The Romance Vote
Page 1
Table of Contents
Synopsis
Acclaim for the Cain Casey Saga
Praise for Ali Vali
By the Author
Acknowledgments
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
About the Author
Books Available From Bold Strokes Books
Synopsis
Christian “Chili” Alexander is the most sought after campaign consultant at the Pellegrin Morris Firm in New Orleans. Chili’s success has given her the freedom to choose her clients carefully, but she hasn’t had the same good fortune in love.
Recent Tulane graduate Samantha Pellegrin wants the opportunity to work with the star of her father’s firm in the off-year election. As his only child, she’ll eventually inherit the firm, but she wants to continue their great track record in the world of politics. Her first day with Chili ends so disastrously, Sam wonders if she’ll take up the hobby of throwing darts at Chili’s picture.
As the campaign progresses, Sam will make Chili work for what both of them want in the most important campaign of both their lives. Only this time their polls have to do more with the romance vote than any politician’s future.
Acclaim for the Cain Casey Saga
The Devil Inside
“Vali’s fluid writing style quickly puts the reader at ease, which makes the story and its characters equally easy to get to know and care about. When you find yourself talking out loud to the characters in a book, you know the work is polished and professional, as well as entertaining.”—Family and Friends
“Not only is The Devil Inside a ripping mystery, it’s also an intimate character study.”—L-Word Literature
“The Devil Inside is the first of what promises to be a very exciting series…While telling an exciting story that grips the reader, Vali has also fully fleshed out her heroes and villains. The Devil Inside is that rarity: a fascinating crime novel which includes a tender love story and leaves the reader with a cliffhanger ending.”—MegaScene
The Devil Unleashed
“Fast-paced action scenes, intriguing character revelations, and a refreshing approach to the romance thriller genre all make for an enjoyable reading experience in the Big Easy…The Devil Unleashed is an engrossing reading experience.”—Midwest Book Review
Deal With the Devil
“Ali Vali has given her fans another thick, rich thriller…Deal With the Devil has wonderful love stories, great sex, and an ample supply of humor. It is an exciting, page turning read that leaves her readers eagerly awaiting the next book in the series.”—Just About Write
The Devil Be Damned
“Ali Vali excels at creating strong, romantic characters along with her fast paced, sophisticated plots. Her setting, New Orleans, provides just the right blend of immigrants from Mexico, South America and Cuba, along with a city steeped in traditions.”—Just About Write
Praise for Ali Vali
Carly’s Sound
“Vali paints vivid pictures with her words…Carly’s Sound is a great romance, with some wonderfully hot sex.”—Midwest Book Review
“It’s no surprise that passion is indeed possible a second time around”—Q Syndicate
Calling the Dead
“So many writers set stories in New Orleans, but Ali Vali’s mystery novels have the authenticity that only a real Big Easy resident could bring…makes for a classic lesbian murder yarn.”—Curve
Blue Skies
“Vali is skilled at building sexual tension and the sex in this novel flies as high as Berkley’s jets. Look for this fast-paced read.”—Just About Write
Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici
“A stunning addition to the vampire legend, Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici, is one that stands apart from the rest.”—Bibliophilic Book Blog
The Romance Vote
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The Romance Vote
© 2014 By Ali Vali. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-62639-279-3
This Electronic Book is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.
P.O. Box 249
Valley Falls, New York 12185
First Edition: December 2014
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editor: Shelley Thrasher
Production Design: Stacia Seaman
Cover Design By Sheri (GraphicArtist2020@hotmail.com)
By the Author
Carly’s Sound
Second Season
Calling the Dead
Blue Skies
Love Match
The Dragon Tree Legacy
The Romance Vote
Forces Series
Balance of Forces: Toujours Ici
Battle of Forces: Sera Toujours
The Cain Casey Saga
The Devil Inside
The Devil Unleashed
Deal with the Devil
The Devil Be Damned
The Devil’s Orchard
Acknowledgments
Thank you first to Radclyffe for your support and advice, and for giving me such a wonderful home with BSB. You and the rest of the team have been incredible teachers and friends for the last ten years and I look forward to the next twenty.
As I’ve said before, writing is a solitary art when you’re putting pen to page, but once the work is done you realize you’re nowhere near finished. The editing process might be feared by some, but I’m so grateful to Shelley Thrasher for all the hard work and time she puts into each book. Her patience, lessons, and red pen are always appreciated, but the thing I value most is Shelley’s friendship.
