"You called Clark?" Chloe shrieked.
Oliver glared at her in the mirror which he'd purposely avoided while Tess fixed her clothes. She couldn't say the same of Hal, who was driving and ogling her friend at the same time, and the accumulation of scares was starting to get to her. Chloe used the command on her armrest to lower the window and get some fresh air before she returned her attention on the men in the front seat.
"You walked into the headquarters of the Bratva without backup, Chloe, what was I supposed to do? Wait until the canary over there got a part in the Russian version of a Burlesque show?"
"Hey!" Tess protested.
"You can sing?" Hal asked, once again staring at his somewhat girlfriend.
"Yes, I do. I also know how to sign, fence and gut a fish. Now keep your eyes on the road, will you? I'd like to get home in one piece."
"We're going to the penthouse." Oliver declared. Chloe slanted a glance toward her friend, but apparently, Tess had recognized the danger of protesting and closed her mouth shut in a thin line. "And yes, Chloe, I called your precious boy scout with specific instruction to wait for us!"
Chloe objected, "Don't call him that. Clark can't be around Kryptonite, you have no idea what—"
A vein pulsed on the side of Oliver's neck. She decided to keep the rest of her objection to herself.
"He didn't stick around, did he? We had talked about this, we agreed you would let me handle it!"
"I—"
"At least you had the good sense to mess with your phone before you walked in, but what the fuck were you thinking?" Oliver roared.
"Hey!" Tess pushed the tail of her shirt into her slacks. "Don't swear at her!" Hal yanked the wheel to the right to switch lanes in a cacophony of honks and angry screeches. Chloe's stomach lurched at the abrupt roll. She took shallow breaths, her head full of cotton. When the vehicle stopped at a red light, she welcomed the respite with a sigh. Tess glowered at the young man then looked back at Chloe.
"Are you all right, Honey? You're awfully pale."
They shot forward at the green line. Chloe swallowed the lie. "I…"
"Hal, stop the car."
"We're nearly there, Oliver, it's all right. I'm fine. The baby's fine. Everything is just bloody fine!"
The events of the day added to the tension in the car and her nausea urged her to scream in frustration.
"You're pregnant?" Tell squeaked. She smacked Oliver in the back of his head. "You got her with child? She's twenty, bougre d'imbécile!"
"Tess!" Chloe couldn't believe the redhead had just slugged Oliver. She caught his stare in the mirror, and apparently, he couldn't believe it either. The blonde rubbed his skull with a half-aggravated, half-stunned expression on his face.
"All right, children, keep quiet, I'm driving."
"Shut up, Hal!" Tess shot back. "So what do you plan to do about it, Mister I-have-billions-and-I-know-how-to-use them? That slug had one thing right, I don't see a ring on your fiancée's finger."
"You're engaged?" Hal spluttered. The car swerved dangerously toward the opposite lane.
Chloe buried her face in both hands. "This is getting out of hand…"
Her moan apparently was the last straw for Oliver. "Hal, turn here."
"But—"
"Yes, right here! Thank you."
The turn brought them to the dead end. Hal maneuvered to make a U-turn, but as soon as the car stopped so he could put the car in reverse gear, Oliver exited the car and walked toward the Chloe's door, opening it and offering her his hand. She stepped out, sighing in relief when the queasiness settled down almost immediately.
Oliver rubbed one hand in her back. "You're all right to walk the rest of the way? It's a handful of blocks."
She offered a tight smile. "Yes." She would walk twice the distance if it meant she didn't have to get into a car with Hal behind the wheel anytime soon.
"Good. Get that car back wherever you got it, I don't want to know. We'll see you both" he glared at Tess "at the penthouse later."
Oliver slammed the door close then started toward the main street without waiting for any form of agreement. Chloe trotted after him, grateful he adopted a more sedate pace once he stepped onto the sidewalk. Oliver found her hand and threaded their fingers together.
"I'm sorry…"
"I don't like being yelled at."
"I know and I am sorry. You scared me." Oliver's chagrined smile was disarming. "I think I lost my temper more in the three months I've known you than in the past three years."
"I was scared too. I'm not an idiot, I know he wasn't interested in Tess' vocal performance." Chloe squeezed his hand back. "But I shouted at you, too, so I guess it makes us even. The past hour is a little surreal, to be honest."
