- Chapter Twenty-Nine -

Silent Honey and the Roaring Moon

[Vegas, Several years ago]

Sunlight glinting off the tint of the window, the Nevada sands stirred restlessly against the side of the idling limousine. Luxury and splendor a part of everyday life, the pair seated in the back were no more taken by the sights than the driver. Technically speaking the duo were in town to meet with the first of two long-time associates about a merger between some of the lesser outfits, however there was no rush. Cards, fools, and broken hearts were a mobile arrangement, so even the usual adult fun offered on the strip was only so enticing. This trip was special.

Or it would be, once Bai got around to breaking her news to Rafe. For about a week there had been little clues, each leading to the bigger picture if one cared to look (it would seem that he had not, but she wasn't deterred).

"Mr. Zunii is a very busy man, I understand that." On the phone with the secretary of their man since the plane, the businesswoman was running out of ways to deliver the same message. Honestly she was sorely tempted to just hang up then and there, except that would have been quite rude, and the old man was exceedingly prideful. Hence why Rafe had to be dragged back to the States. "I did as I promised, I managed to convince Mr. Adler to show up. Now it's up to your boss to hear our deal at the meeting."

Perhaps the impertinence was simple jealousy at the fact that a 'glorified secretary' was living out one of the ultimate fantasies - that was the case with most people - but Bai had picked up during the course of the call that the disdain went deeper than that. A story as old as her career with the Adler family, she wasn't going to be bothered by one little insect. Unless things went less than ideally... In that case Bai knew exactly who to track down.

Bored by the business quite easily, Rafe had gone from drinking the complimentary champaign in the fine stemware to watching his former assistant through the amber liquid. Glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose, that serious look on her face she got whenever work was involved, entire body tense from the flight. Anyone else would have been intimidated by how tightly the stress had her wound, but not him; smirking to himself, the multibillionaire thrilled at the thought of inevitably releasing everything she had pent-up.

Originally he hadn't planned on paying his companion much attention when there were a number of pretty little things just waiting to be explored for a quick buck, yet there they were. Against her own self-interest, in addition to a job well done, Bai had been patient and was due another bone. A raise was typically the traditional answer to an impressive quarter, however as acting boss there really wasn't a limit on what she could be taking home (not that he'd tell her that in so many words).

And it was more convenient than having to wait for someone suitable to just stumble into the picture. So until then...

End button looking more and more appealing by the second, Bai waited while the receptionist jotted something down. Muttering to herself in Mandarin - a habit that seldom reared its head when she was alone or dealing with sensible individuals - the bespectacled beauty reached for her first sip of champagne.

Anticipating her movements - waiting for the opportunity even - Rafe grabbed her hand. Palm covering the tops of her knuckles, thumb brushing the hard knots of her wrist, he kneaded the soft flesh as he guided her hand away from the glass. Met with more surprise than resistance from his star employee, so far as the icy-eyed boss was concerned there were better places for her touch.

Still firmly in work mode, Bai was more business than woman in that moment and pulled her hand back. Rafe may have signed the checks that kept a roof over her head, but at the end of the day she was her own master. "Seven? No, our invitation said eight-thirty. Check it again if you don't believe me."

Refusals and taking orders two beasts of a similar nature for the billionaire, he cocked his head at his companion incredulously. Fine, the gears in his brain began to piece together a suitable comeback as he leaned back in his seat, if that was the way she wanted it to be, two could play at that game. Taste of the liquor losing something as he emptied his glass, Rafe leered at the woman; a distraction would have been nice, however it hadn't been a serious notion. In other words, he was fine with just keeping to himself for the remainder of the ride, but he was not okay with her telling him no.

Since the earliest days of their relationship he had respected the few boundaries that had been set, on the condition that she do the same. If for whatever reason the woman had gotten it into her head that there was something more between them than sex and taxes, that was on her. Or at least that had been his attitude going in...

