A/N: A big thank you to Silently Tearful for the endless support, I hope you'll have fun reading this one as well!

Surferosa: Is this what you expected, love? *wink* I'm getting pumped up for THE next one!

Thank you guys for following the story! I can't help but endlessly enjoy writing it :)

Enigma

Though the place is one of the most expensive ones in Dallas, it's jam packed. Looks like people are happily paying the extra money for high-class french wine. Debby was right when she advised for an early reservation.

Joe and Gordon are not here for fun. Their business meeting can start any minute, and if the surroundings matter at all, they can book it as a success and Cardiff will win a rather influential partner on it's side, providing them with all the financial support they need to jump into a new project that's risky and groundbreaking, theoretically almost in the final phase. But to bring it into reality, it needs to gain enough foundation.

They're seated close to the entrance, making it easy to spot their guests arrive. Here's their best chance to score. The small group from Reynolds & Co. consists of the chairman himself with his vice and the company's CFO. Their interest is unquestionable and they don't hide their main motive: making as much money as they can. They would invest a large amount of it in return for a notable profit. Joe does what he can do best, setting in his greatest weapon, his charisma.

It takes a split second. That's how long he sees it from the very corner of his eye. He can't be wrong, not with this. Gordon talks intensely about the Giant's creation, all the innovation it bears, not mentioning how much he was against almost all of them. Not like it matters anymore. The perfect moment for Joe to excuse himself. He gets up from the table, sharing a few words with the host at the door. The guy discretely points his index finger in the direction of the balcony.

Joe's not in a rush. The sudden change in the situation wasn't planned ahead, but it happened. Now he needs to improvise as he's unhurriedly making his way out to the wooden tables under the white, ruffled canopy. He barely needs his eyes to find what he's looking for, the scent is enough to follow. The scent that can't be mistaken for anything else and he's smelling it out like a predator from a hundred miles, burning his insides with hunger.

Lorena's sitting with her back facing Joe, the straps of her aquamarine dress barely hiding her skin. She's not alone. The pair sitting in front of her look like they just stepped out of a classic Hollywood movie, vintage elegance with an undoubtedly luxurious taste. Of course, where else would have the lawyer inherited the ability to manage her own style the professional way she does?

The woman perceives the shadow falling on their table, biting off the second half of the sentence, her parents raising their eyes higher in perfect synchronization.

"Ms. Maze, I wasn't expecting to meet you here." Lorena isn't containing herself from splashing the wine into the man's face because it was extra pricey. She's holding it back because that's precisely what Joe wants. A show. And she's not willing to give it to him, especially not within these circumstances. She's rejecting to turn around.

"Mr. MacMillan, what an awful surprise." Though Joe was ready to see something on the faces of her parents, a pale sparkle of recognition that his name rings a bell, but there's nothing. Lorena knows she can't avoid the introduction, and it's fairly believable that the man just appeared for a quick hello. No, he's here to ruin and to meddle himself into something he's got nothing to do with. Joe's quicker than she is when he meets the questioning eyes of her father, taking the occasion and introducing himself instead, his arm stretched out for a handshake.

"Joe MacMillan. I'm Ms. Maze's boss." Lorena chuckles softly.

"Let me correct you, you're one of my bosses. But you're most definitely my least favorite one."

"Paul Maze. The only father of Ms. Maze." He blows out the smoke from the cigarillo, his gaze wonders from Joe to Lorena and back. "My wife, Valerie Maze." He puts his hand carefully on the woman's shoulder, they're a magnificent view.

It's hard for Joe not to shout into Lorena's face. In fact, his expression is perfectly coordinated, an inexperienced eye would never figure out about all the wrath inside. The woman keeps her eyes away from him, her ignorance is more than infuriating. But it's okay. She will regret it, he's going to make sure about that one.

"Who knows, Ms. Maze? Our relationship can turn out to be quite more than formal if I might have to call you 'mom'." He smiles widely, relishing in the way the woman turns around in slow motion, staring at him with dragon fire in her eyes.

