"Hey man, what the hell?" Chuck heard Nate exclaim as he stormed into the kitchen where Chuck had just fired up the espresso maker. "My financial secretary tells me you sold all your shares of The Spectator? You were one of my biggest shareholders - what gives?"
"Nathaniel... let me explain..." Chuck calmly spoke, knowing this conversation would be happening eventually at some point soon.
"Go on..." Nate urged him, just dying to know why his best friend would do such a thing.
"I have to broker a deal with the Grimaldi's to get Blair out of her marriage immediately and since my father cut me out of Bass I had to pull the majority of funding from my personal endeavors – which unfortunately includes The Spectator - as well as the remainder of my trust fund in order to cover it," Chuck informed him with a sense of urgency.
"It's that much?!" Nate gasped in shock at the news.
"Let's just say, I'm proposing to only pay half of it and that the full amount would bankrupt Eleanor completely," Chuck clarified.
"Wow..." Nate responded, dumbstruck.
"Yeah... before my father rose from the grave it wouldn't have been an issue as I had more than enough disposable income to cover it completely, but now... not so much," Chuck went on.
"So what do you have left?" Nate inquired, curious as to what Chuck had deemed important enough to keep.
"Just The Trifecta: Victrola, Gimlet and The Empire," Chuck listed off.
"Aren't you freaking out?" Nate couldn't help wondering.
"A little," Chuck casually admitted, being completely honest, however he was surprised that he wasn't freaking out more. "Some things are worth it though."
"May I ask why the sudden urgency? I thought Blair was intent on making it the full year so the dowry wouldn't need to be paid at all?" Nate pried.
"She's pregnant," Chuck immediately confessed with a sigh. He knew Nate would find out soon enough, most likely from Serena if Blair or himself didn't come clean first.
"What?! Wow... um... congrats...?" Nate spoke hesitantly, not entirely sure if that was the right reaction to have at this moment. "Right? I mean, you're sure you're the father?"
"Positive – the dates correspond with when we were together and when Louis wasn't around. Plus she had a paternity test done," Chuck stated as he finished his drink and began walking across the penthouse towards his room with Nate following. "If the Grimaldi's find out, they'll either force her to raise it as Louis' - which I won't allow - demand the dowry immediately if they learn it isn't Louis'... and then there's the risk that Louis may try something unspeakable out of jealousy or anger," Chuck went on, not wanting to think about that last option, however he wouldn't put it past Louis to physically harm Blair and their unborn child considering everything he had already put her through. "Just paying it and getting it over with now before they find out is the best option," he concluded.
"And Blair's on board with this?" Nate had to ask.
"It's no longer her decision to make. It's my child too, I'm doing what's best for the safety of my family," Chuck firmly told him as he began filling a suitcase.
"Wow..." Nate remarked as he watched Chuck rush around the room.
"What?" Chuck questioned, not pausing for a moment.
"Nothing, just... wow," Nate said again. "Hearing you talk about taking care of your family and doing what you think is best regardless of what Blair thinks-"
"I know it's best!" Chuck snapped, stopping just for a moment to look Nate straight in the eye, letting him know he was dead serious about this. "Blair's over emotional about the whole thing and therefore not thinking rationally. Like she was after the accident..."
"No, no, I know and I completely agree with you. It is what's best," Nate attempted to correct his previous response. "It's just... I've never heard you talk like that before. It's... it's just wow... thinking back to how you were just a few years ago... Chuck Bass has actually grown up. It's really kinda neat, having witnessed it all!"
"Thanks... I think?" Chuck replied, not entirely sure what to make of that.
"So... what now? You going somewhere? Staying at Blair's? I'd think security would be better here..." Nate questioned as he watched Chuck continue to pack.
"I'm going to Monaco – the jet's leaving in an hour," Chuck stated as he looked around the room, trying to think of anything else he might need. "Take care of Monkey for me?" he requested as he suddenly remembered the mutt.
"Yeah, sure," Nate assured him just as a thought occurred to him. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you? I mean I know you won't be sticking around after the deal is done but considering the last confrontation you had with Louis-"
"I appreciate the offer, Nathaniel, however I need to do this alone – the less people who know and the less involved, the better," Chuck informed him. "In two days time Blair's marriage is done and over with and we can finally get on with our lives, however the less Blair knows right now the better. She doesn't need the stress."
"Does your dad know you're taking his jet?" Nate curiously wondered. He knew Bart wasn't fond of Blair these days for whatever reason.
"I really couldn't care less whether he does or not and besides – I'm doing him a favor as the jet has to stop in Portugal on the way back for business anyway," Chuck pointed out. "I think that's everything," he remarked as he looked around the room once more before zipping up his luggage. "I bid you adieu, Nathaniel – don't forget about Monkey. I'll be back in 48 hours and not a word of this to Blair," he warned as he began wheeling his bag out towards the elevator.
