might be about to vomit. Did I do this to him? Has he turned into this… this monster all because of me?
I feel as if I’m living in this moment forever. My boyfriend, snarling and deranged, standing covered in blood across from the President of the United States. The man that’s just shot him.
David… while I might not know what’s going on in his head, anyone within a ten-mile radius should be able to feel the cold hatred rolling off him. He’s pissed off. Every muscle he has looks frozen in place, as if he’s a machine primed and ready to eliminate anyone standing in his way.
Trevor might not be able to see reason… but I’m not sure David can either.
For a terrible second, Trevor hesitates. And in that same second, David’s hand twitches on the trigger. It’s pointed right at Trevor’s heart.
But then time pushes forward. There’s an enormous feeling of relief in my heart as I hear the noise of Trevor’s knife clattering to the ground. Thank god he’s being sensible.
“Kick it away from you.” David’s voice is low. “The knife. I want it as far from you as you can possibly get it.”
Trevor’s shoe tentatively reaches out and nudges the knife away from him.
“Now,” David says coolly. “It’s time for some manners. I want you to apologize to the lady.”
Trevor’s eyes shine as he looks up at me. It’s not with tears. It’s with hatred.
“I won’t apologize to that whore,” he grunts, clutching his shoulder.
David glares at him. His fingers twitch once more. “Apologize to her.”
Holy shit. Right now, I’m not sure who to be more terrified of. Trevor may hate my guts… but David’s fury is unrelenting. If Trevor doesn’t apologize, I’m fully convinced that he’ll pull that trigger. He’ll kill him.
“David,” I beg. “Please-”
David shakes his head, undeterred. “He’ll apologize like the scum he is-”
“Mr President!”
We’re not alone. Around a dozen men in black have surrounded us from all sides. Before I can even react, three of them are pinning Trevor down and pressing a gun to his head.
“He’s hurt!” I cry out, the terror of the last few minutes disappearing now I see the man I’d spent so long with bleeding on the ground. “Help him!”
The Secret Service look to David. “Sir?”
“Take him away,” David says, his voice a thick layer of steel. “Hand him over to the authorities and get the man to the hospital. The lunatic pulled a knife on Miss Waters here.”
Despite everything, horror fills me. “Wait-”
“Veronica,” the President says softly. “You need to leave.” He snaps his fingers at one of the men. “Peters?”
“Sir?”
“Take Miss Waters back home.” David leans forward, saying something in a hushed by firm undertone that I can’t quite catch.
“Yes, sir.”
I clench my fists. “No way in hell. I’m staying here-”
But when David turns to me, the fight dies. That rage hasn’t even begun to fade. If anything, now he is back in complete control and Trevor has been stopped, he only seems to have hardened further. The man who’d smirked as he’d stroked my inner thigh is nowhere to be seen. This isn’t a fight I can win.
“We’ll deal with this later,” he says, absolutely unshakable. Absolutely in command.
President
My heart is going about a million miles an hour.
I’ve never shot someone before now. Hell, I’ve never shot anything beyond a paper target at a firing range before now.
But now I’ve shot a man. And I liked it.
The rush of it all, the adrenaline and the testosterone, pumps through me like a concoction of drugs. I feel like I could do anything right now, like I’m the most powerful man in the world. (And I kind of am.)
And I’m never going to let that son of a bitch near Veronica again. Next time, that bullet will be aimed for somewhere a lot more fragile.
I’ve always felt a little silly carrying a pistol on me. With so many highly trained secret service agents around me, it’s seemed a little useless. Still, for my safety and protection I’ve been carrying one under my jacket in public since I was elected.
And now it has paid off. It certainly hadn’t felt silly when I’d seen that piece of shit with a knife. When I’d seen him threatening Veronica. Then it had seemed smart, like the best idea I’ve ever had.
I’m going to make his life hell for what he did tonight. It is treason, attempting to assassinate the President of the United States, and the way he was waving that