- Chapter Ninety-Three -

A Tempting Proposition

With Nadine preoccupied grading their quizzes, it was the resident locksmith that remembered that there was actually an emergency on. Hands on her hips as she assessed the two gangsters playing along, the woman seemed to be the most concerned with fact that their very own damsel had gone M.I.A. "You lot do realize that there's a girl missing, right?"

As Chloe - of all people - rallied the troops back to attention, Sam could only gape at the concrete confession, the contents of which had slipped beyond the point of interest for the rest. Outside of the obvious reasons, why should any of them care? Better yet, why should he? Conspiring without leaving any trace of the deception, Daniella had honestly fooled him into believing...

While they all settled down at the beauty's behest, the historian could feel an all too familiar sense of detachment oozing nastily between the myriad of cracks. Basically an oily bile-like goo that congealed in the crags and set them worlds apart, the thief could feel himself being removed from the conversation, an unworldly black ice creeping up his boots to trap him in place.

Semi-visible yet everywhere, more than the spaces that separated their bodies, it was the fissures that cut above the vein, the nicks that decorated the armor, the scrapes that he had earned. Autonomously forcing its way deep down into the furthest reaches of the very back of his throat until he thought he was liable to gag, Sam could actually feel his blood take a chill as it came to light that the girl was in genuine danger. And yet, there was also the underside of that all-consuming current, a silent fury that refused to ebb even in light of this rather expected turn. A raw nerve that had been the subject of broken glass coated in crystallized salt and metallic shrapnel polished with fresh, still wet lemon juice.

A single name, that was all it had taken to make the ex-con relive that sickening falling sensation in the pit of his gut. Seeing that now-cursed name standing out so starkly on the snowy square, Sam knew everything he needed to.

"Heh," too hallow to be a real laugh, the grizzled brunette cocked his head to the side, "you wanna know the kicker? She tried to tell me she was scared."

Astounded by the sheer level of honesty in his tone, Chloe and Nadine both whirled around to face their friend. Jaws all but dragging along the floor, it was a surprise that the senior thief would so easily admit to his share of blame, especially before the feet of a perceived foe. It was in that moment that the locksmith could truly understand the man; reaching out to her fellow explorer, his name fell on deaf ears.

"Turns out that neither of us are exactly good for her health."

Unwilling to so much as utter her name aloud, Sam then studied Jian, gauging the reaction of the other man; outright indifferent to the revelation, the advanced adventurer had to wonder just how bad off the heiress would be with him. Considering the fact that it was his guys that fucked her up so badly... Well, suffice it to say that the thief felt little remorse for pointing that tiny fact out. "Your shtick is cute, but those two scarred that girl. I think we can all agree that if they manage to get their mitts on her again, ain't no one that'll be able to fix that."

Roundabout way of inquiring the little sack of wine if he had any inkling as to the current location of Angel and Ashley, Jian fully understood what Drake was implying. As per his orders, those two should have been back in the city, however, adhering to orders weren't exactly their strongest suites... Not if it wasn't fun for them. Setting the hipsters aside, for his own part, it had probably been wrong of him to just assume that his bride-to-be was packing this whole time.

Nodding the signal for Ludoviko to call Zanny back to base, the triad leader didn't appreciate being called out for a lack of firm leadership. While it was true that there was technically nothing keeping the pair in the city, Ashley lacked the attention span. Sure, Angel was smart enough, but they were a package deal - there was no way this was them! Well, probably not...

Frowning at Drake, the younger male squared his shoulders to show that he wasn't about to back down. "It's only the three of us, if that's what you mean."

Only the three of us...

Arms aching with a long-lost weight that a mother could never truly forget, something about that statement brought back that ill-fitting loneliness. For only a moment, just one single moment, it had been the pair of them against the world... Except, no, that wasn't the case. Wyatt's father had another child...

Chilled at the thought that occurred next, the former mercenary didn't want to think that he could... that he would...

"So..." a true expert in motion, Chloe caught Nadine's fleetingly distracted eye for the result of her findings... and when it came back with a negative, the pickpocket focused on moving this thing along, "if you don't have her, and we don't have her... Where is she?"

[Lucky?]

Sturdy layers rich in hues of pink and blue, the clothes that she had been given to wear were quite breathable, the airy fabrics underneath stretchy enough to accommodate hardcore physical ventures. They were also well-insulated, perfectly suited for hot yoga or jaunts through the rugged elements. More than any of these features, the thing that she appreciated most (outside the initial gratitude of coverage) was that she had been permitted to keep her armband. Such a pretty stone in the setting... Rose colored jade, the color of luck.

Oh yes, it was working even now - tied up just as tight as the bleached buns adorning her crown, the heiress had fastened a plaid overshirt around her waist.

