A/N; I wanted to thank everyone who has reviewed, favored and followed this story. It was just a small experiment and I did not expect so many people to like it.
You are all the very best, I will reply to each and every review as soon I get back home. As internet connection in my hotel is horrible...no seriously it is one of the worst connections I have ever seen.
Well anyway here is the second chapter, I apologize for any grammar/spelling mistakes. Also a tiny little warning, there might be some OOC'ness for some of if not most of the characters, as this is an AU story and nowhere near canon.
I am trying to stay as close to their personalities as I possibly can, other than that? Please enjoy the chapter.
If there was one thing Jason had learned from the woman sitting across of him, it was that she was a master of facades.
Like the room around her, Reyna Martinez was the perfect picture of peace and serenity, looking at her one would never guess that she was being harassed or was just told that a stranger was moving in with her and would be posing as her lover.
Jason knew that she pissed off, her previous announcement had conveyed all her feelings very well. He knew that beneath that cool and collected front, was a burning inferno.
"So what is it exactly, that I can expect from you?" Reyna asked pulling Jason's attention towards her eyes, which once again managed to hold his gaze and make him wonder what was hidden in their depths.
"Nothing short of the best in the business."'Jason said in answer to her question, he wasn't being arrogant as he was merely stating a fact.
She lifted one delicate eyebrow and seemed to be contemplating his answer. "Hmm...The best? And tell me how much does the best in the business cost?" Reyna asked crossing her slender legs and resting her head against the palm of her hand.
It took a moment for him to answer her question as he was distracted by the slight rise of her purple dress and the sight of her tanned thigh.
"Four hundred dollars, plus expenses and you get around the clock protection." Jason said forcing his mind to concentrate on her eyes as opposed to her slender legs. "For that amount of money I ask you to trust me and do exactly as I say, and I can guarantee you that I will find this man and catch him."
"Do exactly as you say?" Reyna asked some of her annoyance with the whole situation seeped through her voice. "And what does that mean?"
"It means if I tell you to do something you will do it, no questions asked." Jason replied watching her carefully constructed front break as her anger finally seeped through. "You have to trust that I know better and that I know what I am doing."
Reyna was a woman who had to have all the control in her hands, a woman who refused to give anyone leeway in her life. Everything was her choice and her choice alone, allowing someone else to make the decisions had to be her worst nightmare.
Which was the reason why at this moment she hated the blond man and it would be something she would remember for the rest of her live.
"I see." And she did it was finally occurring to her that, for the first time in her live someone else would be making the decision's for her. "And what are some of the things, I must do?"
"First things first, a list of all the men you have dated and/or slept with in the last five months." Jason replied his blue eyes catching both the moment her eyes blazed with ice cold fire and returned back to their usual disinterested look. "I will be also wiring your phone, it is long shot, but I am willing to try to trace the phone call."
"Isn't that illegal?" Reyna asked managing to keep the anger from reflecting in her eyes and out of her voice.
"Not if I have the clients consent, it is perfectly legal then." Jason replied impressed with the control she had over her emotions. "So will you be able to let me do my job?"
"As if I have any other choice."
"I am glad you realize that. I will also be needing a list of the men you work with and encounter daily."
"And this list must include? Their names and phone numbers?" She asked raising her brow when the blond nodded. "Well I am sorry to disappoint you, but that will be impossible. There is no way I will be getting that information, without informing Nadia."
"Nadia?"
"Yes the artistic director of the company, she is the one who holds everybody's records." Reyna replied. "She will not be giving that list, not without a solid explanation. Which reminds me, she will be not convinced of the idea of you being my lover."
"Oh?"
"Yes. She will be wondering why I never mentioned you, especially if I allowed you to stay in my house and take you to my rehearsals."
"Allow?" Jason asked feeling the corners of his lip twitch in amusement. "And do you always introduce your lovers, to your artistic director?"
"Yes, allow. As in give permission?"
Jason grinned, the dark haired woman was slowly losing her patience and it wouldn't take long before she would say or do something she would regret. "I know what allow means, I meant you allow people to move in with you? I thought couples usually discuss things like that and come to a mutual agreement."
"Yes. The mutual agreement, sterns from me allowing, one access in my home." Reyna replied. "And Nadia is like family to me. If I was seeing someone as serious as we are claiming it is, she would defiantly know."
"She has a point. Nadia will find this fishy and she will investigate, something you do not want to happen." Percy said facing his cousin and the only one who could really help Reyna.
Jason sighed running a hand through his wind-ruffled blond hair. "The more people that know about it, the harder it is to keep my real purpose a secret. You are aware of that right?"
"Yes...But it will also give a advantage. The fact that Nadia knows about you, will make it a lot more believable."
