A/N: Long chapter ahead, but then a lot happens.

Disclaimer: Not mine, just borrowing.

Juu-ni

"What's going on, Rangiku?" asked Toshiro as he climbed into the car.

It was mid-morning; they had only just parted three hours earlier and by rights Rangiku should be at work. She smiled at him and said, "We're playing hooky today."

Toshiro was not reassured. He removed his backpack and dropped it at his feet. "Does Byakuya-san know that?" he asked.

Rangiku took a breath, exhaled. "No," she admitted. "And if I told him he would stop us." Then she started the car, checked her mirrors and slowly pulled out into traffic.

"Are we running away?" asked Toshiro, after a few minutes silence. The school had surely called Byakuya already to let him know that his wife had inexplicably arrived to collect her son before call. Funny that, Toshiro had gotten into the prestigious boys' high school on a scholarship earlier that year and somehow Byakuya superseded her authority. Not to mention that the tracking device on Haineko would be relaying her location even now. There would be no running away from Kuchiki Byakuya, at least, not easily.

Not that she was running of course, because that was absurd. It was just a drunken kiss.

"No," she replied, checking her rear-view mirror. There were two Lexus SUVs trying to blend into the traffic behind them, one white, and the other black. That they had not yet stopped her suggested they were content to follow quietly for the time being. They could be Aizen's goons, but she doubted it.

"So where are we going?" asked Toshiro. He had settled into his seat and pulled out his phone. He did not look particularly interested in the answer. Rangiku suspected that if she really did try to run, her son would go along with her without question.

"You'll see," she said.

There was light traffic in the streets, most of Tokyo was already at work or school and those who were not either had errands or were tourists, so not in a hurry. Rangiku followed the shortest route out of the main part of the city, to the outskirts where the suburbs gave way to long stretches of nothing and one set of buildings in particular.

Toshiro would not know this place but the chase cars did. And when they recognised them, they simply overtook her and stopped across the lanes, blocking her path. Rangiku slammed on the brakes, she had no choice, and so did the other drivers behind her, some of who were probably on their way to visit relatives or work. But the Kuchiki guards had their orders.

"Where are we?" asked Toshiro, hand still braced on the dashboard. He had dropped his phone when she stopped, but Rangiku's lay in the centre console. It started ringing.

"Well, we were on our way to see Gin," said Rangiku, sitting back to glare at the men in their dark suits and sunglasses staring back at her. They wore no visible weapons and she suspected that they would not draw them, but they were definitely not going to let her pass. Rangiku was not surprised. She had only learned that Gin was awake because that annoying Apacci had announced it to the office when Rangiku walked in. That her dear husband had failed to inform her of it spoke volumes.

"What?" Toshiro sputtered, snapping his gaze to her. Her phone stopped ringing, and Toshiro's started up.

He bent to retrieve it and Rangiku nodded at the men ahead of them and replied, "And Byakuya won't let us."

Some of the drivers behind them had begun to honk their horns, though no one was willing to get out of their cars. They were too close to a prison of very violent individuals.

One of the dark-suited men, separated from the others with a phone at his ear. He walked over to Rangiku's car and tapped on the glass with a gloved hand. Rangiku obliged him by rolling down the window and he said, "Kuchiki-sama would like you to answer the phone."

Rangiku took a deep breath, then took Toshiro's still ringing cell from his hands and answered it with her cheeriest tone, "Moshi moshi, Byakuya-sama. How's work this morning?"

He ignored her pleasantries. "Where are you taking Toshiro?"

She glanced at her son and replied, "Oh, to see a relative in the hospital. You know how he gets when we keep things from him."

Toshiro's gaze sharpened, but he said nothing. Byakuya replied, "The man at your door is Ishiguro Kenzo. He's going to take your car. You and Toshiro are to get into the white car. I will be waiting for you at my office." Then he disconnected before Rangiku could protest.

Rangiku stared at the phone and exhaled. She wanted to be angry but a small part of her had always known that she would not have been allowed. Even if Byakuya had not stopped her, and Gin was conscious, there was still Gin's demand to get past. She gave Toshiro his cell, switched off the car and said, "Come on, Toshiro. Tou-san wants us to go back."

Toshiro took up his backpack, Rangiku retrieved her purse and they both got out of the car. "Ma'am," said Ishiguro with a nod as he got into the driver's seat.