"Excuse me?" Paul leans forward, his glare is dark as he's focusing on Lorena, he certainly wants her to explain what he just heard, but Joe ignores it completely.

"I'm sure Ms. Maze already told you about dating my father. Aren't you?" The urge to say she's fucking him was stronger than ever, but he had to fight it. And he's done. There's nothing more he could say to worsen the damage.

The silence's causing physical pain as it's getting longer and longer. The tension intensifies between Paul and Lorena without sharing a word, though Valerie places a warm touch on her husband's arm with hopes that it will help calm him down, but they're passed the point of that. She stands up, hooking on Joe's arm, flashing a kind smile at him.

"Take a walk, shall we?" He accepts the offer though it takes an effort to conceal his bloodthirsty mood.

They're leaving the father-daughter duo under the canopy, walking back inside of the building, taking a seat at the bar area. Valerie's signal is smooth but clean-cut, she will sit facing the balcony, divesting the man from enjoying the mess he made. She orders whiskey for both of them, before getting in eye contact with Joe.

The woman tilts her head a little, she's beautiful and she knows it, her eyes and lips are familiar, Lorena bears the exact copy of them.

"Once you'll have a kid you'll understand that regardless of their age, they'll always be your little baby. But you think you know everything, don't you?" Raising the glass at Joe, she takes a sip of the honey colored liquid. Her eyes wander to the spot outside, not lingering for too long. "I wanted her to have a peaceful and calm life like every mother would. But I had to accept that my realization about peacefulness is slightly different than hers." The man bathes in the way Valerie talks about Lorena, soaking up every little detail that might be scattered. "She's more like her father."

He knows nothing about the lawyer. The thought aches inside of his guts. The only thing she shared with him was Luke. His grip tightens around the glass as the memory's floating in.

"She's got persistence." The statement draws a soft smile on the woman's face.

"She does. And fortitude. She was standing a good chance to be a prima ballerina like I used to be."

"Ballerina?" The vision of her naked body floods him with excitement. He can still recall every freckle on her.

"She was very talented. But it wasn't challenging enough and she's very competitive, as I'm sure you know." There's something in the woman's look that makes Joe feel like she can hear the thought running through his head, get a peek on every image. She catches his trail of thought. "Tell me what outcome are you hoping to get out from this, hm? I warn you to be very careful. There's nothing more important for a parent than her child. And I will save my daughter from whatever is endangering her, may it be you or anything else that threatens to harm. Ask your father, he'd say the same."

What should it say about a company, that is otherwise considered professional and serious, if they celebrate the 20th anniversary of its funding at a local bar with strippers hanging from the ceiling?" The last thing Lorena wanted to spend her evening with was a party at some filthy strip-club with Joe.

If Gordon wouldn't enjoying himself at a dinner with his birthday wife right now, she shouldn't be wasting her time with such an unwanted activity. But here they are and Joe's passing the third red light since he picked the woman up from her home. His request for a casual attire failed miserably. The lawyer couldn't cheat on her usual self, wearing a tight, knee-length, sleeveless navy dress with the inevitable high heels, looking so appetizing Joe has to force himself to look away.

"We're two days from signing up with Reynolds & Co. We have to have them and I'm sure you'll make a bigger impact on them as Gordon would." The sleeves of his leather jacket are tucked up to his elbows, he rarely walks around in other than a suit but now he's dressed for putting dollars in panties, with dark jeans and a black shirt.

Lorena puts the glass down on the counter, slowly turning to her left. Her smile is menacing, just like the edge in her tone.

"I suggest you take your hands off me as quickly as you put it there. In case you want to keep that particular limb." The man doesn't move, his eyes are blurry. His face is not completely unfamiliar to the lawyer, but he could be anyone from that gigantic mass she found herself face to face since her arrival.

"I love this type. Playing the hard-to-get one." He's obviously drunk, but from the worst kind. The ones who become their true, sociopathic selves once the alcohol hits in, unfolding their hideous personalities to the whole world to see, being totally proud of it.

"Excuse me?" The stranger's stomping on her personal space with two feet. She leans away but it won't soothe her aura and she's anything but used to this kind of disrespect.

