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Angela’s chest tightened. Penny’s forethought touched her. She turned her head between Penny and Blake. “Thank you. Thank you to both of you.”
“If we keep to the back of the gym, he wouldn’t notice you,” Penny said.
“Would you like to do that, Angela?” Blake said.
She nodded.
They walked to the other end of the hall and stopped outside a set of double doors. Blake asked the other guards and Penny to stay outside. He pushed one of the doors open and waited for Angela to walk through.
It didn’t take Angela more than two seconds to find Benji. He dribbled a basketball down the court before he passed it to another boy. Nikki walked up to them.
“Madam President.” She nodded once to Angela and then to Blake. “I didn’t expect to see you again this morning.”
Angela’s face warmed. “I just needed to see him again before I left.”
“I understand,” Nikki said.
“It’s not that I don’t trust you. It’s just hard to let him out of my sight.”
“I completely understand that. Again, I am prepared to step aside and let someone else guard him if it would make you feel better.”
Angela put her hands on her hips. “Are you going to let anything happen to Benji again?”
“No, Ma’am.”
“I believe you, and I need you to stop talking about leaving.” She put her hand on Nikki’s shoulder. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with us.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
Angela watched Benji for a few more minutes, then headed toward the door. Blake followed her.
When they stepped out into the hall, she said to Blake, “Thank you for doing all this. I’m not sure the FBI could have handled this like you have.”
Blake lowered his face, and his lips brushed her cheek. Angela stiffened and stepped back. They had talked about public displays of affection. She was the President of the United States. She couldn’t kiss in public or be kissed, especially when there were still so many rumors about who Blake was and what had happened to Marine One.
Blake gave her a low growl and glowered at her. That pissed her off, and she walked past him without even looking at him.
She had a country to run. He was going to have to deal with it.
Chapter Four
Giselle
Giselle Baptiste stared at herself in the mirror. Her makeup covered the dark circles under her eyes and gave her face more life than she felt at that moment. This should be the best and most important day of her life. Yet, she only wanted to make a blanket fort and hibernate inside with a gallon of orange sherbert ice cream. But that wouldn’t happen today, and probably not for a long time.
Today, she was to be sworn in as the US Ambassador to Trinidad. The last one had been murdered by a wizard with an inflated ego and visions of grandeur. This was the kind of job her parents would be proud of if they were still alive. They died fifteen years ago, leaving her to raise her younger sister alone. Despite her struggles with Jada, she’d finished college and obtained two advanced degrees in Language Studies and Political Science. She spoke six languages and served in multiple minor roles with the United Nations and Operation Excalibur. This was the pinnacle of everything she had wanted. She should be happy, ecstatic even.
But she wasn’t.
She was tired and worried about Jada, who had been missing for at least three months. The last text message Jada had sent mentioned a musical festival in Arkansas. Giselle hated musical festivals. There were too many people, too many drugs, and too many bugs. She hated the bugs most of all. None of that bothered her free-spirit sister, who had no sense of responsibility and no life goals that didn’t involve drugs, sex, and rock-n-roll.
Giselle hated always being the responsible one, but someone had to be. Her parents died the summer after her freshman year of college, and Jada had two more years of high school. Caring for a diva with an attitude was not on her bucket list. But Jada would have ended up living up on the streets or in the foster care system. Neither was good for a panther shifter.
Tristan Sullivan approached her three weeks ago, asking if she would be the next ambassador. He had recently accepted the position of Director for Operation Excalibur and wanted to replace key political offices with supernaturals when the opportunity arose. She had met Tristan shortly after her first translator job with the UN. He had been cocky and rude. It took all her control to remain polite and professional. However, when she ran into him at a nearby bar, it only took three glasses of wine to relax enough to be civil to each other. Four more glasses, and she found herself in his hotel room, having incredible sex. However, after the wine-induced recklessness had worn off in the morning, they decided this would never be more than a one-night stand. But she would never forget him.
Besides, dragon shifters had hot tempers and were too self-centered for her taste.
Knock, knock, knock.