Rangiku smiled back, and then started walking to the first chase car, Toshiro at her side. Toshiro was on his phone again, though this time he was messaging someone, at least that was what Rangiku guessed from the way the phone chimed intermittently. Karin, most likely. They got into the first car without protest, though Rangiku did cast one last look at the prison buildings before sliding in after Toshiro.

Another young man greeted them as they settled in, "Good morning, Kuchiki-sama, Hitsugaya-san, my name is Tachibana Kaito. I will take you both to Kuchiki-sama's office at Kuchiki Corporation headquarters. Please, make yourselves comfortable."

Rangiku smiled at him, but Toshiro ignored him. Neither said a word all the way back into the city.

No one batted an eye, at first, when Rangiku and Toshiro walked into the lobby of the main building of the Kuchiki Corporation's massive headquarters complex. Then someone must have recognised Rangiku for before they could make it to the elevator doors, activity quieted and murmurs rose. Rangiku caught more than a few lingering looks, particularly on Toshiro who definitely stood out with his white hair and school uniform. She put her hand on her son's back and guided him closer to her. He never looked up from his phone.

In the elevator, Ishiguro said, "I will be handing you over to Abarai Renji. He will take you to Kuchiki-sama's office."

"Okay," said Rangiku, curt.

She had had enough time to think about it and she decided that she was going to be angry. How dare he? How dare Byakuya and Gin both? Gin could have died in that attack. Did neither of them care what that meant to her? Did they not care what that could have done to Toshiro? She had already given up so much, were they really going to do this to her?

As Ishiguro said, Renji greeted them at the elevator doors. Being a generally friendly fellow, he smiled at them both and said, "Please forgive our actions, but it was critical that Kuchiki-sama not allow you to get to the prison."

Rangiku snapped. "Oh really? What, did he think I was going to try to break Gin out?"

Renji coloured pink, embarrassed, but Rangiku could not bring herself to care. And when they got to the door of Byakuya's office, she pushed past Renji to go in without waiting for invitation.

Byakuya stood with his back to the door, hands in his pockets, before the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office that overlooked Tokyo. Rangiku stopped a few steps into the room and said, "What the hell was that?"

Byakuya did not turn around. It was then that Rangiku realised that Toshiro had not accompanied her, and she guessed that Renji must have stopped him to "let the adults talk". Well, that was fine. Rangiku did not want Toshiro picking up any of the language she wanted to use at the moment.

Finally, Byakuya said, "I see that you've forgotten the terms of Ichimaru Gin's turn as state witness against Aizen Sosuke. He will give them anything they need as long as they keep you away from him. Or is it that you believe that his near-death incident would somehow allow that to be set aside?" Here he turned and continued, "Because I can assure you, Rangiku, that it does not."

Rangiku did not care. She snapped, "He was hurt. What if he had died? Are you telling me that I still would not be able to see him?"

"Per the terms of the agreement, Rangiku, no, you would not," said Byakuya.

He turned back to the window, the picture of calm and control. Rangiku wanted to push him through the glass. How dare he lecture to her like a parent?

"I don't care!" she yelled. "I have to see him. I've waited long enough. He was hurt and I have to see him, and so does Toshiro."

"Toshiro would never have been allowed in the building," said Byakuya, not looking at her. "He's still only fifteen, and even when he is eighteen, Ichimaru Gin has expressly forbidden his visiting as well. As far as he is concerned, you and your son are persona non grata." Byakuya turned to her again, this time fully, meeting her gaze, and said, "And you know why."

Rangiku did not want to hear that. She marched over to Byakuya's desk, snatched up the wedding portrait and raised her arm to throw it at him. He seized her arm before she could, moving so quickly that she had not even noticed, and trapped both of her hands in his.

"Let me go!" she commanded, struggling against his grip, glaring up at him.

He ignored her, easily plucking the picture frame from her hands and setting it down on her desk. Then he turned back to her and said, "Do you also not care then, that should you break the terms of this agreement, Ichimaru Gin will die?"

She stopped struggling, stunned, and stared at him, eyes wide. His expression was still solemn, closed off, bored even, as he replied, "That is what Ichimaru Gin demanded when he made his agreement. His intention, or so he claims, is to ensure that neither you nor Toshiro will be tainted further by his actions and his history. So, Rangiku, if you want him to live and be well, you will stay away from him."