Fingers tracing longingly across the full sleeve as she finished dressing, Dells hesitated before turning her back from the wide view. Dreading what was in store for her once she left the room - if she would even be permitted to wander that far - the young woman seriously contemplated staying in the cabin for the duration of this trip. Wherever the hell it was this guy was aiming to take her...

Is that madman truly my brother? If, on the odd (very real) chance that he was telling the truth of it, Daniella wanted - no, needed! - to hear more, to speak to him in greater detail. To dig deep into how he had found out about their familial bond, how long he had lived with the knowledge, to ask if there were more. Had he come to try and meet her before? It seemed as likely as anything else, although if he had, that meant going through her mother... Maybe meeting like this had been born of necessity? Or maybe, this whole thing had less to do with her as a person and more to do with the money he had felt entitled to?

Before any of that, maybe it would be prudent to first learn his name.

[Sins Of the Past, Revisited]

"Yahui. It's been a long time."

Cruel to have to hear her voice from afar after so many long and cold years apart, the second most important man in the world froze where he stood. Half a punishment whereas the other was a balm on his blistered soul, the real thing was just as stern and distant as he remembered, full of self-importance and harsh disdain. He'd been waiting for this moment more than he'd realized.

Heels clacking against the base of his spine as well as the reverberating metal grating, the lush carmine contrasting with the highly polished sable leather very well could have been the blood of her enemies. Glasses trimmed in a stately fashion to rival that of her fresh new manicure (the acrid stench of acetone at odds with her choice of light jasmine perfume), the top of the ebony set had been lost the flat sweep of her bangs. All those years ago, her earrings could be seen dangling below the limit of a severe bob; mimicking her meteoric rise, her hair was now piled high atop her head, held in place by gilded gifts. Genuine metal and gem work, even in the dark there was no hiding the hefty price tag.

Pride and beauty incarnate, the lovely creature gliding his way was still that same girl he had reluctantly seen off at the docks, the shape of that fragile skull etched into the palm of his hand. Words an icy dagger to the chest, the only thing that had kept him from freezing to death had been that final embrace...

Wrath the final trigger, her hand stung with the fury of a thousand defeated warlords, his cheek bearing the angry red splash for hours. Loathing so entire, it had seemed as if every moment they had ever shared had withered away to dust in the blast. And then it came, the fateful crashing of her lips unto his.

Lust robbing all semblance of sense, with that first touch it hadn't taken long for the rest to follow, the lovers caressing one another, undressing the other in sensual haste. It had been impossible to know the line of where one body began and the other had ended, every last inch of sinew canvassed and savored in the dark. Salt and sweat and skin, it had been beautiful while it had lasted, the endless yearning an insatiable beast.

Gluttony the worst sin yet, it had gone on without end, touching, tasting, taking... Loving. Pure and without peer, he took and took again, where she demanded more and more, stealing sense of time until seconds meant nothing, the minutes bleeding into hours, hours becoming eternity. It had been infinity, a perfect winding loop knocked on its side as she took one last year of life from her paramour.

Greed at its absolute peak, even between themselves it had boiled down to the most literal meaning of the devil take the hindmost. Sharp as any knife he'd ever known, her nails had carved into the flesh on his back to tear at the raw muscle and bone beneath; likewise as dangerous, as his fingers bruised and nettled the soft area around her neck, there had been twisted delight in the sense that he might choke the very life from her. Teeth tools as well as any other, it would have been lying to deny that blood had been drawn in their frantic passion.

Sloth the final sin of the moment, as they laid in one another's arms in a tangled heap of naked limbs and shaking breaths, he had thought that he had convinced her to listen to his plea. To give it a year or so, to lie low and in Gestapian secrecy while her father came around, to give their union legitimacy. Sweetly sore and yet empty on the inside, that precious young girl pulled away. Collected as if she hadn't just lost her wits to blazing emotions, the woman had proceeded to wipe away the messy remains and yanked her clothes back on, intending to make the final ship that would bear her across the sea.

Envy settling in later, as he followed her as far as the end of the pier, the man watched her leave with only resolution for the future in her eyes. When their eyes briefly met across the vastness of the steel tide that was ripping her away for good, there had been no recognition on her face, no outward signs that they had known each other in every unforgivable and carnal way. She had made up her mind to make a name for herself, and that didn't leave room for any small part of her past... She was someone else's problem now.

Wife and mother, Bai had been handed to the care (and consequence) of others time and again, and yet, for Yahui, she would always be his problem. Mask of glacial indifference secure as he shut down the nearly thirty-year gap, the deputy dragon head held himself back as she approached. Refusing to cede so much as an inch in her direction, as she had been the one that had called this meeting, she could damn well come to him.

"Bai." Tone clipped in a practiced fashion, he rose from his slouched perch against the rear railings to stand to his full height, mind conjuring the face of their very own Jian for an anchor. "I didn't imagine I would see you until the wedding." Keeping the conversation professional usually a top priority, when it came to the woman he couldn't quite bring himself to take the high road.

