It started with a blow job.

They had aspirations for it to become the most notorious blow job of all time. It was a lofty aim. They knew that realistically they were never going to beat that blow job—­you know the one—­but the least they could do was try.

Theirs involved a politician too. A young, charismatic, liberal politician. That’s what the press would home in on when they reported on it. Liberal. Said as though the word were synonymous with sex worker.

As liberal with his politics as he is with his sex life.

Never mind left wing, what’s he doing with his left hand in that photograph?

Is this what woke looks like?

Teddy Landen caught with his pants down—­ and not because of his policies this time.

Landen blows it with his assistant.

There’s no denying sexual relations between Landen and that woman.

But who is that woman?

Who is that woman?

Who is she?

“My name is Lili Lowe.”

It was her first time in a television studio. Simon Steen was an up-and-­coming, soon-to-be-infamous broadcast journalist. He had found his moderate fortune working as a talent agent but had become bored with celebrities who were too tight to pay for an assistant, making inordinate demands at unconscionable hours. He didn’t spend six years making coffees at the largest agency in London to book trains for a list of semifamous soap actors. He wanted to be the one making the demands, doing the grilling. He carried that chip on his shoulder every time someone sat on the chair in front of him under those studio lights. He was an attack dog. He was exactly what Lydia Lowe had wanted for her daughter’s first interview.

“And who are you, Lili Lowe?”

“That’s a bit existential,” she smiled coyly. Lydia, standing beside the studio camera, nodded her head approvingly.