She just stared at him, then blinked and pulled her hands from his grasp. He let her go, and she walked over and sank into a blue-grey sofa nearby. After a moment, he joined her, taking a seat on a cream, upholstered chair next to the sofa. There was another chair and a small, low table between them. She barely registered him taking up one of the four glasses set up on the table and pouring her a glass of water. She took it without looking at him, and he said, "This was not part of the original agreement, as you know, but it was recently revised. Aizen has been making attempts to contact him. He could not allow him to use you."

Rangiku's hands were shaking so bad she nearly spilled water over herself. Byakuya came over to sit beside her and took the glass from her hands, set the glass down on the table and intertwined their fingers in his lap. She asked, "C-can it be reversed? This change to the agreement?"

"Not as long as Aizen Sosuke is alive," said Byakuya.

Rangiku felt the last of her rage drain away to be replaced by grief. She bit back her sobs though, to say, "I want to see him."

"No," said Byakuya.

"I hate you," she said.

"You do not know me well enough to hate me. You dislike that I am reinforcing a decision made by another who did so in the interest of your safety and his. No, you cannot see him. For his sake and yours, I will not allow it."

She took a breath, looked up at Byakuya's face and asked, "Is this how you are in court?"

Byakuya let his expression soften only a little, and replied, "I am much worse. You would really hate me then."

She looked away from him and said, "I still want to see him."

"If you try it again, I'm going to lock you in the house," he said.

"I'd shoot you," she said.

"Unlikely. Now stop being unreasonable…actually, it is good that you're here. We'll be going on our honeymoon in two weeks," he said.

It was such a sharp turn from what they had been discussing that Rangiku gawked at him. He got up from the couch beside her and walked back to his desk. Without looking back at her, he replied, "My grandmother arranged for us to honeymoon in Thailand, and before you ask, we must go lest anyone be suspicious. There is nothing to be concerned about, it is merely for appearances."

Rangiku opened her mouth to say something, stopped, then tried again and only managed, "What?"

"We shall have the entire island to ourselves. A villa and yacht with staff to see to our needs, and of course we shall be in constant contact with everyone here. I know that you will want to speak to Toshiro," he continued, as if he had not heard her.

At this she managed to regain her senses, and stood up, saying, "Wait, wait, wait, what? Hold on, honeymoon? Didn't we just change jobs? Don't we have some very important things to do?"

He turned his head to her and replied, "We shall only be away for a week, but, as I said, we shall be in contact with those here so it is as if we never left."

"No, no, no, I can't go. Aizen Sosuke is in Japan. I'm not leaving Toshiro in Japan with him," said Rangiku. The image of the black limousine, Aizen's smiling face, grim-faced gangsters pulling her toddler from her arms as she screamed for him. It was replaced by the sight of Toshiro in the hospital bed and Byakuya's cut up back and she squeezed her eyes shut.

Oblivious, Byakuya said, "He cannot come with us. It would be far easier to snatch him away out of the country. He will stay with Rukia and Hitsugaya-obaasan. She has assured me that he will not leave her sight and my security team will not let them out of theirs. We shall also be under guard at the villa, though I don't expect us to need it. Remember that we are to be unsuspecting."

"He has been sending us threats!" Rangiku snapped, incredulous.

Byakuya turned to face her fully and asked, "Do you think that I am not aware of the danger?"

She did not answer. Her glare was enough. He held her gaze as he said, "I have no intention of throwing you or your son to the wolves. I want to stop Aizen too, and he must and will be stopped. But we must be careful. If we act too quickly he will disappear again and the next time I see him I intend to see him dead."

She still glared and he softened his tone and said, "Think of it as a small vacation to get your mind off of things before they get worse."

Rangiku scoffed at that, and turned away from him. She said, "The last thing I want is to go anywhere with you that is not going to take me near Gin."

"That is unfortunate," said Byakuya, nonchalant. "Because the last place I will ever let you go is near him."

