The Golden Boy Returns (The New Pioneers Book 5)

by Deborah Nam-Krane

  David and Charlie walked in. "What did we miss?"

  "David!" Kasi said, then pulled him into one of the attached rooms. "You're going to win! And Nelson is going to have the most embarrassing second place finish ever."

  David allowed himself a momentary grin. "Don't get excited until we've got another fifteen precincts calling in."

  Kasi looked at her phone. "I think we passed that, and you already did it."

  David smiled and she was blushing again. He started to step toward her when Charlie opened the door. Charlie smirked. "Clarke's on the phone; she wants to congratulate you on your win."

  "And I've got Cervidas on mine," Len piped in from behind him.

  Martin stuck his head in. "Donnelly would like a chat when you get a second," he said, grinning.

  "Tell him he can get his ass over here as soon as he can leave Nelson!"

  Kasi's phone beeped.

  "And which one is that?" David asked.

  She looked at the text message. Only three words.

  Consider it done

  Kasi shuddered. "Michael Abbot."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  There was one thing Angelo Cervino could be counted on, and that was keeping a promise. Kasi and Charlie were summoned to City Hall the day after the primary. They were sent to Jonas' office, where he gave them a list of contacts.

  "Call on all of them by the end of the week. You shouldn't have any trouble, but if you do, just use my name," Jonas said.

  "And who are these people?" Charlie asked as he surveyed the list.

  "These are what we call the GOTV—Get Out The Vote—operatives. Nelson would kill to have this list. It's some small business owners, some 'community leaders', but for the most part it's the people who talk to other people in the community who are always listened to. We spent years compiling it." He looked at Kasi. "To be honest, we haven't made as many inroads into many of the communities where you did really well, like the college areas. I can tell you, everyone in this office was impressed."

  "Not as impressed as Nelson," Charlie said.

  "Whatever you say," Jonas said under his breath.

  Kasi looked up and locked onto his eyes. Her lip trembled. "Thank you, Mr. Maxwell," Kasi said. "We'll let you know if we need anything else."

  Kasi raced out of the room to the elevator. “The Hell was that?” Charlie asked when he caught up with her.

  “Nothing,” she whispered.

  ~~~

  By October, Clarke, Cervidas and Benjamin were campaigning for David. His number remained high, but Nelson was a credible challenger. Kasi felt herself turn away every time David took a shot at him.

  "Don't worry," Len said in late October. "David will offer him the Business Development office the first week he's elected."

  "That should be Clarke," Kasi said indignantly.

  Charlie shrugged. "I actually think she'd be great in Health and Human Services, but she shows zero interest."

  "It's a step down for her," Kasi said.

  "As was this entire race," Len muttered. "But let's stay focused. David is doing very well, and I think Nelson wishes he could concede."

  "So what's keeping him from that?"

  "His donors," Len replied.

  ~~~

  "Are you happy now?" Emily’s husband Mitch asked her on election night as the crowd roared around them.

  "Yeah, I think so," Emily said as she pulled him in for a kiss.

  He pulled back after a moment. "And you're not mad about the Congressional seat?"

  Emily rolled her eyes. "Castillon won that two months ago in the primary. What can you do?"

  Kasi joined Richard, Zainab and Jessie a few minutes later. "So what are you going to do with yourself now?" Jessie asked her.

  "Transition team," Kasi said, exhausted. "I need every second of the next two months before David goes in."

  "And then what?" Zainab asked with a smile.

  "A good night's sleep? What about you two?"

  "Planning a wedding." Jessie winked. "I’ll let Martin think he’s not making any decisions because he’s so busy with work."

  "Finishing up med school," Zainab said. "Yeah, this was more fun."

  Richard put his hand in hers. "There now sweetie, you can always go into public health."

  "And what about you, Richard?" Kasi asked.

  He shrugged. "We're moving out beyond vehicles. Our backer in Israel likes the technology we use for the cells, but they want to see what we can do to make solar water heating more efficient."

