Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

smirk.
    Sam fought to swallow the lump of panic forming in her throat. “I can’t do this, you guys. I’m not cut out to be a senator’s whatever I am.”
    “Love of his life?” Angela said.
    The poignant simplicity of her sister’s statement nearly undid Sam.
    “You look beautiful, classy and elegant.” Tracy smoothed her hands over Sam’s lapels. “Nick should be honored to have you by his side today.”
    “He is,” Nick said from the doorway.
    Startled, they turned, and the love Sam saw in his gaze chased away all her fears.
    Tracy cleared her throat. “We’ll, ah, go get Dad and Celia and see you at the Capitol.” Grabbing Angela’s arm, she steered her younger sister out of the office.
    Sam continued to fiddle with the low-cut jacket.
    Nick retrieved her hand and brought it to his lips. “You’re stunning.”
    “This suit is all wrong,” she said, unaccustomed to wardrobe malfunctions of this magnitude. Fashion was the one area of her life where she was usually one hundred percent confident. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It shows too much—”
    He put his arms around her. “It’s beautiful, you’re beautiful and I love you. I was so proud of you in there, watching your sisters pin those gold bars on your collar.”
    Touched, she worked up a smile for him. “You understand why I asked them and not you, don’t you?”
    “Of course I do. They stood in your dad’s place. It was perfect.”
    “Thanks,” she said, relieved that he understood—that he always seemed to understand. Tall herself, she had to tip her head back to meet his hazel eyes. At six-four, he was one of the few people in her life who towered over her. “Are you ready?”
    The slight hitch in the deep breath he released was the only sign of nerves she could detect in his otherwise cool demeanor. “As ready as I’ll ever be.” He offered her his arm. “Shall we?”
    Sam hesitated but only for a second. He was everything. To deny that would not only be foolish, it would be pointless. She hooked her hand through his arm. “Absolutely.”

    An hour later, as Sam stood under the Capitol dome and held the O’Connor family Bible while Nick swore to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, it occurred to her that his big day trumped hers by a mile. The president of the United States, a close friend of the O’Connor family, surprised Nick by showing up with the first lady.
    It was the second time in a week Sam had seen President and Mrs. Nelson. The first time had been at John O’Connor’s funeral where she also met Nick’s father, Leo. Today, Leo had brought his pretty young wife and adorable three-year-old twin sons, and Sam was once again struck by Leo’s youthfulness. Since he was only fifteen years older than Nick, it made sense that he looked more like Nick’s brother than his father.
    The entire O’Connor family had come. Sam could only imagine how difficult it must be for them to watch their murdered son and brother’s best friend replace him in the Senate. John’s father, retired Senator Graham O’Connor, had handpicked Nick for the job. And while Graham and his wife Laine’s eyes shone with pride as they watched the man they thought of as a son take the oath of office, Sam could also see the heartbreak. Their loss was so recent and raw, and was made worse by the fact that John had been taken from them by his own son.
    Before Sam knew it, Nick was declared a United States senator, and he had committed the next year to the people of Virginia. As Nick shook hands with the president, Sam hoped her crazy job wouldn’t somehow ruin it for him.

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ISBN: 978-1-4268-9026-0
    Copyright © 2010 by Marie Sullivan Force
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