0o0

Hisagi came as soon as he was called, picking Rangiku up in his jet-black sports car, a flashy, juvenile thing he had spent a year's savings on after Rangiku had made a throwaway comment about wanting to ride in one, and taking her, as directed, to the furthest point in the city he could get without leaving it and setting off one of Byakuya's trackers. There was still a car behind them though, which she noticed while checking her makeup in the wing mirror. It made no attempt to stop them but that it was there and visible was warning enough.

Hisagi glanced at it when they finally stopped at the lookout and said, "I could shake them down if you want."

Rangiku glanced at the car again and shook her head, hugging herself, and said, "They're more worried about Aizen and his men than you." Then she squeezed her eyes shut, cursing at herself, because she had forgotten about Kaname Tosen and Mugurama Kensei. Hisagi said nothing though, and when she opened her eyes, it was to find him tightly gripping the steering wheel in his hands. She said, "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry for," said Hisagi. He released the steering wheel and glanced at her. She stared out at Tokyo at night, the city lights like stars, the city itself a galaxy that could barely contain the many worlds it held. He said, "What did he do this time?"

"Saved me from myself," she said, twisting her mouth as if she had tasted something sour. "Apparently, I almost got Gin killed this morning."

She felt rather than saw Hisagi stiffen, but did not turn to look at him. After a moment, he said, "Come again?"

She sighed and said, "Gin changed the terms of his deal after Aizen returned to Japan. If either I or Toshiro try to contact him, he wants to be moved to death row. And before you ask, yes, I checked. He really did sign the agreement, and since Byakuya was one of the prosecutors attached to that case, he witnessed it."

"This was before or after you married Byakuya?" asked Hisagi.

Rangiku shrugged, thought about it and then said, "Before, the day before in fact. I wondered too if Byakuya had arranged it but he's not that crooked."

"Are you sure?" asked Hisagi. "What was he doing in that 'geisha house' anyway?"

"I told you, he was there to curry favour with a potential investor in his uncle's campaign. Turned out the guy was yakuza, he did not know and I helped him dodge a bullet. Stupid me, I should have taken him in. Guys like him walk on stuff like that all the time. Can you believe that his family have a freaking ancestral castle?"

"You could still leave," said Hisagi.

Rangiku exhaled heavily and said, "Yeah, leave the country. Just take Toshiro and disappear. I think I just might make it to the South China Sea before one or the other hauls me back to shore."

"You could still leave," repeated Hisagi.

"I know," said Rangiku. She closed her eyes and leaned back into the seat. Bucket seats were not really made for comfortable reclining. She opened her eyes and found Hisagi staring at her. He was closer than he needed to be to talk. She did not move away. The men in the car behind them probably could not see them from this distance. She swept her thumb over the diamond-studded band on her left hand ring finger.

"If it was me…" Hisagi began, and then stopped, massaging his forehead. He took a breath, tried again, "If I was your husband, I would have respected your need to see Gin, even if it went against the deal, you had a right to see for yourself that he was okay. There are ways for you to see him without him knowing that you are there. You would not have to run. You would be able to talk to me about your problems and not go to another man."

Rangiku rolled the window down and put her hand out. Even in the dim light the ring sparkled like a star. Hisagi moved back and sent his window down as well.

"If it was you," said Rangiku, thinking about it for a moment. "It would not have made much of a difference. Gin has never wanted to see me, not since he joined up with Aizen when he was fifteen. He tried to keep me at arm's length and like a fool I just kept running back to him…but I would still have needed that ear."

"Then maybe you need to forget about Gin," said Hisagi.

Rangiku did not reply. She had thought about it, had tried even, but that was impossible. She said, "He was in my life for too much and for too long. I cannot forget him, not for anyone."

"You won't know until you try," said Hisagi.

Rangiku closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. When she opened them again, she said, "I want to drink. Take me to a club."

"What?" Hisagi asked, surprised at the sudden shift in conversation.

Rangiku straightened in her seat and rolled up the window. "Let's go, a club with a lot of loud music and alcohol and dancing."

Hisagi stared at her for a moment, still stunned, then blinked, straightened his own seat and started the car.

The first club was a washout. The crowd was too young and after the first joint pass, Rangiku just wanted to shut them down and arrest everyone. She only just stopped herself by forcing Hisagi to take her somewhere else. The second place had an older crowd, a restaurant with a dance floor. Rangiku had the lobster and champagne, while Hisagi stared at the beer in his hands as if it were doling out wisdom with each sip. When he asked her to dance, Rangiku refused, complaining about the "geriatrics" already there, and demanded that he take her to a karaoke bar.