  "Does this mean you're taking Vijay to Israel?" Kasi asked, concerned.

  "God, no," Richard said, looking around to make sure Vijay wasn't back with their drinks yet. "But I'm probably going to be spending a little more time there myself for the next few months."

  Zainab put her hands on her hips. "Excuse me?"

  "What? You'll be studying for your finals and then your boards," Richard said. "You won't want me anyway."

  "I need you for other things," Zainab said, kissing him. "Why can't Michael go?"

  "Miranda's morning sickness is pretty bad," Emily said solemnly as she and Mitch walked up to them. "And new twins on top of the two boys...I think Richard can spare him for a few months."

  "I suppose," Zainab said reluctantly. "Good thing I love Miranda."

  "I'm sorry; did you say that Michael and his wife are expecting twins?" Kasi asked. "That's...great news. When is she due?"

  "April," Zainab replied. "She's about four months along now."

  Four months before, Kasi had seen Michael in front of the Four Seasons with his wife, right after their meeting with Cervino when he told that story about her parents..."Oh," Kasi said awkwardly. "Please tell them I said congratulations."

  "I will," Zainab grinned. "It's so funny because I thought they were kind of done, but then surprise! And twins at that."

  "Miranda might have been done," Richard said, "but Michael couldn’t stop telling me about how much he wanted a little girl. I wonder what made her change her mind?"

  Kasi felt her skin go cold. She was back in Cervino’s office, with Michael and then with Charlie. "Yeah. Um, excuse me; I'm going to see what's taking Vijay so long with those drinks." Kasi scurried into the crowd and went looking for David. She found him holding court with the political reporters from all of the major regional papers.

  "Our boy did it," Charlie said from behind her. "I always knew he could."

  Kasi turned around and nodded absently. "Where's Len right now? I thought he was insisting on handling all of David's press."

  "Getting me a drink," Charlie said. "What?" he said when Kasi smirked. "David's already been elected, now no one's worried about him putting his foot in his mouth."

  "For the record, I think you two are very cute together," Kasi said as she touched Charlie’s arm. She grinned. "And when you’re engaged I want to be the one to send Chauncy the announcement."

  Charlie blushed. "Shut up. We all know the real story is you and David."

  "I...Excuse me?" Kasi stammered.

  Charlie shook his head. "Never mind."

  "What did I miss?" Len said as he handed Charlie his drink.

  Charlie grinned, then kissed Len. "Young love."

  Len put his arm through Charlie’s. "We’re still pretty young, babe."

  "Oh good," Kasi said when the reporters dispersed. She grabbed David's hand. "We need to talk."

  "Can it wait until I'm drunk?" David asked with a grin.

  "It really can't," Kasi insisted. "Because you need to know two things: Jonas Maxwell is my source, and I think we've all been played—hard."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  David was shown into Cervino's office on Friday, alone. The meeting was ostensibly about the transition team, but they both knew their staffs could coordinate the details.

  David closed the door and took two long strides to Cervino. "I can let it go that you got someone to throw a bottle at my head, but not that you harassed a teenage volunteer an
d almost caused my field director to get hit by a car."

  "No one was supposed to be hurt," Cervino said calmly. "And for the record, I didn't say anything about a bottle. I just told people to make it look good."

  David was incredulous. "Angelo, this is the time when you're supposed to apologize for your bullshit, not for the way it was executed."

  "If I hadn't done that, you wouldn't have won. You would have beaten Nelson in the primary, but only by the skin of your teeth. And don't act outraged; you're the one who sent Michael Abbot in here to blackmail me. You want to dance? Then make sure you know the difference between your mambo and your cha cha."

  David took a step closer. He towered over Cervino. "Fine, let's dance. You don't like that Abbot reminded you that you have a bunch of skeletons in your closet? That was a gift. I have proof that you've been fixing elections for almost a decade, if not more. And maybe everyone on my staff—and yours—was right, and maybe the local FBI branch is too dirty to be trusted with it, but a U.S. attorney would have loved it. And I bet they still would."

