The Rebel King (All the King's Men Duet #2) - Kennedy Ryan Page 0,85

believing it could be the norm.”

“If Maxim decides to run as an independent,” Kimba says, “that’s what we’ll do. Our job will be to move the idea of a viable independent candidate from unthinkable to acceptable to the norm.”

“Dare we say, even popular.” Lennix winks. “The country is primed for something new and so desperate for change and answers that they’re open to new things. Maxim could be that new thing. Again, if, and that’s a big if, he decides to run. We believe he’s uniquely positioned to shift the window of what is the norm in American politics.”

“He could barely stay on message in the few weeks he was surrogate for his own brother,” Chuck says. “And couldn’t be bothered to move center to align with Owen’s position.”

“You mean with the party’s position, right?” I ask. “And be careful speaking about my brother, Chuck, in case you say the wrong thing and make an enemy of me and I have to destroy you. I hate it when that happens.”

There’s pin-drop silence for a few seconds before Chuck dives in. “Uh, no, I wasn’t saying . . . of course, respectfully. Um, rest in peace. I was just saying—”

“I know what you were saying,” Lennix interjects. “But apparently, Americans liked that Maxim didn’t abandon his opinions to align with a party platform. That he wasn’t afraid to say when he and his brother didn’t agree on something. They appreciated his honesty and authenticity.”

“Now could you tell me again,” Kimba says, lifting one brow, “why we need you, Chuck?”

“I actually emailed some of my initial thoughts about strategy to you, Maxim,” Chuck says.

“We read those.” Kimba sighs. “And you wonder why the Dems lost the last election.”

“Excuse me?” Chuck asks, obviously affronted.

“Where’d you find those strategies, Chuck?” Lennix asks. “The Smithsonian? In addition to your assessment of how to present a candidate like Maxim being all wrong, it’s archaic. There’s not one modern thing about it.”

“Let me guess. You know exactly what he should do.” Chuck sneers.

“Maxim is a breath of fresh fucking air,” Lennix says, her jaw set and her nostrils flaring. “A bellwether leader who sees the future like it’s today and calculates how to get from A to Z before men like you can even start the math. You run him as a rebel—not as the experienced one, but the smart one. The one who won’t rely on what he’s already learned because he understands that in such a quickly changing trajectory, in a month that might not work anymore. You want someone who learns at the speed of light. You tell America that in these perilous times, they don’t need the safe choice. They need someone who’s not afraid.”

“I understand you not knowing what to do with Maxim because you’ve never encountered anyone like him before,” she says, looking at me for the first time, that one glance declaring that she loves me and believes every word. “Neither have I.”

38

Lennix

“Well, that was fun,” Kimba says, standing once Chuck has hightailed it out of Maxim’s office.

“Watching the two of you is a master class.” Maxim chuckles, leaning back in his seat. “If he’s not scared of facing me, he’s certainly scared of facing the two of you.”

“And will he be?” Kimba asks, leaning against the desk. “Facing you? When will you make your final decision? If we’re going to do this, we need to start organizing, and fast.”

“We’d inherit the basic structure from Owen’s campaign,” I say. “And some of the team will come back on board if they haven’t already found new jobs with other campaigns.”

“And it’s a huge help that those independents did the grassroots organization on ballot access for you,” Kimba says. “I reached out to the representative and asked how close they are to being done. They’re already about seventy percent there. Signatures were easy, especially after that speech you gave.”

“It feels grimy that the things I said at my brother’s eulogy spurred all of this,” Maxim says.

“Not really,” I tell him. “You challenged people not to be afraid. To not let what happened stop them from doing what Owen would have wanted.”

We both know if it were up to him, we would totally be allowing fear to stop us. I’m scared, too, for that matter, but there comes a point where your need to act outweighs the fear of what happens when you do. We’re at risk. If he does this, my job will be to make sure Maxim has the best chance