- Chapter Sixty -

Just So You Know, She Misses You

[Holding Even A Piece (AKA The Present Meets The Past)]

Power still not restored to any part of the building, the hotel was only growing darker and colder the longer the storm wore on. Accustomed to ruins and private museums with empty corridors that were not unlike those of a mausoleum, chilled marble was something that the businesswoman had acclimated to. Mama polar bear, she had once been called. All but black ice, the wood was just rough enough to remind Bai of home.

House in Hunan a large estate that was easy for a child to get lost in, the bespectacled beauty had grown up with a groundskeeper and a few household staff that seemed to cater expressly for her father and mother. An only child with a sick mother, Bai had had to tend to her own needs more often than not. Even when the lady of the house had taken to bed, and the household staff had been increased in number.

Zhihao had worked hard to earn his place, and his beloved Da's hand. Their daughter would appreciate what she had been given, as all children should.

Daniella...

Waiting in the room her own daughter had been staying in, Bai had grown antsy. Rafe had always used to laugh at her when the silence became too much, reminding the woman that it wasn't a part of her job to do the staff's work for them. As his bodyguard it was enough to keep him safe, and as his lover, it was all about the body. When those roles had evolved, he was always there with the advice to just leave it. He never could understand that it was just something she did, something that helped ease her restless mind and put her hands to work.

Heels abandoned by the door after sweeping up the remains of a broken bottle - it was almost comforting to see that the con was as charming as ever - the top she had used to catch the shards was buried at the bottom of the trash. Where it belonged.

Glancing across the wasted space to see what else there was that needed to be done, the woman went straight to tidying the sheets. Drake and his little whore friend had made quite the mess, and it was unfitting for her baby girl to see. Fair enough, by this point it was probably something that Daniella had been exposed to, however there was no need to just leave the mess. Yanking the sheets back in their proper place, Bai noticed that there was a long, silvery blonde hair across the pillow.

Discarding that trash away with the rest, her bare foot connected with one of the several wrappers that were strewn carelessly across the floor with reckless abandon. Nope. No. Definitely not! Flying into a vigorous witch-like flurry fueled by denial and disgust, the woman's next task was clear to her.

Time slipping through her fingers as she ripped through the room, it must have been at least twenty minutes since she had sent Sam on his way. Bai knew that she should call him to remind him of his deadline, but a part of her was scared to. Drake she could handle, but what if... What if Daniella doesn't want to see me? The girl hadn't taken well to learning about the arrangement her grandfather had in mind, and holding a grudge was along-standing tradition in the family.

I'm so sorry I failed you!

Losing Rafe had nearly killed her - to this day, she still struggled to admit that he was nothing but a bad memory - but if she lost their little girl too...

Bai had no memory of when exactly she had gone rummaging through the dressers, only coming to when she was revived by the ghost of a familiar scent. Seated at the very edge of the bed with her toes flat against the ground, there was a dress in her lap. Cradling the fabric as if it were the single most precious thing in this life, the businesswoman held it to her nose and lost herself, just like she had once upon a time when her greatest love had been the snow.

Love. The greatest love of her life had never been the coke (although that had been one hell of an affair).

Heart aching, Bai missed Rafe in that moment more than she had missed him in a long while. Obviously she didn't miss the insults and the constant threats, however there had been so much more than that. Rafe Adler had been tough with just about everyone in the world, everyone, except for once, when he had been a real father.

Shortly before the team had found a listing of items to go on auction at the Rossi estate, Bai remembered the day to be one of the better ones. Rafe had been in a pleasant mood for a change, feeling it in his bones that they were close to something. Nadine had been drilling her men all morning to keep them fighting ready, and Sam was buried beneath a mountain of research at the 'b' site. Nervous about her upcoming trip and having to leave her daughter behind, Daniella was still a little bit sick, right at that stage were it was easy to think you were over your cold.

Nap a short-lived reprieve when you were burning up, the girl must have wandered into the library after waking. No doubt finding her father pouring over a stack of books, she could almost hear the little one asking him to read to her. Just as clear despite the years, it was easy to hear him telling the child that he was too busy.

Determined enough to pick up one of the tomes in an earnest attempt to read it, the girl probably would have struggled for at least ten minutes before admitting that it was far too advanced. Who knew, it could have been longer. Clearly amused by her effort, the proof was in the pudding; taking the child into his lap to indulge her demand and get his work done without distraction, at some point they had both fallen asleep.

Phone capturing the moment forever, when Bai had poked her head into the room, she smiled fondly at the pair. Closing the door behind her back with a soft snap and orders that the two weren't to be disturbed (as if Shoreline listened), the woman let the twosome be.

