Sway (Landry Family #1)

by Adriana Locke

  “What the fuck is that?” I say, racing to the desk. I’ve broken out in a cold sweat, my stomach churning, as Graham and I look at the screen. Emails upon emails from a web-based account under Nolan’s name. “Oh my God.”

  “It gets better,” Linc says. He clicks another message.

  “Release the info about Baker. That should shake him up. Maybe it’ll make him withdraw altogether.”

  Graham takes the mouse and clicks another message.

  “I’m having him tailed. As soon as we can get a decent shot of the girl, I’ll have it sent anonymously to the media. Just play it cool, be supportive. I have a guy that’s going to take some pics of the kid. Maybe that’ll make him rethink this. Talk soon. Hobbs.”

  I step back, my hands shaking at my sides. My brothers watch me and I can see the fury in their eyes that I feel in mine.

  “That son of a bitch,” I growl.

  “Why would he do this?” Graham mutters, shaking his head.

  Lincoln stands and faces me. “Because he’s a sneaky bastard. I told you not to trust him.”

  “I’m going to kill him.” I grab my phone and send a quick text to Troy to come get me. I need to find Alison, find Nolan, do a million fucking things, and I don’t know where to start.

  My head snaps up as I listen to the front door open and my father’s voice trickle down the hall. Graham, Linc, and I all look at each other, anger drifting between us all.

  “That’s true, Harris,” I hear Nolan saying. “We just keep pressing forward. It’ll all work out.”

  “What will work out?” Graham says as they turn the corner.

  Dad looks around the room, obviously reading the mood correctly. It’s not lost on Nolan either. He pales and takes a step back.

  “Apparently Nolan talked to Alison tonight,” Lincoln says, taking charge. He comes up next to me and stands shoulder to shoulder with Graham and I. Lincoln’s voice is eerily calm and it sends a chill through me. “Want to tell us about that?”

  I want to charge ahead, rip him a new asshole, but I can’t. I’m frozen to the spot, unable to process everything that just happened.

  My manager balks at Lincoln’s question. “I just answered your phone and let her know you were unable to speak at the moment.”

  “Nah, Nolan, I don’t think that was all that happened,” Linc dismisses him.

  “He talked to Alison?” I ask in disbelief. “What did he say?” I drag my gaze from Nolan to my brother, feeling my blood turn to ice. “Tell me, Linc.”

  A silence descends on the room.

  “Nolan, what did you say to her?” my father asks his long-time friend.

  He throws his hands up in the air. “I told her he was busy and that’s what politician’s lives are like.”

  Linc pops his knuckles beside me. “Nah, Nolan, I don’t think that’s all you had to say.”

  I take a step towards Nolan, but Linc grabs my arm.

  “Linc was just online,” Graham says, glancing at our father. “And he found something interesting.”

  “Like what?” Dad asks, setting his jaw. “What’s going on in here, boys?”

  “You want to tell me why you’ve been emailing Hobbs?” I look Nolan in the eye and his face goes white. “I’d love to hear why you are talking about fake pregnancy tests and leaking pictures to the press. Come on, Nolan,” I chuckle, the sound laced with fury, “I wanna hear it. Tell me. And if you had anything to do with Huxley being followed or her being fucked with by Lacy, I’m going to rip you into pieces so small they’ll never put you back together. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

  My dad spins on his heel and his jaw drops. “Nolan? What are they talking about?”

  “I . . .” He grabs for the doorframe as Graham takes a step towards him. “I . . .” He stutters again, his eyes searching us for the weakest link. He lands on my father. “I was trying to make sure that Land Bill doesn’t get passed. You know what that would do to you, Harris. He won’t listen. He—”

  “No,” Graham corrects him, his tone as cool as a cucumber. “What I think you were doing was trying to implode Barrett’s campaign. But why? I can’t figure that out.”

  Nolan doesn’t answer, just watches Graham move another step closer.

  “Did you think we wouldn’t find out? Did you think you’d get away with this?”

