- Chapter Thirteen (And A Half) -

To Have And To Hold

Engine idling as the sleek foreign model pulled up outside the warehouse, he wrung his hands in anticipation of the meeting. And partially from the autumn chill blasting mercilessly in through the busted air conditioning of his antiqued Oldsmobile, but mostly the first thing. He'd called the rendezvous on the pretense of 'bumping into a guy', knowing full well that the other man would be lured in by the prospect of finding the trinket. Less than a rumor as it stood, for all he could care the rich prick could shove it up his ass and spin. There was no guy, no new information on an unsubstantiated legend, it was just the only way he knew he could get the icy-eyed devil on his own.

Relatively speaking.

Peeking through the rear view mirror at the luxury European sports model the rich brat was so fond of showing off, apparently the car wasn't the only thing that had been imported. Rafe's old man had hired the freaking terminator to guard over his son - everyone knew that at this point - but he didn't realize that the multi-billionaire trusted his babysitter enough to take her along to these kinds of deals. Either there had been a new amendment to the original contract written in white or else Rafe didn't believe him when he said that he was fine with what had transpired in Bolivia.

Armed to the teeth with the mountains of evidence that supported both theories, it feasibly could have been a combination. Rafe Adler didn't seem to be particularly picky about the company he kept - if he took a shine to you, so long as you stayed on his good side you'd be set. Although if you were dumb enough to squander that divine glow or he just lost interest... Well, the fem-bot had the advantage of being as moody and as bat-shit as her boss/presumed lover, so on a lot of levels they made all the sense in the world. If you could call two psychos free to terrorize at will sense.

"Inhuman hussy." Furious enough to spit on a dog - which he would never do, being a staunch member of PETA - the ginger-haired antiques mover grabbed the revolver from the passenger seat. Due to the nature of his job, the model at his knee was no replica but a fully-functioning tool.

Raised by his grandfather for a majority of his life, the harmless old man who's biggest sin was cheating at cards had an unfortunate run-in with Adler and his cleavage-bearing muscle. They had been brokering a deal over a broken grandfather clock of all things. The harlot mentioned having a similar one growing up, and "being the generous sort", Rafe had decided to buy it for the woman. Initially she fought him on the gesture, but after enough insistences she buckled and accepted the gift on the condition that she be allowed to set it back at her own leisure. Grandfather had no clue what the young couple had been on about and simply wanted to make the sale, but it wasn't enough for her to receive the nostalgic reminder of home - she had to accuse the old man of trying to rip her boss off. It was a fair price, but she kept saying that it was too much, that the icy-eyed sociopath was being swindled. Growing bored of the transaction, Rafe shot the old man without warning and threw an uncounted stack of bills on the counter. Adding insult to injury, she just walked away with Adler after leaving an address to have the clock sent.

Directly equal on his list, Rafe wasn't without blame either. Discovering that the prim little rich boy had only used him to gain access to an invite-only black tie event, that stung, but learning that he was about to be replaced by Raja of all people! Urgh, just thinking the name was enough to make his blood boil! He'd worked hard on getting this all into place, and the minute that he was no longer useful to Rafe, he was out?! Nah-uh! Jared wasn't about to go down without a fight. He'd save that for Adler's staff.

Gun hidden away beneath the front of his quilted olive parka, Jared Holtz flashed his headlights into the side of the factory wall to signal that it was time. Pulling his key out of the ignition with only a moment of hesitation, he got his head into the game by reminding himself of who was going to benefit from this job in his place if he didn't stand up for himself. What happens next is karma. Getting out of his own vehicle, he grinned as he watched Rafe instructing the automaton to stay with the driver. Good. Her absence would only make his job that much easier!

Clearly Robo-maid had her qualms about the situation as she attempted to follow him out of the car anyways, however she couldn't find it in her circuitry to defy a direct order. Pouting about it in sullen silence, the woman left the door open but didn't get out after her ward. Frankly Jared was surprised that said charge hadn't slammed the door shut on her regardless of her insistence to remain his personal shadow. Sure the subsequent injury would have required a splint at the very least, but the android had every appearance (and supporting reputation) of enduring the pain until her master said that she was allowed to feel.

