Chapter Thirty-Two
Music filled the Gordon Lee for Mayor campaign headquarters, and even though the results had not yet posted, the atmosphere on election night was generally festive.
“If Little Red and I hadn’t gotten back together, I’d take a run at her,” May said to Ben as they watched Kimani smiling and talking with Maybelle as she set up the refreshments.
May had flown out to support their uncle the last few days of the campaign.
“You better behave yourself,” Ben warned.
“Don’t you threaten me.” May poked him in the chest. “I’ve got the goods on you, brother.”
May didn’t know half the things that went on during his run with a triad, but he wasn’t about to bring it up.
He watched as May went over to talk to Kimani, pleased that his sister had taken an almost instant liking to Kimani. Overall, it had been a good week. The District Attorney had charged Jake Whitehurst and Vince Donato for aggravated kidnapping and aggravated assault. The District Attorney had also scheduled a grand jury proceeding to seek an indictment against the organizers of the Scarlet Auction. And Ben had a lead on a possible location for the childcare center he had promised Kimani.
His only disappointment was that Kimani was back to spending the nights at her own place because she didn’t want to leave Marissa alone. He suspected a small part of her was still tentative about diving into a relationship with him with both feet.
“What do you mean we may not know who wins until days later?” May asked Uncle Gordon as they stood together shortly after the polls had closed.
“There are absentee and provisional ballots to be counted,” Uncle Gordon explained. “With ranked choice voting, the process of crunching the numbers is a little more complicated.”
“The Registrar is posting results,” a campaign staffer announced.
They gathered around a computer. A loud cheer went up as the results were posted. Though Gordon did not receive a majority of the first place votes, he had a wide margin as the second choice candidate for most voters. Even with the number of outstanding ballots to be counted, the numbers looked to be in Gordon’s favor.
Kimani turned to Ben. “So we did it?”
“The campaign consultant is crunching the numbers, but it seems so,” Ben replied.
With a squeal, she threw her arms around him. He had never seen her in such a giddy state before. He liked it.
By ten o’clock that night all the candidates except the school boardmember, who had a remote chance of winning if 90% of the remaining ballots went her way, had conceded the race to Gordon. Gordon gave a brief speech thanking his family and supporters. A number of people wanted to stick around to watch the election results for other races and continue partying.
But Ben had plans to spend the rest of the night at The Lair.
“What’s this?” Kimani asked as Bataar drove them into the city. She unwrapped the box in her lap.
“Something to replace the wristbands,” he answered.
She lifted the lid to find a leather choker studded with small diamonds. The collar also had a metal circle for a leash attachment. Because of the gemstones, it was not the sort of gift Kimani liked to accept from him.
Knowing there was a high chance she would reject it, Ben felt strangely nervous.
“Will you wear it for me?” he asked.
She stared at it. “It’s beautiful, but...”
Shit. He shouldn’t have opted for the diamonds.
She turned her stare from the collar to him. “I’d love to.”
His chest swelled, and he was able to breathe again.
He knew he had to give her space, especially given all that she had been through and all that was yet to come. But soon, she would be all his.
Not just for a week. But for the rest of time.
A number of my readers had voted for me to include a threesome scene with Ben and Kimani. Although I couldn’t fit it into the novel, I am including it as bonus content. To receive this free bonus, simply click the link below or copy it into your internet browser: