylor nodded. “I can see that. Lincoln doesn’t seem to have the patience for the bureaucracy of it all.”
Victor nodded. “He does not. Furthermore, Linc is a soldier. Although he was a high-ranking soldier, he was a soldier, nonetheless. He gave orders, yes. But they were orders given to him. I don’t think Linc wants the buck to stop with him.”
“That makes sense,” Taylor remarked.
“Turn here and to the back way,” Victor instructed.
Taylor turned but asked, “Why the back way?”
“Because the rest of our family have assembled in the parlor.”
Taylor laughed. The parlor was in the front of the house.
“Don’t laugh. I just want to spend some time with you before dividing our time with everyone else.”
Taylor nodded with a grin. “I can dig it.”
She drove over a hill and rounded a few curves until they reached the east end of the main house.
After parking the golf cart near a door normally used by staff, Taylor and Victor got out and waited for Maya.
When the driver parked the SUV, Maya hopped out smiling from ear to ear at one of the agents from Victor’s detail.
She noticed them waiting by the door and hurried over.
“All good?” Taylor asked with raised brows.
“Oh, yes, ma’am,” Maya responded with a giggle.
With Vicky draped over his shoulder, Victor opened the door and held it open for them to enter.
Once inside, Victor got the attention of one of the busy staff members that were walking by. “Marisol?”
“Yes, Governor?”
Victor handed Vicky off to Maya. He nearly had to peel his reluctant daughter from his body. “Please show Maya to the nursery.”
Marisol smiled. “Yes, sir.”
Taylor kissed Vicky’s forehead. “Maya, the nursery is connected to a bedroom suite. That’s where you’ll be staying tonight.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Maya rubbed Vicky’s back and held her soft head of hair against her cheek.
“Call me if you need anything,” Taylor instructed.
“Okay. But I’m sure we’ll be fine.”
“This way, Miss,” Marisol said, gesturing toward a long corridor.
Maya followed Marisol and disappeared down a hall. Taylor turned to Victor, glaring at him through narrowed lids. “Why did you get rid of my baby like that?”
Victor raised a brow and blessed her with the sexiest grin. “I wanna spend some my baby.” His green eyes darkened to a lustful hue. “You got a problem with that?”
The deep rumble of his rich, masculine baritone sent waves of desire to her core.
“Hell, naw. I ain’t got no problem with that. Fuck them kids!”
Victor laughed and threw an arm over her shoulders. “Come on, sweet thang. Let’s go get reacquainted.”
Taylor’s belly did flops at the thought of Victor, balls deep with his dick in her guts.