"I want to convince you otherwise, sugar, let's get out of here." The look on the woman's face is the expression she reserves for outstandingly repulsive-looking insects, but considering the situation, it is absolutely acceptable to use it. Too bad the intruder doesn't know what to do with the signs. He makes a sudden attempt to reach for the lawyer's neck with his mouth, but he's not in the condition to see straight, missing out on the opportunity.

"Do I look like I'm interested?" She might sound sarcastic and she is, but 1% of her question is still honest and is nothing but pure curiosity.

"Your denial is unnecessary from this point. I can read between the lines"

"I have serious doubts you can read at all. Who are you, again? A qualified mind reader?"

"That's what I'm talking about." The man's hand slides a bit lower on the woman's waist, his lips pouting. The consumed amount of alcohol makes him believe he's a real-life Don Juan. He's wrong, but it doesn't stop his grip to go even lower, the touch turns her stomach.

"Why don't we get back to the point where you remove your claws from me, and take the chance to walk away until you can, pretending that nothing happened?" A smile from the ugly kind spreads on the guy's face, he's not planning on moving away. He's already picked the toy he wanted to play with for the rest of the evening.

"This is what bitches like you do. Acting all unapproachable, but we both know what you want." She's straight up attacked, not only physically but verbally, and it makes her want to breathe fire.

"Please, tell me what I want." The sound of her own blood rushing in her ears is louder than ever before.

"You're trembling for a good fuck, aren't you?" His hand reaches the critical point, roughly grabbing on the woman's butt.

Lorena doesn't even have time to react, a well-known, deep voice explodes from behind her back just like a thunder.

"Let go of her. Now." Joe stares at the guy with determination. The people near them go dead silent.

"Or what?" He removes the hand from the woman, his posture is pure provocation.

Joe's wasting no time. The drunken chairman of the celebrating company sweeps down at least two tables as the momentum from the punch on his jaw drags him backward. His face is a mess, the shirt he's wearing is not white anymore, it's red, the exact color of his blood. Joe steps in front of him, towering above the man with a disgusted expression. Lorena pushes herself away from the counter, reaching Joe with long steps, putting her palm on his back, aware of how much she won't be able to stop him if he wants to destroy. The stain on the floor is getting bigger. Don Juan spits blood.

"I hope you have a good lawyer."

"You just insulted my best one." Joe's visibly struggling to hold himself back. If he'd let the animal out, it might tear the bloody-faced jerk apart into tiny little pieces. If he could listen to his own body for a single second, he'd realize how much his muscles are sore, tensed up like an arrow that's getting ready to be shot. It's only that little, warm spot on his back that helps him getting back into reality, swallowing the bitter taste of revenge, the careful touch of a small hand. He turns away from the mess, grabbing the woman by the arm while walking out of the club, followed by the hungry eyes of the crowd.

They're marching towards the Porsche in the parking lot. The relative silence after the blasting music is more than deafening. The cops can arrive at any minute, at least, it's what they expect. But there isn't any sign of sirens getting near them.

"I can't leave you alone for a minute." Joe speaks without looking at Lorena, his fingers are still tight around her arm though she's easily keeping up with his mile long steps.

"Do I sense reproach in here? I don't remember asking for help. I do not require protection from anyone. Especially not from you."

"Of course, you don't. You karate chopped that asshole with your remarkable sarcasm. I take you home." Reaching the car, the woman ignores the opened door, she's not willing to take the offer.

"You're not taking me home. I can take care of myself, thank you."

"Lorena, you're a trouble magnet on legs. Get in the car. I'm not arguing on this one with you." One hand on the door, the other is on the roof, he's blocking both sides she could escape, looking down at her with his head tilted to the right, signaling that there's only one way out of the situation, and that's following his order and taking the passenger seat.