Rangiku knew that she should probably feel bad about the way that she was treating him, but she did not really care. The karaoke place was in her old neighbourhood, a place she had frequented in high school. She tried to assemble a larger group but Nanao's phone was switched off and Momo had grumbled something about a date and hung up on her. Byakuya had not called but the car tailing them had not disappeared either so she supposed he was satisfied that she was okay. Fine, no karaoke for them, they would go to a geisha house then, a real one.

The geisha that came to them was not a woman at all, but an old rival by the name of Ayasegawa Yumichika who was called "Fuji Kujaku". Rangiku did not like that his stage name reminded her of Byakuya's bitch of an ex-fiancée but she could not hold it against him. Yumichika was beautiful in a way that made people take a double take, and in his make-up and bright purple kimono, though with a single kanzashi stuck into his long, black hair, was one of the most popular geisha at the house. He greeted Rangiku with air kisses and congratulated her on her wedding. He was not pleased to see her companion.

"What's this thing, Ran-chan? Where is your beautiful husband?" he asked, holding his fan up over his mouth and nose as if he had smelled something terrible. No one could do scorn like Yumichika, not even Rangiku. He had it down to an art.

Hisagi's eyes widened a moment before they narrowed into a glare and he snapped, "What did you just say?"

"Ah, and he's rude too," said Yumichika, turning away from Hisagi to look at Rangiku. "Don't do it, Ran-chan. If you're going to cheat, at least aim high."

"I'm not cheating!" snapped Rangiku, glaring. She was having trouble thinking clearly. The alcohol was beginning to get to her. "I just needed a break."

"From what? Don't be silly. Let me see that ring!" he said and pulled Rangiku's hand to his lap to better examine the diamonds. Then he glared at Hisagi and said, "You see this here? You will never be able to buy her anything like this. Stay in your league. Aim low. And above all, do not destroy her marriage. If you are responsible for anything off I read in the society pages in the coming weeks, I will gut you like a fish and feed you that thing between your legs."

"Why you…" Hisagi began.

Yumichika snapped his fan closed again, cutting Hisagi off and turned to Rangiku. "Go home to your husband; Ran-chan. Whatever you're mad at him about is nothing that you cannot work through together. Not if this is how you're reacting to it."

Rangiku inhaled and said, "I'm not mad at him."

Both Yumichika and Hisagi turned to look at her. "What?" Yumichika asked, forgetting to be delicate.

Rangiku shook her head, sobering a little as realisation hit. "I thought I was mad at him," she said, sadness settling over her. "But I'm mad at myself. I swore to myself a long time ago that I was not going to let Gin turn me into a wreck and look what's happened."

"Ah, this is about Ichimaru-san," said Yumichika, nodding. Then he smacked Rangiku on the head with his fan and said, "What the hell is wrong with you? Why are you here with this loser then?"

"Hey!" protested Hisagi.

Rangiku felt her throat close up and tears filled her eyes, blurring her vision. "Oh goodness," she breathed, and then she began to cry.

Yumichika snapped his fan open again and fluttered it twice. It was the signal for privacy. A moment later, the screens were shut around them and he said, "What has gone wrong?"

For a time, Rangiku could only sob in reply. And then she said, "I'm so confused. Byakuya is…he's…he's a good man. He's a very good man. He cares about people, even if he does not show it. And Gin…Gin cares about me, only me, and sometimes Toshiro but only me. Byakuya could give a girl the world if he wanted to and Gin would give her the heart of the guy who looked at her wrong when she was walking home…I don't know what's wrong with me…."

"Oh, darling, don't…don't cry, don't do that," said Yumichika, slapping Rangiku's back. She coughed and he stopped to lift her chin so that he could see her face. Then he smiled at her and said, "Go home to your husband. You cannot have a life with Gin. He's a dead man living on borrowed time. Cry for him in that Mercedes and move on with your life." Then he released her chin, turned to Hisagi and said, "Now, you, take her home and stop trying to fill her head with nonsense. I think I'm done here."

In the end they were escorted out by Ikkaku, Yumichika's partner and bodyguard. And when they sat in Hisagi's car again, Rangiku said, "I think I should go home. It's been hours. I don't want him to come get me himself. It would be bad."

