“Louis? You think I need his help? How do you think he’s kept his place for so many years? Because he’s your sister’s pet? You heirs are so arrogant, so blind to Bullstow’s games. I kept him there. Me.”
“I bet he’s been oh so accommodating.”
“He doesn’t even know. You give him too much credit. He never would have made it to the Saxony High House without seeding an heir for your sister. That’s the problem with the entire system. Men like Senator Serrano are promoted to places they are ill-equipped to handle, whereas men like me get
stuck in the city senates.”
“You faked his fertility results, then?”
“I didn’t know he had a need.”
“They said my morality was flexible.” She kicked her feet off the desk. “Thanks for admitting you controlled Reaper, by the way.”
“It doesn’t matter what I admit. If you try to get the militia involved, then I’ll go to the press. Everyone will demand your father’s neck in a noose. Allowing an heir to infiltrate BullNet? Giving her a free pass into its systems? A hacker who will soon be prime to a major family? He’ll be a disgrace! He’ll be brought up on—”
“Charges? I suppose it’s likely, but he’s been prepared for that, as were all of us. You won’t get out of your guilt by exposing us.”
“I don’t care. If I go down, everyone else goes down with me. Everyone!” He slammed his empty wine glass on her desk, nearly shattering it. “I knew I should never have touched you. You disgusted me, you know. Every moment last night when I—”
“Came?”
“I faked it. You meant nothing to me.”
“Now, that’s no way to talk. I’ll be honest, I thought you were a beautiful man when I saw you at the Closing Ball. You’re obviously intelligent, though ambitious and cocky and naïve to a fault. Misguided, certainly, but I was attracted to you before I knew who you were. That’s where you erred, you know. You didn’t bother to find out who you would be blackmailing when you targeted me. You found out a little information, like my wine preference and that I like to dance, but you learned nothing of importance, just enough to get me into bed. You certainly didn’t learn enough about who I was to pull this off.”
“Who are you, then?”
“Someone who cares about her family. Can I say the same about you? Do you love your children, Senator La Roux?”
“Of course I do.”
“Did you ever stop to think about them?”
“Of course. I’m making the world better for them. Do you know how many votes I control in Beaulac? In Saxony? It’s enough to pass whatever I like, as long as I don’t get too greedy too often. The slave bills will pass, both of them, and I will be remembered forever as the one who brought freedom to the Allied Lands. Think of what else I’ll pass by the end.”
“Because you’ll make the best decisions for everyone?”
“How is it any different than the dried-up hags in the councils ordering the country about, exchanging favor upon favor to keep the status quo, ordering their spies to dig into networks that should have been off-limits? This is the only way to make things change. It’s not like anyone else is doing anything. No one ever makes the guilty pay, but I would make them pay for breaking into Bullstow. It’s ours.”
“That’s where you are wrong. You’re about to see very soon how the guilty pay for breaking into Bullstow. Firsthand. And now your children will suffer under your reputation. No matter what happens to my father and me, you will either be hanged or put into slavery for betraying your office. You’re never going to see your children again.”
La Roux’s eyes darkened as they bored into her.
Lila couldn’t resist one more knock. “That will be a good thing, since you have the morality and the logic of a fruit bat.”
Those were the last words Lila said before La Roux lunged and clasped his hands around her throat.
Chapter 25
It retrospect, Lila understood that she had dealt the man too many blows in too short a time. La Roux’s own cousin had called him proud. Over the course of one day, he had been within reach of what he wanted most, a path to the Saxon High House, only to have it snatched away. This man who had never quite lived up to his own high expectations, who never achieved exactly what he wanted, had held power over the Randolph family. He could have chosen which path to push Lila down. Instead, he’d watched that power fizzle, and Lila had vowed to ruin him.
He’d snapped from shock and anger.
Lila saw it cross his face. The red cheeks, the scowl, the sweat forming on his brow, the vacant eyes. La Roux no longer existed. He might have been a boy on the beaches of Costa Sur, watching an older child who was just a little bit stronger, just a little bit more attractive, just a little bit smarter, knock down his sand castle and laugh at the boy’s frustration.
Had Lila laughed at him?
She was not sure, but it was too late now to do anything about it. She couldn’t even scream for help. La Roux’s hands had already closed around her throat, choking her so completely that she could not breathe. It was as though she were being punched, one long, continuous strike to her neck, and she knew that her voice would never function properly again. She’d be like Dixon, forever writing notes.