"I don't just want the one hundred and sixty, Darius, I want the world!" Grace yelled.
"Grace," Darius said softly, walking closer to her. He took her face in his hands and brought their foreheads together, whispering, "To me... you are the world."
Grace looked up shocked, into his bottomless brown eyes. And for the first time she didn't see the arrogant facade he had built up, but instead the man he seemed to have lost so long ago.
"Say something," he asked starting to regret telling her how he felt. 'Maybe she doesn't understand,' a voice in his head said. "Grace... I have first class tickets to survival, and I want you to take one? Just for the worst case scenario?"
"There won't be one, right? You're going to stop it?"
Darius started pulling away moving to the couch and slumping down in it, "No one can have that much faith in themselves. Not even me..."
Grace sat down next to him, "I have faith in you. Liam has faith in you. Even Harris and the government has faith in you."
"You really think I can do it," he asked not daring looking at her. He had bared his feelings to her and she didn't return them. If he couldn't have a woman love him back, how could he save the entire world?
Grace leaned closer to him had kissed him softly before pulling away only the slightest bit, "If you can have faith in yourself... then... then in worst case scenario I promise to take that ticket. Deal?"
Darius, still frozen, gave her a loopy grin, "Deal."
"Now make it official," Grace said bitting her bottom lip.
Darius looked at her confused for a moment then saw her eyes flickering down to his lips for the slightest of seconds before she looked back at his eyes blushing.
"It wouldn't be a deal if I didn't, now would it,"he asked leaning closer and kissing her.
The kiss quickly became deeper as they pulled closer together and their hands started roaming.
"Grace," Darius asked pulling away, "what about Harris?"
Grace froze. She had completely forgotten about Harris. It wasn't like they were dating,but he was her boss, he did have the kill switch to Salvation and all the resources to bring Darius down.
"Shit," she said leaning back and resting her head on the back of the couch. "You know it's not fun bringing other guys into the picture when things start to escalate?"
Darius laughed and whipped a lonely stray of hair out of her face while sitting even closer. "I don't share what's mine."
"Who said I'm yours," she challenged.
He just smiled and kissed her deeply.
SALVATION
"Darius, someone wants to enter the tree house. Should I let then enter," a robotic female voice asked that Grace immediately identified as TESS.
"No," Darius said and Grace suddenly became aware of his arm wrapped around her waist from behind her where his solid frame was pushed tightly to her back.
"It could be important," Grace murmured turning around to face him
Darius gave an overly dramatic sigh before he asked, "Who is it, TESS?"
"It is Harris. Should I let him in? He is in distress," TESS said.
Grace sat up quickly survaying the room for her clothes.
"Lay back down and stay quiet," Darius said kissing her neck while pushing her back down. "I'll go deal with Harris."
"What i-"
"Grace," Darius cut her off before kissing her. "Stay here and stay quiet."
Grace nodded and he kissed her again before telling TESS to let Harris into the tree house and lock his private rooms until further command from him or Grace. She watched as he walked out with only his pants on, his back on display to her before the doors closed. A blush crept onto her face as she saw the marks she'd made last night.
"Darius," Harris said urgently as he entered the tree house just as Darius left his room. "Lucky night?"
Darius smirked. 'If only you knew,' the voice inside his head laughed. "I guess you could say I had a 'lucky night'. Now since you disrupted what could be a fantastic morning get to the point on telling me why you're here."
"Grace is missing," Harris said as he started to pace the room.
'No, she's in my bedroom. Naked,' the voice said again. "And you want me to do what exactly?"
"Find her! She left my house last night after we kissed without any explenation and I want to make things right!"
"She left you after you kissed her," Darius asked confused. That's why she looked disheveled when she came to him last night.
"Yeah. Things were just starting to go further when she pulled back, gave me one look and walked out," he said rubbing his hands over his face.
"Did you call this morning," Darius asked walking to a computer at least trying to act like he didn't know where she was. In a room. Just down the hallway. In his bed.