Hisagi began, "Rangiku, is he—"

"Let's go, Shuuhei," said Rangiku, drawing her seatbelt. When she buckled it, she sat back and refused to look at him.

After a moment, he exhaled, pulled his own seatbelt and started the car. Once they were on the move again though, Rangiku said, "Can we take the long way back?"

Hisagi did not reply but complied anyway. Rangiku kept her gaze trained out the window, silent, lost in her thoughts.

She did care for Byakuya, she was not in love with him, not yet, but she cared deeply. He was good to her and Toshiro, how could she not fall for him? But theirs was a marriage of convenience, not love. Instead of the grand ceremony she had always dreamed and his family would have demanded, they had a ten minute signing that did not even end in a kiss. Her wedding band was a gaudy thing he had selected because he thought she would have liked it, and he had brought along a plain one in case she had not. Her wedding gown was a day dress that still had the tag, which she only discovered when she took it off, and he had worn a suit he would have any other day in the office. She had never really wanted those things before, but she had also always thought that if she got married, there would be more to it than…whatever this was.

And then the other night he had kissed her. What was that about? Sure, it was probably the alcohol and he never mentioned it again, not even when the kiss made front page news, but still. They should have discussed that. They should not have let it happen in the first place.

She glanced over at Hisagi. He was a good man too, true, loyal and kind. He had loved her since the first day he saw her, or so he had told others, though never to her. He had thought himself beneath her notice and the truth was that he was not. She had noticed him but she just did not feel for him the way that she had about Gin…and what she was beginning to feel for Byakuya. Life just was not fair sometimes.

It took two hours for them to get back to Seireitei Tower, and that was because Hisagi had decided to stop for gas and a late-night snack. Rangiku had had two more beers and was well on her way to drunk. She knew she had passed tipsy and moved to high when Hisagi stopped the car in the parking garage and she kept missing the catch for the seatbelt.

"Hey, do you need help with that?" asked Hisagi.

Rangiku's fingers finally found the button and she said, "Nope."

Hisagi grasped her hand anyway and said, "Rangiku."

She looked up at him and he kissed her.

It was the shock that made her freeze when his lips pressed against hers. In all the time that Rangiku had known him, Hisagi had been dropping hints that he liked her but he had never made a move. He reached up to touch her face, and then tilted their heads to press firmer and Rangiku sobered at once. Then she pulled away from him and pressed her back into the door.

"What the hell?" she demanded.

The chase car had stopped and the men within had stepped out. One of them was walking towards the car. Hisagi just stared at Rangiku, his face red though he had set his mouth in a manner that suggested he was trying to be stubborn.

"What the hell?" Rangiku repeated. Then she searched around for the door handle, opened it and backed out of the car.

The Kuchiki guard who had been walking to the car met her as she emerged and shut the door for her. Rangiku walked away and around the car to go to the elevator. The second guard stood at the driver's side of Hisagi's car and said, "We'll take care of Kuchiki-san from here. Please, have a good night detective."

Rangiku did not hear Hisagi's reply. She was already in the elevator and willing it to take her up to condo faster.

That was stupid, stupid, stupid, so goddamned stupid! That was the stupidest thing she had ever done, well, second stupidest after marrying Byakuya. How the hell could she have allowed Hisagi to kiss her? If anyone had seen them, well apart from the Kuchiki guards who she was going to have a serious conversation with once she was fully sober…forget Aizen, the Kuchiki would kill her themselves.

0o0

"Is she still with Hisagi-san?" asked Tomoe.

Byakuya exhaled and replied, "I don't know."

"Your wife has been in the company of another man for more than five hours. The answer to the question of where exactly, should never be 'I don't know'."

Byakuya closed his eyes against the scold and took another deep breath. Then he said, "I wanted to give her some space. She was upset about this morning."

"Ah yes, this morning where she tried to go visit her old boyfriend with her son. Byakuya-sama, does she not sleep beside you at nights? Who are these men that she is able to run to whenever there is trouble? I thought she no longer worked with Hisagi Shuuhei?"

The elevator stopped and Byakuya disembarked before replying, "She is not but they are friends."

"You allowed this to continue?"

