A/N: Owing to the comment posted by Suzy after finishing reading chapter 10, I´d like to make something clear.As I stated at the beginning of this fic, it wasn´t in my plans to follow SV´s storylines closely- in fact, I´ve manipulated events (including the timeframe) and made up many of them. Therefore, the friendly rapport between Lana and Lex shouldn´t strike you as odd since in this story they´ve never been married or had any romantic involvement. As pointed out by Lionel in a previous chapter, Lex feigned interest in her- i.e he used her as a decoy. So... no Lexana here beyond friendship.

CHAPTER 9: Red Herring

Two days later-LuthorCorp Plaza

Twenty-four hours had elapsed since the last time he saw Chloe and he was already missing being around her. Leaving her on the ranch had been a necessary though heart-wrenching decision- he couldn´t give Lionel any more food for thought. Lex would have liked to stay with her and work on the promising bonds they had formed during her stay at the retreat, and he realised Chloe had also had a hard time letting him go. However, it was a craving they couldn´t afford at the time.

¨Lex, where have you been, son? ¨asked Lionel Luthor, barging into the young tycoon´s private office in Metropolis.

¨Good morning to you too, dad, ¨he responded, trying to keep his poker-face in place.

¨Is it still morning to you? I thought you were still in a different time zone. You´ve been gone three days! ¨ he cocked an eyebrow.

¨So? The last time I checked I was of age and didn´t have to ask you for your permission to leave town, ¨came Lex´s answer.

¨You´re part of the Board of Directors, Lex. You can´t just disappear of the face of the earth when an extraordinary meeting´s been scheduled. ¨

¨An extraordinary meeting? ¨he frowned.

¨Haven´t you read the memo? ¨asked Lionel, shuffling through Lex´s papers in his in-tray.

¨I suppose I´m not that important after all if this corporation´s decisions are communicated to me through a memo. ¨

¨We were going to discuss the future of Faber Genetics. ¨

¨Oh, yes, your recently acquired company! I´m sorry, but I was closing a very important deal, ¨ explained Lex, uncapping a bottle of Tŷ Nant he had taken out of the mini-bar.

¨And what deal would that be? ¨

¨I´m afraid it´s too early to divulge it, dad. Let´s just say it´s the deal of a lifetime. You´ll understand if I don´t want to give you any details now. ¨

¨As CEO of LuthorCorp I have to be informed of deals which will affect the future of this corporation. ¨

¨I don´t need the approval of the Board, dad. You´ll see... this deal concerns only LexCorp and its shareholders. ¨

¨This deal doesn´t have anything to do with genetics, does it? ¨

¨Why? Are you afraid of the competition? ¨

¨You can´t have your fingers in two different pies, Lex. ¨

¨I´ve got mum´s shares of LuthorCorp. You can´t kick me out. As to LexCorp, it´s my corporation. I´ve built it with the support of the employees you wanted me to fire, remember? LexCorp is independent from LuthorCorp, and I´m planning to keep it that way. ¨

¨You know, Lex, corporative espionage is a serious crime. ¨

¨Indeed it is. That´s why I´ve tripled my security to make sure there are no leaks. ¨

Lex hoped his father was intrigue enough with the red herring and maybe ask his team to conduct an investigation of any recent suspicious activities in the genetics field- particularly, the hiring of scientists or the acquisition of materials and companies. The young billionaire had made sure there were clues to be found, enough to keep Lionel´s people busy, but not so obvious as to make him look sloppy- Lex knew better than to take his dad for a fool. Lionel´s first-born had learnt many tricks from his father and one of them was how to read the enemy and be several steps ahead of him. The younger Luthor was smart enough to realise his ruse would just buy them time but not deceive Luthor Sr indefinitely.

If Lionel happened to ask his private detectives to trace Lex´s whereabouts in the last three days, they wouldn´t end up empty-handed, but they wouldn´t get the truth either. So far the clean-up Lex had paid for and the testimonies he had bought seemed air-tight. Chloe was safe and so was their secret for the time being, and that made Lex- if not happy- at least satisfied.

The sun was starting to set when Lex drove his convertible through Smallville´s Main St, going past The Talon. Its doors were still open to the public being Saturday evening- there weren´t many things for the young to do at the weekends, except hanging out with friends at the coffee shop and, maybe, enjoy some band from Metropolis perform.

Lex had felt tempted to let Lana buy his share of the shop more than once, but owning a small town café provided his shady business life with a certain degree of normalcy. The Talon was perhaps one of the few ventures connected with him which had nothing of illegal. Moreover, it was the place where he had held some of his most treasured bantering sessions with Chloe and also watched her from afar when their relationship had turned awry. If only the townspeople knew he had kept the least profitable of his businesses out of sentimentality, they would definitely sneer in disbelief.

