Storm Warning, Season 2, Episode 2 (Rising Storm) by Larissa Ione

Author:Larissa Ione [Ione, Larissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: small town Texas, Rising Storm, Romance, Larissa Ione, drama
Publisher: Evil Eye Concepts, Incorporated
Published: 2016-09-26T21:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

“Sorry about the shirt, Tate.”

Tate smiled thinly at his sister from where he was standing in the living room with their dad as she walked by on her way to the bathroom.

“It’s okay. Ketchup comes out.” Under his breath, he added, “Probably.” His shirt was in the wash, so he was making do with one of his dad’s T-shirts from his last campaign.

Tara paused at the hall entrance. “Joanne wasn’t here long, and she left in a hurry. I hope everything’s okay.”

“Everything’s fine,” he said, but he felt like a piece of crap for calling her out here on a Saturday. Unfortunately, he was leaving for Austin in the morning to attend a campaign rally for Senator Rush, and he’d wanted to go over some things with Joanne before he left. “We had some last-minute business.”

Tara shook her head. “You work too much. Get outside and have some fun.” She wagged her finger at him. “No more business today.” Having played the mother card she’d perfected since having kids, she disappeared down the hall.

His dad raised his glass of Scotch in salute. “I’m proud of you, son. With your ambition, you’re going to do well in the political arena.”

It was strange hearing that from his father, who had been so hurt the day he’d said he didn’t want to work on the ranch. To Zeke’s credit, they still had a good relationship, but he knew his dad had taken it personally.

“I...appreciate that,” he said, feeling a little awkward.

“Just watch your back.”

“I’m a lawyer, Dad. I’ve been dealing with backstabbers since law school.”

“Not like this.” Zeke lowered his voice. “The corruption is corrosive. Power is seductive. It doesn’t happen all at once.” He rattled the ice in his glass and stared into the backyard, where Luis Moreno and Jeffry Rush were kicking around a soccer ball. “It starts with something small, a favor for a favor. A powerful politician asks you to show your employee an article about her son, and you justify it to yourself by saying you wanted her to see it before it gets around town.”

Heat seared Tate’s cheeks. Somehow his dad knew that Sebastian had forwarded Tate the link to a nasty article about Marcus and had asked him to pass it along to Joanne. Of course, Sebastian had played it off as being “concerned” about her, but Tate knew that was bullshit. He also knew that by agreeing to do as Sebastian asked, he’d earned himself a favor.

And his dad had just called him on it.

“I’d want to know about that article if it was my son,” he said, sounding defensive even to his own ears.

“See? You’re justifying it.” Zeke gave a slow, resigned shake of his head, and an uneasy feeling churned low in Tate’s belly. “It’s okay. I get it. Politics is dirty business. All I’m asking is that you watch yourself. It’s easy to keep moving your ethical line just a few more inches south.”

The unsettled sensation solidified in Tate’s gut. “You sound like you know something about that.

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