Sam nodded and turned into his loving embrace, taking the comfort she needed so badly from the one person who always made her feel better. As she breathed in the warm scent of home, she knew without a doubt that while she could handle just about anything, she would never survive losing him. “Don’t you dare ever do this to me. Do you hear me?”

“I won’t. I promise.”

She didn’t remind him that was a promise he might not be able to keep, because she couldn’t stand to think about a day without him in it, let alone the rest of her life.

“What can I do?”

“How would you feel about Angela and the kids living at Ninth?”

“That’s fine with me.”

“It might be indefinitely.”

“Also fine with me.”

“What do you think about a GoFundMe for her and the kids, organized by Tracy and set up by Freddie?”

“That’s a great idea.”

“The press might make a thing of it.”

“So? She needs money. That could solve some of her most immediate problems.”

“Will people think it’s weird that there’s a fundraiser for the sister-in-law of the president?”

“Just because I’m president doesn’t mean I’m sitting on countless millions. I could take care of her, if need be, but I sense that she’d prefer the fundraiser to us supporting her and the kids.”

“That’s what Tracy and I thought, too. You’re likely to be asked about it.”

“Okay.”

“Should we check with Terry, Lilia and the others?”

“Why?”

“In case there’s something we need to be worried about.”

“I’m not worried about anything other than getting Angela and the kids the help they need. If I wasn’t president, we’d be the ones organizing this for her. Tell Freddie to make it live, and I’ll post a link to it from my personal account.”

“Wow, that’d be amazing.”

“We have these huge platforms that are mostly pains in our asses. But occasionally we can use them to help someone we love.”

“Thank you for being awesome, even when you’re president.”

“I do what I can for my people.”

“And we love you for it, but that saying is trademarked.”

Grinning, he said, “I knew you’d say that.”

“I’m nothing if not predictable. Where are the kids?”

“Getting ready for dinner. Are you hungry?”

“Not really.”

“You need to eat, and so does Angela.”

“I’ll go see if I can convince her.”

Nick tightened his hold on her. “Before you go, I just want to make sure you’re taking care of my Samantha as you take care of everyone else.”

“I am.”

“This is a lot on top of a lot, as we like to say, and so soon after your dad.”

“Yeah, it is, but I’m okay. I’m just worried about Ang and the kids.”

“You’re doing everything you can for her, and then some. Go tell her about the GoFundMe and Ninth Street and everything else you did today to get justice for her and Spence.”