The Rebel King (All the King's Men Duet #2) - Kennedy Ryan Page 0,88
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“We face bigger problems than we ever have in this country. We need bold solutions. So many things about the future scare many of you, and I get it. According to experts, automation, robots will be taking a huge slice of the jobs humans do. Whole cities could soon be underwater because of climate change. Tensions all over the world have many of our global neighbors on the brink of war. I won’t pretend it’s not scary, but I assure you that I’m not afraid. Genius and innovation live in the DNA of this nation. If we face new problems every day, there are those among us who have the answers, who will find the answers. And where those answers don’t exist, we’ll create them. I’m a guy who knows how to make something from nothing. I’ve done it for myself. Let me do it for you.”
The passion in his expression tempers, and a sad smile curves his lips. “I started this talking about my brother, Owen. As you know, he was assassinated not long ago. I’m announcing later than the other candidates because I had no intention of ever doing this. I wanted to support my brother. He would have made an amazing president, and Millie would have been an extraordinary first lady.”
He pauses, swallows and blinks rapidly, a sheen of tears over his green eyes. “I would give anything to have him back—to have him sitting here instead, telling you about health care and social security and equal pay and all the things he believed were the least we could do as a people.”
He looks down at his hands, clasped between his knees and then back into the camera. “That choice was taken away from me, but this one hasn’t been. I choose to do what I always wanted to do—to change the world, and Owen made this cynical, jaded guy a believer again. I’m hoping that I can do the same for many of you. This is not a campaign of small moves, but of huge ideas. I’ve built my life on impossible dreams.”
His wicked grin scares me because I know it promises mischief. “Once, I was trying to impress a beautiful girl, and I told her all my big dreams—that I wanted to make the world a better place, that I wanted to change a nation, this nation. I asked if that was arrogant or presumptuous. You know what she said?”
He chuckles and presses his hands together. “She said revolution requires a certain degree of hubris. I have hubris to spare. Whether you know it or not, we need a revolution. We need to shake things up. The status quo is insufficient for what lies ahead. Let’s not fear the future. Let’s make it.”
40
Maxim
“You have hundreds of messages,” Jin Lei tells me in clipped tones.
“Well, I did just announce I’m running for president,” I say, not looking up from my laptop. “That tends to get the people going.”
“I can’t believe you’re really doing this,” she says, leaning one shoulder against the doorjamb. “Like, president.”
“Neither can I, but hey, if I become president, maybe I could give you some job that’s much easier than what you do for me now.”
“Like what?”
“Secretary of Defense?”
“I wouldn’t take the pay cut,” she says, turning to leave. “I’m gonna go if you don’t need anything else.”
“I’m good. I think Kimba’s coming by in a little bit with some notes. I had to leave the announcement and almost immediately go into rescue mode on this Hong Kong deal. Apparently, our shareholders don’t care that I’m running for president. They want their money no matter what.”
I work for a few minutes in blessed quiet, getting more done than I have since I woke this morning. I talked to Millie briefly, and she assured me I had her blessing, but then hastily got off the phone. My mom and dad called. Mom cried basically through the entire conversation. There was a lot about how Owen would be proud of me for continuing where he left off. That got me pretty choked up, and then my father got on the line and told me I “did good.” As praise from my father goes, that was gushing.
“Knock, knock.”
I look up and Lennix, not Kimba, stands in the door. She’s wearing jeans and a shirt that says Indigenous or Bust, the words across her . . . bust. Cute.
“Knock, knock yourself.” I push back from my desk. “A pleasant surprise. I was expecting Kimba.”