Although many people would laugh at the thought of Lex being a romantic, there had been a few women in his life- three to be more precise: Amanda, Lillian and Chloe- who could attest to the fact. He tried hard not to make it known for it showed he was human and vulnerable - something not at all advisable when one has got burnt too many times. Sentimentality was a sign of weakness, ´a character trait unfit for a Luthor, ´ according to his father.

The moment Lex´s Porsche was going past the coffee house, he spotted a well-known brown-haired man in a blue jacket entering the shop and decided to turn right, go round the block and park the car in front of the back entrance. Clark had tried to see him several times in Metropolis over the last couple of months, and Lex had managed to avoid him so far. However, knowing the farm boy, the young Kent would seek him out at the mansion when he realised he was back in town- there was only one person in Smallville who could afford German convertibles and only one patrician billionaire who drove cars with Lex written on his vanity plates.

Lex turned off the CD player, killed the engine and stepped out of the vehicle. He walked to the back door, locked the Porsche with the remote and opened The Talon with his own key. It was a busy evening at the coffee house, and he could hear the sound of crockery and cutlery being washed in the kitchen and smell the freshly grounded coffee for the espresso machine. Lana saw him as she turned around to look for change in the till, and he asked her with a movement of his head to join him in the office. The brunette looked at him with a questioning glance, but did as she was told once she had seen to the customer who was waiting for his ticket and change.

Lex perused some of the invoices which Lana had left on the desk and thought of suggesting a new diary products supplier. He had read some disturbing sanitary reports on McPherson´s a few weeks before when he had been researching a couple of small food companies with the idea of diversifying LexCorp, and he didn´t want Lana and The Talon to be associated with a massive sue for food poisoning.

¨Hey, Lex! It´s good to see my partner here from time to time, ¨she exclaimed with a warm Lang smile.

¨How are you doing, Lana? ¨he asked, accepting her peck on the cheek.

¨Fine, thanks. Business is doing pretty well as you can see. Weekends are the best time for us. We´re packed!¨

¨I´m glad. I know you´re busy, and I don´t want to detain you. It seems you´re somewhat short of personnel. I think we should hire some extra hands. I can arrange some interviews, if you like. ¨

¨Could you? That´d be nice. ¨

¨I´d like to talk to you about McPherson´s, but first, there´s something I need you to do. I´ve seen Clark walk in... ¨

¨Yes? ¨asked Lana with a puzzled look. She knew the two men weren´t in the best of terms and wondered what had made Lex mention his former best friend.

¨I want you to ask him to come over. There´s something we need to discuss. And, please, try to be as discreet as you can. ¨

¨Sure. Is everything all right, Lex? ¨she queried with a note of concern in her voice.

¨As good as could be expected, ¨he smirked. ¨Now... could you...? ¨

¨Certainly. I´ll tell Clark you´re here. It´s been nice to see you again. ¨

¨Come to the mansion tomorrow, and we´ll see what we can do about the extra hands and the new supplier. For the time being, don´t order anything from McPherson´s. I´m afraid their products are no longer first class. ¨

¨OK. If you say so, Lex. You´re the one with the intel!¨she smiled and left the small office in search of Clark.

Lex took off his Armani overcoat and left it on a chair, undoing the first few buttons of his light-blue dress shirt. Meeting Clark wasn´t at the top of his list of favourite things to do, but he couldn´t let the farm boy barge into his study demanding to know where Chloe was because Lex wasn´t sure the mansion was free of bugs. Moreover, Clark was Chloe´s best friend and, despite the differences between them, the young man truly cared for the blond reporter. Lex knew he owed their friendship at least a modicum of respect.

¨Clark, ¨Lex greeted the farm boy when he opened the door to the little office.

¨Lex, ¨answered Clark gravely.

¨Come in, please, and shut the door. You can wipe that look off your face, by the way. I´ve got nothing sinister planned for today. ¨

¨What do you want then, Lex? ¨

¨I was under the impression you were the one who wanted something from me. Have I been misinformed or you´ve been to Metropolis looking for me at least four times? ¨

¨You haven´t . ¨

¨Good. So, here I am. Ask whatever´s been nagging at you , ¨he offered, opening his arms wide and letting them drop to his sides.

¨Just like that? ¨

¨We can talk here, Clark. I couldn´t let you come to the mansion with your questions when there might be eyes and ears monitoring my every move. ¨

¨And who´s spying on you this time, Lex? ¨

¨Ask yourself who´s got access to my home and who´s got the means to carry out a surveillance operation so discreetly and you´ll get your answer, Clark. ¨

¨How is she? ¨asked the young Kryptonian after a pause, his voice charged with concern.