Lately though, it wasn't as clear-cut as it had been back then. Strung out on a particularly bad batch a few weekends back, he had been the one to pick her up out of the gutter; somehow that seemed wrong to him, like it should have been the other way around. The rescuing bit. Except, in some ways it was... Adamant about staying on-site after the discovery of a sunken wing, it had been Bai that had remained by his side to dust off the artifacts. Unable to rest due to the shrinking sense of excitement that every hour became dread at uncovering yet another dead end, it had been Bai that had cradled his head in her lap, and it had been her herbal honey recipe that had done the trick to close his eyes.

As his caretaker it was a small little thing that didn't bear thinking about, yet every time he thought about blowing her off it was the first thing that sprang into his mind. Not freedom, not laughter.

He hated her for that.

Oblivious as ever as to what was going on in her lover's head, she had to turn her body as far away from her companion as she possibly could. "You don't say? I'll definitely be bringing this to Mr. Zunii's attention at the meeting." What was said next struck a raw nerve. "I'm not just a pretty face, I earned my place at that table. Do yourself a favor and look up a little company called 'White Mother Dragon'. Maybe then you'll think twice about judging others for things you know nothing about!" Bai could feel eyes on her back at the outburst, so she pretended to become interested in the twinkling lights passing them by. On several levels that was exponentially more taxing than it ought to have been. "Now if you'll excuse me, we've just arrived at the hotel."

They hadn't even gotten close to the monster megaplex on the far outskirts of the city, but that didn't prevent the woman from hanging up. Infantile as it may have made her seem, nothing prevented her from chucking the smart phone to the floor with a loud cracking noise that could only mean one thing. Good thing she had learned to carry a back-up (and a back-up for the back-up) for incidents such as these.

Lips quirking behind her back, it was almost too easy. "The nerve of some people."

Cheeks flushed a special shade of scarlet that just so happened to look really good with her plum lipstick, everything else was forgotten in order to vent. "Thank you! My company isn't quite as notable as the stuff I do in the Adler name, but it's really starting to come into its own! By next year I might even get an article in Forbes or the Times. Or something...!" Trailing off at the questionable fate of her investment, Bai focused instead on the other key difference between herself and everyone else. "It's more than any of these little toads can say!"

Bait as good as taken, Rafe was sorely tempted to allow the situation to carry out all the way to the hotel, but that would mean having to endure Christ knows how much more out of her mouth. Cramming twelve hours worth of ranting in fifteen second bursts was by far one of her most irksome abilities. "Well they aren't wrong, are they?"

Stunned, the look on Bai's face was priceless. But still not enough...

"Technically you did earn the job on your own merits, but come on Bai. You can't deny that I wasn't getting you off the entire time-"

Impact stinging her hand more than it stung his cheek, the woman slapped him square in the face. Admittedly there was more hurt than venom in the gesture, however he didn't need to know that. "How dare you! How dare you!" Repeating herself to punctuate each word with an acidic hiss, the bottle of bubbly between them was looking like a pretty good weapon at that moment. "You know I worked my ass off to get my MBA!"

Seized by a sudden madness - or maybe the single moment of clarity that existed within a sea of insanity - Bai wrenched the car door open. No time for second guesses, asking the driver to pull over, and most importantly no window for Rafe to stop her. Throwing herself from the vehicle the businesswoman was met almost immediately by the pavement. Thankfully seated on the side nearest the block, there was no black asphalt river to fight, only sidewalk.

Wishing that luck hadn't been so kind this once, stomaching one more moment in the car with Rafe was too much to ask, if only because it hurt so much to hear the one person that meant anything say that.

Shin nailing the curb hard, the woman retracted the limb before it became another lost treasure swept down the storm drain. Forcing herself into an upright position, Wen Zhihao's daughter soldiered on as she'd done so many times before - there might have been some urgency to get as far away from Rafe as she could, however she would not run. Not while he was still in sight.

[Hours Later]

"Where were you?"

