Page 42 of A Man of Power

“I…no, I haven’t, why?” I ask.

“He was supposed to be here an hour ago for an early meeting, but he didn’t show and he’s not answering his phone. I called the house, but no answer there. None of the other staff have heard from him. He won’t let me put a tracker on his damn phone. Anyhow, it’s not like him. I’m…concerned. I’m two seconds away from driving over to that monstrosity of a house he lives in to check on him.”

“I’ll go look at some of his favorite spots and head over to the house. Go ahead and sit in the meetings for him. Last night after the committee meeting, he was…in a mood? Maybe he just needs some time?” I suggest.

Harriet sighs. “That boy knows better. We don’t have time. He has a Senate race to win. Time is not on our side.”

“I’m sure he knows that, Harriet. I’ll let you know if I find him,” I add as I hang up. Why am I annoyed with her? Harriet’s on his side after all. While he’s been busy digging around a potentially corrupt business, she’s been working with his campaign staff and his office staff. That woman is quite frankly his biggest asset.

I call a car and hop in a minute later. I explain that I’m looking for a friend, so I need to go to a few places. I call him, but he doesn’t pick up the phone.

The driver takes me to the Tidal Basin. I pop out and run down to the walkway, hoping he’ll be at his favorite bench, but he’s not there.

Then, I swing by his D.C. apartment. He’s not there either.

Something tells me to go out to his house, so off we go. Traffic is light, and thirty minutes later, the guy pulls up to the gated entrance.

“Damn, this is a fancy freaking neighborhood, lady,” he gushes as he looks down the lane at the giant mansions whose rooftops peek through some of the leaves of the trees surrounding them.

“Thanks, I think this is my last stop,” I state as I hop out of the car after paying. He leaves me there, and I look around. There’s no way inside. So, I call Sebastian; he doesn’t answer. I hear a car approaching and I sink in between some bushes and wait. Once it enters, I rush in behind it just as the gate slams closed.

I walk down the street to his house. Walking around back, I find him sitting in a chair in his garden. His head in his hands.

“Sebastian?”

He slowly looks up at me from between his fingers. His eyes are red-rimmed. Has he been crying? Can a man like him cry? It seems…unnatural.

I sink into the chair next to him. “What’s wrong?”

He leans back in the chair, his gaze focused on the horizon. “You remind me of her.”

I feel my face contort in confusion. “Of who?” The words are out of my mouth before I realize who he means. Kara.

“She loved pottery. All my mugs…she made them all. She loved clocks. I think it was because she always knew she had limited time and they reminded her to live each day to the fullest. Her laughter…it could make the angriest person happy, the saddest person smile. She was just…so alive. And then she wasn’t.”

I reach out and place a hand on his thigh, giving it a small squeeze. His hand covers mine. “She’s why you do what you do,” I state, repeating what he told me last night.

He looks at me. “I promised her that I’d change things, that I would help kids like her get access to drug trials faster. I never wanted this…” He trails off and motions around us. “But I did it all for her, to honor her memory.”

“And you are. Don’t you want to be a senator?” I ask.

He stares at me for a long moment as he considers my question. “I do. Now I do. It didn’t start that way. It was all for her at first. And then…once you experience power, real power, it’s hard to turn your back to it. You begin to crave it, need it. It becomes part of you.”

“You don’t always have to be powerful and in control,” I declare.

He leans forward, his hand cupping my face, his thumb running along my cheekbone. “Maybe I like to be powerful and in control. Maybe I need to be. Maybe it’s just who I am now.”

I shake my head a little. “I think, deep down, there’s a layer of you that’s vulnerable. You just don’t acknowledge it anymore.”

“Perhaps,” he muses. He smirks slightly and I know whatever he’s going to say next is probably fucking arrogant as hell. “But I think you like when I’m powerful and in control.”

I shiver at his words. I don’t like to admit that. I don’t want it to be true, but it is. I crave his power and control.

“That’s what I thought,” he says as he leans forward and bites my lip. His hands grab my arms, guiding me to stand before him. He unzips his pants and pulls out his erection as he looks up at me. “Now make me forget about my vulnerability, little dove,” he states as he pushes me down on my knees.

I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but I want to fix this man with all my heart. I want him to share his secrets with me, to trust me as much as I have come to trust him in such a short period of time. I look up at him as I reach for his cock. He knocks my hand away with one hand while holding his erection in his other hand.

I feel powerful suddenly. This man who doesn’t need anyone needs me to take away whatever is hurting him at this moment. It’s a heady feeling to be the one needed.

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