Nate watched in disbelief as he watched Chuck leave.
"Chuck Bass has really grown up... who knew?" he spoke to himself as he stood there in the foyer after the elevator and Chuck had left.
"I thought we were going to Monaco," Georgina remarked not too long after Chuck had picked her up in Italy as she looked out the window of the Bass jet to the world below them.
"We were," Chuck responded as he sat and continued to read through the newspaper in front of him.
It wasn't easy, but he had managed to smooth talk a few of his father's staff into getting control of the Bass Industries jet. He knew his father would only continue to give him more grief once he found out, however he knew that if he succeeded, it would all be worth it in the end, not to mention at this point he no longer cared what his father thought about his relationship with Blair. He now had a family of his own and unlike his father, he was going to make sure he took care of them, no matter the cost.
"Okay, but then if that's the case then why are we flying parallel to the Rhone?" she couldn't help wondering.
"It appears that someone paid attention in geography class..." Chuck casually commented without looking up.
"Don't kid yourself, Bass - I've just been in Europe enough to recognize the landscape from a plane," Georgina explained.
"Change in plans - we're going to Belgium instead," Chuck informed her, still looking at the newspaper.
"Belgium?"
"Yes, Georgina, Belgium - I've been informed Blair's soon to be ex-husband is there on business this week and a certain ambassador's son owes my family," Chuck clued her in.
"Damien Dalgaard? You can't be serious! That's your plan? I do my best work alone, thank you, " Georgina huffed as she sat back in her seat with her arms now crossed in annoyance.
"He's the ambassador's son, his sole responsibility is to entertain important guests that visit the country - he's our best chance for this to work," Chuck clarified, knowing she'd understand even if she didn't like it.
"Ugh, I hate you," she scowled at him before turning her attention back the window.
"Believe me - the feeling is mutual," Chuck muttered as he continued to sit with his legs crossed, reclining slightly in his seat. Secretly, he was enjoying tormenting her. He only wished he could have seen the look on Dan's face when she announced that she was leaving him as well.
"This is ridiculous, we've been sitting here for nearly an hour and I find your lack of chit-chat and refusal to rehash the past boring. Let's forget Damien and just let me work my magic on Blair's prince before anyone spots us," Georgina insisted as she impatiently sat across from Chuck in the quiet cafe restaurant the next day.
"Calm down, hellcat – I have it on good authority he stops in here to pass off a deal while grabbing lunch every Thursday," Chuck stated as he read through the beverage menu, deciding on what drink to order next. "He'll be here."
"I still don't see why we need him," she quipped in annoyance as she stabbed at her food once more.
"Because Prince Louis is less likely to trust a random girl who comes onto him at the bar than he would be if it was a friend of his host," Chuck tried to explain to her once more. "We need him to feel like he can trust you so you can get him alone and document whatever compromising position you can get him to appear to be in."
"Fine, whatever... if you say so," Georgina had no sooner grumbled in annoyance when the bell to the entrance announced a new arrival. Looking up, Chuck spied the person they had been waiting for as he reached over and tapped Georgina's arm, getting her attention.
Carefully watching, Chuck noted Damien sliding something discreetly across the counter to the girl working the bar. In return she silently handed him a bag as well as a tin-foiled deli sandwich.
"Thanks Lois! Same time next week?" Damien spoke as he gathered up the items and began to head towards the door just as quickly as he had entered.
"Of course, D! See you then!" the girl called out after him as he left.
"Let's go," Chuck quickly spoke as he stood and slid his coat back on. He was already pulling out a stack of bills from his wallet, leaving several on the table by the time Georgina had gotten to her feet. Rushing outside ahead of her, he quickly spotted their target not too far ahead.
"Damien!" Chuck called out after him, causing the man in question to pause momentarily as he thought he heard his name, giving Chuck just enough time to catch up to him, Georgina trying to keep up from behind.
"Aw shit... What do you want?" Damien moaned as he recognized Chuck now in front of him.
"Nice to see you too," Chuck responded with a devilish grin. "I have a bit of a proposition for you actually," he began as he slid an arm around Damien's shoulders and proceeded to walk along the sidewalk with him.
"Oh? And just what is that?" Damien curiously wondered as he allowed Chuck to lead them.
"There's a certain... Prince from Monaco visiting your fine country this weekend..." Chuck began to explain.
