It must be nice to care so little.
Propping her boots upon the glass table before her, Lila leaned deeper into the couch. The wine from breakfast had set to work upon her, relaxing her muscles like a practiced masseuse. She nearly fell asleep. Her teacup tipped several times, nearly splattering her raw fingers with hot liquid as she waited for her sister and the senator to wake.
A not completely accidental banging of china betrayed her as she poured a second cup.
The lumps twitched.
Jewel woke with a start.
“What the— Who the—” she shrieked, snatching up a bedside lamp. Lila wondered what her sister intended to do with it from the leisure of her bed, especially since it was still plugged in.
Senator Dubois sat up. “Whuddadoear?” he mumbled groggily.
Lila thought about letting the scene play out. What would the pretty prime and the handsome senator do against an intruder? Ring for a workborn to deal with it? Perhaps yell at Alex to attack the shadow with her heels?
“Relax,” Lila said as she stood up. She padded to a window and drew back the curtains, letting the sunlight stream into the room.
Jewel cursed and squinted against the brightness.
Dubois ducked his head under a pillow. The senator seemed to have a harder time with mornings than any Randolph. Jewel often joked that he only assented to their seasons together because the chairwoman gifted him with a steady supply of coffee, a brand flown in directly from Brazil. Lila had not known before how much the senator might need it every morning.
“What are you doing here so early?” Jewel groaned, pulling the covers over her naked breasts.
Lila ignored the question and continued her assault. She worked steadily around the room, throwing open the curtains at every window. “Senator Dubois, it’s time for you to take a shower. I need to speak with my sister.”
The senator finally removed his head from the pillows. He ran his fingers through his long blond hair, somehow not overly mussed from an entire night in bed, and rubbed sleepily at his hazel eyes. The man had a calming air about him that the most successful senators possessed, as well as a beauty that only grew when he woke without a shave or clothes.
They likely taught such things at Bullstow.
Perhaps it was an entire semester’s class.
Dubois bowed his head at his future sister-in-law and stifled a yawn. He stripped off a sheet and wrapped it around his midsection, then stumbled toward the bathroom.
“Not here. Go home to Bullstow.”
The senator raised an eyebrow and glanced back at Jewel, saying nothing of Lila’s rudeness. Bullstow taught senators from a young age not to reproach anyone for anything but the most grievous offense. Diplomacy called for such patience.
“Louis, how about coffee?” Jewel asked. “Please ask Chef Ana for a cup while I speak with my sister. Ask her to make us something nice for breakfast, too. Whatever you want is fine with me.”
“Yes, madam.” Dubois snatched up his clothes and ducked behind an antique changing screen in the corner.
Jewel glared at her sister.
Lila resumed her perch on the couch and glared back. A silent battle loomed between two alley cats, fought with warring eyes instead of warring paws.
To his credit, the senator dressed quickly. He dashed out again a moment later, pausing only to offer his fiancée a kiss on the forehead.
Perhaps they practiced quick exits at Bullstow. Perhaps they had even tests.
“You didn’t have to be so rude,” Jewel snapped when the door closed, throwing on her robe and tying the belt around her waist angrily. Her brown hair tangled fetchingly around her neck, and even in anger, her sky-blue eyes were lively and doll-like, though rimmed in red. “He’s to be your brother-in-law, and we talked until early this morning. He’s still exhausted, as am I.”
“I’m exhausted too. Mother recalled me from my vacation.”
Jewel’s mouth dropped open. Her pale cheeks reddened. She knelt before Lila on the rug and placed her head in her sister’s lap. “I wanted to tell you first. I tried to contact you last night before we told—”
Lila shook her off. “Crying and carrying on at your age? Stand up and face me like a woman, not like a child.”
“You don’t have to be rude.”