Sway (Landry Family 1)

My head snaps up as I listen to the front door open and my father’s voice trickle down the hall. Graham, Linc, and I all look at each other, anger drifting between us all.

“That’s true, Harris,” I hear Nolan saying. “We just keep pressing forward. It’ll all work out.”

“What will work out?” Graham says as they turn the corner.

Dad looks around the room, obviously reading the mood correctly. It’s not lost on Nolan either. He pales and takes a step back.

“Apparently Nolan talked to Alison tonight,” Lincoln says, taking charge. He comes up next to me and stands shoulder to shoulder with Graham and I. Lincoln’s voice is eerily calm and it sends a chill through me. “Want to tell us about that?”

I want to charge ahead, rip him a new asshole, but I can’t. I’m frozen to the spot, unable to process everything that just happened.

My manager balks at Lincoln’s question. “I just answered your phone and let her know you were unable to speak at the moment.”

“Nah, Nolan, I don’t think that was all that happened,” Linc dismisses him.

“He talked to Alison?” I ask in disbelief. “What did he say?” I drag my gaze from Nolan to my brother, feeling my blood turn to ice. “Tell me, Linc.”

A silence descends on the room.

“Nolan, what did you say to her?” my father asks his long-time friend.

He throws his hands up in the air. “I told her he was busy and that’s what politician’s lives are like.”

Linc pops his knuckles beside me. “Nah, Nolan, I don’t think that’s all you had to say.”

I take a step towards Nolan, but Linc grabs my arm.

“Linc was just online,” Graham says, glancing at our father. “And he found something interesting.”

“Like what?” Dad asks, setting his jaw. “What’s going on in here, boys?”

“You want to tell me why you’ve been emailing Hobbs?” I look Nolan in the eye and his face goes white. “I’d love to hear why you are talking about fake pregnancy tests and leaking pictures to the press. Come on, Nolan,” I chuckle, the sound laced with fury, “I wanna hear it. Tell me. And if you had anything to do with Huxley being followed or her being fucked with by Lacy, I’m going to rip you into pieces so small they’ll never put you back together. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

My dad spins on his heel and his jaw drops. “Nolan? What are they talking about?”

“I . . .” He grabs for the doorframe as Graham takes a step towards him. “I . . .” He stutters again, his eyes searching us for the weakest link. He lands on my father. “I was trying to make sure that Land Bill doesn’t get passed. You know what that would do to you, Harris. He won’t listen. He—”

“No,” Graham corrects him, his tone as cool as a cucumber. “What I think you were doing was trying to implode Barrett’s campaign. But why? I can’t figure that out.”

Nolan doesn’t answer, just watches Graham move another step closer.

“Did you think we wouldn’t find out? Did you think you’d get away with this?”

Graham’s questions seem to break Nolan’s stress, dissolve the last hanging shred of composure. He faces Graham head-on.

“How do you sit back and watch them build him up,” Nolan asks, nodding at me. “You should be the candidate. You’re the intelligent one, the one that will listen to logic . . .”

Graham smiles, but it’s disingenuous. “So you decided to make sure he wouldn’t win? Because you think he doesn’t deserve it?”

Nolan relaxes a bit, tricked by Graham’s easy tone. “No, he made sure he won’t win. He won’t listen. All of a sudden, he decides he wants to grow a damn conscience, and it’s going to cost him the election! Then what?” He swings around to face my father whose eyes are bulging in disbelief. “I’ll tell you what,” Nolan growls, “I’ll be out of a job! Just like a bunch of other people that rely on that kid,” he spits, “to do what’s best for the campaign. So, yeah, I took a few kickbacks to help end this mess of a campaign early. He wanted to lose so fucking bad, I figured I’d help him!”

He turns to face me, hatred in his eyes. “I considered the kickbacks I got from Hobbs my severance package.”

I leap forward, fury bursting through my body when Lincoln jerks my shoulders back. I stumble into my brother’s chest, my arms held behind my back.

“Let me at him!” I shout, my body shaking with anger. “I’m going to fucking kill you!”

“No, you aren’t,” Graham says, glancing at me over his shoulder. “You have an election to win if for no reason but to spite him. But I, on the other hand, the logical one, have no reason to not use logic here and—”