Provided she was a good girl, Daniella would most probably like to see that picture.

[Can't Get Over You (AKA The Future)]

Plum faded over a wane shade of periwinkle, the lush greenery cut quite the contrast against the sky; already ablaze with the first stars, the golden stickers shone like medals of honor and bravery. Sun a dying blood orange over the fertile countryside, berries and sage ran rampant across the wide canvas. Cloudless, a stilted breeze cast the occasional ruffle, however for the most part all was calm.

Air fragrant with ripe harvestables and the fruity wine being sloshed contemplatively in the sunset, any artist would have been captivated. No matter what trade you employed or subject you tried to capture, there was only inspiration in the world, from the masculine stonework of the villa to the feminine flowers carpeting the rich brown soil. Even the molted spots peppering the innermost corner of the lofty windows were worth a second look.

Mystic fire topaz, from one angle everything glittered with a majestic purple lint, but turn it just a little, and suddenly everything was the very soul of emerald. Or, if you were looking out from behind the curtains, you would be treated to a soft yellowish glow that steadily buzzed a light tangerine the later it got. Comforting to most, the dirt path was the definition of alive, frequently traveled by Corsican hares and European rollers.

Common man could also be found roaming the gritty intersections or admiring the hillock in the distance. The most common of these human types was an older gentleman with a notorious mustache and even more identifiable nickname, one of two brothers that dabbled in retirement and managing a garage, and a much younger woman. These days her thing was just trying to find herself.

Loss was never an easy thing to deal with, not when it hit you young and stole away the person you loved most in the entire world, nor did it get any easier when it came back. Rafe Adler's demise had affected her more than anything else could damage a child; to this day, there were times that she would still cry.

Ass that he may have been, Rafe was always going to be her father at the end of the day. Daniella would always love him, no matter what. Sam often told her that that was letting him off the hook too easily, and he was hardly alone in that opinion. The world reminded her what a monster the man had been when it could, so her friends had hardly needed to join the din.

Sam... He just didn't get it. Maybe that was his cross to bear.

Sighing under her breath as she lit the single grocery store candle on top of the chocolate cake she had baked in tribute, Daniella had more to dwell on than just that pivotal defining moment in her life. Too many had left her life before she would have liked, from the one step-father that had actually cared to the family butler that had seemed to vanish without a trace. That sweet girl lost in her books... Sometimes Daniella missed that fool, wondering what kind of life she might have lead.

I doubt she would believe me if I told her that one day, she would do more than just read about lost pirate gold and cursed sphinxes from Greece.

Careful of the flame that burst to life atop the wax column, the woman tossed the lighter back. It seemed to mean a great deal to the man to always have it on his person, although she didn't understand why. He had finally managed to make it for over a year without needing a cigarette, and they were currently in the relative safety of modern society, but whatever. Everyone had their things.

Pocketing the device with a slight shake to see where it was on fuel, the lanky historian turned his attention back to his partner. She'd done this every year that he had known her, making a small offering to all the dead she had buried in her life. Most of them were actual corpses, but a couple of them he knew to be more metaphorical deaths. He wondered glibly who might be added to that list next year.

"Gonna need to buy another candle soon." Not particularly invested in this ritual, he commented on the stub that was defiantly trying its damnedest to stand above the burned lump that had been left in the oven twenty minutes too long.

Humming in reply, she knew without looking that he wasn't wrong - that same candle had been used at least three or four times that year already, and the wick was blacker than obsidian. Still, his lack of proper respect was not going to fly when she was in the middle of her prayer. Neither were what anyone would call religious, although both had some history dabbling in practices of faith.

Daddy. Shen. Keaton. Tennessee-

"So, this thing of yours gonna take long?" Pretending to be in the dark about how long it took her to get through the full list, Sam knew Dells well enough by that point to guesstimate that she was still near the beginning. Watching her from the corner of his eye, he picked up his beer from the cluttered counter top and pressed the can to his lips.

Tsking, the woman took a covert peek at the old man beneath her lashes. Did he seriously think he was being cute, pulling a stunt like this? Every year it was something with him. "Then go away. You don't have to stand here annoying me." Except yes, yes he did. And they both knew it.

Instead of revisit the fight from twelve long months ago, the thief simply took a deep chug, never really taking his eye off the woman. Dells would come around, eventually.

Author's Note:

That's two chapters in two days!

From what I can tell, the last future chapter was the ending section in 38/34 (depending how you want to address my weird ass numbering scheme). Honestly, looking back I have my qualms about having made a flash-forward at all. That's part of the reason they haven't been very prevalent. But what the hell, they exist and mixing things up might be nice every now and again!