All rights belong to Cassandra Clare, I only own the plot.
Clarissa Fairchild looked down at the half empty glass of wine placed in her slender fingers with distaste. It was bland and tasted cheap, and that certainly was not her preferred choice of flavor.
She cast a wary eye over the rest of the bar, the dark room mostly crowded with middle aged, married men, escaping their poor rich lives while their wife thought they were out on business as she looked after the children. The rest of the room was filled with the waitress's, sitting on the laps of men in attempt to get a tip or two, or just a bed for the night. She could've given them a tip without needing to fulfill her desires.
Clary was begging to become impatient as she tapped the stem of her glass with a painted nail. She was supposedly getting a partner to work with when she went out on missions, it wasn't her favored way of working, working alone was her favorite considering the fact she tended to get her own way, but she figured it would just be someone to unload the work she didn't want to do on and someone to get her takeaway and coffee when she needed it. Maybe she was thinking them as more of an assistant rather than a partner, but she could be very persuasive when she wanted to be.
A voice broke through her thoughts -an extremely cocky voice might she add- causing her to refrain from groaning as she turned to face the unfortunately good looking source.
"My my, Clarissa, I didn't know you'd decided to take such a turn in your career."
Jace Herondale was seated beside her, basking in his golden looks. She ran an eye over him, and wasn't disappointed when she went from the black leather shoes, shining in the dim light, the tight black dress pants, a tight white shirt, showing the biceps and flat stomach and the open collar showing a line of tanned chest, then up to his sinfully good looking face, the golden skin and sharp jawline and cheekbones, perfect lips, flashing tawny eyes watching her, and the golden curling hair resting on his forehead. It was a shame his arrogance seemed to seep out of him like the gold.
"Girlfriend treating you that bad?" Clary raised her eyebrows as she swallowed what was left of her wine in a swift motion with her wrist. Her smirk grew as Jace's eyes repeated what she'd done to him moments earlier, going from the black heels giving her height, the smooth and creamy legs revealed by the slit in her black dress making her skin look even paler, over her hips, waist and chest, her chest slightly on show by the dipping neckline held up by two thin straps revealing her delicate shoulders, up to her face, her red lips tainted by the wine and makeup she'd applied earlier, her skin smooth and flawless, as he met her emerald eyes, glinting in the light that were framed by long, thick black lashes, and ending up at her shining and curling red hair ending at her breasts. She gave him a smirk as he shifted in his seat and glanced around the dim and crowded room.
"What does bring you here, Jace Herondale?" She asked, sweeping her hair over her shoulder.
Jace raised a brow at her as she surveyed his movements. "Merely business. And might I ask what brings you here, Clary?"
"Would you find it odd if I said the same thing?" Clary replied, pushing her glass further away from herself.
"Not in the least." His smirk grew as she straightened up. He knew something she didn't. Under all his sarcasm and smoldering looks, there was a sharp intelligence she would advise not to reckon with.
Clary leant forwards allowing the neckline of her dress to lower itself as she came closer to him, leaning her arm on the bar next to her. "Would you like to expand on this business?"
Jace let his eyes lower to her chest, his gaze lingering before moving back up to her eyes. He leant forwards, creating less space between them as his warm breath, free of alcohol fanned over her face.
"Unfortunately, I can't, no matter how much of your skin I have the fortune to observe."
She held back an eye roll, choosing to instead shrug a shoulder and lean out of the warmth he was providing. "I assume that you expected me to strip down before you in the back room then?"
Jace grinned again, revealing a chipped tooth. "As would any woman in her right mind."
"It appears I mustn't be in the right mind then." She sighed. "How unfortunate."
Jace looked as though he was going to reply, but a harsh voice cut off his retort. "Miss Fairchild and Mr Herondale, I'm glad you could join us this evening."
She quickly sat up, Jace following her as she smoothed out her dress. Valentine Morgenstern was stood behind them, his white hair bright in the dark and skin pale in contrast to the darkness of his eyes and the black suit.
"The pleasure is all mine, Sir." Jace smiled as he shook her boss's hand. Valentine quirked and eyebrow at her and gave her a nod as she picked up her purse.
Valentine held out a hand in indication of behind the bar. "If the pair of you would follow me." He left no room for objection, not that she would object, as he walked off behind the bar and led them into an even dimmer hallway, the only light supplied by the candle like lights flickering next to thick oak doors. Jace was behind her, his hands in his pockets as he strutted. Valentine led them to the furthest room from the actual bar, opening the dark door to reveal a finely decorated room, with a dark wooden floor with thick curtains letting in no light from the window. Two plush couches with swirling gold patterns on them distanced by a black wooden coffee table sat in the middle of the room. On one of the settees sat Jia Penhallow, her long legs stretched out before her and the dim light casting shadows on her tan skin. She was beautiful, not in a traditional way, in her own way, from the of tilt her eyes and the dark color, and her shoulder length dark hair left down and resting on a shoulder covered by a red satin jumpsuit that showed of her slim figure.
Clary sat down in the seat opposite her and gave her a smile. "You look lovely as always, Mrs Penhallow."
Jia smiled and waved a hand dismissively. "I must congratulate you on your flattery, Miss Fairchild. First impressions are important."
Clary's smile grew as Valentine gave her an approving nod as he sat down next to Jia, and Jace sitting next to herself.
"I'm sure you're confused about the sudden meeting we called you in for yesterday, but I can assure you it will benefit the four of us extremely well." Valentine began. "As you know, Jia and I's companies are recognized as the two most powerful committees in America, and you two considered as the most skilled in New York, maybe even further." Clary felt her face flush as the man spoke. "We think we've found a way to raise income by getting employees to do bigger jobs, not alone, but as a pair." She had an idea where this was going, and she prayed for once she was wrong. "We want to build the companies together over the next few years by creating partnerships between people with similar skills and records to create an incredibly powerful company." Valentine finished. Jia shifted in her seat, a glint in her dark eyes as she watched the two in front of her, both wearing expressions of horror.
"We've decided to test you two first, considering you both have an extremely similar skill level, and are capable of doing very demanding tasks well. We''ll be testing you over the course of the year, where you'll have to work together on missions, share an office and are expected to work together well and without any objections."
Clary turned to Jace in horror, seeing his expression match her's as they met eyes, but despite the look on his face, there was a glint in his eye.
She ran a hand through her hair, sighing. "I'm going to need something stronger than wine."
Told you I have a new story :P
I know I haven't mentioned what they actually do for a living, but you'll find out soon enough when you get a shirtless Jace, and a pissed off Clary.
Valentine is on his own in this one, no Jocelyn, but I don't know if I'll include her, seeing as she might not like the fact her daughter's an assassin.
I still haven't started revising yet, which is a very bad idea, but I still have a few weeks.
Don't forget to leave a review, follow it and favorite it because I like it when you do that :P