Okay, so that was a lot of words, but they deserved every word of her rant. She stole a glance at James. She might be moderately mad at him for not telling her, but they were a team here. They needed to nip this in the bud.
Kennedy looked both of her parents right in the eyes. Not backing down an inch, she gestured with her hands out. “Of course we’re pissed. Whether we win or even qualify is irrelevant—we deserve that shot. The scrutiny, the whispers, the comments here and there—we take it all in stride because being the presidential family is who we are. And we deserve a chance to carry on the family business. Or all that scrutiny over the years was a freaking waste.”
James added, “If you want us to be whoever we want to be, why would you limit the field of options?”
She’d high-five him for that later.
Their parents exchanged a look, and Kennedy knew she and James had them. She felt confident they’d back down from the calling-a-Culling cliff now. Not able to help the smirk on her face, she moved to place her hands on her hips.
“Okay, okay.” Their dad nodded.
“So you'll wait to call the Culling?” James asked, wanting clarification.
Their father nodded again. “We'll wait.”
James let out a sigh of relief, a feeling Kennedy also felt all the way to her toes. She was still frustrated with her parents though. How could they think calling a Culling now was even a remotely good idea?
Her mom walked over to stand next to their dad, who immediately moved to rest a hand on her lower back. Kennedy hated how touchy-feely they always were. But only because she wanted someone to look at her the way her dad looked at her mom.
Their mom scrutinized them with a half squint like they were in trouble. Her tone went sharp as she said, “But no Culling until you turn twenty-one. I was eighteen when ours started, and I can honestly say I wish I would’ve been a bit older. The Culling is a process that will bend and break you. I hope you realize this is not an easy road. It’s an opportunity that comes with a cost. You are not ready. Yes, you have five years, but don’t kid yourselves into thinking you’ll be ready . . . because you never will be.”
Kennedy studied her mother, considering the finality of those words: “You never will be.”
They should have made her pause. If she had been someone else’s daughter, maybe they would have. But she was the daughter of Reagan and Lyncoln Reed. “Never” wasn’t a word that frequented their vocabularies. To a Reed “never” was more of a challenge and less of a threat.
We’ll see, Mom. We’ll see.
…………..
Chapter 1
…………..
Two Years before the Culling
She tiptoed down the stairs and past the stupid credenza in the hall. It felt weird sneaking out when the guards who watched the Manor knew exactly what she was doing when her parents didn’t. Her parents didn’t care if she went out, but she liked to leave without them knowing. Or more specifically without her brothers knowing, since they would tease her even more about her boyfriend. She was always sure to take a guard, though, was always safe. The guards knew and could relay that information to her parents, but unless they asked, she was pretty sure the guards didn’t tell.
She had barely gotten to his place when Josiah opened the door, grinning. “Hey, you.”
She smiled. “Hey, yourself.”
“Took you long enough.” He laughed, pulling her into him and shutting the door before the guard followed her in.
She didn’t have time to respond before he was kissing her and running a hand through her hair.
“Damn, baby, I love it when you wear your hair down,” he whispered.
Thankfully, Josiah had his own place in Nottingham Point. It was only a small apartment, but who cared. It was better than going to the Manor. She’d taken Josiah there only twice so far. And she wasn’t sure why, but she just preferred to come here.
Well, she partially knew why. Here they were actually alone. Here they could be alone.
“I missed you,” he whispered, his blue eyes drilling into hers.
She laughed. “You saw me yesterday.”
He shrugged. “Still. Work sucked. I missed you.”
Josiah worked in the tech side of military missions, and she knew that hearing and seeing missions go wrong while in the control room could be tough. So could being the mission team lead, like her brother James. Both were two sides to the same coin—different roles but partners nonetheless. Kennedy had witnessed firsthand how the high stress levels of their jobs impacted them both.
“How was your day, though?” he asked, his eyes still on hers.
When they had first started dating, she remembered thinking that he saw everything. He was super observant. And she had to admit she was a sucker for those blue eyes, which were so purely blue they hid the fact that his nose was possibly a little too big for his face. But she also kind of loved his big nose for that same reason. It was about the only part of him that wasn’t picture perfect.
She smiled. “Good. The kids were all a little rambunctious today, but nothing I couldn’t handle.”
“Better you than me.” Josiah laughed, running a hand through his short blond hair and pushing the longer part on top to the side. “I’m not the best with kids.”
“It’s just because you’re the youngest in your family, Jo,” she offered.
“How many do you want?” he said, those blue eyes twinkling.
“How many what?”
“How many kids do you want to have?” He grinned. “I need to prepare myself.”
What? Holy crap. That got serious fast. “Uh, I don’t really know. Depends.”
“Depends on if you’re the next Madam President?” he asked, grinning. “Because you have my vote.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, it just depends.”
Yeah, every speck of her future had a giant question mark dangling over it. She didn’t know if she’d qualify for the Culling. She didn’t know if Josiah would either. Knowing his grades from when they were in school and how well he did his job, she suspected he probably would. And the cold, hard truth was that if she hadn’t thought that, she wouldn’t be dating him right now. She’d been waiting for her shot at the Culling for as long as she could remember. So had her brothers. It was the reason none of them had seriously dated. Dated? Yes. But seriously? Nope. Because why bother.
Yet here she was. Falling for this boy. Two years too early.
He moved in to kiss her again. “I just want to make plans with you. I see a future with you, you know?”
She nodded. Unlike her previous boyfriend, Josiah was easy to be with. He was her calm in the midst of crazy life at the Manor. They started dating a few months ago, but things seemed to be progressing fast.
He kissed her again and again like she was the only person in the world who mattered.
He made her feel cherished. He doted on her, always holding her hand or wanting to be near. She had turned him down the first two times he had asked her out, but the third time he had brought her flowers after a really crappy day. He hadn’t wanted anything other than to make her day better.
He saw her, the real her. So many other guys wanted to date her for who she was—an heir. But Josiah knew she was kind of a tomboy. He knew she was trained and talented in combat. Hell, he even knew she liked to read cheesy romances even though she wouldn’t ever admit to being a romantic at all.