"You have really got to stop doing this."

Ali and Kaiba were seated in the back of his limousine on their way to brunch and the ebony haired American was glaring at him. Kaiba hummed in response and continued to look completely uninterested.

This only pissed her off more.

"No, really!" she snapped. "It's inconvenient!"

Kaiba still said nothing.

"Look," she continued, "Y'know, I do have a life, and I really don't appreciate-"

"Romano," he broke in. "We're both reasonable adults, yes?"

She paused in a stunned silence. Kaiba looked over at her and raised both eyebrows in a slightly prompting expression. Coming to the conclusion that he wasn't at least going to let her rant, she shrugged simply and let it go.

"I certainly hope so, sir," she replied. Then, with a twinge of curiosity, she asked: "Why?"

Kaiba shifted in his seat and cleared his throat.

"What?"

"I have a proposition for you," he stated.

Both of her eyebrows went up in surprise and he took her silence as a prompt to continue.

"You and I have spent a considerable amount of time together over the past few weeks. As is such, I propose that-"

"Oh dear God."

Alicia stared at Kaiba in disbelief, her expression blank as her brain fully processed what was going on.

"You're asking me to sleep with you."

Kaiba shrugged.

"That is my intent, yes."

"Are you out of your mind?!" she hissed. "You're my boss! I can't-"

"Rest assured that it would remain strictly casual and not affect your position in any way."

"That doesn't make it any better."

He sighed and rolled his eyes before rubbing his temples.

"Alicia," he said quietly. "I would not be asking you this if I did not value you in slightest."

The use of her given name was a little surprising, but Ali was too angry to care at this point.

"You shouldn't be asking me at all!" she retorted.

Kaiba sat up and grabbed her harshly by the arm, giving her a warning look.

"If I so wished, I could throw you down and have my way with you and just as easily fire you without a second thought," he said quietly. "Regardless of who your father is."

Ali's lips pressed into a thin line.

"How long have you known?"

"Since the beginning, and I doubt he'd really have any say against me in a court of law."

She considered her position. She considered it carefully. Kaiba was dead serious, and that usually was never a good thing unless it had something to do with a business deal. True, her family had money enough to take him to court, but Kaiba was a businessman. He specialized in finding loopholes and bullying other people into doing what he wanted.

And, to be totally honest, he had asked her.

Heaving a sigh, she shook her head in defeat.

"Fine- fine," she replied. "Now will you please let go of me?"

He released her arm and sat back in the seat.

"However," she continued, "I have one question for you."

Kaiba looked over at Alicia, smug satisfaction on his face with his victory over her.

"Why me?" she asked.

An expression of mild surprise passed over Kaiba's face for a moment. He wasn't entirely sure how to answer that- most women never bothered to ask. But Alicia was genuinely curious as to why he'd picked her. He thought it over for a moment.

He could tell her that it was because he thought she was remarkably attractive- which she was. She was the perfect balance of Eurasian. Her features did not lack definition, but neither were they too prominent. Her complexion was as smooth as porcelain, her hair a silky shade of ebony and her eyes a warm brown. Alicia's figure also did not suffer, as she was slender without lacking curves. Yes, he found her very attractive and on more than one occasion he'd stared at her ass when she wasn't looking.

But that would be a little creepy, so he went with plan B.

"Well, I don't hate you," he said. "And you've proven to be one of the more intelligent women that I've met."

"That almost sounded like another compliment," she said wryly.

He frowned in response.

"Don't push it."

She shrugged and chuckled warmly.

"So what's the catch?"

"Excuse me?"

He looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Ali rolled her eyes and crossed her arms in response.

"Don't give me that look. There's always a catch with you."

Kaiba was thoughtful for a moment.

"Well it goes without saying that you won't speak about this to anyone-"

"I wouldn't want to."

He frowned again.

"...I'll also need you to expect this to happen more than once."

Alicia nodded.

"Fabulous," she muttered.

He opened his mouth to snap at her, but she cut him off.

"I have one condition."

He closed his mouth promptly and raised both of his brows in mild shock. Alicia held up her index finger.

"One day," she said. "Once a week I will spend the entire evening with you. No more, no less."

He nodded. That was reasonable enough.

"I see no reason to contest that," he replied. "Anything else?"

She shook her head and sat back in her seat, satisfied with her own little victory.

"Nope. I'm good."