"Ah... you mean your ex girlfriend's husband," Damien stated, causing Chuck to noticeably wince at his choice of words. "Right? That's the one we're talking about? The man she married instead of you?" he continued to question, finding amusement in Chuck's obvious discomfort. "I'll tell ya, that wedding was quite the drama-"
"Yes, him," Chuck hissed, wanting Damien to shut up and quit talking about it. "And as this country's ambassador's son I need you personally to entertain him this weekend. Preferably this evening," Chuck continued.
"I have no problem entertaining him, but what's in it for me?" Damien wondered, curious as to what he was getting out of this little proposition.
"You know you owe me and my family," Chuck began to threaten him, only for Damien to give him a confused look. "The way you used Eric... we know it was you who told Russell Thorpe about Lily and the forged affidavit..."
"Hey, I'll admit that yeah, I did use little Van der Woodsen, however it's not my fault Lily broke the law!" Damien tried to protest.
"No, but it is your fault that you started the rumor that Serena was sleeping with her teacher, thus creating that whole chain of events," Chuck reminded him. "I'm not asking," he leered after a minute's pause had passed between them.
"What exactly did you have in mind?" Damien questioned, realizing that he did sort of owe Chuck and the Van der Woodsens.
"You are going to take His Royal Highness out for a night on the town – one that he won't ever be able to remember nor forget, all thanks to help of my friend here," Chuck informed him as he motioned to Georgina who was now standing behind them, unbeknownst to Damien.
"Whoa, Georgina?!" Damien gasped in surprise to see her. "Yeah, no."
"Believe me, I'd rather not work with you either," she spoke up, letting him know she completely agreed.
"Again, I'm not asking," Chuck reminded him once more.
"Yeah but... doesn't Louis Grimaldi already know her? He'll know something's up if he sees her," Damien was quick to point out.
"Then imagine if you will... your friend with blonde hair from Russia, also visiting for the weekend: Svetlana," Chuck informed him as he reached into one of the bags Georgina was carrying and carefully revealed the wig inside that they had purchased earlier that morning.
"Savannah and Svetlana..." Damien chuckled as he recalled the stories Serena had once told him in boarding school about her wild nights in New York.
"So you're familiar?" Chuck asked, curious if Damien knew enough of the backstory to be able to pull it off.
"I've heard stories from Serena," he confirmed. "You can be quite the devil I'm told," he spoke, addressing Georgina.
"Why thank you," she grinned in return.
"But look, just to be clear – I don't want any of this traced directly back to me, got it? I'll take him out, she can tag along as part of my posse to get to him and do whatever but if my father finds out I'm involved in whatever ends up going down... I'm in some major shit here, okay?" Damien listed his terms for them.
"Which is why you need to be convincing that she's someone you know and trust well enough... or I'll be sure your father knows about your little Thursday lunchtime trade," Chuck warned. "And don't worry, you'll be fine – just get him out tonight, get him loaded on whatever drugs and alcohol you can and Georgie here will take care of the rest. Capisce?"
"Fine..." Damien groaned as he reluctantly led them along.
It was late in the night - sometime after 3am - when Chuck's phone finally rang, alerting him to new text messages, all from Georgina. Sitting up on his hotel bed, he quickly opened them to confirm for himself that she had succeeded.
Sure enough, there were several incriminating photos of a blonde wigged Georgina posed with a clearly intoxicated Prince of Monaco along with a video. While it wasn't completely obvious if Louis was even conscious in the video she had recorded, it was still compromising enough to embarrass him and his family if it was ever made public.
I held up my end of the deal, I'll be asking for my favor in return when you least expect it.
She had included in her text.
As long as it's not my first-born, we're good.
Chuck couldn't help teasing back.
Ugh! Even if u were offering, I would say no thanks – 1 kid is enough for me.
He couldn't help chuckling at that. While they all had their dark sides and enjoyed a good scheme and take down, Blair had a maternal side to her and Chuck couldn't help but be protective of the few he actually did care about. Georgina on the other hand was definitely not the mothering type and would only ever care for herself first, that was for sure.
Even though he was once again going to bed alone that night, Chuck slept a little easier knowing that come morning his and Blair's nightmare would all be over.
"Chuck Bass... to what do I owe this great displeasure?" Louis spoke with his thick accent as he took a seat opposite of Chuck inside his temporary office at the royal embassy in Belgium the next morning. "I assume this has something to do with my wife, who has once again managed to evade my family's security?"
"The fact that you keep her on lock down, controlling what she does, where she goes, who she talks to... really goes to show how little you actually care for her," Chuck called him out. It was taking nearly everything in him to prevent himself from diving over the desk and beating the smug grin off Louis' face. If he didn't care about Blair as much as he did, or their unborn child, he would have already had the man dead by now.