Frown less of a woman disappointed in her only daughter's prospects and more of a fair maid confronted with the decayed carcass of a rotted rodent, the businesswoman replaced the man at the bow. Elbows poised against the off-white steel banister as she stared out at the choppy gray waves, it wasn't the ocean Bai was staring at. "That child is nothing less than a disappointment."

Disgusted and yet oddly smug that her prediction had rang true, the woman's brain couldn't stop imaging all the many ways the insolent little girl had spat on her father's cherished memory. Too many small moments to count after a lifetime, the major deathblow had been the vivid mental picture of Daniella writhing beneath the one from Panama. Crying out for him the same way she herself once had... Perhaps Sam Drake deserved her after all.

Perfectly aware of what buttons she pressed, the businesswoman bumped into the besotted man with careful calculation, the low-cut of her shirt serving her whims like a charm. "Although, that isn't far from the reason I wanted you..."

"You need something from me." Whereas the bespectacled shark was far more ruthless and clever than initially given credit for, he was likewise not as weak as she seemed to take him for. Gaze flickering precisely where she meant it to, Yahui had been on the earth long enough to know when he was being played. Still, this prospect could prove quite interesting...

[Deal Or No Deal]

At a loss for who it might be behind the curtain pulling the strings and therefore where to begin their search, with the Orange Tiger Association in the same boat, that was one less lead. Landing on everyone from Jian's missing man to all the random hitters that could have been responsible, it was the group's most rational thinker that stopped to ask about the events leading up to this latest kidnapping. Making notes of every detail she was spared, Nadine inquired about the cabby, the service they had used, anything at all that might help.

That was the clean version of events, the one that glossed over the personal stuff that was clearly still eating at their dear old friend. Burned and bitter (or in another slant, acting the same as a sulky teen), had the situation not demanded it, something told Chloe that the thief might not have been nearly as forthcoming. Strangely enough she totally got it, that delving backwards into the self could be one of the single most excruciating trials one could undergo, but this was rather urgent.

For all they knew, it was already too late, and the girl was... Well, it didn't help any to assume that Dells was outright dead. Besides, listening to the breakdown of the scene, the woman gave credit were it was due, the mousy little nit had survived a whole helluva lot up until this point. Both physically and mentally the girl had endured a great deal of duress, far more than most average adults in their time, so it stood to reason that the heiress would find a way through this too.

"And you just left her?" While it was not his place to judge how the errant bride-to-be lived her life, Ludoviko was all too familiar with what his compatriots were capable of. Only imagining what a survivor of their idea of fun would be going through, to compound all the extraneous factors into that... How could he not disapprove?

Zanny texting that he was on the way back, Ludo hadn't been left with much to do but listen. "At least that explains it."

Questioning what it was the hired goon was on about, it only took Chloe a split second to remember how they had all come together for this. Furious and seething to the point that it was worth considering asking after animal control for all the foam, Sam was most definitely bent out of shape when they pulled him away from the brawl. It made sense now.

Darkened thoughts shoved firmly to the back of her mind as the scene was set, Nadine had pulled up her phone to index all the companies that offered transportation services on the island. Only three came up, one of which was a private business that didn't even have a stock photo for the site. Given how cross the couple had been at the end of the night when everyone was parting ways for the last time, it didn't seem likely they would have cared who picked them up, just so long as they got where they needed to be.

Same as anyone else, really.

Upset by this latest blow, it had been one thing to hear that his bride-to-be had made up with the other man and quite another to think that she had been on the verge of breaking their contract. Disobeyed, betrayed, and then made a fool of in front of said lover, Jian had lapsed into an eerie hush, ears prickling at what hadn't been said. Only hinting at what the heiress had uttered to ruin the moment, it only made sense that it was serious and intimate... something that only need be shared between two people.

Against his better judgement, Jian could feel the words sticking in his throat before he ever opened his mouth to speak them, "We have a common interest. Without her, all of this..." hand floating and detached, the young man gestured to the bigger picture, "it's for nothing." Proposing they lay it all aside to work together in this venture without explicitly stating the offer in so many words, the triad offered his hand to the other man, "You know it will be easier finding the girl with our resources."

Reluctant to admit it, it certainly went without saying that cooperating with the Orange Tiger Association on this would have its fair share of benefits. The would-be groom had the money and manpower, and the thief had the brains. Except, even setting aside a moment that these were actual members of a serious criminal unit that were after their pound of flesh, nothing came free. Uncertain what to expect of this unknown toll, the only thing to be sure of was that it would prove to be hefty. On the clock and armed with the same exact amount of information (at least for the time being), even taking in to account that there would be an inevitable double-cross, it only made sense to make the deal.

Author's Note:

Too obvious/heavy-handed? The lead in with Nadine, I mean.