“Two years ago,” she said, “I had an abortion.”
“I trust you had good care. I’ve always supported legislation to—”
“I’m not interested in what you’ve supported,” she interrupted. “Carson, the child was yours. But when Richard found out I’d had the abortion, he thought it was his. That’s the basis of the trouble between us.”
“Really.” He leaned back in his huge leather chair, steepling his fingertips together. “How interesting. But why are you telling me this?”
His expression hadn’t even flickered at the news that she had supposedly aborted his child. That wasn’t the reaction she had hoped for. “Richard is being difficult about the settlements, and without going into detail, he’s in a position to win. I could use some financial help, just this one time.”
“To the tune of how much?” he asked mildly.
Unease prickled her spine. This wasn’t going quite as she had imagined. A million would take care of all her debts, letting her start fresh, but because she was uneasy she said, “Half a million.”
“That’s a lot of money.” He shrugged. “Your pussy isn’t that good.”
She didn’t react to the crudity. She was aware, after all, of just how crude he could be.
“I wonder just how you managed to get pregnant,” he mused. “You always told me you were on birth control pills.”
“An accident. I had a respiratory illness, and the antibiotic I took affected the pills.”
“Unfortunate. However, I sincerely doubt the child was mine. I had a vasectomy some years ago.”
Anger curled in her stomach, but she controlled it. He thought he had just played her for a fool. If, however, he thought that was her only approach, he would be unpleasantly surprised. “Did you? You never mentioned it to me.”
“Why would I? You were on the pill anyway, and I’ve never been fool enough to think I was the only man fucking you. The vasectomy was insurance against this kind of blackmail.”
“Now, that’s interesting,” she said smoothly. “I took out a form of insurance, too. I’ve never underestimated you, Carson, but I do believe you’ve underestimated me.”
“In what way?” To her gratification, he did look a little wary.
She leaned over and took an envelope and a tiny tape player from the large bag she had carried. His face went stony when he saw the tape player.
“Oh, it isn’t on,” she said. “It doesn’t record, anyway; it’s just a player. Our little tryst was private. Others, however, weren’t.” She punched the “play” button and sat back.
With satisfaction she watched his face blanch as voices filled the room, scratchy but recognizable. She had made the tape at a raunchy little orgy she had staged at the beginning of their relationship, while Richard was in Europe for several days and she had plenty of time. She had done it deliberately, of course, because she had never had any illusions about Carson and suspected that one day she might need a club with which to bludgeon him.
She turned the tape player off, ejected the cassette, and tossed it to him, then placed the envelope on his desk. “Keep it,” she said. “It’s your personal copy. The accompanying pictures are in the envelope.”
His jaw bulged with rage, and he flushed a dark red. “You bitch.” The words were low, as if he couldn’t manage anything more.
“I don’t suppose I have to tell you I have the originals, in a very safe place.”
“You’re incriminated by these tapes, too.” He was breathing hard.
“Yes, but I don’t have a career to lose. Of course, your constituents are pretty liberal, they might say live and let live. I don’t think the other senators would agree, though, especially those you’ve fucked over the years. They would enjoy having evidence of their esteemed colleague’s illegal behavior.” Her tone was rich with irony.
Murderous hatred was in his eyes. Candra controlled a shiver. It was a risk, crossing Carson like this, and she had walked in here knowing it. That was why she had made certain her weapon against him was so powerful he couldn’t ignore it.
“This won’t be an ongoing thing,” she said impatiently. “Just this once. You can afford the money, and I need it.”
“Sure,” he said sarcastically. “I’m supposed to take your word for it.”
“I’ll send you the originals as soon as I have the money.” She meant it. What she wouldn’t send him was the videotape she hadn’t mentioned. She would use that only if he tried to get revenge.
Of course, he had no way of being positive anything she gave him was the original, no way of ever being sure there were no more copies in existence. Blackmail was forever.
She placed a small piece of paper on his desk. “This is my bank and account number. Wire the money into it. I opened the account just for this, and I’ll close it after I get the money I trust I won’t be audited by the IRS either, so you really should hope the random audits miss me.”
He didn’t pick up the paper. Candra got to her feet and looped her purse strap on her shoulder. “I had the cab wait. Don’t bother seeing me out.” When she got to the door, she unlocked it, then paused and looked over her shoulder at him. “By the way . . . make it a million.”
* * *
The front door had barely closed behind Candra when Margo entered Carson’s office. Her face was white and rigid. “You fool,” she said scathingly. “You stupid, goddamn fool, always thinking with your dick instead of your head.”