An hour later, as Sam stood under the Capitol dome and held the O’Connor family Bible while Nick swore to preserve and protect the Constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic, it occurred to her that his big day trumped hers by a mile. The president of the United States, a close friend of the O’Connor family, surprised Nick by showing up with the first lady.

It was the second time in a week Sam had seen President and Mrs. Nelson. The first time had been at John O’Connor’s funeral where she also met Nick’s father, Leo. Today, Leo had brought his pretty young wife and adorable three-year-old twin sons, and Sam was once again struck by Leo’s youthfulness. Since he was only fifteen years older than Nick, it made sense that he looked more like Nick’s brother than his father.

The entire O’Connor family had come. Sam could only imagine how difficult it must be for them to watch their murdered son and brother’s best friend replace him in the Senate. John’s father, retired Senator Graham O’Connor, had handpicked Nick for the job. And while Graham and his wife Laine’s eyes shone with pride as they watched the man they thought of as a son take the oath of office, Sam could also see the heartbreak. Their loss was so recent and raw, and was made worse by the fact that John had been taken from them by his own son.

Before Sam knew it, Nick was declared a United States senator, and he had committed the next year to the people of Virginia. As Nick shook hands with the president, Sam hoped her crazy job wouldn’t somehow ruin it for him.

Chapter 2

Nick received hugs from his father, the O’Connors and the first lady. Amazing. The son of high school-aged parents, he’d been raised by his grandmother in a one-bedroom apartment in Lowell, Massachusetts. He’d landed an academic scholarship to Harvard where he’d met John O’Connor and later, John’s family. Over the years, the O’Connors had become Nick’s family, too, which was the only reason he was now a United States senator.

From the setting under the Capitol rotunda to the chief justice to the governor of Virginia, this whole thing felt like it was happening in a movie rather than to him. As the president of the United States extended his hand and said, “Congratulations, Senator,” it finally became real. He was Senator Nicholas Cappuano, Democrat of Virginia. But when he remembered how he’d gotten here, that his best friend had been murdered, and that he had been tapped to take his place, Nick’s heart ached. As if anyone could take John’s place.