“I can’t drive stick,” I answer, taking a sip of the champagne he handed me.
He takes another breath, spotting something in the distance and following it with his eyes. “I know. Remind me to teach you one day.”
“You’re Aiden Parker,” comes a voice from beside us.
The woman is familiar, but I can’t place her until I read the reporters’ pass dangling from a Channel Five lanyard.
“I’m Vivienne Henfrey from Channel Five News,” she says, voicing what I already put together. She was the one hounding Andrew at the fair the other day.
“How do you know who I am?” Aiden asks, his expression giving nothing away.
“When you’re dealing with someone as crooked as Andrew Kessler, you do your research.” She reaches into her handbag and pulls out a business card. Her eyes remind me of a viper eyeing its prey. “I’d love to talk to you about your father.”
Aiden stares at the card in her outstretched hand for a few beats, then takes it. “He’s not my father.”
She gives him a sympathetic smile, but everything about her screams of her ambition. “Of course. He hasn’t been your father in years.”
Aiden’s gaze finds something in the distance again. “Sure,” he says simply to her, and without taking his eyes off whatever he’s trailing, he says to me, “Come on.”
Leaving Vivienne behind, I set the champagne flute down on a random table and let him lead me in the direction he was looking, skillfully weaving around people. Even here, Aiden’s presence is too much to ignore, and people move out of our way like they do in the halls at school. We exit the ballroom and walk through the house, where there are still tons of people mingling. Every tidbit of conversation we hear that’s Kessler’s so great, or Kessler’s so generous, or Kessler’s an amazing guy, makes Aiden’s hand in mine tighten a little bit more.
We slip behind a security guard and head down a hallway that’s definitely off limits. My footsteps are softened by the red carpet, and I can’t help but stare at all the abstract paintings we pass. Was that one signed Picasso? Aiden pulls us to a stop in front of a room from which voices are drifting out from, and we move to the side so as to not be seen.
“How did you lose my son?” Kessler asks, his voice venomous.
“I’m not a babysitter,” comes the flat answer, and I know it’s from the large man, Harvey.
“You have to get him under control,” comes another voice, a woman’s. It sounds elegant even though she’s clearly not happy. “We can’t afford anything that would jeopardize you not winning this election. Do you know how royally fucked we’d be?”
“Yes, Katherine,” comes Andrew’s harsh reply, and I realize that’s his wife. “I’m aware of the money we took and the promises we made.”
“Those aren’t the kind of people we can fuck over. Do you remember my cousin Vincent?” Katherine asks.
“No.”
“Exactly!” she screeches, and I hear a glass being set down. I imagine she just chugged whatever alcoholic drink she had in her hand. “We have too much riding on this to let your stupid kid fuck it up.”
“Calm down, Katherine. You know I’ll do anything to win.
I’m not going to let a kid I never even wanted fuck it up.”
“I still can’t believe you had him,” she says like it’s the most absurd thing she’s ever heard.
“We’ve been over this. You know I only married his mom because I knocked her up. I’d never see him or his stupid bratty brothers if I didn’t have to. I’m never going back to the life I had in King City. I’ll do whatever it takes, so believe me when I say Aiden’s not going to be a problem. I’ll make sure of it.”
I’ve always thought that Aiden’s father was a terrible person, but hearing these words out loud is like a punch to the chest. The only indications that Aiden’s pissed are his drawn eyebrows and the tick in his jaw.
“Well, then, where is he?” comes a new voice, low and masculine. “We’re supposed to get ahead of this before it becomes a scandal. Introduce him as your estranged son you’re reconnecting with. I can’t do my job as your campaign manager if he’s not going to cooperate.”
“It’s under control, Will,” Andrew says forcefully.
“What are you doing?” A loud voice comes from directly behind us, making both Aiden and I jump at the unexpected sound.
“Vee? What are you doing here?” I ask her, astonished. We haven’t seen her since the other day at the roller rink. Her long, sparkly, silver dress hugs her body and kind of makes me wish I was wearing it. Her brown hair is coiled professionally on top of her head and her deep-red lipstick is perfectly intact despite the almost empty glass of champagne in her hand. Her eyes jump over me and land on Aiden, at which she does a double take and stays there, drinking him in like she did last time. Jealousy boils in my veins.
“Evianna?” Katherine’s voice comes from directly behind us, and Aiden and I turn again, caught in the doorway like deer in headlights between Vee and the adults.
“Aiden,” says Andrew, his tone cool and authoritative, the sarcasm heavy. “Thank you for finally joining us. Come in.”