Hello again!

I'm so happy you guys liked the first chapter, so here's Chapter 2 :D Enjoy!

Chapter 2

At around 8 PM the next day, Chloe and Linda stepped in LUX 2 to find it crowded with people already. The place was pretty much similar to the one in LA, same ceiling lights and dark floorboards, giant TV screens here and there, dancing platforms behind the bar and above the DJ booth right in front of the entrance. The staircase leading down was smaller than the one in LA, but the club seemed bigger all in all. The grand piano that sat in the middle of the bar in LA was at the far end of the club here, on a big stage that could and would probably host Vegas dancing shows, if Chloe had to take a guess,. Lucifer had once told her he deeply enjoyed these kind of shows – which hadn't been a surprise, really – and she could imagine just how excited he might be at the perspective of enacting one in his own nightclub.

This place really suited him.

As this thought crossed her mind, Chloe couldn't help but feel a little surge of gloominess in her heart. With Lucifer here and her becoming a LAPD officer – hopefully –, they would most likely not see each other very often, if to say never, and it bummed her more than she would ever admit. But maybe it was for the best anyway. Lucifer wasn't exactly what you would call a good influence. Quite the contrary actually. Being a cop and the friend of a very rich, very shady nightclub owner didn't mix very well, did it?

Coming down the stairs, Linda right behind her, Chloe scanned the crowd, looking for Lucifer. She wondered why he'd told her the grand opening was on Saturday when the place was already packed with people right now. She saw Mazikeen, Lucifer's crazy bartender, behind the bar, and the woman stared at her angrily, half her face covered by a white mask. Chloe felt a shiver crept down her spine and looked away, unsettled. That lady had always been very creepy, and she had made it very clear from the start that she hated the fact that Lucifer and Chloe were friends. It hadn't stopped them but she really dreaded the fact that the crazy knife expert ninja saw her as an enemy.

Where was Lucifer anyway?

"Hello, Darling."

Chloe jumped and turned to the man, her heart beating strongly in her chest. He was standing merely inches away from her, stunning in his three-piece suit as usual, smiling mischievously, and she had to crane her neck up to glare at his face. "You scared me," she blamed him, crossing her arms over her chest. Lucifer's dark eyes immediately fell down to her neckline with a satisfied grin and she rolled her eyes, letting her arms fall back to her sides. "Well, you haven't changed one bit."

"You neither, Detective," he retorted teasingly, "Always as beautiful."

Chloe felt her cheeks lightly blush and she hid it with another roll of eyes. "Why did you tell me the opening night is tomorrow? The place seems pretty full today already."

"Consider it a rehearsal opening if you may," he answered with a wink. "But where are my manners! Let me introduce myself to your lovely friend." He turned to Linda and Chloe suddenly remembered her. She was looking at Lucifer with that look in her eyes, the one pretty much every women – and some men as well – had when they saw him for the first time. Chloe bit her lower lip as Lucifer grabbed Linda's hand to plant a soft kiss on it. "Hello darling, I'm Lucifer Morningstar."

"Hi." Linda breathed out dreamily, and Chloe raised her eyes to the ceiling with a sigh. She caught Lucifer's seductive smile as he kept her friend's hand in his and felt a sudden rush that prompted her to step between them.

"Hands off!" she snarled at the man as he dropped Linda's hand.

Lucifer took a step back, his mischievous smile back on as his dark eyes traveled over to Chloe's face. "Jealous much, Miss Decker?" he teased her.

"You wish."

His smile grew bigger as he stepped towards her, staring at her face with such an intense gaze she couldn't help her heart speeding up again. "You know the door is always open for you if you ever… change your mind…" he whispered to her knowingly. And there it was. His secret voice, what he referred to as his 'charms'. The ones that had everyone crawling at his feet and telling him their deepest, darkest desires, no matter how embarrassing or crazy they might be. Power of suggestion at its best. Chloe had researched it a bit, trying to understand how all this neuro-linguistic programming crap worked, but it had felt so off. She wasn't sure how he did it or if it was indeed what he was really doing, but she had witnessed it in action and it was very effective.

Except he knew perfectly well his trick didn't work on her. She narrowed her eyes at him, wondering what he was expecting. A month apart and he thought maybe this old trick of his would finally work, really?