  Graham’s questions seem to break Nolan’s stress, dissolve the last hanging shred of composure. He faces Graham head-on.

  “How do you sit back and watch them build him up,” Nolan asks, nodding at me. “You should be the candidate. You’re the intelligent one, the one that will listen to logic . . .”

  Graham smiles, but it’s disingenuous. “So you decided to make sure he wouldn’t win? Because you think he doesn’t deserve it?”

  Nolan relaxes a bit, tricked by Graham’s easy tone. “No, he made sure he won’t win. He won’t listen. All of a sudden, he decides he wants to grow a damn conscience, and it’s going to cost him the election! Then what?” He swings around to face my father whose eyes are bulging in disbelief. “I’ll tell you what,” Nolan growls, “I’ll be out of a job! Just like a bunch of other people that rely on that kid,” he spits, “to do what’s best for the campaign. So, yeah, I took a few kickbacks to help end this mess of a campaign early. He wanted to lose so fucking bad, I figured I’d help him!”

  He turns to face me, hatred in his eyes. “I considered the kickbacks I got from Hobbs my severance package.”

  I leap forward, fury bursting through my body when Lincoln jerks my shoulders back. I stumble into my brother’s chest, my arms held behind my back.

  “Let me at him!” I shout, my body shaking with anger. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”

  “No, you aren’t,” Graham says, glancing at me over his shoulder. “You have an election to win if for no reason but to spite him. But I, on the other hand, the logical one, have no reason to not use logic here and—”

  We all gasp as a smashing sound ricochets through the room. Nolan drops against the wall, his eyes bugging out. Our father shakes his hand from the impact to Nolan’s face.

  “I warned you a long time ago not to mess with my children,” Dad rumbles, glaring down at his once-trusted advisor. “If there will be anyone going to jail tonight it’ll be me.”

  “No,” a voice booms from the doorway. We all whip our heads to the side to see Troy standing there. “If anyone is going to take a fall for that, it’s me.”

  He bends down and helps Nolan to his feet. Blood trickles from his mouth and he wipes it with the back of his hand.

  “If anyone asks, I’m the one that hit him.” Troy gives us a look and turns back to Nolan. “I’m going to accompany you off the property and it would be best to go willingly and quietly.”

  Nolan shuffles immediately towards the door but stops, with his back to us, when I speak.

  “This isn’t over. If it would’ve been me, that would’ve been one thing. But you fucked with Alison and Huxley and you will pay for that. I promise you.”

  “You better hope we can’t trace the guy taking pics of Huxley to you,” Lincoln warns him. “Because I will personally find you before the police do and will use my exemplary bat skills on your fucking face.”

  Nolan flies down the steps and into his car. My father and Graham step outside, making calls to security, publicists, and others to let them know things have changed.

  “Where is Ali?” I ask Linc.

  He puts his hand on my shoulder. “I don’t know.”

  “We have to find her.”

  Alison

  I PULL THE CURTAINS, A seventies floral print that probably wasn’t even pretty then, closed. The television plays a cartoon Hux watches sometimes as he goes through every drawer in the hotel room.

  “What are you looking for?” I ask, laughing.

  “I don’t know. That’s why I’m looking.”

  “Fair enough.”

  It’s getting late and I’m tired from the day
’s events. My entire body hurts, aches, throbs like I’ve been in an accident. My muscles are sore, my head pounding, and my heart cracked and possibly irreparable.

  I’ve thought about turning around to go to Barrett all evening. At least calling him and seeing what he has to say. But a part of me, the prideful part, won’t let me do it. What if he tells me Nolan is right? What if he admits Lacy’s story is true? What if he just says the incident with her tonight, coupled with the Huxley situation, caused him a headache and he thinks we should stall things while he gets things figured out?

  The answer is, I can’t deal with it. Not tonight, not while my head feels cloudy like I’ve drank my weight’s worth of vodka.

  I look up to see Huxley opening a piece of candy from the vending machine.

  “Do you want to go swimming downstairs?” I ask him.

