“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You keep silent, and yet you want to be partners?” Lila tsked. “You know, I still don’t understand how Reaper hacked my Prolix ID so quickly. It’s bugged me for weeks.”
“Reaper?” La Roux scoffed, his annoyance overcoming his wariness. “Reaper couldn’t have found his dick in the dark. I figured out who you were a few hours after the BIRD break-in. It wasn’t the login that did you in. It was a camera outside a lowborn shop near the senate.”
“There was no footage that day. All the cameras had been taken out.”
“I didn’t need that day’s footage. I needed a few days before. Senator Dubois has a picture of your family on his desk. I know your face, and you weren’t window shopping.”
“So you put me and Prolix together.”
“I tasked Reaper with hacking your fake ID. I needed the proof, but other work kept me busy. Of course, Reaper bugged me every few hours when he got stuck, but I helped him get there in the end.”
“He posted the article to let you know he was done. That’s how he communicated with you. Clever. Then you asked me for one hundred thousand credits in exchange for your silence. Why?”
La Roux leaned into her face. She smelled the wine on his breath. “An unexpected expense came up.”
“You sent my matron the information anyway.”
“I was always going to do that no matter what. I needed you in a position to be useful. How could I win you if you were still wasting your life in the security office? I know what your mother did for Prime Minister Lemaire. I want the same done for me. I had a much more involved plan for getting into your trousers. Apparently, I didn’t need it.”
He cocked his head and tugged at her fly.
Lila batted his hand away. “Every senator would spit in your face if he knew what you’ve done. Every heir, too.”
“That’s big talk coming from a thief. You’re the worst sort of hypocrite. I’m surrounded by them. Hypocrites and useless men. Has Senator Serrano done as much as I have for Saxony?”
“We’re not talking about Senator Serrano. We’re talking about you.”
“We’re not talking. We’re negotiating terms.”
Lila’s stomach turned. The man was enjoying himself. “Why should I help you? Why shouldn’t I call Chief Shaw right now and tell him what’s in BullNet? The whole network is filled with your little traps.”
“Because you don’t want to go to the auction house. I have everything, Prolix, all your naughty lit
tle truths.”
“So you’ve said. What is your end game? The senate?”
“Prime minister.”
“What if I say no?”
“Then I will secure my place with another woman. It might take a little longer, but you weren’t the only woman I had in play for this season. You heirs and primes aren’t as rare and special as you think. If you say no to this arrangement, then I’ll hand over my evidence to the media and find another. If you aren’t hanged within the month, then you’ll spend the rest of your life working as a slave in the mines. What will the chairwoman do without you to produce an heir? My cousin told me of his troubles this morning. What will your mother do when she learns that she’ll have to produce another daughter so late in life or lose everything to her sisters after she retires? Which company does your Aunt Georgina run, again?”
“Spring. The wedding planning boutique. It brings in nine figures a year,” Lila replied, feeling strangely protective of Georgina’s record.
The senator chuckled and sat on the edge of her desk. “Well, I’m sure that she works very hard. I’m also sure that her work hasn’t prepared her for running a monstrosity like Wolf Industries, though I’ve heard how tricky brides and grooms can be.” He put down his glass and pushed Lila’s hair back from her face. “Would you be so tricky on our day?”
Lila knocked his hand away.
“Come on, let’s avoid any unpleasantness. The best deal for me is to seed an heir for the Randolph family. I’ll be elevated to New Bristol next session, and I’ll have a respected highborn family behind me. It’s what you had planned before we had this conversation, isn’t it? Retain me for the season and many seasons thereafter. I know I’ve impressed you. What do you think the last few weeks have been about? I’ve shown you that I’m more than a worthy match. We could be good together.”
“You don’t know me well enough to make that call. Besides, this morning I respected you more than I do now. I thought you knew how to play your hand. I have to say, I’m a little disappointed.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes. For starters, I don’t think you have any of my files at all.”