I arrived at Austin-Bergstrom International Airport a little after one the following day. The fight was uneventful except having to get up at the ass crack of dawn and fly alone. I’d asked Ashur to send his jet to pick me up, since the last thing I wanted to deal with was fans at the airport.

Dev had taken the commercial flight out the night before to meet his parents in Houston. The good senator wanted him to meet up with a potential donor who Dev had clerked with after law school and who had very deep pockets.

I wasn’t happy about him ditching me. To tell the truth, I was livid.

I should have been used to it by now, but with everything he’d said to me, I never expected for him to arrive in Austin without me.

If this was an example of putting me first, then he’d failed miserably.

A lump formed in the pit of my stomach. Was I trying to hold on to something that had no hope of a future? Or was I being unfair to Devin?

He tried to spin it as a way to make connections that could potentially help with my bid for Senate.

Devin seemed to have forgotten that my current net worth was ten times his whole family’s put together, and that was after my father disowned me and took me out of the line to inherit his fortune. I could run my entire campaign without a cent from donors.

I had a trust that came to me free and clear when I’d turned twenty-five. It was created by my maternal grandparents who were steel industrialists in India and then used their money to become angel investors in unknown startups that netted them huge profits. No matter how much my father wished it, he couldn’t revoke it.

Just because I hadn’t touched a penny of it, didn’t mean I wouldn’t.

Who was I kidding? I was never going to dig into the trust.

I wanted to prove to myself I could succeed without using my family’s money, even if my grandparents had given it to me without strings. I could proudly say I’d accomplished my goals so far. My portion of the Bassett case alone had paid for half of the build cost of my house.

Too bad Papa couldn’t see past the betrayal he felt at my picking my own path in life.

What was it going to take for him to see that I wasn’t a fuck-up? Any father, except mine, would be proud of everything I’d achieved.

I closed my eyes for a quick second and released a deep breath. Let it go, Samina. You’ve had six years to get over Papa’s actions.

I smirked to myself. I could almost hear Jacinta singing “Let it Go,” the song every parent with little girls had heard on repeat at least twenty times. She’d belt out the song off key to annoy me, in spite of the fact she had a beautiful voice.

“Mrs. Camden. Give us a few minutes to clear security, and we can exit the aircraft. Ms. Camden is waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Renita. By the way, my brother put you up to calling me Mrs. Camden, didn’t he?”

She blushed. “Yes, ma’am. Mr. Kumar gave me a message to relay if you asked that very question.”

I waited for her to continue.

“He said it was time to face who you are, no matter what others may feel, even you.”

Oh, Ash. He always knew what to say to me.

After a few minutes, the captain gave the all-clear, and I stepped down the stairs leading to the tarmac.

Before I descended halfway, Jacinta jumped out of the waiting limo and ran toward me.

I hurried the last few steps and hugged her tight.

“I missed you,” I whispered as tears filled my eyes. “Things are such a mess.”

“So, did you and my brother fight again or was he being his usual cheery self when he arrived this morning?”

“I haven’t seen Dev since yesterday. He was meeting your parents in Houston.” I furrowed my brow. “Why?”

She studied my face for a second, and then said, “Well, that answered my question. Just a warning, Big Brother is in a piss-poor mood.”

“Not my problem. He left me to come here by myself when he promised to do things differently.”

Jacinta hooked her arm in mine. “Come on. It looks like I have two Grumpy Gusses to deal with.”

“You know you love me, no matter my mood.”

“True, true. That’s why I brought you a surprise.”

“Oh really.”

“He’s been dying to see you again.”

I stopped midstep and placed a hand on my hip. “Who’s he?”

“Me,” a raspy voice answered.

Excitement filled me, and I rushed past Jacinta and toward the car, where my sexy-as-sin and gorgeous childhood friend, Veer George, stood. It had been months since I’d seen him, and I hadn’t realized how much I missed my adopted brother until he stepped out of the limo.

“Veer, I missed you so much.”

He grabbed me by the waist, spinning me around. “How are you, shorty? Has your husband come to his senses or am I going to have to steal you from him?”

He set me back on the ground and gestured for us to enter the open door.

I climbed in and moved to the opposite end of the seats.

“You may just have to. On second thought, I don’t need any more things added to my plate.”

“I agree. Let’s not poke the angry bear. You know how Dev gets when it comes to Sam.” Jacinta grinned as she scooted in next to me. “The last thing you need after announcing your bid for the governorship is a fist fight with a federal judge who happens to be a senator’s son.”

“I think I’ll have the constituents’ support when they learn I was defending the honor of my childhood friend, who I consider a sister.”

“Speaking of, I have a question I’ve meant to ask you.” I took a sip of the water that Jacinta handed me.

“Shoot.”

“When did you decide to become a politician? I thought you hated the drama of politics?”

“Jacinta convinced me that my views would be a refreshing change to the status quo we’ve had in Texas for decades.”

I lifted a brow in Jacinta’s direction. “You do realize he’ll be running against the governor who represents your political party?”

“Just because I’m a conservative doesn’t mean I wouldn’t vote for an independent if he or she was the right candidate.”

“I’d be an underdog going against the establishment,” Veer said, “but I think even conservatives will come on board when they hear my stance on key issues important to the state.”

I saw a look pass between Jacinta and Veer that made me think I was missing something.