Jason faced the dark haired male whose green eyes were pleading with him to at least consider it. He shifted his gaze back towards Reyna. "Fine...But no one else, the last thing we want is this man getting heights of what we are doing."
"Speaking about this man. There is something that has been bothering me, we have established that he is escalating." Reyna said drawing the attention of her three guests. "What is to say, that he won't become even more dangerous, when he finds out that I am in a relationship?"
"We already thought about that." Annabeth said answering Reyna's question. "Which is part of the reason, it is Jason who is here and not someone else."
"Oh?" Reyna tilted her head fixing her intense eyes on the blond male. "So, what is so special about you?"
"Jason runs and owns a private security firm, one that is considered to be one of if not the best in the business." Annabeth explained as she answered her friend's questions. "He has plenty of people who go out on the field, but he agreed to do this one himself."
"Why? Yes, I am very wealthy with or without my family's fortune, I managed to make a name for myself and become one of the best dancers in the world. I am always in the spotlight and have journalists follow my every move." Reyna said her dark eyes shifting between her two friends and the blond male.
She lifted her head from the palm of her hand before she leaned back in her seat. "Still that does not make me a high profile target. So why did I get the CEO of the company? Why did he agree with being my babysitter as opposed to sending one of his many operatives?"
"Because I asked." Percy said drawing obsidian eyes on his person. "Jason agreed, because I asked him."
"Percy is my Cousin." Jason replied already knowing what she had wanted to ask next, he caught the fleeting look of surprise on her face before it disappeared. "And you are his friend, I decided to take this one because it is close to home."
"I see. Now my next question, how exactly did you become my lover?" Reyna asked tilting her head sideways and gazing at the blond male seated on the other side of the antique glass table. "I assume you will suggest to stay as close to truth as possible?"
That was exactly what he had planned to suggest, the best cover stories were the ones which had a base of truth to them. "Yes...We have met through our mutual friendship and family ties, with Percy and Annabeth."
"So? Annabeth? Are you sharing with us, your grand master plan?" Reyna asked facing her best friend. "Or are you telling me that you don't have at least three different scenarios, each having a backup plan and backup plan in case the back plans fail?"
"I don't know what to think about that, is that an insult? Are you saying that I think too much?" Annabeth asked sounding slightly annoyed with the suggestion. "I can wing it, if I want to. Percy is not the only one who can improvise on a whim, you know."
"So? There is no plan?" Reyna asked managing to fill her voice with genuine curiosity, which only happened to annoy the blond woman more. "To bad, I was expecting one of your master plans to save the day."
"They do, don't they?" Annabeth said making it sound more like a statement as opposed to the question it was meant to be. "Well I might have an idea or two."
Percy tried and failed to hide his grin, his green eyes twinkling in amusement. "So modest, you are." Pulling the blond woman against him and placing a kiss on her hair. "No need to glower at me, I love you with or without the arrogance."
"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" Annabeth asked pushing the grinning man away from her and sitting straight. "Because it is not helping."
...
...
Jason watched the couple bicker in their usual good natured way, there were days that he really envied the ease in their relationship.
Though Percy was four years older than his Fiancé, they had started as friends and moved from there. And they had only started dating after Annabeth had turned eighteen and graduated Highschool.
They were together for seven years now and they were still going strong, acting very much the same as before they had started dating. It was evident that they loved each other. But, what was also evident, was that they were the best of friends. There were times they acted more as friends and as lovers second, and days they acted the other way around.
They had fun and argued like any other couple, they shared everything with each other and were not afraid to be fully honest with each other.
Maybe that was why his relationship with Piper had come crumbling down...He had really loved the cheerful woman...He still loved the cheerful woman.
But it had taken him a very long time to realize that they hardly knew anything about each other...Oh they knew what the other liked and what they disliked, but that was basically it...the same things that any other person could find out.
There was a lot Piper did not know about him... Jason had asked himself why he had never shared some of the darker aspects of his life, he had shared every positive thing with her...But as soon as it was something else he had chosen not to say anything, he had not wanted to upset her or make her worried about him.
But was a relationship supposed to be like that? Wasn't it all about sharing both the good and the bad stuff and not being afraid of upsetting each other when one would state his or her opinion?
He had noticed that there was something missing in their relationship, when he had seen Percy and Annabeth and even Thalia and Luc together, both couples loved each other and didn't want to hurt the other but they argued...They argued about the little things and about the bigger things.
In the three years he had been dating Piper -and even before they started dating- Jason had not once argued with her. They did not have one disagreement, they agreed with whatever the other want because that was what the other wanted.
Feeling that he was being watched Jason shifted his gaze away from the bickering couple and towards the only other person in the room.
Reyna was watching him not even pretending that she was looking at someone or something else, her dark eyes were unreadable while her expression stayed neutral.