"No. I figured she didn't answer last night, why would she answer now," Harris said noticing the marks on Darius' back. They were long and clearly made by nails, only proving that Darius had a better night than he had.
Darius pushed a few buttons on the computer then turned back to Harris saying, "As far as I can find she's been at her house for a a few minutes now. Something else?"
Harris muttered a thank you and left. When Darius was sure there weren't going to be any more interruptions he went back to his bedroom.
"Tess, open the door to my private rooms please. And no more interruptions unless it is life or death," he said walking into the room as soon as the door opened.
"What did he want," Grace asked sitting up.
"You," Darius said pinning her back down onto the bed.
"And what did you tell him?"
"That you were back at your place. Apparently you kissed him, only to leave him like a hot patatoe once things started to escalate," he said kissing her neck up and down. "Why did you leave him just to come here Grace?"
Grace thought for a minute as Darius pulled back and pierced her eyes with his own. "I don't know," she eventually muttered. "When I was kissing Harris all I could think about was how lonely you were probably feeling without anyone. Then I came here and things went places that I weren't expecting. The more I spent time with you... the more I wanted to stay."
Darius smiled down at her and kissed away her fallen tears. She really did care for him. And now she was his. Never before had he actually had a girlfriend. Only girls that would come and go, but Grace... "Be mine," he asked, their lips a hairs breath apart. "Be my girlfriend, Grace?"
She smiled and kissed him passionately, whispering against his lips as if it was a secret seal, "What fun would it be if I weren't?"
"No fun at all," he said gripping her hips and grinding into her. His jeans were becoming a problem. As if she could read his thoughts she reached down and slowly pulled them off while kissing down his body.
SALVATION
Grace woke up again only to find herself alone in bed.
"Darius," she asked into the dark room. She looked around and with no surprise the room was empty. There was a sliver of sunshine coming through the closed curtains. Grace looked to where a tray with fruit and coffee was put neatly on the nightstand, a pair of female work clothes hanging next to it with her clothes from the previous day neatly folded on a chair. Next to the tray, on top of her charging phone, was a note. With curiosity she opened it.
'Dear Grace
I wish I could stay a while longer, but then I would not have left. I spoke to Harris and told him I needed your help for a while so you have a few hours. Enjoy breakfast.
Whish I could be there...
D.T.'
Grace smiled to herself. "TESS, where is Darius?"
"Darius is in his living room. Would you like me to notify him that you have awoken?"
"No, it's fine," Grace said standing up and walking to what she guessed was the bathroom. After a long bath she got dressed in the clothes Darius had put out for her and ate.
She walked out to the living room where Darius was busy working with a hologram.
"I was wondering when you'd wake up," he said sarcastically, giving her a smile she only ever saw when he looked at her.
"I've been up for a while. I just took a long bath. God do you have a fantastic bath," she said hugging him.
He planted a kiss on her head and pulled her closer, "So that's why you agreed to be my girlfriend? You wanted the bath?"
"But of course," she joked along, laughing.
They kissed, but where interrupted by TESS, "Darius, Harris is commanding permission to enter. Should I let him up."
"I thought you said you talked to him," Grace moaned, dissapointed .
"I did," he said angrily as he pulled away and walked to the elevator. "I'll talk to him and let TESS know when it is safe for you to leave," Darius said entering the elevator and leaving the tree house.
"TESS, bring Darius back up," Grace said walking to the elevator. A second later the elevator was open again and Darius stood, impatiently, looking at her.
"Yes," he asked as she stepped closer to him.
"We need to talk about telling Harris about us," she said kissing him.
"Now," he asked shocked as he pulled her closer.
"No, but soon. We can't hide it," Grace said as Darius lifted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist.
"Now is as good a time as any," Darius said as his hands lifted up her shirt.
"Let's talk about it first."
"We are."
Grace pulled away and gave him a look that would make any man drop dead, but made him laugh.
"Tonight," he said putting her down, but not letting go. "We'll have a nice dinner. Okay?"