Puzzling out the extent of their relationship was enough to break even the smartest brains on the planet, so Jared hardly bothered himself. All he knew was that they had been put together by Rafe's father, that the pair were nigh inseparable due to her work ethic, that she was good friends with certain contacts of the family, so the rest wasn't difficult to guess. He had eyes to see the way they looked at each other when they thought no one else was watching. Even each other.

"You made it." Calling out to the heir of the known universe, the redhead forced a smile as he greeted the aspiring treasure hunter.

Teeth cut on scum of the underworld more threatening than the up-jumped pawn shop owner, Rafe wasn't fooled by the grin. He knew that his partner had taken the events of Bolivia to heart, and it had been him that orchestrated the leak about teaming up with Raja in the first place. It was true, but he'd been curious to see how Jared was going to handle the threat of being replaced by the person he hated most on the whole planet. Personally he expected the other man to fall on his knees and beg for a second chance to prove himself. He always liked it when they begged.

Finding humor in what was about to happen, the young man chuckled condescendingly, "Are you kidding? I wouldn't miss this for the world!" Motioning over to the bionic woman herself, he gave the signal for her to do as they planed on the drive out to the boondocks. "Right, Bai?"

Rope dangling ominously from her grasp as she slid out of the backseat, Bai cocked her head when bumping her pseudo beehive on the low roof of the car. "Ow." Apparently only driven by certain base instincts, pain was not one of them judging from the lack of emotion in her statement. Statement, not exclamation - a normal person felt things, but that creature...

Definitely a cybernetic organism.

Stilettos were a poor choice of footwear for the occasion, but the shoes seemed to give her the boost of confidence she required to do her job so damn well. Anyways, the only thing about her appearance that even hinted at what she did for a living was the nice dress shirts and suits - on each of the occasions they'd crossed paths, she had kept at least one other part of her body bound. The first time had been jewelery and rings, the second was a ribbed corset dress, although that had been Halloween, so that festive attire wasn't so out of place. Unable to make up his mind for the third, it was a hybrid of a choker and a shirt, he thought. Honestly, she was the kind of woman that one could envision taking a bath in heels and sleeping in skin-tight leather. Assuming that her programming allowed such menial tasks.

Master not much of an improvement over this issue of android, Jared knew that if he'd ever have a chance at correcting the situation, this would be it.

Standing up for every little guy that had ever been pushed around, the broad redhead whipped his piece out and had it cocked before her scanners could pick up the concealed item on his person. Kicking back worse than he'd expected it to, the revolver jumped out of Jared's hands as if it were sentient and could sense a more capable wielder in the immediate vicinity. Panicking at the thought of finding himself disarmed in front of a well-known executioner, he flung himself to the ground in a gesture of surrender. He had accomplished what he had set out to do, although he had hoped to manage more. Perhaps if they thought he was cooperating they might grow careless enough for him to finish what he had started...

Eyes filled with the color red, she picked up the fallen gun and turned it on Jared.

"Wait."

Command coming in clear on the bated breath of the Fall, Rafe held his waist where the bullet had entered. Forcing himself up and tearing the wound with a searing finger straight out of the darkest bowels of hell, the multi-billionaire ordered her to not make it too quick. Pins and needles stabbed with dry ice raked his innards and pulsated out in electric-like waves, I still have this. Gasping sharply for air that didn't want to stay in his lungs, he closed his eyes to the skyline as it faded from sight, the stars becoming one with the dozens of windows that witnessed the scene. He'd never felt anything half as detrimental. For each second that he suffered, the traitor would have to endure double, no, triple. Why be stingy? Jared would know nothing less than quadruple the pain he felt now, even if it took them the rest of their lives to do it. So far as he knew, Jared didn't have any children of his own, but that was something they could always remedy.

"Keep to the plan." Holding back a cough with difficulty, he could taste iron and cooper flooding the back of his throat, but he would not show weakness. Not to some ginger dickhead, not to any of the staff that could be replaced at a moments notice, and never in front of his bespectacled manager. He was too proud, and she answered to nothing less than absolute authority.

First-rate medical care buying him the best doctors available, it was later discovered that the wound was much less severe than it seemed (the faint scar just below his hipbone could be hidden without much problem). A whole different matter entirely as it all unfolded, the woman found herself having an out-of-body experience that only ended once they were in the ER. Not directly after they arrived, the sensation dissipated after several hours of sitting wide-eyed by his side. If it wasn't her glower and gun keeping the hospital workers from pestering her about leaving, it was simply stating that she was waiting for his family to show up for him. At that point she left only long enough to shower and change; upon returning to Rafe, his parents had already gone.

