Incumbent

“She wanted to know if I was the baby daddy.” Mason stood. “She knows, Lucy. I told her to get the hell off your property, but she knows.”


The phone rang, and Lucy’s head whipped around. Her eyes widened at the caller ID that read BLOCKED. She stood there, frozen in indecision, as the display blinked that she had seven missed calls. Reaching out a trembling hand, she put the phone on speaker, and we listened to the first message.

“Hi, this is Kendra from the National Reveal. We’d like to get a statement from you in regard to what your boyfriend and Republican US senator thinks about you having an abortion. Please get in touch with me—”

Lucy skipped to the next message.

“Lucy, this is Alistair McMillan—” At the sound of the man’s voice, all the color drained from her face. “The school has received a couple of calls today inquiring about you. Please contact us as soon as possible.”

“Oh my God. How?” Lucy looked at me, her eyes were rimmed in red. “Drake?”

“Did you have something to do with this, Prescott?” Mason’s hands balled into fists as he glared at me.

I got up and knelt next to Lucy, who was a bundle of nerves sitting on the couch. “This is what I wanted to tell you earlier.”

God, how could I say this and not make her hate me? I took both her hands in mine and held on tightly as they rested in her lap. When I looked up at her, my heart splintered into a thousand tiny pieces.

“Emily overheard me telling Gretchen about you last night.”

Her eyes flew open wide, and she jerked her hands away.

“Holy shit!” Mason began to pace, shooting me death glares.

“I didn’t know she was there,” I told Lucy, my heart breaking at the pain I’d caused her. “I’m so sorry. This is all my fault.”

“You better fucking believe it is!” Mason went to Lucy’s side and took her hands in his that had just been in mine. “Come with me to California, Luce. You can stay with me until you get on your feet. The college set me up with an apartment just off campus.”

He’s moving? I watched the woman I loved as she seemed to be contemplating his suggestion.

Before I let her answer, I needed to interject. “I’ll take care of this. I haven’t told you the rest of the story.”

“I can’t wait to hear what’s next.” Mason’s sarcastic tone was punching my buttons. But for Lucy, I kept my anger in check.

“Emily is engaged to Grissett’s right-hand man. All I need to do is drop out of the race, and this will be over. No one will care who you are or about your past. They only care because of me.”

I reached out to cup her cheek as I stared into her anguished eyes, swimming in tears.

“Don’t leave me, Lucy. I’ll fix this.”





CHAPTER 19


Lucy



Leaving and going to California, although tempting, wasn’t what I wanted. I’d run away once already, and that was plenty for me. The thing was, my past was just that—mine. I couldn’t hide from it, nor could I shield myself from the scrutiny that came with it. However, I could protect those I loved from getting hurt in the process.

“I’m not leaving.” My attempt at sounding strong must have been futile because Drake looked at me like his dog just died. I wrapped my arms around him. “I’m not, Drake. I love you too much.”

His arms tightened around me, and as usual when I was with him, I felt safe and protected, even though the only one who could protect me was myself. There was no way I was taking my friends down with me. To think of the Prescotts being bombarded by reporters was enough to make my stomach lurch.

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