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“I’m glad you’re not reveling in their misfortune,” Lila said before swallowing a blackberry.
“You think they wouldn’t have reveled in ours? Ms. Wilson’s current position is due entirely to her own poor choices and your friendship. How many other matrons would be so fair to a fallen heir? She still wears fine clothes and might even be in charge of the great house staff after Ms. O’Malley retires, so long as she continues her good work and discretion. I’m nothing if not fair. More than.”
“It’s not Alex’s fault.”
“Not all of it, no. It’s also the fault of her grandmother for trifling with German princes and not having more daughters. Her mother, too.”
“She had three.”
“Yes, and two are dead. Drunk drivers should all be hanged.” Her mother shivered and snatched up her glass once more.
Lila fiddled with the end of her short sword, watching her mother’s face. The rumor was that her mother had been behind the accident, just to leave Alex exposed and ripe for the plucking. Neither Lila nor Alex believed it, of course. A smart matron would have bought Alex for a song at auction and then arranged for the accident to take out the other two.
And Beatrice Randolph was very smart.
Sometimes Lila had to wonder what her mother was capable of, though, especially when she became so terribly blunt and pragmatic.
“Ms. Wilson erred when she didn’t birth an heir to the Wilson-Kruger line,” the chairwoman said. “She should have had one and signed it over to her mother before striking out on her own if that’s what she wanted to do. Now any child she bears will be born into slavery. All the while, her mother takes a basketful of medication while chasing senators and meeting with doctors to harvest her eggs. It’s unseemly and desperate at her age, and her business is suffering for it. Our business, in another fifteen years or so, if anything is left of it.”
“Sooner or later, one of those eggs will take,” Lila said, pouring her own glass of Gregorie. She considered Chairwoman Wilson, a woman of nearly sixty, fighting against hot flashes and time in order to bear another daughter. Science had given her extra time and a better chance than most, but it could not work miracles. Even if such a child was born so late in life, Chairwoman Wilson would not have long to teach her any business sense. The only saving grace of such a plan was that the child would have so many well-placed brothers and cousins in the senate to assist her. They had enough political acumen to smooth over a few mistakes of youth, but they could only do so much.
Besides, it wasn’t as if the woman had that much sense or decorum to pass on. Lila could never figure out how Alex had come from such a ridiculous line, for her friend’s grandmother hadn’t been any better. Alex was one of the rare instances of a well-bred father making up for the mother’s lack. Perhaps it was fortunate that Senator Craft had died before he witnessed what had become of his daughter.
“None of her eggs will take. I control the woman’s doctor. Once the chairwoman dies, we will own her company, her capital, and the land underneath.”
“Hooray for us,” Lila said halfheartedly. It was a pity that Chairwoman Wilson had never gone to Randolph General. Lila never would have allowed one of the doctors at her hospital to take bribes that impacted patient care.
Unfortunately, the Wilson matron obviously did not trust it.
Lila couldn’t blame her.
“Yes, hooray for us. I’ve tripled the profits of the Randolph family in the last thirty years, but do you honestly think I wanted this responsibility at fourteen when my mother died? Do you honestly believe there weren’t other things I wanted to do before taking up the position? I didn’t have enough time with my mother to learn what I needed to know. I made mistakes in my youth that I shouldn’t have made. I—”
“You’re doing just fine. You’ve tripled our profits, remember?”
“Yes, and I had to figure out too much of it on my own. It’s all just a game, Lila. And it’s a far better game than the one you’re playing now. I can only correct for Jewel’s mistakes while I live. Once I’m gone, the full extent of her carelessness will be in full view. You’ll be forced to take over then. Your own sense of duty won’t allow for anything else. You should drop this nonsense now while there’s still time.”
“You don’t lack for sisters and nieces, Mother. One of them will be more than happy to do the job whether or not you’re too stubborn to accept it. Go have this conversation with one of them.” Lila stood up from the table, straightened her uniform, and bowed, as befitting the chief of security to her matron.
Lila then stalked out of the room, leaving her mother and the rest of her breakfast behind.
Chapter 5
Lila changed out of her formal uniform and into cargo pants and a black sweater, which had a coin-sized Randolph coat of arms stitched on the left breast. Rifling through her desk drawers, she found a packet of stale chocolate chip cookies to tide her over until lunch. Popping one into her mouth, she turned on her desktop computer, readying herself for the first part of her to-do list.
The first and most unpleasant task of them all.
Lila snatched up her palm and typed out a message. What on earth do you think you were doing?
Frowning, she read her first attempt again, then shook her head and deleted it.
I could have been killed!
Lila deleted each letter of her second try, her scowl deepening.
Where did everyone go? Where are you?
The words stared back at her, much too simple to reflect the soup in her mind.