Time to have some fun, she thought to herself decidedly. He had tried to use his mojo on her multiple times over the last six months, once every few week approximately, probably to check if it was still ineffective or not if she had to guess. In these moments she would bring back up her acting skills to pretend that his shenanigans were actually starting to work, and for some reason Lucifer always seemed to fall right for it. You'd think by now he would know better but apparently not. But she was pretty good at pretending – former actress, hello – so maybe that was it.

Chloe smiled sheepishly, letting her eyes fall down to his lips for a split second before quickly looking away, falsely embarrassed. She could feel Lucifer's gaze on her face, his surprised and hopeful smile, and it took all her willpower not to peek at him to watch his reaction. She kept going, shrugging as if she was reconsidering, and taking a small step towards him, slowly closing the distance between them. He stayed perfectly still but she felt his body tensing up against hers and she barely managed to hide her triumphant smile. She stared at his lips again, laid her hand on his chest, almost losing her focus when she could suddenly feel his heart beating strongly against her palm. She took a deep breath, raised herself up on her toes to reach for his ear, slightly leaning on him to keep her balance. She considered for a second nibbling at his earlobe but then decided against it – afraid not to be able to hold back if she did. She was pretty sure when she would start she'd never be able to stop. Lucifer was too… him for that.

So instead she just finally whispered triumphantly in his ear. "Nope!"

All of a sudden Lucifer turned to face her, and she had been so close to him their noses brushed up against each other as he did. She stumbled back in surprise and he grabbed her by the waist to prevent her from falling. Her heart missed a couple of beats as she stared at him in utter astonishment. His arm firmly wrapped around her he leaned into her, his dark eyes gazing intensely in her eyes and she could not for the life of her look away.

"One day I'm going to get you, Chloe Decker," he whispered very seriously, his face inches away, his breath tickling her skin. She felt a delightful shiver running through her whole body and held her breath as he gently kissed her cheek, way too close to the corner of her lips to be innocent.

Then, just like that, he was gone.

Chloe watched him walk away to his grand piano on the other side of the room, biting her lips and trying to calm down her heart. He's playing with you just as much as you're playing with him, she thought to herself, wondering one more time where all of this would end eventually. She caught herself checking him out and looked away in awe, embarrassed and a bit mad at herself as well for letting him get to her like that. This weekend was really going to be a turning point in their 'relationship', she was pretty sure of it now, although she had no idea what turning point exactly.

Linda cleared her throat beside her, dragging her back to reality. "Wow, you're so lucky."

"What?!" Chloe stared at her in disbelief then said with a dismissive hand gesture towards Lucifer: "What, no, we're just, friends."

"He seems to care a lot about you," the therapist retorted with a knowing smile.

"Believe me, he just wants to get into my pants."

Linda chuckled, looking back at the man who was siting down at his piano. "Well, he doesn't strike me as someone you could say no to, I mean, look at that –"

"Shhh, Doctor Martin come on!" Chloe exclaimed, but not without an amused smile. "Very inappropriate."

"I'm just saying," Linda retorted with a nod in his direction, "he genuinely seems to like you and I know for a fact that you care for him as well so…" She caught Chloe's death stare and chuckled again. "Anyway, I'm very disappointed you never mentioned how handsome he is."

Chloe snorted, rolling her eyes. "Come on now, no more analyzing me or Lucifer – believe me that would take a lifetime of sessions really, and would most probably be useless anyway, that guy's a nut job. We're here to have some fun, so let's do that!"

"I thought we were having dinner with Luci–"

"You."

Chloe turned around, startled, and came face to face with a very angry looking Mazikeen. She tried to hold her gaze for a second then swallowed and said: "Oh hi there."

"Why are you here?" the bartender snapped, taking a threatening step towards her, her face so close to hers Chloe almost had to squint.

"Actually, Lucifer invited us," Linda swooped in, barely flinching when the angry woman glared at her. "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm Linda Martin." She extended her hand with a nice smile but Maze just stared at her for a moment, her expression unreadable.

"Whatever." she muttered after a while, then walked away without a look back.

"Wow."

"This lady seems nice." Linda said with a nervous chuckle.

"I'll say! How could you stand up to her, that woman is insane." Chloe whispered, staring impressed at her friend.