"Chuck, Chuck, Chuck... Blair is not being held against her will, nor has she ever been. If it were the case otherwise, she would have already been brought back to her home, in Monaco. She can come and go as she pleases..." Louis began to inform him.
"However she has to have a security detail and a minder reporting her every move to you and your family," Chuck pointed out. "And here I thought I had trust issues..."
"It's complicated," Louis stated matter of factly. "Now unless you have come to either confess your illicit little affair with my wife – which I'm not stupid, I know she's never stopped seeing you behind my back – or to pay her dowry, or return her to her home in Monaco, I must insist you leave here immediately otherwise I will call and have security escort you out."
"Actually, Your Highness," he hissed as he leaned in closer, his eyes growing dark with intimation. "Here's what's going to happen – you're going to grant Blair the amicable divorce we both know she deserves and you and your family are going to forever leave the Waldorf's alone, forgetting these last six months ever happened, almost as if she left the ceremony with me like we all know she should have."
"Oh? And just why would I do that? If my mother only knew what Blair's been up to this entire time..." Louis started.
"If you don't, I will have Gossip Girl, The Spectator and every other gossip rag in the world make this go viral within the hour," Chuck firmly stated, pressing play on the video on his phone and turning it so Louis could see.
"Oh yes, oh Louis... fuck me like one of your French whores..." Georgina's voice moaned loudly before the video paused on a frame of her lying in a bed, mostly undressed with a man who was obviously Louis lying under her, his shirt opened and his chest exposed.
"That's preposterous!" the Prince exclaimed, jumping to his feet and slamming a fist on the desk. "Nothing happened! That woman clearly drugged me!"
"So you say... however... the media always tends to think the worst of people and well, the press would have quite the field day with this, now wouldn't they? I could only imagine what your mother would think... and Blair... we both know she can be quite convincing when the camera is on..." Chuck reminded him.
"Delete it! Immediately!" Louis demanded, now shouting.
"I will... but only if you do as I've requested," Chuck stated once more.
Louis emitted a low growl as he sat back down in his seat and thought it over.
Chuck knew his plan had to work, however for good measure, he toyed with offering his final card to seal the deal just in case as he was that desperate to get this over with.
"Grant her the divorce and in return for your silence on anything other than that you two are divorcing due to irreconcilable differences I'll make sure this little film never sees the light of day," Chuck offered, hoping he would agree. "Your fake polished reputation gets to stay in tact and you and your family avoid public humiliation by the media."
"Ugh, fine! You win!" Louis announced with a roll of his eyes, knowing he really had no choice, as his mother would kill him if it ever got out that he had been the one caught defaulting on the marriage. "I'll have the papers drawn up immediately before you leave – you can hand deliver them to her."
Chuck nearly jumped out of his seat in victory, however he refrained as to not come off as too excited, even though he knew the look on his face showed he was immensely pleased that he had won. Blair's nightmare was finally coming to an end and by the time Louis and his family found out she was pregnant, it would already be too late for them to do anything about it.
"I'll do you one better – I've already had my lawyers draw up the papers, all you need to do is sign them, stamp them, seal them and put them back in my hand," he instructed as he revealed the documents and slid them across the desk to Louis who immediately pulled out a pen and reluctantly began reading them over, signing off and initialing as he went.
Chuck couldn't have been happier at that moment. They could finally get on with their lives together.
Within the hour, documents in hand and leaving Georgina to find her own way back, he was already on the Bass jet, anxiously awaiting its departure to head home that he had almost forgotten about the brief stop in Portugal to pick up a few of his father's business associates.
He knew his father would be livid once he found out just what his son had done, calling it a reckless and irresponsible move, cashing out of most of his endeavors just in case in order to get Blair out of her marriage... and then once he found out the news that he was going to be a grandfather... Chuck decided to go ahead and take the initiative of talking up Bass Industries to these men, knowing that if he helped his father close the potential deal that maybe - just maybe - it would soften the blow from Bart that Chuck knew he would be eventually getting.
AN: So, so sorry for the delay on this one! Truth is, I had started this particular chapter awhile back and just didn't have the drive or motivation to work on it as other ideas and stories popped up in my head and were screaming to be written instead... don't worry though - the bulk of the next (and final!) chapter is already written, just needing a scene or so added as well as some tweaks and editing so I can assure you it won't be four months til the next update! And as I've mentioned elsewhere, Chairytale will also be updated finally here soon as well so be on the lookout for that one! In the meantime, be sure to check out my other fics I've posted lately if you haven't already and need your fill =D
And as always, thank you so much for all the reviews/comments and favorites/follows as well as the little pokes, prods and nudges for an update. Believe me, I hadn't forgotten about it, it just merely got placed on the backburner for the time being.
Until next time!