Roles reversed from the traditional depiction of the scene, it had been Rafe sitting up in the dark as he waited for Bai to return. Phone idle on his knee for a call that wasn't coming, she noted that he was slightly short of breath, probably from pacing the room. Good, she thought to herself with a streak as vindictive as it was stubborn, let him know what it's like to be the one on that end of the relationship for a change. Harsh words weren't an unheard of currency in their interactions, however it was exceptionally uncommon for her to let him see just how much he had cut to the bone.

Ignoring the question to shrug out of the coat she'd been in since before getting on the plane, Bai hung the pleated jacket up and removed her once glossy heels before even turning to look in her boss's direction. It had been a long day by all accounts, however it was far from over. How it ended would be up to him (just like everything else).

Aware of what game she thought she was playing, Rafe wasn't having it. Under certain circumstances making an abrupt exit was understandable, for some. There was a time and a place for spunk; for his property there was only his clock, on his dime. Striking him like that was one thing (depending on how quickly she apologized, the consequences needn't be too severe), but he would be damned if she was going to think for a single moment that she could get away with this.

Cell slipping off the pewter fabric of his pants with a plastic whimper as he rose to his feet, the ice in his eyes crackled as he returned the favor. They both knew that she had it coming.

Holding her head high without breaking eye contact, Bai bit back the quiver of her lips with a shuddering frown that convinced no one, "Is that the best you got? You must not have been very worried about me after all." Please, if there was any concern on his part, she figured it was more related to the bottom-line.

Wrong. In fact she couldn't have been further from the truth if she tried.

Employed as a former bodyguard it was undeniable that Bai was more than capable of looking after herself, yet that hadn't stopped him from imaging the worst as the light faded in their hotel room. Thoughts getting ever more dark by the moment, all it took was once to picture her dead in a ditch somewhere. Even the best of them could be taken unawares, so it wasn't unthinkable that if it hadn't been her getting jumped in an ally, there were still other kinds of dangers lurking. Her powder habit for one. While everyone had their external forms of comfort to cling to, without fail the moment she thought he'd forgotten about their latest fight, the first place she ran was to the nearest dealer.

And they fought a lot.

Emotions getting caught in his throat like words that could ruin everything if they were ever to be spoken out loud, if there was any lingering doubts in his mind about how significant she was to him, this experience ended that argument.

"Is that what you think?" Grabbing her wrist and jerking it hard enough to elicit a response, he wanted her to feel a fraction of how badly that stung him. Wanted her to remember that pain.

"Prove me wrong." Those three little words could have ruined everything, she realized that the moment they were put out into the world, but she could have said worse or demanded more out of him. Maybe she should have, all things considered. "Make me believe I made the right decision in choosing you over my own career. Remind me why I put everything on the line in the first place." No matter what he said or did, the sick thing was that she would actually keep her word and continue to serve. He just had that kind of power over her. "Go on."

Silence, followed by disbelief and confusion. Cocking his head at the woman that had earned a special place in hell for everything she had done in his name alone, the multi-billionaire had no clue how to respond.

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" After all the blood that stained her hands, the laws that had been broken and bent, the wars and under-the-table offers, she asked him that now? Families had been torn apart without so much as a tear shed, and this was what made her question her life choices?

Answers in shorter supply than honest expectations, this one was on him to figure out. Bai had done terrible things without a shred of remorse for any of it, had bettered herself in part to become a more lethal weapon, and she had done it all for him. Or with him in mind at the very least. There really wasn't a need to give him a recap, except to stall for time. "There isn't anything I wouldn't do for you, we both know that. I have accepted the consequences of what that means, for today and tomorrow. I think now I just need to hear it from you."

Gut telling her that she wasn't going to like the answer, Bai found herself wishing that today never happened. Waking up alone in her room, sedating herself for the flight, fighting all day on the phone, that all could go away or stay, but she could have definitely done without her daring escape and the current fallout. Really anything had to be better, even just going as far back as to the moment she entered the hotel room.