"Who is she?"

"Lucifer's crazy bartender. I hear she's in a cult or something…"

"I think she's just threatened by you." Linda said with a pensive nod.

Chloe couldn't help but chuckle. "Of course you do. Now come on, fun."

They took a few tentative steps to try and find a table but the place was really crowded. Above the sounds of chattering and laughing people, Chloe could make out a familiar melody played on the grand piano, although she didn't recognize it completely. She smiled fondly as she turned to watch Lucifer. She loved hearing him play and sing. He had tried teaching her a bit but she was a lost cause really. She would never admit it to him because hell that was pretty ironic, but the very first thought that had crossed her mind the first time she had heard his rendition of "My way" was that this man clearly could sing like an angel. She couldn't help but snicker again at the idea. But hadn't Lucifer been an angel too, before becoming the Devil?

"Ladies, I'm sorry but –" Chloe jumped, roughly brought back to reality and turned to discover a bald black man staring at Linda and her with concern in his soft brown eyes. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop on you but, you should be careful with that demon," he pointed his thumb to Mazikeen who was glaring at them behind the bar again. "She is fierce and very dangerous."

Chloe smiled at him. "Thanks but I think we're okay."

"Are you some of Lucifer's friends?" he asked with interest. He had a very deep, soothing voice, although he seemed a bit out of place in the club. As Chloe nodded, he smiled gently. "I'm sorry I didn't even introduce myself, I'm Amenadiel, Lucifer's big brother."

Chloe couldn't help but stare at him, startled, feeling very rude as she did. She tried to hide it with another sheepish smile and said quickly: "Nice to meet you, I'm Chloe Decker, and this is Linda Martin."

"Oh, so you're Chloe Decker," the man said, narrowing his eyes at her with an expression she couldn't read.

She opened her mouth but before she could say anything – like how on earth did he know her, did Lucifer tell him about her, what was that all about? – Lucifer stepped in, laying a hard hand on his brother's shoulder, making him flinch. "What are you doing here, brother?" he hissed, clearly not happy to see him.

"I was just having a little chat with your lovely friends –" started Amenadiel – what kind of name was that, Chloe wondered – but Lucifer cut him sharply:

"Well you should be on your way out anyway, party's over for tonight. Feel free to come back never."

Amenadiel's jaws tightened but he shrugged and, with a polite 'have a goodnight, ladies' to Chloe and Linda's attention, he left. The club was already emptying and soon enough they were the last three people left.

Chloe stared at Lucifer, surprised by what just happened. "I had no idea you had a brother," she told him curiously.

Lucifer turned to her with a wince. "A side of the family I'm desperate to forget about."

"He seemed nice." Chloe retorted with a frown. She was just now realizing she really didn't know anything about his past. She couldn't believe he never mentioned any siblings before. She knew he had a very complicated relationship with his father – why though, she had no clear idea, he was always hiding behind these elaborate metaphors of the Bible – but that was about it. Lucifer stared at her in disbelief for a moment, and she wondered if she had crossed an invisible line or something. When the silence started to become unbearable and he still stood there staring at her, she cleared her throat and asked: "So anyway, where are you taking us tonight? I'm starving!"

Lucifer's face slowly lightened up, but his smile stayed a bit cautious still as he answered: "There's this place not far from here, the chef owes me a favor, I hear his poach salmon is exquisite." His dark eyes met Chloe's but he looked away quickly and she felt a little tinge of sadness pierce her heart. "This way, ladies."

He lead the way up the stairs and out of the club but Chloe caught his arm just before he got out himself, letting Linda continue without them. "Hey," she said quietly, trying to meet his gaze, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to –"

"No harm done, darling," he retorted with a gentle smile, "Let's not talk about my brother anymore and just… enjoy each other's company, if you may?"

"You got it," she nodded. She let go of his arm but he stuck by her side, his hand brushing up her lower back as she stepped outside the door, sending shivers up her spine. She walked up to Linda, trying to hide how responsive her body was to his touch. This was bad. She wouldn't be able to resist much longer, she knew it. The only thing holding her back still was the fear of it ruining their friendship. Sex could make things so much more complicated…

It didn't help at all that Lucifer behaved like the perfect gentleman all evening. The three of them talked throughout dinner, Lucifer seemingly very interested in Linda's job as a therapist. He ended up concluding he could probably use therapy, and didn't seem to understand Chloe's unbelieving laugh and Linda's knowing nod. The food was indeed delicious and when their plates were finally all cleaned off and Lucifer asked them if they were up for desert, Chloe hesitated for a moment, her stomach pretty full already. She eyed her empty glass of wine, thinking, but stopped Lucifer when he tried to refill it for the third time.