Veer continued, “It also helps that our current governor has higher political aspirations which makes him look like he is only using his position as a placeholder.”

“Care to inform me when I stepped into the Twilight Zone of politics? First, you’re pushing me to run in Washington, and now you’ve convinced Veer to run. Jacinta Ellen Camden, why are you on this crusade to get all your friends into politics?”

A look passed in her eye and I wished I hadn’t asked the question. I knew the answer. Jacinta hadn’t planned to make her first political run a bid for US Senate, but the moment Decker covered up his son’s assault on her, she’d made it her life’s mission to make sure no Decker would ever hold any office again, especially Decker Senior.

“Let’s just say, I’ve encountered too many old-boys’-club types living here in Austin.” Her mouth tightened for a moment. “And I think it’s time for some new blood. You and Veer represent something different.”

“Yeah, we’re both Indian.” I played along so that Veer wouldn’t pick up on the tension underlying Jacinta’s words.

“Sam, I’m not talking about your race, and you know it. It’s your stance on economics, social issues, and leadership.”

“Are you aware my running does not affect Texas politics? I’m a resident of the state of Washington now.”

I’d made the decision to stay in Seattle a few days after moving into the house. I had a successful career, and whether Devin was in my life or not had no bearing. Yes, I missed my friends and my old life in Texas, but it had been years, and things would never be the same.

“We aren’t the only ones she’s on a mission to get elected.” Veer shook his head. “She’s called half of your old study group from Stanford and every non- overly left-wing or right-wing friend to get involved in the election system.”

“If all goes according to plan—” a calculating gleam hit Jacinta’s eyes, “—the three of us, plus at least twenty-five others I know, will go head-to-head against incumbents who represent the bureaucracy our nation is tired of dealing with every day. We will be a group of leaders who take into account not only our parents’ generation but also those who are children right now. We are the bipartisan wave of the future.”

The girl had her pitch down pat. “Jaci, how long did you practice that speech in front of the mirror?”

“About an hour. How did I do?” She grinned at me.

“You could work on your enthusiasm a bit.”

“I’ll be sure to do better next time.”

“The both of you are mental. I almost feel sorry for Devin when you two get together.” Veer took a sip of his drink while shaking his head.

“When did you and my brother become buddies?” Jacinta crossed her arms in front of her and cocked a brow.

I wondered the same thing. Veer and Dev barely said two words to each other whenever our friends circle gathered. They tended to speak to everyone else but each other.

“We aren’t. I said, I almost feel sorry for him. Until Devin Camden does right by her, the only side I’m on is Samina’s.”

“When have you been on anyone else’s side?” Jacinta grumbled, making me think I was missing something. “You take the almost-big-brother thing to a whole new level.”

“When Ashur and I deployed overseas, I made a promise to always watch out for Samina, whether Ash was around or not. It was a vow Ash never had to ask me to make. I’m an only child, and Ash and Sam are the closest I’ll ever get to having siblings. They are my family. I’ll do whatever I can to protect them.”

“We love you too, V.” I reached over and clasped Veer’s hand in mine. “I’m so thankful both my brothers came home. Although a little banged up.”

I remembered how scared I was when I’d heard Ash and V were injured during a firefight in South Sudan where their planes had gone down. The three of us would do a weekly video chat to keep me up to date, but for weeks I’d heard nothing from either of them. And then my father had gotten a call informing us that both Ash and V had suffered brain injuries and were in comas. It was one of the worst times of my life.

The Air Force had transferred them to a military hospital in Germany and then returned them home once they woke and were stable enough to endure an overseas flight.

“You and me both.” He squeezed my fingers as he rubbed the scar that ran from his right temple down to his jaw with his other hand.

Before the accident, Veer had been handsome in the Bollywood dark, brooding, and sexy way, but the scars had given him an added bad-boy appeal. Ash would say V now had a pirate look that made panties drop.

I needed to set him up with one of my girls from back home. He was a total catch and deserved someone who loved him and saw past his money and his always-controlled demeanor.

“Hey, I have a fabulous idea,” Jacinta said, snapping me out of my matchmaking thoughts.

Veer and I looked at each other and winced. Jacinta’s ideas had a way of putting me in situations I regretted later.

Our parents should have thought better than to put two overly sheltered eighteen-year-old child prodigies together. I still remembered when Papa told me the only way I’d attend Stanford was if I lived with Jacinta, whose father was a conservative politician from Louisiana. It had taken less than an hour after our parents left us in our apartment for the first adventure to start, something to do with trying to sneak into a bar, and our escapades continued for the next three years.

I still remembered the hell Devin, Ashur, and Veer gave me when they had to fly to California to keep Jacinta and me from getting expelled for public streaking. It started off as a fun celebration of our mutual twenty-first birthdays that fell close together. Then it turned into too many shots and a game of truth-or-dare with our much-older classmates. Thankfully, the three men were able to keep any news of the incident under wraps, and our parents never heard a peep about it.

“Okay, let’s hear it. And for the record, I am not announcing my candidacy yet. Veer can be your one conquest on your election endeavors for this weekend.”

I wanted a few more weeks to solidify my strategy before it became public knowledge.

“Even though that would be a wonderful addition to this weekend, my plan involves something a bit more fun. Well, for me anyway. It will also solve many of your problems.”

This should be good.

“Spit it out, Jacinta.”

“I want Devin to think Veer is replacing him.”