  He plops the candy in his mouth “Sure. After this show though, okay?”

  Yawning, I grab my toiletries that Lola packed for me. “I’m going to get a shower while you watch.”

  He nods, engrossed in the plot. I kiss his head as I walk by and lock myself in the bathroom. Looking at my reflection, my swollen eyes and raggedy hair, I see the girl that looked back at me after my divorce.

  My heart breaks as tears spill down my cheeks. I hope beyond all hope that somehow, by morning, some of this will sort itself out in the fog in my mind.

  Barrett

  The sky is pitch black, not a star in it. I sit at the table where one night, what feels like years ago, I made love to Alison for the first time.

  I remember the way she looked spread out on this very spot, the sounds she made, the feeling I had knowing that I was fucked in more ways than one.

  I can’t help but realize I may have sacrificed the one thing I wanted for a bunch of things I didn’t. I should’ve done exactly what she told me to in regards to the election—trust my instincts and that my ideas are enough to win.

  I should’ve done the same in my relationship with her.

  My life falling apart hurts worse than anything I’ve ever dreamed I’d feel.

  “Fuck,” I say to the darkness around me.

  Graham and Lincoln are trying to find her, Graham letting me know that he didn’t have a plan for once because, as he put it, “Who would’ve thought she would’ve left you?” Not me. I suppose I thought she knew what she meant to me, but obviously she didn’t. Or I gave her enough of a reason to question it.

  That’s a mistake I won’t make twice.

  I just hope I have another chance to prove it.

  I pick up my phone and dial Graham. He answers immediately.

  “I didn’t find her yet,” he says, forgoing a hello.

  “You know,” I say, “I’m tired.”

  “Tired of what?”

  “Of everything. I’m sitting here thinking about all the things I want to do in my life, and yeah, I’m on the path to get some of them accomplished. But if I get in office where I can actually do those things and I’m set up so I can’t, what’s the point?”

  “You’re talking about the Land Bill?”

  “Among other things. There’s a chance I could lose Alison over this,” I say, holding a breath.

  He sighs. “She told Lincoln she just needed a little bit of time. Don’t panic. We’ll find her.”

  “I know we will. But that doesn’t mean she’ll consider me a good enough prize to risk everything she’s giving up to be with me.”

  “You aren’t a prize. That’s your first mistake,” he says.

  “Fuck off, Graham.”

  He laughs harder and I eke out a smile.

  “What are you getting at, Barrett?”

  I take my shoes off the table, something my mother would have a fit about if she could see me, and stand. “I’m saying I’m tired of doing everything the way I should or the way I’m told to. If I’m going to do this—politics, campaigns, relationships—I want to do it on my own terms. I want to do it my way and then, you know, I sink or swim on my own laurels.”

  He doesn’t answer, probably thinking I’ve been drinking.

  “I’m not drunk.”

  “No, I know that.” He pauses and exhales. “Okay. I agree. Let’s do things your way. It’s your career, your life to fuck up if that’s what happens. So what do you want to do?”

  “Schedule a press conference for me tomorrow. Early.”

  “Me? I don’t have the contacts for that, Barrett.”

  “Call my publicist and Rose. They’ll get the word out. I want to go on record first thing.”

  “Are you absolutely sure? You do realize this conference has the potential of doing more harm than good, right?”

  I nod. “Yeah, I know. But if I lose this election based on who I am, then did I want it to start with?”

  Graham sucks in a breath. “What about Alison? I mean, depending on what you say, there’s a chance you could lose her over this too.”

  A grin touches my lips. “Someone told me to believe in myself. So I’m going to set the record straight on everything and . . . hope it all works out.”

  “If you’re sure.”

  Before I can reply, my phone buzzes. I pull it away to see Alison’s name. My heart stops. “Ali is calling.” I don’t bother saying goodbye, knowing he understands, and try to ignore the pounding in my chest as I click over. “Alison?”

  The line is quiet. No response.

  “Alison, talk to me, baby,” I plead, my heart jumping to my throat.