None of them says a single word during the whole ride. There's not much they could talk about when they're forced to be way closer than they should, locked up in a sealed, metal cage. Lorena keeps her head turned away, staring at the passing street lamps though she doesn't see them at all. The screen in her mind is playing the same scene over and over again with Joe stepping out of nowhere and acting so carelessly that it makes her palms itchy. The idiot. Exactly the way he is, turning a blind eye on all of the consequences, responding without thinking. Lorena entwines her fingers in her lap, fighting the urge to lock them around the man's neck the way he'd deserve it. He has no idea how lucky he is, how lucky they are both. It could've ended so much worse than this, but it probably never even crossed his mind.

Joe parks the car in front of the lawyer's place, stopping it right next to her darling Mustang. The first time he saw her getting into it seemed like a joke until it turned out how mouthwatering the woman looks behind the wheel. Nobody believed it belonged to her when they first saw it in the parking lot. At a weak moment, somebody dared to ask her about how come a woman drives such a beast. The lawyer's answer was easy:

"So I can't ride whatever I want because of the fact that I'm a female? All right then, consider that car as my dick. And that's most definitely bigger than yours." The guy greets her from a mile away ever since whenever they meet up at the office.

Lorena makes her way out of the Porsche, not doubting for a single minute that her night won't just end here. Joe won't let it. They might've remained silent in the last forty-something minutes, but her skin was crawling with the feeling of anticipation to hear what the man has to say. If he thinks she's already forgotten his performance in front of her parents, behaving pathetically like a kid who doesn't want to get out of the toy store empty handed.

Joe doesn't need an invitation to step into the house with her. He's tightly behind the woman, aroused by the thought of having the opportunity to finally get a peek at her empire. She drops her heels down, making his stomach turn with desire right away, and he can't be sure if she did it on purpose or not. And here they are, trying to outsmart one another, circling around the matter like a lion does with his prey.

"I'd show you around but what would be the point of that?" The little smirk is sitting on the corner of the lawyer's lips, eyeing the man intensely.

"Be careful, Lorena. You might get yourself in trouble." Joe gets out of his leather jacket, hanging it right on top of a blush colored blazer with the intention of leaving his smell on it for her, making the woman wear him the next time she puts that one on, fighting himself into her mind unconsciously.

"What could I say? I'm busted already. You've put me in trouble and you know that. I'm not showing you around, Joe, this is a perfect spot for you to apologize." She's not blinking. The smirk is still present, yet she sounds fully serious.

The man shakes his head slowly, a grin spreading on his face.

"Somebody got scolded, I see. I wasn't meant to upset your father, especially now that he might have to worry about inviting his buddies over when his little princess is around, seeing how you might get in the mood for some mature devotion." There's a severe staring contest going on between them. Lorena can barely keep a straight face, Joe's getting closer to the line that she won't let him overstep.

"First of all, how dare you approach my parents and drag them into your fucked up little game? I advise you not to come nearer to my family. They have nothing to do with you."

"I really hope you're not serious with that question. Considering that you're fucking my father it sounds quite ridiculous. Though, your mother is gorgeous, if I may say so. We had a nice chat together while daddy laid you on his knees for being such a nasty little girl." He's leaving out the details of how much at some point it seemed like Valerie could read his mind, seeing right through him. He can't confess what his real reason was. He can't confess that it all happened because of Lorena, because she never mentioned him, never talked about him. Never let them know about his existence. When all he wanted was to be sure he's constantly on her mind, overtaking her thoughts and dreams. She simply ignored him.

"Get out, Joe. Leave right now." The woman won't tolerate him anymore. This kind of provocation is too tasteless for her to handle, and Joe's endeavor to drive her off the cliff is working perfectly.

It's like she never said a thing. None of them moves. Joe will not back down. She can't make him turn around and leave just like this. The line's been rudely overstepped and he's aware of that. But he can't let himself be the only one suffering. He steps closer to the lawyer, wondering if she's going to move away, but she isn't. Joe scoops the hair behind her ears, holding her cheeks with both hands, his thumb softly brushing against her lips. The woman touches the knuckles on his right, the one he used to punch that drunken bastard with, rushing to her rescue. He lets her remove that hand, taking a close look at it, outlining the bruises with a fingertip.

"Idiot."

"Your welcome." The man shoves her against the wall, feeling her chest heaving under him.

