“I have some friends in the tech industry. We can give a couple vets a new leg or something.”
Anastasia bobbed her head up and down. “Perfect. I like that. Give me some company names by the end of the day. I’ll see which one fits our image best.”
He hated the way she talked about his image that way. Sure, she’d catapulted him from a nobody to a national sensation within a matter of a couple of years, but it was still his face on everything. His voice. His policies.
It made him feel a little better that Anastasia was just a cog in the machine, too. She didn’t have any actual power. Her power came from the company she worked for, Apex Publicity, the real puppet masters.
But in order to keep them happy, he had to keep Anastasia happy.
“No problem. Anything else?” he asked.
Anastasia didn’t answer for a moment. She swiped her finger across the tablet’s screen a few more times, then placed it on the seat beside her. Grayson sat up. She rarely let go of that thing.
“Your son.”
Grayson deflated. If there was one thing he couldn’t control, one thing he couldn’t keep locked down and out of the public eye, it was his son. “What did he do now?”
“Nothing. Which makes me think we’re due for another incident.”
The last thing Grayson wanted to do was admit she was right, but when it came to Connor, he couldn’t deny the truth. “What do you propose?”
“Are you still going to family counseling?”
“Yes, but I can’t force him to go. And we’ve had to cancel the last two because of Mary’s hospital visits.”
“How is she doing?”
The question sounded robotic. It was like when someone asks how you are, and you’re forced to return the inquiry even if you couldn’t give two shits about the answer.
“She’s doing better.” Grayson leaned forward. “Look, I’ve done everything I can to handle Connor. I’m out of ideas.”
“Ideas are our business.” She tapped one of her crimson fingernails against her chin. “Let’s see, he’s nineteen. Good looking. Going to school for computer science. A bit of a nerd but has a rebellious streak. He’s still doing drugs?”
“Yes.” The word came out through gritted teeth. He hated how she knew his son as well as he did. Maybe better.
She snapped her fingers. “A girlfriend.”
“He has one of those.”
She laughed. “We’ll set something up. Get him to dump her. No, she’ll dump him. Break his heart for a while. Then we’ll introduce him to one of our girls. Someone who makes him feel like he’s still rebelling, but who can keep him in line. A man in love is easier to control.”
Grayson wasn’t sure what to say. On the one hand, he knew there were relationships of convenience out there. In his line of business, compatibility and common goals were more important than romance. Sometimes it was easier to get to the top as a power couple. And if you didn’t care about the sanctity of marriage, it was the perfect solution.
Senator Grayson loved his wife. From the moment he met her, he knew they’d get married. He’d always had political aspirations, and while she had been content as a kindergarten teacher, she’d given it up to become a politician’s wife. Their marriage wasn’t always perfect, but it was real.
Was he capable of manipulating his son like that? Was having a shot at the presidency worth allowing Apex to play his son like a fiddle?
Anastasia must’ve seen the gears turning in his mind. “It wasn’t a request, Senator.”
He swallowed the bile that had crept up his throat. “I’m aware, Ms. Bolton. I was momentarily considering the consequences, should any of this come to light.”
“It won’t.” She picked up her tablet again. “Apex is where we turn your dreams into reality. You want a son you can control? We’ll make it happen.”
Grayson’s smile was tight. This wasn’t what he’d had in mind when he had signed on with Apex, but he’d be lying to himself if he said he hadn’t known who he was getting into bed with.
Another knock on the door interrupted his thoughts. “Come in.”
A man in a black suit entered the room. His name was Alex Murphy, and he was the head of the senator’s security team. He was an imposing man with short-cropped hair, a clean-shaven face and eyes as piercing as Grayson’s. He stood a head taller than the senator, and every day, Grayson was happy the man was on his team and not someone else’s.
“What’s wrong?” Grayson asked.
“It’s your son, sir.” Murphy didn’t mince words. Another reason Grayson liked him. “We can’t find him.”
Grayson stood up behind his desk. “What do you mean you can’t find him?”
Murphy gave Anastasia a quick glance, but he’d learned long ago that no topics were off limits when discussing important matters in front of her. “After your argument last night, he crossed the border to South Carolina and spent the night in Rock Hill. On his way home, he gave my team the slip. We weren’t too worried about it until he didn’t show up to any of his classes today.”
Anastasia finally turned in her chair. “How did a nineteen-year-old boy give your team the slip?”
Murphy’s face was neutral, but Grayson saw his eyes narrow. “Unfortunately, it happens from time to time, ma’am. Tailing someone is not an exact science.”
Grayson cursed under his breath. “Do you know what he was doing in Rock Hill?”
“Not yet, sir. I have someone retracing his steps. I wanted to inform you of the situation. I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about.”
Everyone in the room knew that was a practiced lie.
Anastasia turned to face the senator again and raised one perfect eyebrow. “What did I tell you?”
Senator Grayson put his back to both of them. The clouds in the sky had darkened further, threatening rain. He hoped his kid was safe, but he also wanted his son to learn a lesson he’d never forget. Connor’s last scandal had nearly cost Grayson his seat
