Sins Of The Flesh. J. Critch Margot
brother, I wanted you here for it.” Alex might not have been his brother by blood, but since they were children, they’d been inseparable. All the members of The Brotherhood were close, but he and Alex shared a special bond.
Alex walked over to the wet bar and, helping himself to some of Rafael’s good stuff, poured himself a couple of fingers of bourbon. “Sounds juicy. Want a drink?”
Rafael refused. “No, I need to stay sharp for tomorrow. I’ve got a luncheon with little old church ladies, probably shouldn’t go in reeking of booze.”
With a shrug, Alex sipped. “You don’t know how some of those little old church ladies like to party.” He snickered. “But you have fun with that. You have no idea what Harris wants to talk about?”
“No. He wouldn’t tell me what it was until he was 100 percent certain, and he didn’t want to do it over the phone.” He grimaced at being told to wait. Rafael wasn’t exactly the patient sort. “But I’m definitely intrigued. It sounds like he’s got something big.”
As if on cue, the doorbell chimed. Rafael smiled and walked out of the room to the door. He opened it, and Harris, his trusted PI, stood on the other side. He moved aside and let the man in.
“Tell me you’ve got something good,” he said, as the two of them joined Alex in the living room.
Harris smiled. “Tell me if this is good,” he said, as he passed over a brown envelope. Not wasting any time, Rafael opened it. His eyes widened with what he saw in the enlarged photos; the lighting might have been low in them, but they were of excellent quality. “I’ll email these to you, too.”
He turned to Harris. “Are these legit? Is it her?”
“I saw her with my very own eyes,” the PI confirmed. “Last weekend in San Francisco, she was there, live and in person.”
“What do you have there?” Alex asked, coming up behind him.
He passed over the photos to Alex, and smiled. “I think I just won this election.”
* * *
Jessica Morgan leaned back in her chair. Now that the camera was off, she was finally able to relax. Despite the late hour, the live interview had gone well, and she hoped that it would help to raise her approval rating against Rafael Martinez. Jessica had come home exhausted after a long workday and still needed to pack for San Francisco; but when Tanya Roberts, the LVTV political reporter, had called requesting an interview to fill some time in their nightly broadcast, Jessica had no choice but to agree. She didn’t have the resources her competitor did; she didn’t have a ton of money to pour into television ads or flashy billboards. Along with her social media presence, and arranging informal meet and greets, she had to take advantage of any opportunity available to get her message out there.
“Thank you, Jessica,” Tanya said, leaning forward and shaking her hand.
“Anytime, thank you for making time for me.” Jessica took a swallow from her nearby water bottle. Her nerves were slowly waning. She was more comfortable with some types of performances than others. Public speaking was never her forte, but since she’d taken her place on city council, she was getting better. “I was pretty excited when Gordon came to me with the message from your office. I’ll take any free publicity I can get.” Her campaign manager had been ecstatic.
“Speaking of, how is the crowdfunding going?”
“Excellent,” Jessica told her. She’d started raising money just after announcing her candidacy. “The response has been better than I could have imagined. I certainly wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for the people who have contributed, volunteered. This is a group effort, for sure.”
“And how’s the campaigning going?”
“Really well,” Jessica told her. “I’m kind of exhausted all the time, there’s a lot of work to be done, but I expected that. But it’ll all be worth it once the ballots are counted.”
“I’m sure it will. Good luck with the campaign.”
“I really appreciate the support, thank you so much.” Jessica stood, covertly checking her watch. It was almost 11:00 p.m., and even though she had a lot to do before bed, she was still glad she’d agreed to the interview.
Seeing Tanya and her cameraman to the door, Jessica said her goodbyes, and when she closed the door, she leaned against it, letting out a deep, tired sigh. She still felt a nervous excitement flicker through her system, the same one that always did the day before a performance. All that stood between her and a stage was packing her bag, getting a couple hours’ sleep and a short flight to San Francisco. And then she’d finally be able to fully relax, after burning off all the energy and tension she’d been carrying around since her performance last week. She knew from experience that the only effective way to dispel the stress was to get on a stage...or a hot guy, she mused, letting her thoughts flitter and linger on her opponent, Rafael Martinez, and his dark, supermodel good looks.
She shook her head; neither was an option at the moment. Certainly not within the city limits of Las Vegas, and definitely not while she was campaigning to be its mayor.
And certainly never with Rafael Martinez.
When she won, she knew she’d have to say goodbye to the stage. She would be under the microscope, and there was no way she’d be able to keep her other career a secret. So, as much as it pained her, and no matter how much she loved dancing, she had to stop.
Despite her ambitions, the prospect of a new life left her frustrated and tense. With no way to dance or have sex, to have a physical release tonight, a glass, or a bottle, of wine and her trusty vibrator would have to do. Jessica walked to the kitchen and dug out a bottle of wine from the cupboard. She poured a glass and brought it to the living room, then flopped down on the couch, turning on the TV to the news program that had just aired her live interview. But the first thing she saw was Rafael Martinez’s face. Frustrated, she groaned. She just couldn’t escape him.
Rafael was tall, dark and handsome, sexy, muscular, smart—just how she liked her men. It was a fact she’d tried to ignore in the past, but it was harder now in the throes of the campaign, seeing his face, hearing his name, at every turn. But she couldn’t entertain thoughts of being attracted to the man. He was the enemy. He stood for everything she was against, and she needed to get him out of her head in order to concentrate on the job in front of her.
Despite herself, Jessica grabbed the remote, and instead of turning the TV off, she increased the volume. Even so, she could barely hear his words through the lust that clouded her senses. Essentially, she knew what he was saying, the same things politicians always talked about—growth, industry, lowering crime yada yada yada, the things that would gain him favor with his friends in the business community. Rafael talked a good game, though, she had to admit. He was smart, passionate, smug...gorgeous, drop-dead sexy, with his muscles that bulged and tensed through his dress shirts, his dark eyes that bore into those of whoever he was talking to, the full lips that parted to reveal straight, white teeth. His firm jawline, his nose straight, cheekbones high. It all combined to make him one irresistible man. If only he wasn’t so egotistical, stubborn, condescending, sexy...
The front door opened and closed, the noise startling her, forcing her to jerk back from the television. Fumbling for the remote to turn off the TV, she dropped it, but in the process, she’d paused it.
“Girl, you will not believe the date I just had,” her roommate and best friend, Ben, told her as he walked into the living room. He stopped and looked at Jessica, taking in her flushed complexion and jagged breaths. Cocking his head to the side, he laughed. “What are you doing? You look like I just caught you in the middle of a little downstairs DJ.” He moved his fingers in small circles, mimicking the movements of working a turntable, but making a not-so-innocent implication.
Jessica tossed a throw pillow at him and leaned back on the couch. “Oh, shut up,” she muttered, before she laughed. “Okay, what happened on your date? Was he cute?” She hoped to change