Seduction in Session Read Free Page B

every strand of his light brown hair stayed perfectly in place. “People don’t like it when you take away their sodas, L. They get crabby. Still, I was fairly certain no one would actually kill you over that. But running a tabloid that ruins high-powered careers? That might be a little different.”
    Kiki nodded. “Exactly. Have you told your father?”
    Lara winced. Her father knew about Capitol Scandals. He’d been very supportive when it had been a little site that reported on things like environmental bills and ran essays on the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. When she changed the contents to the current iteration, she knew she’d tested him. He’d called screaming when she ran a not-so-glowing story about one of his closest allies on the congressional floor. She’d detailed just how much money the congressman had spent on hookers outside his district while those actually working in his district had lamented about a drastic downturn in income.
    She’d been perfectly right to publish the story since the congressman had been running on a platform to bring new jobs and opportunities to his constituency. All the while, he’d been making deals with businessmen to send jobs offshore to Korea. So it really was a true-life metaphor for all that was wrong in politics.
    Shortly after she’d published the story, the late-night TV talk show circuit had picked it up. While the comedians and hosts had laughed about the hookers, their viewers had also heard the very true news about backdoor deals, too. Lara had learned early on that she needed to catch the public’s attention if she wanted to do any good in the world. And she wouldn’t do that with a protest or a well-crafted op-ed piece.
    “I’m not telling my dad about this. He already blackmails me. If he found out that someone else knows and is sending me semi-threatening e-mails, he would likely strong-arm me into moving in with him or something. It would be awful.”
    It wasn’t as if she didn’t love her father. Her parents were amazing people. She couldn’t think of another man in the world who would support her the way her dad did. He’d been angry when he’d learned about CS, but he hadn’t outed her. And given that he was a senator from the great state of Virginia, he probably should have. Instead, he’d forced her to accept a condo in a swanky part of town. She could never have afforded her Dupont Circle pad on her own. She’dwanted a little loft in a more real part of town, but her parents had been insistent.
    Luckily, she’d never had to decide whether or not to run a story about her father. He was madly in love with her mom and he played things straight. She’d never gotten a tip about him taking bribes or selling out his constituents. When she’d started Capitol Scandals, she realized a surprising majority of politicians thought they were acting in the public’s best interests. It was just that rancid 10 percent who really screwed things up for everyone else.
    She’d created Capitol Scandals to call them out.
    “Maybe you should stay with your folks temporarily. Your dad has a serious security system.” Kiki set down her mocha. “Not just a doorman named Moe who sleeps on the job.”
    “Moe has a serious case of narcolepsy. You shouldn’t judge.” She shook her head. “Besides, I can’t risk working at Dad’s place for two reasons: One, I don’t know who’s watching him. I’ve long thought the CIA, the NSA, or DARPA listens in on all elected officials.”
    Tom coughed but the noise sounded suspiciously like he’d called her paranoid.
    She ignored him because she knew paranoia could be a lifesaver. “And two, if anyone ever learns my secret and outs me, I want my parents to have plausible deniability.”
    “I don’t think they’d care. They would stand by you,” Kiki said.
    Bringing trouble down on them was Lara’s only real fear. Well, that and global climate change. She fought for what she believed in, but she loved her