"Yeah," she said and kissed him one last time before stepping out of the elevator.
The doors closed and he was going down again. For some reason he wished she'd tell TESS to bring him up again. But she didn't and soon enough he was stepping out of the elevator towards Harris.
"Darius Tanz you are under arrest," Harris said and Darius felt metal clap around his wrists.
"Under what charges this time," he asked sarcastically.
"The kidnapping and murder of Professor James," Harris said calmly.
"Ridicioulus," Darius said but didn't resist arrest.
"And the kidnapping of Grace Barrows," Harris continued.
"What the hell gave you that idea?"
"You sent me on a wild goose chase to her house, then tell me you need her help? She isn't responding. What else could it be?"
'Her having slept in my bed up stairs since last night,' the voice in his head said, but he decided to keep quiet. No need to make a fuss.
They shoved him onto a car and drove him back to the pentagon where they shoved him into an interrogation room.
"It really is starting to feel like a second home here," he said sarcastically to Harris.
Harris leaned in closer to him and asked, "Where is she? What did you do with Grace Burrows?"
"Nothing," Darius spit back. 'I ate her out like the last ice-cream on earth, then made her orgasm so many times I'm surprised she still had anything inside her body.'
"Stop lying," Harris yelled and hit him. "Where. Is. Grace?"
"Right here," Grace's voice came through the intercom and Harris rushed out to meet her.
He hugged her tightly, "Grace, are you okay? Where were you?"
"Helping Darius," she said pulling away. "Now let him go."
Claire walked up to them with an assistant on her heals, "We can't. He may not have kidnapped you,but he did kidnap a little girl whose mother died."
"No," Grace said staring at Claire in disbelief. "He wouldn't do that."
Claire gave her the file the assistankt had been carrying. Inside was pictures of a young girl. Then pictures of Darius picking her up at a grave yard. And them having meals together.
"Who is this," Harris asked.
"Her name is Iv. Spelled like the Roman number four," Claire answered taking the file back.
Harris walked into the interrogation room and hit Darius, asking, "What did you do to Iv? Did you murder her like you did Professor James?"
"No," Darius said and looked into the glass window where no doubt Grace was standing. "I'll talk. But only to Grace."
Harris stared at him in shock before leaving and letting Grace enter.
"Are you okay," she asked sitting down across from him.
"Yes. Your boyfriend has iron will, I'll give you that," he said smiling at her. Anyone else would have thought he was talking about Harris, but she knew he meant he could hold out.
"What happened with Iv?"
Darius cringed in pain as he sat back, "Her full name is Iv Salvat. She's the end of my heart."
"Where is she?"
Darius smiled at her then closed his eyes and started singing, "Somewhere over the rainbow, I see trees of green and blue lilacs to I see them bloom for me and you and I think to myself... what a way to end the world..."
Grace stood up and left the room.
"What's he talking about," Harris asked stopping her.
"I don't know," she said and walked away.
Salvation
"Liam, I need your help," Grace said as she entered the lab Liam was working in.
"With what," he asked turning to her.
"Darius has user names for everyone who uses his network, right?"
"Yeah..."
"Go look for a name out of the ordinary. A number. Something to do with Darius. The end of his heart."
Liam turned to the computer and did as she asked. "Here," he announced. "The Center Of Darius' Heart Point. Who's that?"
"I don't know. Can you find out where she is?"
Liam typed a few other things into the laptop before turning back to her, "No. It asks where she is."
"Try 'Somewhere over the rainbow'."
Liam sighed, but did as she asked. "We need a password. Whoever this is, Darius doen't want anybody finding her," he said turning back to Grace.
"Iv Salvat," she muttered while pacing the room. "What does that make you think of?"
"Salvation without the I, O and N?"
"Four Salvat. Four Salvation. Try For Salvation," she said walking back to the computer.
Liam typed it in and was granted access. "What is this for," he asked still typing.
"Darius was arrested again and I think she is his ticket out," Grace explained as a house came up. A house with green trees and blue lilacs. "Where is that?"
