“Right,” I say. “There were bribes and intimidations. It’s all discussed in great length in my book.”
Denise tilts her head, her eyes squinting. “The release of this memoir during an election year–it seems as though it might be a strategic move. Would that be a fair assumption?”
I shrug. They say all’s fair in love and war. Everything about this is love and war.
“It was a decision Ronan and I made together,” I say. “We felt the American public deserved to know the truth, and we believe it’s our civic duty to share it.”
“You also have a stunning revelation to share in regards to the identity of your biological father,” she says. “From what I understand, his identity has only been shared with you in the past year?”
“That’s correct,” I say. “I haven’t met him yet, and I’m not sure that I want to, but I’m very familiar with his work . . .”
I don’t know how he did it, but Ronan managed to convince my mother to fork over the missing puzzle piece I’d desperately searched for my entire life. My father, for better or for worse, is Rupert Darlington, husband of Vice President Nanette Darlington and father of Lydia, who, it turns out, is adopted–which is a huge relief. She’s the last person I’d want as a half-sister.
Denise asks a handful of pointed questions, and I’m ready at the helm with scripted answers generic enough to not reveal spoilers from my book but still enough to leave the viewers at home satisfied.
Ronan stands still, watching from his place, and my strength is grounded in his calmness. For the past year, he’s been my rock, my protector, my most trusted confidant and my best friend. He moved to LA with me so I could pursue my dreams, and he’s perfectly content to stand back and let me shine. The spotlight is all mine, he likes to say. He never wanted it in the first place.
The producer signals for Denise to wrap up, and I’m flooded with an unreasonable amount of happiness. I just want to go home to my apartment with my fiancé, and hole up for a few days while the impending media firestorm we’re creating begins to brew.
Ronan said that publicly calling out his mother for her actions would keep her from ever acting on them. And it would more than likely ruin any chances she’d ever have of running for office someday.
I believe that’s what they call karma, even if we did give it a helpful little nudge.
“If I may, I’d like to read an excerpt from a chapter written by Ronan,” Denise says, pulling out a sheet of printed paper as we close the interview. “And I would do it all over again, changing nothing. A hundred times over, I’d give it all away for her. My kingdom for her heart.”
THE END
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
AMAZON TOP 100 BESTSELLING AUTHOR Winter Renshaw recently celebrated her third 29th birthday. By day, she wrangles kids and dogs, and by night, she wrangles words. She loves peonies, lipstick, and balmy summer days. Chips and salsa are her jam, and so is cruising down the highway with the windows down and the air blasting while 80s rock blares from the speakers of her Mom-UV.
She would describe her writing style as sexy, conflicted, and laced with heart. Her heroes are always alpha and her heroines are always smart and independent. HEA guaranteed.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Last, but certainly not least, I wanted to thank some of the lovely people who helped make this book possible. So, in no particular order…
Katrina…thank you for the relentless brainstorming sessions and for always being at my disposal and never acting annoyed when I vent to you about the same things 100x a day.
Morgan…thank you for beta reading on short notice! Your notes were tremendously helpful, and I appreciate your help so much!
Valorie…thank you for squeezing my edits in on such short notice! I’m so glad we finally got to work together!
To my family…my husband in particular. Your support means the world to me. Thank you for putting up with me crawling into bed at 3am the last few weeks. To my three munchkins, Mommy loves you, and I owe you a million bedtime stories. From now until Christmas, I’m all yours. Mwah!
Camp Winter…just a simple shout out to say I heart you guys. Thanks for always answering my silly questions, participating in my polls, and letting me occupy your newsfeed for the most random of reasons. ;-)
To my ARC reader/reviewers…thank you for your support. Your enthusiasm warms my heart (and strokes my ego-ha ha) every time!
To my readers and fans…thank you for choosing MY books. There are so many amazingly talented authors and so many incredible books to pick from, but the fact that you selected me is incredibly humbling. You’re the sparkplugs in my engine. You keep me going! If it weren’t for you, none of these books would happen. <3
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