Cocking his head to the side, Elijah looked at her suspiciously. “Is that a question?”
“No?”
“What does he do for the government?”
“Stuff?”
“Stuff,” he nodded, humming afterward while he watched her. “What kind of stuff? The government does a lot of it.”
“Oh, you know, like administration, listening to complaints, uh working on making things better.”
I was trying to narrow down what kind of position would do that when Elijah made a noise and sat up so quickly the stool rocked under him. “He’s Governor fuckin’ Dahl, isn’t he?”
Holy shit, now it all made sense.
Rubbing the back of her neck, Sadie focused on a spot on the other side of the bar. “Uh, well, he doesn’t go by the name ‘fucking’. Sometimes he answers to wanker, other times he answers to Dad, but—”
“Cut the shit, pixie. I’m right, aren’t I?” Depending on the tone you used, those words could be really bad, but Elijah sounded relieved at this huge nugget of information.
Me? I was intrigued as fuck. Hand to God, I’d never have guessed she was related to a man I respected as much as Ned Dahl, and it just made her even more awesome.
“Honey, this is awesome news,” I reassured her when she stayed silent, her hands twisting the hem of her t-shirt. “The man is a legend. He’s one of the most productive and respected Governor’s in the history of the country.”
She didn’t look convinced by my words, though. “I try to stay clear of his political side, Ari. Not everyone feels the same way you do about him. Plus, it’s just not me. I like being my own person. Every time someone found out who my dad was when I came to visit him, they’d either turn into someone they weren’t to try and impress me, spit vitriol about him, or they’d try to use me to get closer to him.”
Now that I could imagine happening. People were big, hairy shits when it came to doing anything and everything they could to get ahead.
“Pixie, there’s always going to be someone who uses people for personal gain. It happens in every area of life. They think it’s an easy climb to success, but people aren’t that dumb anymore. They see it happening, and the level of respect for the person goes to hell. Those people are their own worst enemies,” Elijah said firmly, reaching over to tilt her chin so she was looking at him. “If someone doesn’t see that you’re an amazing person—and I mean this, babe—then it’s on them, not you. You get me?”
Her smile was still tight when she nodded, so I added, “Sadie, we all loved you before we knew this. Heck, my brother said last week how much sales had gone up since you started here, all because you’re such a character. You’ve got a personality that draws people in, so if they only look at you as some coattails to ride to get to your dad, that means they’re the ones lacking, doesn’t it?”
“I think the sales have gone up because of those stupid viewing nights your arsehole of a brother’s set up,” she grumbled, but to be fair, that probably was part of the reason.
Shrugging, even though I wanted to smack his head against cow shit repeatedly, I pointed out, “Well, you’re in them, aren’t you?”
Rolling her eyes, she looked back at Elijah when he poked her in the shoulder. “Yes, your majesty?”
“I like that. You can call me it from now on,” Elijah chuckled, his eyes dancing. “Only you, though. Maybe you can call me your king?”
“Like hell.”
“We’ll see.” Before Sadie could reply to that, he continued, “Just so you know, the only reason I’ll ever hang around you is because of you. Ask Ariana and the rest of my family, I hate people and don’t like spending a lot of time with them.”
“You spend time here,” she pointed out.
The expression on his face left and was replaced with a completely blank look. “Mmm, that I do.”
Not for the first time since Levi and Charlotte’s first Christmas together, I wondered what the hell was going on with my cousin. I knew he’d left the Coast Guard, but I didn’t know why or what he was doing now. I’d tried to get his story out of him, but he was tightlipped about it, even to my brothers and Gramps, and the way he’d reacted just now was cagier than normal—and normal for Levi was pretty fucking cagy.
Looking behind him, I watched Grams walk slowly up to him with her index fingers pointing at him. If anyone else did what she was about to do, he’d lose his shit, but he was close to her and indulged her in most things. Proving my point, he glanced at me and rolled his eyes, knowing what was about to happen. Did he have superpowers? No, he was sitting in front of a great honking mirror.