  "I fixed a primary that I was going to win, and it would be awful for people to think that I fixed yours," Cervino said. David narrowed his eyes as Cervino scoffed. "But you know what's worse? You couldn't have gone to the AG about it, and you knew that."

  David blinked, looked away, and blinked again. "You gave us that hard drive." He paused. "You made it impossible for someone to decipher what we were looking for about the liquor licensing, but you practically polished the information about that primary." He exhaled as it all became clear. "This was never about me."

  "I always knew you'd make a great mayor—and I've always known that Powers would make James Michael Curley look like a choirboy if he ever got close to Washington. You were the only one who looked like you might care too."

  "Jesus Christ," David whispered in astonishment. "What made you think that you get to decide who gets to be corrupt and who doesn't?"

  "The good people of Boston."

  ~~~

  Kasi met Jonas at Lewis Wharf. "You son of a bitch," she said as soon as he was in earshot.

  "And hello to you too, Kasi. Oh, and congratulations. Should I also say you're welcome?"

  "Don't," she seethed. "Boy, you had everyone fooled, didn't you? Tell me, did you like sending that guy after me and the little girl I had with me?" Jonas was silent. "Because I was the only one, wasn't I? And Cervino may have told that guy to make it look good, but you're the one who told him not to miss, aren't you?"

  "Since when have you been so paranoid?" Jonas asked, trying to sound concerned.

  "I would have to say...the moment a car almost hit me."

  Jonas put up his hand. "That was an accident."

  "Right, who would think that incapacitating someone as they're crossing a street might cause a real accident?" She swallowed. "Were you hoping David would get hit?"

  "Of course not," he answered, but not in a way that convinced her.

  "Why? It wasn't supposed to be personal."

  "It has always been personal," Jonas said, "and you know it."

  "You had your chance," Kasi said loudly. "You are the one who walked away."

  "You needed to come back on your own," he said heatedly. "If I had given you a job you wouldn't have been with me for anything other than gratitude. So I made you useful, and then you fell in love with him. No," he said when she opened her mouth. "Don't tell me you're not. I know you too well."

  "That's right!" she said angrily. "You know me so well that you have always known what all of my weaknesses were. You knew I wanted a shoulder to cry on, but I couldn't actually shed a tear; you knew I wanted to hear how awful everything was, but I wouldn't trust you if you told me everything." She felt like she was suffocating. "But guess what? I know you. You wanted to feel important. You wanted someone to listen to what idiots Levar and Cervino could be. You wanted someone to sit across from you and marvel at how those people covered their asses, because the answer was you. You were so important—and you were such a good soldier—but only I could see it."

  "You all got what you wanted," Jonas said bitterly. "So why are you so upset? At the end of everything, I still got to be useful."

  "Because...I thought we were friends," Kasi said, and the words hurt her chest as she said them. "But we weren't. You wanted to sleep with me or you wanted to use me, but you never wanted to be my friend."

  "People like us don't have friends."

  "I do now." She took a deep breath. "Goodbye, Jonas."

  Jonas looked after her as she left. "David Hwang, you are a lucky son of a bitch."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  Kasi folded her arms when David arrived at the bar. "Why here?"

  "We're in Somerville," he said as he sat next to her. "They are way too cool here to care about the new mayor of Boston."

  "Someone will always care," Kasi said after she ordered her drink. "But you might be right that there won't be as many here."

  "Oh my God," David said in mock astonishment. "Did you just say I might be right? Are you losing your edge?"

  Kasi grinned. "Was I that hard to work with?"

  "You are harder to work with than Lucy Bartolome."

  "That's a compliment, right?"

  "Of the highest order," David said. He sipped his drink and looked up. "So...this is kind of hard."

  She rested her cheek in her hand. "They don't call it hard liquor for nothing."

  "Ah..." David sighed. "Are you going to do this all night?"

