This could either go very right or very, very wrong.
“We can sit in silence if you prefer.” She took another sip of her wine and put it back down on the table. She was going to need it forwhat was going to come next. “I assume you get very little peace and quiet during the rest of your day.”
“I assumed you were regretting your choice to come to dinner with me. Youdidlook quite troubled there for a moment.” Moriarty smirked at her, lifting his gaze briefly from the menu before returning his attention to it, as boring as it clearly was.
The man was a chess master, and everything around him was a game. A game he found perpetually unchallenging, she realized. That was his obsession with Sherlock—finally, someone who could keep him on his toes.
Sadly, she didn’t think she was smart enough to be his equal. The question was, was she even smart enough to sit down at the table with him? “Simply committing myself to what is to come, is all.” That was true. “Unlike what I have heard of you, Professor?—”
“James, please.” He smiled again lightly.
“James,” she corrected. “I…am unaccustomed to plotting someone’s downfall. Leveraging someone’s hubris to your advantage is one thing. To plot to take or destroy their lives is another thing entirely.”
That had his attention. He placed the menu down on the plate in front of him, those dark eyes staringthroughher. “And what has our mutual acquaintance done to warrant such a drastic response from you?”
“I cannot abide by arrogance. The man sought to destroy both my reputation and the reputation of another simply because he could not let an unanswered questionremain unanswered.He knew the answer. He simply needed to prove it to the world.” She grimaced, glancing away, playing her part. “If he truly believes himself to be such a paramount of intelligence andvirtue,why does he feel the need to constantly be such a public braggart?” She couldn’t help but emphasize the word.
Moriarty laughed quietly, a deep and not unpleasant sound. He sat back against the upholstered bench, watching her with a deep curiosity. “While I agree with you on the subject of his need to flaunthis intelligence, I am curious as to your belief in his need to flaunt his benevolence. Continue.”
“He believes himself above the common man in more ways than one. He believes himself to be the arbiter of both truthandjustice. And it is the latter that I cannot suffer. No man is a god. Not him.” She met his dark gaze. “Not you.”
He lifted his glass to her. “Hear, hear.”
She tinked her glass to his and took a sip.
“I am glad to hear you speak in such a way, if I might be frank. I thought I was losing my mind for a time. To see such…blatant hypocrisy at play?” He shook his head. “And to have no one else seem to see it for what it was. Do you know how many laws that man breaks on the regular, simply because he feels it is in the name of the greater good?”
“Who is he to say what is the greater good and what is not?” She tilted her head to the side just slightly. “I am certain you do not wake in the mornings considering yourself to be some paramount of villainy.”
“Mm, only a few of them.” He chuckled, a playfully dark twist layering over his smile.
It made her cheeks go warm.
“Since you are clearly aware of my…extracurricular endeavors, I will be frank—I do not consider myself benevolent, benign, or righteous, Miss Adler.” His smile faded. “I am a terrible and dangerous man who seeks only power and influence.”
“Don’t be so melodramatic. You are a terrible and dangerous man who searches for a game that rises to the challenge of his wit.” She rolled her eyes. “If you were only after power and influence you would be a politician.”
That had him laughing again, almost loud enough to disturb the nearby tables. “Oh, Miss Adler.”
“Irene.”
“Irene,” he corrected with a grin. “You are surprising, indeed. Explain.”
“Someone of your intelligence and capability for manipulation would have the House of Lords wrapped around his finger in a month’s time. No, dear James. You play in the shadows because you enjoy the threat it brings. The challenge. You do not wish to play cards, you wish to play Russian Roulette.”
“I despise games of chance.”
“There are no games of chance when you are playing the person across the table from you. Poker is a game of psychology, not luck.” She sipped her wine again. She had the distinct suspicion she was going to go through a bottle on her own, and she was going to need it.
“Touché, madame.” Glancing behind her, Moriarty sighed. “Apologies in advance for what is about to follow.”
Furrowing her brow in confusion, she had no idea what he meant until the waiter walked up, and Moriarty proceeded to order dinner for both of them. That would be whyshedidn’t have a menu buthedid. She didn’t even notice until that moment.
He ordered her the lamb. He got the duck. Once the waiter left, he looked at her with an expression that simply saidsorry.“If I ordered incorrectly, we can switch plates once they walk away.”
It was her turn to laugh. She’d never had anyone order for her before. It was actually kind of quaint in a stupid way, since it wasn’t something she had to live with every day of her life. “It’s quite fine. I’ll enjoy it, I’m certain.” She’d never had lamb.
“An asinine practice, if you ask me.” He shook his head and sipped his own wine. “Why you are not allowed to simply decide upon what you eat…”