If he'd asked again where she'd been all night, she would have told him the truth. Barring nothing from her account, the businesswoman would have gone into detail about how she'd found someone that looked a fair bit like her lover in a bar. Barbed and playing it up just get back at him for some of what she felt, she even would have said plainly what her intentions with the man had been. Angry, hurt, and not even fully understanding the reason why, she would have elaborated that she had gone as far as paying the stranger to join her in the restroom.

What might have gotten left out (at least at first) would have been what happened next.

People died in Vegas every single day, so Bai saw no danger or wrong in luring the man into the stall so that she could choke the life out of his wasted husk. Except that when they had reached the stall, she realized that she couldn't do it. Her hands had been poised over the proxy's neck as they swapped saliva, and the dolt was so far from expecting his imminent demise that he was practically offering the opportunity on a silver platter. Everything was in place, but she couldn't do it. And not just the murdering part but the sex as well.

Apparently just a human thing to not like rejection, the faux-Rafe acted very much like the real one and hadn't reacted well to the change of heart. Not immediately taking no for an answer, as a courtesy the woman had shoved him back so she could exit the U-bend. In his anger he'd attempted to cling tighter in order to pull her back in, however he had no clue what it was he was dealing with - by now the authorities should have extracted the miserable bastard out of the toilet.

"Just what is it that you're hoping to hear? That I'm sorry? Grow up." Physical pain only going to register so much to the woman at that point, he knew that the only place to hit her was on the inside; even that was only so sweet when she got like this. Logically the answer might have been staring the man in the face, however the easy target was to poke at the possibility that she was starting to want more out of him than she promised she would. He could understand why she'd fall in love with him, but they made a promise.

"No." So far as Rafe was concerned, she wasn't going to control the story, not now, not ever.

"No?" Bai understood the kind of person that he was going in, but how could he just dismiss her so easily? The worst part was that a small fraction of her had been dumb enough to delude herself into thinking that he might have said anything else instead. "No. I use my over-time and sick days to find the first girl that ever rejected you, and this is the thanks I get. Of course. By the way, that's the thing I wanted to tell you all week - I found that little tart, and I brought her back to my place in the Yukon for you."

Touched by the gesture - especially when he had only mentioned that encounter once when they'd been a drink or two shy of black-out drunk - Rafe loosened his grip. "No one asked you to do that."

"You didn't have to." Unable to rip herself free again if it came down to it, the fight died in Bai's eyes as well as in her frame. "I saw how much you were hurt, and I can't abide by that. Obviously." It almost made sense to just say the words, despite how much agony he was putting her through, only she couldn't. Not at a time when she would only half mean them.

Amazing. How could she get how deeply that first rejection affected him as a child but not fathom that he was only mad at her because he was so scared now? Added to the list of things they'd never say to one another out loud, he was genuinely terrified that something had happened to her when she'd slipped away from his security team. There would always be another employee to take over running the business in his stead, but there was only person he'd surrender control of the sun and moon for.

"Remind me again how you had better grades?" Maybe the closest thing she'd get to an actual apology, Rafe conceded to compromise. "No one can say you got them because of your connections."

Lost for a moment, it was her turn to cock her head to the side. "You remember that? We were only in the same class for a single semester!" A laugh threatened to crack across her lips. "But what does that have to do with any of this?" His admiration for her hard work was a huge deal, but she really didn't understand why he would just bring that up out of the blue.

As ever Rafe was one to command, not request. "Come with me." Bai wanted some grand gesture to affirm that she hadn't made a mistake in going against nature and God for him, and he had a pretty good idea what she needed.

Tempted to do as she was bid, her second phone rang. "Work." Upset that the moment had been ruined, the businesswoman adjusted her glasses. "I need to take this. I should take this." An excellent line, but who was she trying to convince?

"Don't." Giving her a single second to fight his decision, he took the phone from the breast pocket of her crisp linen shirt and threw it someplace next to his own. "Trust me."