A/N: Just a little one shot time out from working on the sequel. New fics coming soon. ;)
A beautiful woman in a slinky red dress parted the crowd in the art museums special exhibits gallery like a sexy Moses parting the red sea. All male eyes turned slowly from their companions for the evening to follow her through the room. She slowly sauntered toward the far wall, casually snagging a flute of champagne.
Her long fingers slid over the shoulder of a young woman studying a portrait. The brunette sighed. "How many hearts did you break just crossing the room?" Alexandra asked. She felt dowdy beside her companion despite her own green silk dress. She tilted her head as she leaned closer to examine the brush strokes behind the supposedly thief proof glass.
"All of them." Nikita smiled wryly and sipped at her champagne as she examined the picture. It was a portrait lent to the museum for their Northern Renaissance show. Holbein according to the small card to the side. "He looks almost... sleepy."
Alex chuckled. "Hours in the same position? He likely was homicidal and cramped. This... this was probably his plotting face."
Their comms came to life. "Nikita, he just entered the north doors and is headed for the party." Birkhoff sounded distinctly business like. Probably far too much caffeine and far too many hot pockets fueling him.
"Thanks, Nerd," Nikita responded with a smile.
Alexandra frowned as she turned to Nikita. "This is a bad idea." She didn't like the idea of the other woman making first contact. Nikita was one of the best, but Alex hated her in the line of fire.
Tilting her head, Nikita smiled. "Are you worried about me?"
The younger woman shook her head. "I know better. I'm worried about the Holbein." She smiled broadly. "Tell me you brought protection?"
"Condoms or handguns?" Nikita shot back.
Alexandra took the glass out of the other woman's fingers and drained it. "If he gets that close, I'll kill him myself."
Nikita brushed a knuckle down Alex's cheek. "You are sweet...and sexy when you're jealous."
"Hell yes." Alex half-smiled. "Try to isolate him. I'll be right behind you."
Nikita slowly walked around the room, circling toward where a man was entering with a trio of burly bodyguards. She crossed toward a buffet, close enough that her assets were very visible to the target and her lack of places to hide weapons was visible to the professional bulldogs but far enough away to look like she wasn't crossing for his benefit. She slowly made her way down the buffet.
"The crab puffs are fantastic," she heard from over her shoulder.
She half smiled. "I don't see crab puffs."
He came into her peripheral vision. Tall and dark, he was frowning. "Damn. Could have sworn they always had puffs at these things."
Nikita chuckled. "So you made a recommendation without actually looking then?" She turned to face the well dressed man.
"Brave."
He smiled. "And good looking too. You are in luck this evening. "
She extracted a passing flute from a tray. "So it would appear. Have you seen the Holbein?"
The man leaned in. "I believe that there is something I would like to see more."
"Oh? Do tell."
He lifted her spare hand to his lip. "I would very much like to see you in my bed."
"I like confidence." She raised her glass slightly. "We should do a lap first. I suspect you paid quite a bit to be here." Nodding he held a hand out indicating she should lead on. They moved slowly down the perimeter. The security shadowed them as they moved along. "Will they be following us into bed?" she asked.
The man on her left laughed. "I want you all to myself. Will that be a problem?"
"Not in the least."
His smile grew broader.
A quick furtive movement caught her eye. A waiter was ducking for the table. She slammed Alverio Giordani, trafficking scumbag extraordinaire to the floor as bullets ripped the wall where they had been. A van Eyck had a spiderweb of cracks in its protective covering. "Damn," she whispered.
The security beasts tried to fire back as the other people ran screaming from the gallery. Nikita and the man climbed under a small table nearby. He frowned. "Not the way I imagined tonight." he grinned. "My guys will clear it up and we'll still have some quality time." He flinched as his security went down in an explosive burst of gunfire.
The waiter stood up from behind his table and walked to the bodies. He kicked them to see if they were dead. The gun quickly turned toward the table. "Mr. Giordani. I believe we have something to discuss."
The man's hands shook. He pulled out his phone. "It's there. My whole life is in the memory of the phone. Please don't kill me."
The waiter waved his gun. "Stand against the wall Mr. Giordani." He smiled coldly. "You too madam."
They moved to the wall with upraised hands. The waiter picked up the phone and pointed the weapon as he turned on the device. He smiled again and looked at them. "Good lad. Easy death for you."
A shot rang out. The waiter dropped. Alexandra stepped out. "Shoot the scummy underworld asshole all you want but don't you dare risk the damned Bosch," she growled.
"Thank you, thank you, thank you! How can I repay-," the money man for the human trafficking cartel started whimpering. He began to step forward but a swift crack of Nikita's elbow sent his head sharply against the thick glass over the Bosch. He slid unconscious to the floor, rumpling a very expensive tux.
"Don't hurt the painting?" Nikita asked.
"What? You had it under control," Alexandra muttered as she opened the files on the Blackberry. "Nice... Every name we need to put a stop to their human trafficking."
Nikita shook her head. "I need one more name tonight," she said.
"Oh?"
"The name of the hotel where I will be ravaging you tonight."
Alex looked up and grinned. "I am not sure about that but I can tell you it will be A Garden of Earthly Delights."