<em>She's switching the meeting location. A power play... And an effective one at that.</em><br/><br/>Marcus passed on the instructions to his driver and texted Corinne the directions as they came to him.<br/><br/>Things were really spiraling out of control in a way that left the weight squarely on his shoulders in an increasingly untenable situation. If his campaign was to be salvaged, drastic measures would have to be taken. Making matters worse, his mystery blackmailer seemed like the shrewd type difficult. He secretly feared that no amount of money would be too much with everything on the line. It could even take more resources than<em>they</em>had. In the end, how bad things would get was just a question of just how much had been learned.<br/><br/>There were so many dark secrets he and his backers kept. For Marcus' part, Corinne was the least of them. He'd kept her in the dark with regard to the rest of his woes to protect her from the potential fallout, though telling her often crossed his mind at the end of their late night sessions. She'd become his only outlet. In the end, Corinne was all he really had that meant anything to him. Sometimes it felt like she was the only choice he'd made for himself in the past ten years.<br/><br/>The money wasn't his, the power would be temporary, and public disgrace was inevitable. It was just a matter of when, how, and what debts he'd owe at the end of it. If the election went their way, his service would come to an unceremonious end. Otherwise, it would be his life that ended.