  “It’s me. Huxley.”

  I spin in a circle, confused. “Hux? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Is your mom there, buddy?”

  “Yeah.”

  His voice is steady, strong, yet a little nervous. I have to calm the fuck down if I’m going to get anywhere with him.

  “I’ve called you guys a few times tonight,” I say. “I couldn’t get through.”

  “Mom’s phone was dead and it’s been on the charger since we got here.”

  “Where are you?”

  “I don’t know.”

  I pull the phone away from my face and take a deep breath. I can’t start barking orders, demanding shit. I have to walk a fine line. “Are you okay, Huxley? Is your mom okay?”

  He doesn’t answer me again. The line is quiet. I hear a television on in the background, but no other voices.

  “Hux?”

  “You made her cry.”

  My heart splinters, my shoulders slumping at his words. “I didn’t mean to.”

  “You told me you wouldn’t.”

  I pull the phone away and mutter a few profanities under my breath. How can a simple statement from a child make me feel like a kid myself?

  “Sometimes,” I start, my voice shakier than I’d like, “adults do things they don’t mean to, just like kids do. But Huxley, I promised you, I would never make her cry on purpose and I didn’t. Right now I’m at the Farm, where you played ball with Linc, remember? And I’m worried sick about you and your mom. If you tell me where you are, I’ll come and get you. I’ll make things okay.”

  “I can’t tell you because I know she doesn’t want you to know. And . . . I have to protect her.”

  I bite down on my bottom lip. “Yes, you do. And if you feel like you have to protect her from me, I’m not going to argue with you. Because if there’s one thing in this life I want you to know, it’s to trust your gut.” I squeeze my eyes shut and wish to God I had taken my own advice sooner. “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do or how to feel, okay?”

  “Okay.” He gets quiet, his little breath firing through the phone. “Barrett?” he asks, his voice unsure.

  “Yeah, buddy?”

  “Do you love her? For real?”

  I drag in a hasty breath, my chest tightening at his words. “I do,” I insist. “I love her very much. And I had planned next week to sit down with you, man to man, and ask you what you think about us being a family.”

  “Really?” His little voice sin
gs through the phone and it nearly breaks me in half.

  “Really. I love your mom, but she’s your girl. I trust that you know what’s best for her and if you don’t think it’s a good idea, I’ll listen. Because I respect you. But I would love the opportunity to help you take care of her. And, you know, be there for you for the stuff girls suck at.”

  “So guy stuff other than baseball?”

  I laugh. “Yeah. I’ll use Linc for the baseball stuff because God knows I don’t want to mess you up there.”

  I can tell he’s grinning, but he doesn’t say anything.

  “Maybe when you get back to town, we can go to dinner, just the two of us, and you can tell me what you think about that, okay?”

  “I think it’s a good idea. I need some help with her,” he says, a touch of exasperation in his little voice. “When she cries, I don’t know what to do. I need an adult, and my grandma just cries too, and then I have two crying girls to deal with.”

  I wish he was here. But he’s not. And that’s a problem.

  “I’ll gladly be your help with her. And if you tell me where you are, I’ll come now.”

  He waits a moment before responding. “I can’t tell you tonight. She hasn’t agreed to be a family yet, so, right now, I have to be loyal to her.”

  “Promise me one thing, okay?” I ask.

  “Sure.”

  “If you need anything, if your mom needs anything, you will call me.”

  “Okay. But I need to go because she’s getting out of the shower now.”

  “Hux?” I say quickly.

  “Yeah?”

  “Thanks for calling me. Call me anytime.”

  “Okay,” he smiles. “But I do need to go.”

  “Bye, buddy.”

  “Bye.”

  I end the call and gaze into the night.

  Barrett

  THE CROWD IS BUZZING BEHIND the closed door. A few people stand in the wings with me, ensuring the main television stations are present and that the journalists that will run the story on me are here. They may as well get the word straight from the jackass’s mouth. Me. That’s how I feel over this situation. It’s time to make things right.