Thank you to the BSB team who all work so hard to bring every book to print. You guys are the best in the business. Thank you to Sheri for always finding the right cover for every book, to the other authors who are always there to offer encouragement, and to my beta readers. How lucky I am to have Connie Ward and Kathi Isserman offer their input from the beginning of every book, so thank you both for keeping me on track.
Thanks to you, the reader. Your support at events and your wonderful emails have meant so much to me. Everything I write is always done with you in mind.
Wow, it seems like literally yesterday that I met a beautiful woman who had me tongue-tied whenever I was around her, but that was thirty years ago. Life has changed as far as jobs, homes, the loss of loved ones, but there has been that one person at my side who keeps me tethered to happiness. Thank you, C, for loving me and for making me laugh. You’ve always been my definition of pure joy, and with you at my side, I look forward to whatever adventure comes next. You’re my best friend, and I love you. Verdad!
For C
A lifetime is not enough
and
For my big brother
> We don’t agree on politics, but I love you anyway
Chapter One
“That lying, piece-of-crap, son of a bitch!”
The descriptive rant ran through Christian “Chili” Alexander’s head as Garnet Simms sat across from her droning on about what she wanted. It had nothing to do with anyone present at the meeting, or the droner—it just was something that never failed to jump to the forefront of her thoughts when she met with potential clients.
Her father had strung the words together for the first time right after her third birthday, and while she didn’t remember the admonishment from her mother, she’d bet even money there had been one for the foul language.
Bruce Alexander had been sitting in front of his new television watching a special about Nixon resigning his office because of Watergate, and he’d been commenting on the president’s less-than-honorable exit from the world stage. When Chili’s father grew angry about something his hair always appeared darker than usual because his face would get beet red. He usually saved his outrage for football and bullies of any kind, so seeing him get so worked up about this subject had been memorable even at that early age.
Chili had inherited his passionate defense of those things in life that should be fought for and defended, and she’d come out of Harvard with a head full of ideas about how to conquer the world. The only thing missing was an idea of which particular world to conquer. On the way back to her home in New Orleans, a flat tire had stopped her in a little town just east of the city, and it’d been like fate had put that nail in the road.
When she’d walked into the small one-room campaign headquarters of Alvin Millet to use the phone, she’d found her calling. After a slew of internships with PR firms, not of her choosing and most of which included plenty of national political work, she’d been disillusioned with the game of government, but Alvin was different. He was the one candidate Chili had met up to that day vying for a city-council seat that she found had the heart and drive to fairly represent the local constituents. What Alvin didn’t have was money or a message, but after a thirty-minute conversation, he did have a new campaign manager. Chili still had a lot to learn after Alvin took his oath of office, but with him she’d discovered the one slice of the world where she could make a difference—politics, but politics of her choosing.
With a few more campaign wins on her resume, the Alexander team had become the most productive and active in the Pellegrin-Morris Consulting Firm, handling campaigns from local to national accounts. Her offices took up two floors of the refurbished building next to the Mississippi River in New Orleans that Huey Pellegrin, the owner, had purchased as a young man. From the moment she stepped off the elevators, she could feel the adrenaline, and that’s what made Chili glad to get out of bed in the morning.
Everyone on her staff believed as she did, that their efforts could mold the future into a more decent place one campaign at a time. Every candidate knew that Chili wouldn’t represent them if they didn’t first sell her on their goals. “If I can’t stand the sight of you or believe you, how am I supposed to convince people to vote for you?” That was the first thing she asked every potential client.
Sitting in meetings like this one, she could study the people the potential candidate sent to represent them. Even if the representative could fool her, in her experience idiots attracted idiots, though the hired idiots weren’t as slick as the boss. As always, Chili tried to keep anyone from sitting in front of their television and screaming, “That lying, piece-of-crap, son of a bitch.”
“You also have to be available to Kathleen and me on a twenty-four seven basis,” Garnet said.
The droner then leaned back into the conference-room chair and clicked her red nails together. Garnet was Kathleen Bergeron’s chief of staff and campaign manager, since it was a well-known fact that the current state representative and Garnet had met when they were seven. The two now-powerful women had realized even back then that they were better together than on their own. What Kathleen lacked in savvy, Garnet picked up the slack, and what Garnet lacked in people skills, Kathleen the politician handled with polished ease.