¨Physically, she´s completely recovered. Psychologically... ¨

¨What´s happened to her, Lex? ¨

¨You saw her changed when she came back after dad´s trial. There was a very important blank in her mind after the car accident in which Gabe died, ¨started to explain the young billionaire.

¨The accident you were involved in, ¨interrupted the farm boy venomously.

¨I wasn´t behind the wheel, Clark. I wasn´t even in the car. ¨

¨What? ¨answered Clark stunned.

¨I let Chloe believe I was the one responsible for Gabe´s death. ¨

¨Why? Did you feel responsible for taking advantage of her vulnerability, Lex? ¨

¨We´ve been over this, Clark. You aren´t one to judge me, and your assumptions are completely wrong. You´re always ready to believe the worst of me. ¨

¨I always defended you, Lex, when nobody would. Until I found out people were many a time right about your true nature. Now... why take the blame for a death you didn´t commit? ¨

¨I had to protect her, Clark. What was one more death in my record of misdeeds? ¨

¨Does Chloe know it wasn´t you who killed her dad? ¨

¨Unfortunately, yes. I´d have given everything for her never to find out, Clark, ¨

¨What else has she remembered? Have those memories got anything to do with your dad´s trial? ¨

¨I´m sorry, Clark. The least you know, the better off you´ll be. ¨

¨I´m her best friend, Lex. I´m worried about her. ¨

¨Do you think I don´t know that? Why would I have asked you to meet me here if that weren´t the case?¨

¨Where is she? ¨

¨Somewhere safe. ¨

¨You aren´t telling me much, Lex. ¨

¨We aren´t just talking about Chloe´s life, Clark. What happened four years ago...¨Lex tried to explain before his emotions started to overcome him.

¨Something big happened between you two that summer, didn´t it? ¨

¨Things shouldn´t have ended the way they did. ¨

¨You should have stayed away from her. ¨

¨We couldn´t help falling in love, Clark, and I couldn´t leave either of them alone. My father would have had them both silenced. He almost succeeded twice. ¨

¨Are you saying Lionel... ? ¨

¨The safe house explosion and the accident were both attempts of his to stop her from testifying. He wanted her dead and, hurtful as it was, I have to say the crash was a blessing in disguise. It kept Chloe alive. ¨

¨Is Lionel onto her again? ¨

¨He´s tried to find out her whereabouts. I´m sure he wants to discover what she remembers exactly. Although, there may be more to it. ¨

¨What do you mean? ¨

¨My dad´s trying to take control of... 33.1, and I´ve been working to prevent that. ¨

¨Are you trying to convince me you´re the good guy here? ¨

¨Believe what you will, Clark. You wanted to know how things stood, and this is what you´re getting. ¨

¨Do you think your dad suspects anything about you and Chloe? And that he´ll try to use her against you? ¨

¨I´ve given his team some false leads to buy us some time, but dad ´s no fool. ¨

¨But... there´s ample proof you and Chloe ... hate each other. There are witnesses... she´s been working against you for four years... you´ve kidnapped her and submitted her to experiments at 33.1. How could he suspect of there existing feelings between you two beyond hatred? ¨

¨Clark, you know what everyone here knows- that is what I wanted everyone to believe. I´ve done my work perfectly well; and even Chloe- unbeknownst to her- has contributed to my plan. But if dad ever finds out the secret I´ve been keeping from everyone, Chloe included, all my efforts to shelter her will have been in vain. ¨

¨A secret? ¨

¨Yes, Clark. You know what it feels like to be sitting on a secret waiting for it to go off at any moment like a ticking bomb. Always thinking not if it´ll be discovered but when and by whom. I can see on your face you´re dying to know what it is, but you won´t get it out of me, Clark. You´ve never trusted me enough to share yours with me, and I can guarantee you this one is as private and as important as yours must be. Still, I can´t prevent her from confiding in you if she so chooses. She loves you and trusts you, so I´m going to put my faith in your friendship and let her decide what she wants to do. Here, take it, ¨said Lex, throwing him a mobile phone. ¨It´s disposable. Call her. She´ll be happy to hear your voice. Just don´t press her to tell you where she is and listen to her. She needs a friend, ¨finished Lex, putting on his overcoat and walking to the door.

¨Lex? ¨asked the young farm boy with a catch in his voice. ¨Do you think your dad can be stopped? ¨

¨I´ll die trying. Destroy it when you´re done. The call can´t be traced, but there´s no harm in being extra careful. ¨