Page 59

Joy and William both were surprised. “But the backlash has been fierce,” William said. “How do you expect to overcome that?”

“You’re our consultant,” Diana said. “You handle our P.R. So handle it. That’s your job.”

William sat back. Joy sat up. “Wait a minute,” she said. “Wasn’t your husband all over television talking about how untrustworthy William has been? And how he fired him in dramatic fashion? And how he recommended everybody else dump him too?”

That little shit again, Arthur thought. But he had to admit she was right. “Yes, I said all those things. Yes, yes, I did. But it wasn’t from a place of malice. It was from a place of pain. William is experienced enough to know the difference.”

It was a jab at Joy’s lack of experience and she took it for what it was. She looked back at William. By his cool demeanor, she knew Arthur was apparently right. He knew the difference. And right then, he was already thinking about how it would need to play out in order for Diana to stay in the race.

“Can it work, William?” Hammer asked.

William looked at him. “That’s why you’re involved? Because you want a foothold in the prime minister’s office should Diana win?”

“I already have a foothold in the prime minister’s office. No, that’s not the reason. But my wife is a black woman. My children are half-black. I want them to see that a black person can become anything he or she wants to become in this world. That’s why I’m involved. Now answer my question: Can it work?”

William exhaled. “If we flip the script and play it exactly the opposite than we have been playing it, then she might can pull it off.”

“Meaning?” Diana asked him. Joy was curious too.

“If you come clean with your constituents and make it clear that you and you alone are responsible for your infidelity. And if Arthur stands by you happily rather than angrily blaming others for what you did, then that will be a start. You make it all about the constituents and how much you want to serve them and how you and your husband are moving away from the past. All is forgiven, in other words.”

William exhaled. “And then I’ll need to be at that press conference too, apologizing to you, Arthur, and throwing my full support behind Diana.”

Nobody else in that limo was shocked, but Joy was. “Are you saying that you and her and her husband are going to be on the same stage together saying all is well, and you expect people to believe that?”

Hammer grinned.

Arthur nodded. “Yes, Miss, that’s exactly what we expect,” he said. You little shit, he wanted to add.

“That’ll look so crazy to me,” Joy said. “That’ll look so crazy to people my age.”

“People your age don’t vote,” said Diana. “We couldn’t care less about people your age.”

“However,” said William, “my wife makes a valid point. It’s not going to go over well with many of your constituents. But we’ll have to play the long game the way Bill Clinton did when he got caught. It’s a long campaign. Thank God it came out early in your campaign. If all goes well, and the creek don’t rise, it’ll blow over eventually.”

It was exactly what Diana and Arthur wanted to hear. “I agree,” Arthur said. “And when a journalist asks you if you’re back as my consultant, and I’m going to make sure one of my journalists friends ask that question, then I will state unequivocally that you are back in my good graces. That should stop the bleeding over at SPR, and, if Diana wins, you’ll be bursting at the seams with new clients and the old ones returning.”

Only after Arthur said those words did Joy get why William was onboard. It would stop the client-desertion at SPR.

“There’s only one thing that will be missing,” said Hammer, and everybody looked at him.

“What’s the one thing?” Arthur asked him.

“You forgave Diana. William, by attending that press conference, will have forgiven you. But what about Mrs. Skeffington? If she’s absent, that’s all everybody will talk about.”

Although it was an ah-ha moment for Arthur and Diana, William already knew that was the case.

“That’s a great point,” Arthur said.

“Your wife has got to be onboard too,” said Diana.

But William was shaking his head. “You can exploit me. I’m one of the guilty ones. I deserve exploitation. But my wife stays out of it. That’s a no-go.”

“But William,” Joy said.

Everybody, especially William, looked at her.

“She’s right.” Joy said those words and then looked at her husband. “If I don’t attend that press conference too, people will make it all about us. Not about her historic campaign. And if that gets out of hand, it could crush her campaign before she gets it off the ground. She may never be able to put distance between her cheating nature and her historic run for office.”