"Ahem," William cleared his throat, and she mistook that this method really worked on him. In fact, he was trying to control himself to not truly say what he was thinking about.
"So… What brought you to my humble office, handsome man?" she kept using the same posture, the same tone, as a perfect actress or something.
"I want something from you…"
"Anything, my dear," her tone went softer, and her mind went wild with imagination at this moment.
"I want something truly precious from you," William didn't know how to say this. He wasn't this close from her to begin with, and he knew how truly valuable these portals were.
Money could buy anything; this was true for common things. But for truly special stuff like portals, money couldn't buy them.
But his hesitation made Lara think a bit wilder, ending up for her to laugh in a lewd way.
"Sorry, sorry but this is the first time for me to meet such a wonder like you," she laughed, "two hours ago, you refused to even sit with me for a few minutes. And now you are asking to get me into your bed? What a weird man you are!"
"No, no, not like this," he lost control over himself for a brief moment, telling what he truly thought about, in a loud tone.
"Oh… Is that so?" she gave him a weird glance, and William felt like she was growing cold towards him.
"I want to buy something from you, that's it."
pαndα---noνɐ1,сoМ "Hmm… I believe this isn't me, right?" she winked again, and this time he controlled himself to not shout back at her face.
"No, you are more valuable to be sold," he tried to correct his earlier mistake.
"Now we are talking," she grinned, "alright… I can already tell you are struggling to sit with me. Cut the chase and tell me what exactly you want."
"A portal," William sighed, and his tensed face eased up. He didn't notice it, but since he came here, his face was enough to expose what he had in mind.
"This…" When Lara heard it, she paused and glared at William. The most she thought about was for him to ask for more cut of the large profit the two just got. Or perhaps he came here to speak about reserving a VIP ticket pass through her family's portals.
Yet it never crossed her mind that he came here asking for such a thing.
"I know how precious this is for you, to your family, but I really need it."
"For what? Don't tell me you plan to place a few portals back at the Scorching Lands… No, I don't buy it…" She started tapping on the desk, expressing how nervous she truly was, "I can't even decide without knowing what's on the stakes here at least, right?"
"Of course…" but before he'd continue what he was going to say, she raised her hand that kept tapping on the desk, interrupting him as she added in a businesswoman's tone:
"But I need the truth, the full truth. Hiding anything off me won't help you. So let me give you a warning… I have a spirit that can tell me if the one in front of me is speaking the truth or lying."
"Ouch!"
"Yes, I know," she gave him a look that told him she was enjoying the current look on his face, "so… Are you going to be honest with me, or what?"
"On one condition," William seriously thought about her request for a few minutes before adding, "in return for that, you'll agree to give me what I need."
"No champ, I'll listen first and see if what pushed you to do this is worth my precious family's heritage or not."
William went into a long period of silence this time. But in the end, he knew he had no other choice. If he wanted to exert revenge over those bastards, expose that new enemy hidden in the darkness, and foil any plans that enemy had against him and his forces, then he had to use her help.
So, he agreed to her will and started speaking. After all, he was going to speak about an enemy who he knew almost nothing about.
"Ok, I'll tell you what happened to make me come here…" During the next half an hour, he kept speaking about what he knew. He didn't hide anything; said the scarcely little information he knew about his enemies waiting at the Blue Hills.
"So… You're telling me you know of the presence of a deadly trap out there, one that's designed specifically for you and your team… On top of that, you know literally nothing about your enemies, except for them lying in wait for you, and you still want to go?" she gave him a weird look after he was done telling her everything.
In fact, telling Lara such info wasn't going to backfire at him. He was going to smash the doors of the first dark academy in this tiny world. And no one would stand on their side, of course those in their right minds and didn't have any ties with them.
"I won't flinch away from killing my enemies no matter what," William shrugged, as if taking such a decision didn't take him a single moment to take.
"Impressive…" her eyes gleamed with admiration, "you are truly a man. Why do you keep rejecting me then?"
"I'm not here for you," William paused, raising a warning finger in front of her face, "and don't try to force yourself upon me using my need for portals."
"As if you got a choice in the first place," she chuckled, enjoying how terrified he was from not letting her into his life, "let me think about it for a moment…"
"Sure," he mistook her intentions here. And soon enough, he'd learn about this mistake of his.
She kept tapping over the desk, putting on a very serious look on her face. William was sure she was deeply thinking about his request, hoping that she'd agree in the end.