"Coro, Venezuela. Wait if this was his only ticket out and she's in a complete other continent... what now?"
"We find a ticket out here," Grace said and walked out.
SALVATION
"Venezuela," Grace said entering the office.
"What about it," Harris asked.
"Iv Salvat," Grace said putting down a folder. "She lives, happily, in Coro, Venezuela. Where she attends only the most prestigious of schools. All on the expencenses of our one and only Darius Tanz. Now if we are done here, let him go."
Harris looked at Claire then back to Grace with a somber look on his face. "Grace... we can't."
"Why the hell not?!"
Claire gestured that Grace should enter the room that looked upon the interrogation room. Grace walked in and looked to where Darius sat bloody, bruised and was busy being drowned... again.
"What is going on," Grace yelled in terror. "You wouldn't do this to anyone else! Why Darius?"
"That's classified," Claire unemotionasly said looking how Darius spluttered water.
Grace looked between Claire and Harris in disbelief. They wouldn't stop and all she could do was watch as they tortured him.
Darius looked at the window and saw shadows moving on the other side. "Grace," he choked. "Let me... talk... to Grace... Barrows," he said choking up water between words. After a while she walked in and the men left. "We still on for dinner tonight," he asked smiling as she sat down next to him where he was strapped to an iron bed.
"You're already late," she said stroking his cheek.
"I never gave you a time," he said turning his face to kiss her hand.
Grace looked at him and smiled. He really did have iron will. She leaned in closer to whisper in his ear so Harris wouldn't hear her, "I wanted a little pre-dinner fun, but since you're late you'll just have to cook me a nice dinner, and draw me a bath... Who knows? Maybe I'll even let you join me."
Darius smiled up at her, "Then I'll just have to get out of here. That to do list of mine is just going to get longer, isn't it?"
She leaned in closer so their faces were a hairs breath apart. "I'll get you out, you do all that," she asked.
"That and more..."
"It's a deal," she said and kissed him. Harris didn't matter, nor did regulations or rules. He just had to be safe.
Grace felt two arms pull her away from Darius and out of the room. "What the hell was that," Claire asked looking around her.
"Nothing," Grace said and turned to walk away, but Claire pulled her back.
"You kissed him," Claire said through gritted teeth. "I thought you and Harris were dating?"
"O please, we're barely lovers, Claire," she said throwing her arms into the air. "It's not like I cheated on him," she said in a harsh whisper.
"Yes you did," she said menacingly. "In Harris' bed one minute in his the next? How long has this been going on?"
Grace let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding and stepped away from Claire, but again she pulled her back.
"It started last night," she said looking her in the eye. If Darius could survive torture then she could survive a stare down.
"When you left Harris," he said shaking her harshly. "You left him... to go to Darius Tanz? Him of all people?"
"What's wrong with me," Darius asked walking out of the interrogation room. Grace ran the few steps between them and hugged him softly.
"What are you doing here," Harris asked.
Claire walked up behind them with a somber look on her face, unlike the one she had just given Grace. "We looked even deeper into the case against Darius. We had to look further than China, but he's not guilty. You are lucky I sent Harris out," she said walked from the couple with Harris on her heals.
Darius hugged Grace to his chest and kissed her neck softly.
"Let's go," she said, but couldn't find it in herself to move away from his chest. "Before they find another reason to keep you here."
Darius laughed and took her hand pulling her along the corridors of the Pentagon.
"Your place or mine," Darius asked as he helped her into the drivers seat.
"You owe me a bath, so your place," Grace said and he laughed again. She much preferred his laugh over the cries of pain from earlier.
They drove in silence to his place, his hand rubbing up and down her leg as he drove. It was strange how comfortable she felt with him driving her car. Like it was a habit. And not one she planned on dropping anytime soon.
Liam welcomed them back happily, and without shoes, when they arrived at Tanz Industries.
"So you two," he asked smiling misheviously, pointing between them.
Darius just laughed and pulled her towards the elevator.