Beyond the parameters of her role as protector as far as she was concerned, that was yet another clue that her feelings ran deeper than lust. Underscoring that dreaded thought was the fact that Bai hadn't inquired about overtime or any other kind of bonus.

Heart pounding so hard in her chest that she could hear her teeth clattering in her skull, Bai's first instinct after being restrained had been to shoot Jared in both legs to incapacitate him. In her employer's words, it was her duty to protect the most precious thing in her life; the bespectacled woman darted over to tend to Rafe with nary a second thought. The driver had even less of a clue about what to do in the situation - which was perfectly reasonable being new - and had simply slunk down into the seat in the hopes that he wouldn't be noticed or called upon.

Terrified of what he had gotten himself into by agreeing to show up with absolutely no back up - which for the record she had vehemently advised him against - most everything vanished from reality the moment Rafe had taken the bullet. Having said that, the thing she remembered most about that incident after the fact was how impressed she had been when he shrugged her away and had them shove Jared in the trunk. Technically speaking she had done roughly all of the heavy lifting, but that was nothing new. The Adler men were both capable of the act, there was no doubt of that by looking at either of them, it was just in her job description. Totally fired come morning, the driver might as well have not even been there.

Screaming out in unequaled agony, Jared howled continuously until Bai shut him up with a blow to the back of the head. Standing over the man as he wailed, she wondered if this was the closest he'd ever been to a beautiful woman. Knowledge that she would be the last female he ever saw for the rest of his miserable little life bringing a simper to her apricot-colored lips, the woman peered down at him in unbridled loathing. It was one thing to threaten her livelihood and a whole other to yield. Using the butt of the revolver, she took care to not hit the alarmist too hard.

Once the target had been nullified and left to cool out with the rest of the (non-medicinal) emergency gear in the back, Rafe swayed where he stood. By that time in their relationship there was no illusion about how much he hated the thought of showing his vulnerable side, however it was just the two of them. Ignoring the stamp on his forehead, the glare in his icy diamonds, and the poison leer on his lips, she wrapped her arm around the back of his torso and helped him to the backseat after sending the driver back to his post. The multi-billionaire could have managed to follow the nebulous chassis to the open interior on his own, but it was more important that he save his strength for what came next.

Assisted out of his shirt and wiggled part way from his trousers so they could see the extent of the damage, he watched her dig through the mini bar hidden in the plush cushions of the back seat for something with enough alcohol content to clean out the injury. Strawberry champaign and chardonnay not ideal, after a second, calmer search she came back with an old bottle of Jack. Aware of how badly that it was going to burn, he grabbed the nearest thing he could.

Moonlight falling silver and white through the inky midnight chasing the speeding vehicle, he seemed paler than he had a few moments ago. Stealing a swig for herself before pouring a good amount on the scarlet smear that was pooling under his navel and dribbled every time he tried to sit up, the air was cut in half by his animal howl. Concern etched across her face, Bai leaned from her cramped spot on the floor to offer him a drink as well, however he slapped the bottle away. Hating how stubborn he was being almost as much as she admired the fight in him, for the second time that night her heart tried to jump out of her throat.

Delirium a state of mind she was all too familiar with, Rafe grabbing her hand must have been the first stage of excessive blood loss. Clinging tight even after she stopped applying the makeshift antiseptic, he'd never looked at her the way he was just then. She hated herself for wanting that part to last. Squeezing so tight that her fingers were on the verge of turning purple, Bai had to think hard to remember what to do next - her own mind scattered from everything, she could only remember that in the movies the next part was slowing the bleeding.

Luxury the foremost thought that went into designing the car, medical supplies were in short supply. Glancing down at the crumpled heap on the carpet that had been his shirt, as she moved to pick it up he made the effort to shake his head. It was already stained crimson by the carmine bloom stretched across the stomach portion, however it was Armani and he wouldn't tolerate her ruining the shirt further. Paid for out of her own pocket, instead she opted to use her own knock-off Versace. Unbuttoning the solid blouse and pressing it to Rafe's abdomen to soak up the gore, even amidst all the chaos it struck her just how exposed she was. Bai had dealt with a lot throughout her career, but this...

"Just..." Just what, don't bleed to death? Pretty sure that was probably his first and only thought at that moment, dumb ass.