She'd understood the trouble they were in only too late. Tess deserved a solid dressing down for it, something she doubted Hal would deliver. But then, he seemed to get to her in a different way so maybe it would be better to have him explain the whole thing was her fault. In any case, Chloe felt she should have been able to stop the redhead. "I was distracted and I failed to notice the name of the club Tess was dragging me in."
"Why did she?"
Chloe adjusted the strap of her bag on her shoulder. Oliver reached for her purchase bags with his free hand.
"What are you doing?"
"Holding your bags. That's one of my boyfriend's privileges…" His thumb ran over the back of her hand as they walked. She fought a blush. The shiver of awareness that traveled to the pit of her stomach with each back and forth she couldn't suppress. Chloe tried to go back to the subject at hand before she foolishly asked what other privileges he had in mind.
"Tess is stuck with this project for the Institute, that the City requested about the shorelines…"
"She's in charge of the inventory they ordered along the shore? I'll have to mention that to Walter. With QI involvement, it's better to avoid any appearance of conflict of interest."
"Because we're friends?" Oliver nodded. "I hadn't thought of that…"
She dealt so little with Oliver Queen the CEO, it'd slipped her mind. Chloe tensed, a light frown marring her features. Only two months ago, she wouldn't have forgotten such a detail. Hell, only days ago she praised her ability to make connections and see the bigger picture. What else had she overlooked?
"Still with me, Sidekick?"
Chloe forced herself to nod. "Yes, sorry. I'm just tired."
Oliver squeezed her hand gently. "We're nearly there. So what does Salinas Point have to do with this afternoon adventure?"
"Well, Tess complains that the project's sponsor put a mole with the institute. Tess saw her—Nadia— earlier while we were on our way back. She was entering that place and she, Tess, wanted to know why."
"Please tell me the sponsor is not who I think it is…"
Chloe looked at her companion with a helpless shrug. They waited at the red light to cross the street. The Elysian Gardens in front of them was a gilded affair of steel and sunset light. "Can we go inside?"
"Inside the gardens?"
Walking with Oliver like another couple calmed her and she didn't want their promenade to end. "I've never been…"
At that, his smile turned teasing. "Now I feel like I'm sequestering you in your tower like Rapunzel."
Chloe swatted at his hand when he tried to pull on a curl of blonde hair. "Use your grappling hook if you feel like climbing a wall, Arrow."
"Very funny, Watchtower."
Oliver tugged at her hand until she faced him. His brown eyes caressed her face. The previous spur of sensations grew tenfold. "You know…" He placed both arms around her waist. She came willingly into him, smiling. "In all that commotion, I think I forgot to say hello…"
"A terrible oversight on your part. Maybe I should rescind your boyfriend privileges."
"Would you, really?"
"Mayb—"
He stole her quip right from her lips. Her laughter dissolved into a quiet moan as the kiss deepened, his fingertips pressing just a little more in her hips, trailing heat in their wail…
"Sorry to interrupt…"
She'd been too busy sinking into his kiss to catch the telltale of Clark's arrival, but even after four years, she recognized that tone. Oliver grunted against her mouth before he eased away. Chloe wrapped one arm around him to keep him close. If she was to face her alien friend's teasing, so was he. It was his fault they'd been interrupted, after all.
She beamed at the newcomer. "Hi Clark."
The dark-haired man grinned back, with a hint of a smirk lingering at the corner of his mouth. "You're okay then?"
"Everything worked out. Happy ending all around."
Chloe hazarded a glance toward Oliver's face at the bite. The dark edge in his eyes would have cut glass. The charming smile in place was equally lethal.
"Do you want to come up Clark?"
Oliver's arm vibrated under her hand when he swallowed a growl. Clark must have heard it, too. "Huh… Yeah? Sure. I can't stay long, though."
Chloe drilled her finger into Oliver's side before he let out the other snarky retort she was sure was searing his tongue. People were starting to stare. Or they were starting to wonder about the billionaire, the blonde he'd been kissed senseless, and the farmboy who'd interrupted.
She hooked her hand firmly around Oliver's elbow, leaving him no choice but escorting her inside the Queen Tower. Clark followed. To his credit, he didn't shuffle his feet a bit, but he made no attempt to make small talk. Considering how fast Oliver's muscled forearm was hardening below her fingers, Chloe figured it was just as well.
When the elevator doors opened to let them in, she put herself between the two men. Then she braced for the explosion.