When Romance Prevails (The Dark Horse Trilogy Book 3) by Cynthia Dane Page A

and stopped in front of the windows. Light streamed through as she opened every curtain with a grunt in her throat. Groaning, Kerri turned away from the windows and pressed her face harder into her pillow. She didn’t want to see the sunlight today. “What’s going on with you? Get out of bed! This isn’t healthy! You should get dressed and let me take you out for brunch. We can get whatever you want. Oh, apple pancakes would be delicious. I only had a grapefruit and toast for breakfast, so I’m…” Brenda walked up to bed. “Well, come on! Get up!”
    “No thanks.” It was the first thing Kerri said all day, and it was trapped in her pillow.
    “You’re going to just spend the rest of your life in bed? What will that achieve? You need to move on from this boy already.”
    Finally, Kerri pulled her head up and glared at her mother through sleep-encrusted eyes. “It’s not just about him. I’m being kept prisoner in this house. I…” Oh, what was the point? Kerri flopped back into her pillow and sighed. Her mother would never understand.
    Brenda remained at the side of the bed for another moment. When she departed, it was with slow, gradual steps as if she were dodging a sleeping bear. “Don’t make it sound like I don’t care about you. I care about you too much, if anything.” The bed jiggled as Brenda sat down on it. “I only want to protect you. I know that the moment I let you go you’re going back to that boy. Then what? The media corners you. I know how it is. They’ll tear you apart and make a mockery of you. I won’t even tell you some of the things I’ve heard about your reputation. This isn’t just about your father. This is about your safety as well.”
    “If I can’t see him, then I don’t want to be here. Let me go to damn Italy then.”
    Not often did Brenda look so forlorn as she gazed upon her daughter. Suddenly she looked her age: wrinkles crowned her forehead, and crow’s feet pecked at her eyes. “I would love to, but there isn’t any money for it. There hasn’t been for quite some time.”
    For the first time that day Kerri sat up. “What do you mean there is no money?”
    “That’s what I mean. We’ve been scraping by these past few months. I don’t know how much money your father is spending on this campaign… he must be going full speed because of what happened. Both your father’s and Hall’s names went down in the polls, but they are still neck and neck. Your father will do anything to remain governor. He says he’s taking out all our money for that. So I’m sorry baby, but there isn’t much I can do for you there.”
    Of course. It would be too convenient. Packing some bags and heading out somewhere to be alone for a while. Far away from the media, her parents, and her heartache. I hate campaigns. I hate elections. I hate this life. Kerri felt a tear at the corner of her eye and brushed it away before her mother could see. I want Hunter. He knew how to sweep her away and make her feel like the royalty her parents claimed she was. His tender caresses, his gentle kisses, and the passion he exhibited when the time was right. Kerri’s boyfriend – the man she hadn’t seen in months – was the only one who could mend her broken disposition now.
    But she was a prisoner here. Now, and who knew for how much longer.

 
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 2

     
    The chaos in the Hall house was unlike anything Hunter had ever seen before. More volunteers showed up every day to make phone calls, stuff envelopes, and go door to door in the name of Terrence Hall. The downtown campaign headquarters overflowed to the point where stragglers were sent to the house. Hunter couldn’t walk two steps outside of his room without bumping into someone he had never met before.
    Not that he spent much time at home these days. Now he was more likely to sit around the downtown headquarters or go for a drive to clear his head. Would rather be with Kerri. His father hadn’t taken kindly to