"I could hardly stop it; she is an adult woman with her own mind," said Byakuya. He opened the door to the apartment and stepped in. Silence greeted him. Toshiro's books were on the kitchen counter again and so was Rangiku's handbag and cell phone. She would not have left without them.

"She is your wife. If you forbid it, she has to obey you," said Tomoe.

Byakuya scoffed. "Yes, because Grandfather certainly never had any trouble trying the same thing on you. Rangiku would shoot me."

Tomoe scoffed and replied, "There is more than one way to make her unwilling to disobey you. We need her. I hardly think she's going to try to run if she's carrying your baby. Women think of the needs of the child first. She has already shown that—"

Byakuya paused at the bottom of the staircase to process his grandmother's words and then took a breath. She stopped at the sound and he said, "You will not speak of that again."

"Byakuya-sama—"

"Need I remind you, in case you have forgotten, just how that first child came to be? Or are you one of those who believe that somehow Ichimaru Gin is actually Toshiro's biological father because I can assure you that he is not. I will not hear such a suggestion again," he said.

She took a breath herself, released it slowly and then said, "All I mean is that she will not leave you if she believes herself to be in love with you. The attraction is there, it was all over the society pages. Make her believe that it is more than that."

Byakuya sighed again and said, "Good night, grandmother." Then he disconnected the call and walked up the stairs to the bedroom. He opened the door to find Rangiku pacing.

She looked up without stopping—hair a tangled mess, eyes red, a bottle of sake in one hand—and said, "Oh, hi honey."

He lifted an eyebrow at her, and her term of endearment, and said, "Is something wrong?"

"No," she said, dismissing his question with a headshake. Then she stopped and turned to look at him. Byakuya stood straighter, waiting. After a moment she groaned, set down the bottle on the dressing table and stomped across the room to him.

He did not take a step back but he wanted to, especially with the way she held his gaze. She stopped again when she stood before him, took a deep breath and then leaned forward and kissed him.

Byakuya was so surprised he froze. Rangiku did not notice, she pressed closer, putting one hand on his chest to brace herself while the other cupped the back of his head. He inhaled sharply and she slid her tongue along his lips and tried to slip it past them. That jerked him from his stupor and Byakuya seized hold of her arms and pushed her away from him.

For a moment they just stared at each other, Rangiku still with that determined look in her eyes and Byakuya stunned, and then he asked, "Rangiku, what are you doing?"

She pushed back against his grip but stopped when he held her fast and said, "Kissing my husband."

She did not try to press him again but ducked her head a little, as if shy, and looked up at him through her eyelashes. His wife knew very well how to play coquette. But why? It could not have been Tomoe, because he doubted any woman, particularly one with Rangiku's history, would be party to her own entrapment. So what was this? Holding her gaze, he slipped his hands from her arms to her back and pulled her up against him. She did not hesitate to kiss him again.

This time when she tried to deepen the kiss, he let her, tilting his head to the side so that she could have better access. Her hands slid up his shoulders and he felt her tongue reaching even further. He slid his along hers, and drew it in, letting her explore his mouth and get used to the taste of him. She was eager, if a little drunk, getting up on tiptoe to wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He could feel the press of her breasts against his chest, the friction of the movement hardening the nipples and sending a tingle to the base of his spine. Heat surged through his belly, the sound of her panting breaths calling to his long dormant desires. Then she slid one leg along his and hooked her foot along his calf. He almost feel the blood going south as he hardened and he pulled back breaking the kiss. Her lips chased his own but when he refused her, she exhaled and began pressing kisses along his jaw to his throat.

This was not just a kiss, she did not even seem to care that he had stopped responding. Her fingers sought the collar of his shirt, she loosened and pulled his tie free and dropped it on the floor. He seized her hands, stilling them and she stepped back to look at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

She smiled again and pulled her hands free and took off her own jacket. He could clearly see her nipples beaded against her blouse a moment before she pulled her blouse from her skirt and up over her head. His eyes went wide. She was wearing a bra, a dark blue lace one that concealed nothing beneath, but he suspected that she did not intend to wear it for long. He walked over to her and seized her hands as they went for her skirt.

"What are you doing?" he repeated.

"We could, you know," she said in a low voice.