  "What am I doing?"

  "Being...playful. And flirtatious. Because you're making it hard for me to say...stuff."

  "God, you are not articulate," Kasi said, taking another sip of her drink. "If you're going to let me go, I expect the best reference ever written in the history of employment, and preferably to Lucy."

  "I am not firing you!" David exclaimed. "And oh my God, you don't want to work for Lucy."

  "I could always join Paloma's team," Kasi said.

  "Really?" David asked, grinning. "That would almost be worth losing you to watch that."

  Kasi chuckled. "If you don't want to fire me, then what is it?"

  David opened and closed his mouth several times, then blurted out, "You could sue me for sexual harassment!"

  Kasi threw her head back and laughed. "If what?"

  "If...I...said something."

  She leaned forward and put her hand on his knee. He looked at her hand, then up at her. "Like what?"

  "Like you know what."

  She shook her head. "Nope, I don't think I do."

  "Then guess," he said softly.

  She sat up. "Guess what you would say if you weren't afraid?" She looked away but smiled. "You would tell me that you thought I was gorgeous from the first moment Emily and Zainab dragged me into that function."

  He nodded. "And?"

  "And you haven't been able to stop thinking about me," she said less playfully.

  He leaned in. "And?"

  "And now that we're done trying to win City Hall, you want more."

  "All of that," David said. "And more. And something else. What about you?"

  Kasi rolled her eyes. "God, David, you are the biggest idiot I have ever met, you know that?"

  "That's one of the nicest things you've ever said to me."

  "Okay, I get it," she said. "I wouldn't be the first aide who double crossed a source for her boss, and maybe I'm not the only one who sat through, well, Michael Abbot, hoping for a better job in a few months. But I didn't quit after I almost got hit by a car, and after you asked me to help Paloma. You still need to ask what about me?"

  "So you wouldn't have done that for...Evelyn Clarke?" he asked shyly.

  "You want to know what I wouldn't do for her?" she whispered.

  "What?" he whispered back.

  She leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. "That," she said when she pulled away.

  They were nose to nose. He closed his eyes and looked more satisfied than
she had ever seen him. "Ms. Panchal, do you think that qualifies as the first move?"

  "Oh, my guarantee, Mayor Hwang," she whispered.

  "Just checking," he said before he kissed her.

  "Hmm," she smiled when he finished. "Are you trying to prove you're a better kisser than I am?"

  He ran his fingers through her hair. "How about I give you another chance to show me what you’ve got?"

  She looked around. "I think we'll need a little more privacy."

  "I think your cousin might make that difficult."

  "Is there something wrong with your place?"

  "I thought you'd never ask," he said as he called for the check.

  They ran out of the bar, giggling. She pulled him to the side of the building and kissed him again. "Are you sure?" he whispered.

  "I promise, I am not going to sue you for sexual harassment," Kasi giggled.

  "That's not what I meant," he said earnestly.

  "You believed in me when I'd stopped doing that a long time ago," she said. "And you made me believe in me too."

  "You're the fool, Kasi," he said, kissing her again. "I couldn't have made one move without you. You made me want to be better." He smiled tentatively. "You made me want to impress you. Did it work?"

  She put his hands through his hair. "I'll say," she said as she kissed his lips. "Think you can do it again?"

  He put his hands around her waist and pulled her to him. "You'd better believe it."

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  "Happy now?" Richard whispered to Zainab as they waited for David to take the podium on Inauguration Day.

  Zainab saw her mother-in-law in the front row with David’s parents, Addie Green, Ernie Draper and David’s old classmates. "Very," she answered as she squeezed her husband’s hand.

  "Speak for yourselves," Vijay grumbled. "She's moving in with him!"

  "Good!" Michael said. "She doesn't take people's garbage." Miranda shook her head and rolled her eyes when he kissed her.

  Emily tapped Vijay on the shoulder with the back of her hand. "If she picked him, that's the best endorsement of all."

  "Don't worry," Richard said. "We'll still look out for her."