Jason wanted to ask the young dancer what she wanted, but was cut off before the question even left his mouth by the dark haired woman.
"Before Annabeth shares with us, the details of our cover story." Reyna said uncrossing her legs the purple material of her dress shimmering as she rose from her position on the love seat. "Can I offer anyone, something to drink?" She asked her voice had successfully cut through the small argument and drew the attention of her guests on her person.
"Whatever you are taking, is fine with me." Annabeth said her gray eyes facing her Fiancé. "And you?"
Percy shrugged leaning back in the couch, his green eyes meeting Reyna's even gaze. "Bourbon? Or Scotch either will do."
"Then Bourbon and whatever I am taking, it is." Reyna said as she stepped away from the love seat and moved away to prepare their drinks. "And what will you, have?" She asked Jason without turning around to face him.
Jason watched her cross the room towards the build in bar on the other side of the living room, the woman walked...No there was no way anyone could call her gait a simple walk.
No, Reyna Martinez moved with a fluid and elegant grace, there was a certain sensuality in all her movements. The dark haired woman appeared to be both regal and majestic, a woman who knew that she was beautiful but did not nothing to flaunt her looks nor bothered to play anything down.
She was so far from any other woman he had met, that he wondered what it was about her that intrigued him so much.
Jason usually disliked woman like her...The type that could and would play in to a man's need and expose his weakness. A woman that was so alluring, that she made man want her and desire to remove all her layers, find what it was that made her tick.
Which was exactly what she was doing with him, Jason found himself wanting the same thing...Know what it was that made her tick, watch her lose her composer and reveal all her secrets.
Which was bad...A very bad and dangerous thing to want. He should not forget that this woman lived in a whole different world than he moved in.
She was so wealthy that it wouldn't have mattered if she had chosen to work. Or had decided to sit on her lazy ass taking shopping trips to Paris or maybe cruise with the family yacht and jump on a private jet setting course to Jamaica or Brazil for a cup of Coffee.
It wasn't like she would notice any money missing. Both the Balfour and Martinez fortunes were grand enough for at least for a few more generations.
He shouldn't forget that she was the best friend of the woman, who was going to become his Cousin-in-Law. And not forget that she was a dear friend of Percy.
He had to remind himself that the woman was defiantly not his type and most of all he should not forget that she was a client, he had created a policy for a reason...Do not get involved with clients, it only brings trouble.
He could and would quench the attraction he felt for her...He had never let something as desire obstruct his work and he would not start now.
He could control this...He could ignore her beauty...But could he control his curiosity? Could he control his need to get under her skin? His desire to see her lose her cool?
"You wouldn't have any Beer in there, would you?" Jason asked trying to distract himself and at the same time feeling the corner of his lips twitch at the look she send him. "I assume, that is a no?"
"You assume correctly." The dark haired woman said as she moved behind the bar and towards the build in glass cabinets, her dark eyes scanning the contents before she shifted her gaze towards him. "So, can I offer you something else? Something with a little more class, perhaps?"
The woman was priceless, he could at least admit that much.
She managed to insult him in a way that not many people could detect, there was no indication in her voice which despite the monotone tone was filled with nothing but -genuine- politeness.
"Something with more class? Would Vodka be considered as a classy drink?" Jason asked as she turned to face the glass cabinets again and opened one of them, to pull a bottle out. "Because if it is, I would like a glass."
Reyna placed the bottle she was holding on the counter before she kneeled down and pulled four glasses, from under the counter and placed them next to the bottle. "I might have a bottle or two, any preferences?"
"Whatever you have in stock." Jason said once again reminding himself that she was both a client and someone his cousin cared about.
"How do you want your drink? Neat or on the rocks?" She asked as she pulled two more bottles out one of the many cabinets and placed them one of them on the counter. "Or would a cocktail be more to your liking?"
She was not making this any easier for him, Reyna was so brisk and formal that it was almost impossible not wanting to rattle her.
"Vodka Rocks, is just fine." Jason said feeling the corners of his lips lift when she sighed in a way that told him, she hadn't expected anything else. "Is something wrong, with my order?" He asked deliberately baiting her while at the same wondering why he was doing it, when he had just decided that he would quench anything he might feel for her.
Reyna looked up from the bottle she was holding, her dark eyes fixing their piercing gaze on him. He could literary see her count to ten. "No, there is nothing wrong with your request." Reyna said opening the bottle and pouring the drink in one of the glasses. "Vodka rocks it is."
Ah...It was because she was so perfectly in control, because every move she made and every word she said was well thought through and executed with the utmost care and perfection, that he couldn't help but want to figure her out and see her fumble.
"Annabeth? You sure you are okay, with whatever I am taking?" Reyna asked lifting her gaze towards the blond woman seated across the living room. "Well than, Lafite Rothschild it is then." She said when the blond woman nodded her approval.
