It seemed gauche to think that his heart was threatening to break out of his chest considering what Katherine just told him, but it was pounding fiercely in there, trying to keep up with the strangling feeling in his chest.
He had to calm down - hyperventilation did not work well in him.
Alistair bit his lip and tried to slow down his breathing so he wasn't burning up all of the dissolved oxygen. Closing his eyes, he said, "Senator, I will not run for public office." He opened his eyes. "Ever. If that's what you're thinking about with this 'continuing on', you need to come up with a different plan."
He shook his head and arose from the couch, hoping that the pacing would help him calm down. "I'm not going to say that I don't agree with your stance; I have even more at stake in it than you do. And I dare say that I have been the most trustworthy person in your acquaintance these last fifteen years and you can ask Burt about that one. But Katherine..."
Alistair paused and faced her. "Either I am a partner in this or I am not in at all. I am not going to be treated like a pawn in this grand scheme of yours - I am not one of them." Alistair gestured outside of the door, meaning the band of delinquents she'd assembled but really, he could have indicated the entire world outside of the room they shared.