"You're rudely taking advantage of my hospitality, Joe." Lorena grabs the back of his neck roughly, biting her lower lip to muffle the sound of her moan as his body's grinding on hers, pushing her to the limit of her self-control where there will be no turning back anymore.

Her fingers tracing the tight muscles under his shirt and she's not restraining herself from stopping above his belt, though she hesitates for a moment and makes sure Joe acknowledges it, just to see the look on his face. He closes his eyes with delight, dropping his head back as he can feel the lawyer's firm grip. His erection is so massive, it threatens to destroy the fabric between him and the woman, hardly being able to hold himself back.

The feeling is familiar and more than desired. It feels like the earth is shaking, rocking her into the state of bliss where nobody else can ever put her. Nobody, except for Joe. His unpredictable ways, the thin line between him being gentle then turning rough in an instant, making her scream his name or just moan it when her lungs and vocal chords can't take it anymore. The way he feels, every little bit of his body on her, around her, inside of her. His taste that can't be compared to anything or anyone else. His sweetness mixes up with the taste of brandy, creating an excellent flavor combination. The man's hot breaths are burning her naked back, his groaning sounds like music to her ears. She grabs the sheets with both hands, the sensation of the upcoming orgasm makes her skin prickle. The thrusts are intensifying as Joe's getting closer and closer to the climax and she wants to reach the point with him but it's so hard to focus when the whole room is getting blurry, the muscles in her body are tensing up, her walls closing around him, holding him inside while she's collapsing on the bed, repeating his name a million times. Joe pulls her up like she's weightless, their skin meets and she can feel the hotness spreading inside of her, dipping her nails into his arms as he's leaning against the nape of her neck, whispering.

"...Lorena..." It's not her name.

Cameron turns around with wide eyes, the last waves of her orgasm are still washing over her, unsure if she really heard it correctly or just her imagination playing a trick on her.

"What?"

Joe knows it's too late to correct himself, so he doesn't even try to sort it out. And how could he? It's her that was in his head the whole time, she should have been shaking under his touch, whining for more, that astonishing scent mixed up with passion, easing his thirst from her mouth.

This is how it should have been. But Lorena dropped him out. She put his body to the test so much that one more stroke could've been enough to make him explode, and though she was shaking with rapture from head to toe, he was thrown out. Her voice was hoarse.

"I would, Joe. But I won't. And since I'm so easily replaceable, I'm sure you'll find a substitute. Either your hands or your little girlfriend." The exact words that left her lips. The lips that were swollen and red with lust. The ones she never let him taste.

"Joe, tell me you didn't just call me on the name of that bitch!" Everything makes sense now for Cameron, why she found Joe MacMillan on the doorstep in the middle of the night, agitated and turned on, flaming with anger. She jumps out of the bed, the man's following every move with his eyes, refusing to answer a question they both know the answer to. "Were you together?"

"I'm sorry if I hurt you, Came-"

"If you hurt me? If?" She stares at Joe with disbelief. "You're fucking kidding me right now."

"You need to calm down and come back here." His words are useless at the moment and it's something he's not used to at all. Especially not from Cameron. He walks up to her, looking down at her exposed body, stabbing his gaze right into hers. He's not touching the girl just yet, it's his perfect choreography. "I never promised you anything that I didn't keep. You know that. I need you at Cardiff and I need you outside Cardiff. But you can't force me to make promises that I can't keep up with. If you want to end this, it takes a single word. It's your decision." He places a long stroke on her arm, his timing is brilliant. It was and will be never Cameron's choice. He found out the way she can be manipulated a long time ago. And it works perfectly every single time. "But if you want to continue, I'm here for you whenever you feel like you need me."

The girl doesn't even have to say anything. Her eyes are selling her out. There might be a war inside of her right now, but nothing can be stronger than the way she wants to have Joe around. Not even jealousy. Not anything her common sense keeps shouting inside of her head. It's like an addiction and Joe is the worst kind of drug. She's willingly accepted to be ruined and used, hoping that he can change. That he will change, because of her.