Chapter 5

Victoria's phone wouldn't stop buzzing.News of her potential candidacy had leaked. Of course it had, nothing stayed secret in politics for more than five minutes and now everyone had an opinion.

Reporters, family friends,random constituents who'd never spoken to her before suddenly had advice.

And the trolls. Oh God, the trolls.

“A woman senator? Daddy's little princess playing politics.

She's only running because her billionaire boyfriend is funding it. Gold digger!”

Victoria threw her phone onto King's bed,she'd migrated to his mansion because it was quieter.Recent nights of his body wrapped around hers had ruined her sleeping alone.

"Ignore them," King said from his laptop at the desk. He'd been working all morning, restructuring his company's contracts to eliminate conflicts of interest.

"Easy for you to say,because it is not you, they're a gold-digging princess."

King's fingers stopped typing. He turned in his chair, and the look in his eyes made her nervous. "I am being trolled too,they're calling me a manipulative bastard using my dead girlfriend's father to buy political influence." He stood,moving toward the bed.

"But you know what? I don't give a single fuck what they say."

"But seriously you should care," she said as he reached the bed. "That's your reputation"

 "Let them talk,words don't scare me. You know what scares me?"

"What?"

"You giving up before you even start or letting internet trolls convince you you're not good enough." Victoria's breath caught. "I never said I wasn't good enough."

"You didn't have to, It is clearly written all over you.But we're going to fix it today."

"How?" 

King gave a predator smile. "I'm going to teach you how to play dirty."

An hour later, Victoria found herself in King's sleek home office.He'd called in his top political strategist, a sharp-eyed woman named Ngozi who looked like she could gut you with her smile.

Ngozi pulled out a tablet, already loaded with data. "Here's the reality. you're polling at twelve percent name recognition. Your opponent, Senator Mbanefo is at ninety-three percent. You're a twenty-seven-year-old woman in a constituency that's never elected a female senator.

The party barely supports you and your biggest asset…" she gestured at King, "is also your biggest liability."

"And you see this? Ngozi pulled up a photo of Victoria from three days ago, leaving the hospital after identifying her father's body. She looked devastated, beautiful, and vulnerable. "This is your weapon."

Victoria turned. "My grief?"

"Your authenticity." Ngozi zoomed in on Victoria's face. "Every politician in Lagos is polished, scripted, fake as hell. You're real,you cry in public,love openly,you're not ashamed to show weakness. That's radical and powerful, Victoria."

"Using my father's death as a campaign strategy feels…"

"Smart" Ngozi interrupted. "Your father was murdered for fighting corruption,you running is the ultimate middle finger to his killers. Own that narrative."

King was watching Victoria carefully, gauging her reaction. She wanted to be offended. But Ngozi was right.

"What else?" Victoria asked.

"Your relationship." Ngozi pulled up photos of Victoria and King together…leaving restaurants, at political events,and a kiss on a New Year's Eve that went viral. "The media's obsessed with you two.

Billionaire obsessed with senator's daughter, proposes three times, gets rejected three times, still fights for her. That's a catch."

"We're not using our relationship" Victoria started.

"You already are," Ngozi said bluntly. "The second King pledged his support, you became a package deal in the public's mind. So either you control that narrative, or it controls you."

Victoria looked at King. He shrugged. "She's not wrong."

"I hate politics," Victoria said.

"Good." Ngozi grinned.

"That'll make you better at it than most. Now, let's talk about your first public appearance."

They spent three hours strategizing. Victoria's head spun with polling data, demographic breakdowns, messaging frameworks. Ngozi was brilliant and terrifying, dissecting every weakness and turning it into strength.

By the time Ngozi left, Victoria felt like she'd run a marathon.

"She's intense," Victoria said, collapsing onto King's office couch.

"She's the best." King joined her, pulling Victoria's legs across his lap. His hands found her feet, massaging with ease.

"Are you sure about this? King you could lose millions.” His hands still on her feet. "Victoria, look at me."

"I would burn every dollar I have, dismantle my entire empire, and live in a cardboard box if it meant keeping you safe and helping you win." His grip tightened. "Money's just numbers on a screen. You're everything,do you understand that?"

Victoria's throat closed. "That's insane."

"So you keep telling me." King pulled her forward until she was straddling his lap, her dress riding up her thighs. "But I've been insane about you since the night we met. Remember?"

She did. That fundraiser three years ago. She'd been there with her father, bored out of her mind, when this gorgeous man approached with a terrible joke about cryptocurrency that made her laugh.

"You spilled champagne on my dress," Victoria murmured.

"Because you smiled at me and I forgot how to function." King's hands slid up her thighs,with increased intensity. "Then you spent twenty minutes explaining why my joke was economically inaccurate, and I fell so hard I couldn't breathe."

"That's not how falling in love works."

"It is for me." His thumb traced circles on her inner thigh, close to where she wanted him. "One smile, Victoria. That's all it took,everything after has just been me trying to convince you to keep smiling at me forever."

She should stop this. They had a campaign to plan and a party meeting in six days where she had to prove herself. But King's hands were doing wicked things. "We shouldn't…" she started.

"Probably not." King's lips found her neck, that sensitive spot that made her gasp. 

His hands gripping her hips hard enough to bruise. Good! She could no longer resist.

"Desk," she gasped against his mouth.

King didn't need to be told twice. He stood, Victoria's legs wrapped around his waist, and swept everything off his desk with one arm. Papers,pen,his laptop barely survived.

He laid her on the cool glass surface, already working on her dress. "Tell me to stop and I will."

"Don't you dare stop."

That was all the permission he needed while he thrust gently.

Much later after he made her cum, he gently carried her to the office couch as she laid boneless on King's chest. Her dress was already ruined but she didn't care.

"We're supposed to be implementing strategies," she said drowsily.

"We are." King's fingers traced lazy patterns on her bare back. "This is team building."

Victoria laughed, the sound surprising her. When had she last laughed? "There it is," King murmured.

"What?"

"That smile." He tilted her chin up. "The one I'd burn the world down to see."

I know you love me." Victoria cut in

"Obsessively," King corrected. "I love you obsessively,unhealthily and completely."

"Same."

His eyes flashed. "Say that again."

"Which part?"

"The part where you love me."

Victoria straddled his lap again, taking his face in her hands. "I love you, Kingston Adeyemi. I love you so much it scares me. Is that what you needed to hear?" King's answer was a kiss that liquified her bones.

When they finally came up for air, his phone was ringing. Reality intruding again.

"It's Ngozi," King said, checking the screen. "She's sent over your schedule for the next six days."

Victoria groaned. "Already?"

"She doesn't waste time." King pulled up the email, scanning quickly. His expression shifted. "Victoria. Your first public appearance is tomorrow."

"What? I thought we had a week."

"There's a vigil tomorrow night for your father at the Senate building. The media will be everywhere,party officials will be watching." King's eyes met hers. "Remember if you show up strong, you control the narrative. If you hide, you look weak."

Victoria's got still. She had less than twenty-four hours to prepare.

"Can I do this?" she whispered.

"Yes." King's certainty was absolute. "But, you need to have something in mind.Tomorrow night, everyone will be watching. Your grief, words,strength. One mistake and they'll crucify you."

"But…I'll be right there." King's hands framed her face. "You won't be alone."

Victoria closed her eyes, trying to imagine it. Stand

ing in front of cameras.

"Okay," she said finally. "Let's do this."

King kissed her forehead. "That's my girl."