Hand holding tight to the only thing anchoring him down, Rafe whispered something before she pulled away to get into the driver seat. It isn't quite a thank you, but she wouldn't have appreciated him as much if it was. Too many men these days were talky-feely and said what they meant, but she responded more favorably action and the implications of what went unsaid. It was how she had been raised.

Rafe let the monster out of her, but he did it in a way that made it feel like it was on her own terms. In one way or another she thought she had everything, until the night that changed everything.

Diamonds glittering on her throat and hanging down into heaving cleavage that needed very little padding, she delighted when he slipped his fingers between the silver strands and yanked on the lowest rock. Chain tight when he curled it around his index and middle digits, he smirked before showing her to the mattress with a springy bounce that left little to the imagination. Crawling to one knee over her trembling figure, he paused to take in the sight of the woman in her lingerie. The garter belts seemed out of place since she had yet to put on her stockings, yet he appreciated their presence all the same.

Tracing a line up her thigh to the low cut lace that just barely covered her most intimate of intimates, his eyes roved from her pelvis up her torso and the stories her scars told to the diamonds that came just short of brushing her bra. For all intents and purposes she had given herself to him days ago, his name scrawled over every inch of her body when she tried on the necklace for the first time. Breaking in the same dress she hadn't been able to wear for New Years - a clingy number he had brought from a trip in Egypt - she had let herself shed all pretense.

Men and women alike had thrown themselves at Rafe ever since he could remember, all for the sake of who he was. Before he did anything else with (or to) Bai, he had to know what made her so different from the rest. Rafe needed to hear the words that she wouldn't say, and he had to believe them. "Tell me. Tell me why I should give you anything else."

"Americans are always painted in a certain light, to be greedy and to blindly take what they want without a thought of the consequences." It was an interesting angle to approach the answer from (and not unlike the beginning of her term paper). True or not there were no shortages of things she could have said to convince him, but this would definitely set her apart from the rest. "But that's wrong - not all of them are like that." Even at her worst she knew better than to go on too long without feeding his ego. "American or not, I haven't met too many guys that can stomach the daily grind of our lifestyle." It didn't escape her notice that he responded to the use of the word 'our'. "Even if they can be man enough to get through a single torture session and removing the body after, there are fewer still that can keep me in line. But you can. You could kill me right now without a drop of remorse and go on with your life without sparing me a second thought. Even my father would have to think twice about what he had done."

Bai never spoke about her father. For her to do so now must have meant that she was even more adamant about making an impression than he'd previously thought. From her perspective, this was the first opportunity that presented itself. "Your father?" Wisely done on her part - it was a topic that caught his attention. "Is that why you burn yourself?" To illustrate his point, he let go of the jewelery before it broke and moved the hand that wasn't supporting his weight to graze across the map of uncharted islands veiled by the sheer paneling of her top. Of all the markings on her body, those had been what he was most curious about.

As a matter of fact, it was. A child barely capable of speech, Bai had once dishonored her father by speaking out in front of a prominent official; as punishment he had hot wax melted slowly over her abdomen every day for a fortnight. Enjoying it more than she ought to have, it happened so frequently in her youth that it had become a habit that persisted today, however as an adult it had shifted from being just another part of her routine to atonement for speaking to anyone that wasn't her superior. Except she used a lighter now instead of the wax - that was saved for special occasions.

"If this is an interrogation, I have better ways to go about it." Head rolling against her shoulder to indicate the dresser, her sapphire eyes hinted which specific drawer he should search. Pretending for a moment that he hadn't been spying on the head of his security team, the blonde train-wreck sobbing in the corner flinched noticeably when the storage space had been brought up. The bottom drawer had seen more use this week than the bedroom door did in six months.

He looked at her as if she were crazy and stated matter-of-factly, "You're not getting off until you answer my question."

Noting the use of the word 'until' and that there had been no indication of being on the proverbial hook, she couldn't help but to smirk. So Rafe was going to do his part to attempt to get her off at some point. "I just did." Playing cute as she tempted fate, Bai pulled him down into a sloppy kiss. "We don't want to bore you, now do we?" Turning the tables, the bespectacled woman grabbed the lapel of his Alexander McQueen and used the jacket to rotate their positions so that she was straddling him.

Funny how one sentence had been enough to carry them through better or worse for the better part of twenty years.