“Is that going to be a problem?” Garnet asked.
Chili stared at the media device in the center of the table, acting like she was thinking of a good answer. She’d met dozens of Garnets in her career, and to them the only correct response to that question was, “No problem at all.” What the queen bee didn’t know, though, was that this was as much an interview for the Bergeron campaign as it was for her. The governor’s mansion and who occupied it had been a major pain in Chili’s ass for too long for her to take on another moron with delusions of grandeur.
“Everyone knows you want to run. Hell, you’ve flirted with the idea and been coy in every interview you’ve given in the last year, and you’ve raised what some would consider a sizable war chest. Once you announce, had this been any other moment in time, you’d have a considerable advantage, but the reality is you have exactly twenty-four months and four days to convince the constituents of Louisiana that you’re the right person to be their governor. Not the right woman, but the right person.” She kept her attention on the flat speaker and ignored Garnet and her staff.
“You’re currently running nine points behind the sitting governor’s handpicked boy, who’s raised twelve and a half million more than you, and he’s barely begun to work the big-money donors. Considering his party affiliations and their absolute adoration of this guy, gaining ground is going to be about as easy to overcome as climbing Mount Everest in our underwear in the dead of winter.”
She never turned her head around when the door behind her opened. “They’ll use Roland against you as well.” The mention of Kathleen’s husband made everyone cringe, but if they feared the truth behind closed doors, the press would murder them. From Chili’s experience the good ole boy from the southern part of the state who’d run to the nearest altar when Kathleen had said yes was as opinionated as a group of old women at a quilting bee. That part was fine, but no one had ever been able to stop Roland from borrowing his wife’s pulpit when he had something important to say—at least important in the mind of the outspoken and often obnoxious Roland Bergeron. “Rumor on the street is that he’ll legislate from the bedroom, and it’s picking up steam.”
“Do you have any good news?” Kathleen asked, dropping into the seat next to hers and laughing. “I didn’t ask Huey to set this meeting up for you to tell me everything that’s wrong with me and Roland.”
“I have the best possible news.” Chili pulled her briefcase closer, took out a packet, and handed it to Kathleen.
“What’s this?”
A black fountain pen came out next, from the breast pocket of her jacket. “Your contract.”
Kathleen eyed the pen but didn’t readily accept it. “That confident?”
“Time wise—today is it. We’re already way behind the competition, so if you want to take a pass on our firm, so be it. Just don’t call six months from now expecting miracles.”
“Wait a minute, you—” Garnet screamed, smart enough to realize what Chili thought of the job she’d done so far. Garnet stopped when Kathleen put up her hand for silence.
“And if I don’t sign, who will you go after next?”
Chili put both the pen and the contract in front of Kathleen, seemingly as relaxed as when she walked in. “No one. This was the only meeting for this particular state race that I’ve taken. Huey isn’t happy with me, but he understands that sometimes it’s not about electing the right person, but voting for the least offensive. And before you get your panties in a crack, I wouldn’t be here if I thought that about you.”
“Will we win?” Kathleen picked up the pen and signed without reading the document. Chili’s reputation for winning would close the deal, since Kathleen couldn’t take the chance that after she walked out some other campaign would woo Chili, no matter what she’d said.
“Your homework for the moment is to become an expert in he
alth care, coastal restoration, and sugarcane, and pick out a winter-white suit.”
“Health care, the coast, and sugarcane I understand, but the shopping trip escapes me.”
“The governor takes the oath of office on the steps of the capitol in January. I just thought that with your coloring, winter white would look stunning as you place your hand on the Bible.” She stood and shook hands with her new client, then Garnet. “Give me two days, and then we’ll meet again to review our action plan. Until then, why not take a few days off somewhere reporter-free? We need to hone your message, so don’t make this election harder to win than it has to be by shooting off your mouth without a plan. Make sure Roland gets that part of the lecture, above all others. If he wants to be in charge, he can either run for something or run this campaign into the ground.”
“Blunt as always, darling,” Kathleen said.
“If you want nice, then hire Fred and his group.” She picked up the contract and slid it back into her bag. “I understand he’s got a fabulous manner with his clients, especially when he’s holding your hand on election night trying to console you. If you have that thin a skin, then not only did I make a mistake handing you that contract, but you’ve got no business running for garbage collector, much less governor of this state.”