Byakuya stopped and stared at her, stunned. There was no slurring in her response. If he had not tasted the alcohol he would think her completely sober. She ignored his hands to unzip and drop her skirt. Of course the bottom half of her underwear matched the top, though the boy shorts did not quite cover her round peach rear end. She said, "We don't have to wait for the honeymoon. They already think we have and your grandmother is practically begging us to, so we can." She reached for his belt, unbuckled it and pulled it free.

"Rangiku," he said. He wanted to stop her. He knew that he should because she was intoxicated but he was having a little trouble communicating that to his hands. She grinned when she noticed his arousal and began to unbutton his shirt. This time when he grasped her hands he said, "You're drunk. Is that what you've been doing all day?"

She wrenched her hands from his and walked away. There were two deep dimples in flesh above her rear end. "I'm not that drunk," she said. She turned to look at him, smiling. "I made this decision of my own free will and volition. And a little alcohol makes it fun."

She reached up again and unhooked her bra. Byakuya swallowed and then walked over and seized her hands again before she could pull it off her shoulders. She glared at him and said with a pout, "If you keep doing that I'm going to think that you don't want me."

"Stop it. You know you don't want to do this," he said, trying to put some force behind it.

She lifted an eyebrow and said, "So what you're saying is, you don't mind?"

He sighed, turned her around and then bent to get a hand behind her knee and lifted her up into his arms. She squealed in surprise. Byakuya did not go to the bed though, but to the bathroom, set her down in the shower and turned it on. This time she screamed in outrage.

"I think you need to cool down. Stay there until you do," he said. Then he turned his back and purposely walked out of the bathroom. He stopped in the middle of the bedroom, breathed out and then laughed. Of all the things he had been expecting when he got home that evening, it was certainly not his wife's drunken attempt at seduction. How cruel she was. Did she have any idea what she was asking for? Did she think that when he took her to his bed that he would easily allow her to leave? Sawako was different, he did not feel anything for Sawako, but Rangiku…

He bent to retrieve her clothing from the floor and his phone rang. He answered without looking at the number and so was not prepared for the voice on the other end.

"Hello, Kuchiki-sama."

Byakuya stopped, then straightened and glanced back at the bathroom. Rangiku had not yet emerged. All thoughts of her naked and panting, writhing beneath him flew from his mind. He walked out of the bedroom and shut the door before replying, "Ichimaru Gin."

"How kind of you to remember my name. How is Ran-chan?"

"My wife is none of your concern," said Byakuya. He went down to the living room. Both Toshiro and Granny Hitsugaya were in the house and neither of them needed to overhear this conversation.

"Nope, I think Ran-chan is absolutely my concern. Did you give her my message?"

Byakuya decided not to reply. He went over to his office. There were people he needed to contact. Gin did not seem bothered by Byakuya's silence. He replied cheerily, "I'll take that as a 'no' then. Well, what did I expect? I did sign her over to ya…but you know, on reflection, I don't think that was such a good idea. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take Ran-chan back."

"That's interesting," said Byakuya, booting his computer, "I do wonder how you intend to do that from the confines of your prison cell."

Gin chuckled and replied, "Well that's the thing. I could not do that in there, I know, so I'm out."

Byakuya stopped. Gin laughed and said, "Yep, prison's not for me so I left. I should have gone a while back but that was when I thought you were going to keep Ran-chan safe. As it turns out, you can't, so now I have to show you how it's done."

Byakuya said, "You will stay away from my wife, Ichimaru Gin. If you have escaped as you claim, your life is now forfeit. I cannot allow you to do the same to her."

Gin sighed and said, "You noble types, always talking about what you will or won't allow, and what people can or cannot do. Ran-chan though, she's not like you. What makes you think she won't come running to me? How are you going to stop her?"

Byakuya decided not to reply but Gin just laughed and disconnected the call. Byakuya took the phone away from his ear and threw it into the opposite wall. This was not the time. His uncle had dismissed his challenge as if he were still the hot-headed spoiled brat he used to be. Sawako was the genuinely efficient and level-headed manager the Kuchiki needed. Aizen was trying to kill him and according to his security team, it was quite clear that the man had spies on him and his family. Worse, Byakuya had no evidence to link the two men and he had been searching for weeks. The last thing he needed was his wife's ex-boyfriend joining the fray. It was time to call in some help.