"Wow...Which year?" Annabeth asked looking up when she heard the name of the wine, Reyna had chosen. "Please tell me it is from this decade?"
"It is from this decade...It was part of a box my sister bought, she gave me two bottles and kept the rest for herself."
"You really love red wine, don't you?" Annabeth asked a smile appearing on her face, when she heard the disappointment in her friends voice. "At least I know, what to buy you for your birthday."
"A Vintage wine? Annabeth you don't have to, but I would love to receive a bottle or two." Reyna said causing her friend to laugh. "I just happened to run out of one my favorites, so I can drop a few hints right?"
"As if...No offence, but there is no way I can pay for a bottle Massandra Sherry?" Annabeth asked the dark haired wine lover. "I can drop by the liqueur store and buy you a bottle of normal and affordable Sherry though, it is your favorite right?"
"That it is. I enjoy a lot of different wines, the curse that comes with being a Martinez." Reyna said placing the glasses on a silver tray and making her way back towards her guests. "But a bottle of Sherry for my birthday sounds like the perfect gift."
Jason had watched the exchange with interest and amusement. He had been both right and wrong about the woman making her way towards them.
Yes she was still someone that moved in a whole different world, she was one that seemed to enjoy fine dining and expensive wines.
But she was not arrogant nor spoiled as he had initially thought, she was being genuine when she had said that she would love a bottle from the liqueur store just because it was her friend that bought it.
This knowledge was not helping his case...If it did something, it only made him more curious to find out what more she was hiding.
Watching her interact with Annabeth created a entirely different picture, than the Ice Queen she was known as.
Reyna Martinez was known to be one of the most closed off people around, from what he had gathered there weren't a lot of people who really knew the dark haired woman.
What was odd was that despite the fact that she was cold, aloof and had the habit to keep people's at arm lengths. Was that everyone who had met her described her as loyal, honest and a kind woman.
It was a known fact that she supported a lot of charity cases once even donating a few thousand dollars to a struggling private Clinique and was a spokes person for a few more charity funds, he had not really thought about it, a lot of people who moved in her circle did things like that.
So he didn't know if it was because she wanted to help or because people expected it from her. Her different masks didn't seem to add up and made him only want to find the real her.
Was she the cold and aloof woman? The passionate dancer? Or the kindhearted and honest woman, Percy and Annabeth claimed she was.
Who was the real Reyna Martinez.
"Anything else?" She asked as she placed the tray down and handed each one of them, their glasses before she lifted herself up and faced her three guests.
She took place when the three of them shook their heads and thanked her for the drinks. The dark haired woman leaned towards towards the glass table removing her glass from the silver tray before she leaned back in her chair.
Reyna placed the delicate glass against her lips and took a long sip, her dark eyes fluttered shut as she savored the taste.
Jason couldn't keep his eyes away from her slender neck, he could see when she swallowed her drink.
How did she do that? How could she make drinking look so seductive? Is this how she acted with all her lovers?
Making them wish they were the drink? Make them want to follow the path, the red liquid was taking...Trace her tender neck with their lips, draw soft moans from her...Moans that indicated...God, he was not making this any easier for himself.
He did not want to think about that, damn her for drawing that picture in his mind. He lifted his gaze meeting her amused expression, her soft lips lifted in one of the most alluring smirks he had ever seen.
Damn her.
Taking this job had been a mistake...If not really knowing caused him to act so out of character, what would happen when he gotten to know her?
When he found out what was the mask, the facade and what the truth? What would he do, when he finally found out what it was that made her tick?
"Well then Grace? How did you end up in my bed?" She asked in her usual soft voice her dark eyes filling with sadistic pleasure. "No...The better question is, how did you manage to stay in my bed."
"No...You got it backwards." Jason said refusing to lose this...whatever this was, he had never backed out of a challenge and he had never allowed a woman to rattle him like she did. "The question is how, did you, the Ice Queen manage to keep my bed warm."
She hadn't expected that, though she had managed to hide her surprise before it had fully reflected in her eyes. Jason only managed to catch it, because he had trained himself to catch the slightest change in people and his surroundings, it was what had kept him alive when he had been on missions and out on the field.
If the woman wanted a battle of the wills...Well than he would give her a battle of the wills. He could do this and not be emotionally involved.
He had met many beautiful woman...had dated a very beautiful woman, so he could get past this and do his job.
A/N; I hope you all liked this chapter and that it was worth the long wait. I am sorry if there are some grammar or spelling mistakes, I also apologize for any OOC, but because this is AU it is somewhat acceptable right?
I am trying to stay as close to their character as I possibly can, but please do tell me if I am stretching it much.
Also I would like to hear what you all think about it and if it is worth to continue, or not. I am open for any feedback an or tips, and hopefully till the next chapter.