"Stop trying to get me drunk," she hissed, but she couldn't help but chuckle when he looked at her all innocent in the face, his eyes gleaming mischievously. "To be honest, I'm not sure I have any room left for desert, really."

"Me neither," Linda nodded, laying back on her chair with a satisfied sigh.

Chloe watched her smile disappear from her face as she spotted something behind her. She turned to see Amenadiel standing at the bar on the other side of the room. She caught Lucifer's angry eyes and opened her mouth to speak, but Linda beat her to it.

She stood up swiftly and said with a nod in the man's direction: "I think I can handle this one, so I'll let you two… catch up." And just like that she walked away towards Amenadiel who looked at her in surprise.

Chloe turned back to Lucifer and saw him eyeing Linda with an impressed look. "I like your friend," he told her with a smile.

"You should have seen her standing up to Mazikeen, back at Lux."

"Oh really? I would love to see those two going at it."

Chloe shook her head in disbelief as he winked at her with a teasing smile. A flash of light suddenly caught her gaze and she shifted in her seat, curious. She felt her heart drop in her chest and leaned on the table, hiding her face with her hand. She met Lucifer's surprised gaze and muttered angrily in response: "Paparazzo."

Lucifer looked at the fat man with the camera standing against the wall not far from them, hiding behind some plants. He narrowed his eyes at him, then stared back at Chloe. "You seem to hate these ones. How come?"

"Long story," she sighed, biting her lower lip, shifting in her seat again to try and hide herself. "I was in a car accident a couple years ago because of one of these cockroaches. Turned out the man in question had been setting up car crashes, bar fights, overdoses or pretend suicides just to get the pictures before anyone else. I got lucky back then but others… not so much. He's in prison now but… I hate these people, they can ruin lives in a flash and still most of them end up getting away with it."

"I had no idea." Lucifer was looking at her so intensely she could not hold his gaze for long. He leaned in, his face dark and awfully serious for once, then whispered in a voice she had never heard before: "Do you want me to punish this man?"

She stared back at him, shocked at how dangerous he sounded right now. She had never seen him like that before. His face was a pure mask of cold determination and his eyes so dark she couldn't even see the pupils anymore. She felt goosebumps rise on her arms and a shiver creep down her spine, and quickly shook her head as he stood up, grabbing him by the sleeve before he could do anything stupid. "No, no it's okay, let's just… leave?" He frowned at her and she stood up too, placing herself between him and the man. "Please, Lucifer?"

He narrowed his dark eyes at her but then simply nodded. Dropping a couple of hundred bills on the table, he then gently offered her his arm. She refused but followed him quickly on the way out of the restaurant, desperate to leave. She glanced back at the bar but Amenadiel and Linda were nowhere to be seen. She just shrugged, thinking to herself her friend was a big girl and could handle herself.

Thank God the paparazzo did not seem to follow them and as they stepped out on the street, Chloe let out a relieved sigh. She hated this, she'd always had. One very awful downside of celebrity, really. She'd had to deal with these men ever since her first movie when she was 19. She hoped now that she was out of the business it would eventually stop, but she knew it would probably not. She would always be Chloe Decker, the famous actress. And even if it eventually faded away, she would always be Penelope Decker's daughter too. There were no running away from it. How it would mix up with her new job, she had no idea. It had already been a pain during her training…

Bringing her back to reality, Lucifer gently touched her arm and said quietly: "I'm sorry we had to leave like that." He was staring at her in concern and she managed a crooked smile to reassure him. "Now, how about one last drink at my place? I believe I owe you desert, don't I?"

"I'm not sure that's very wise," Chloe retorted with a grin, relaxing for a second.

"Darling, you're not here in Vegas to be wise," he said, nudging her teasingly and she looked at him in offense. "Please, one last drink?" he pleaded, drawing out his perfect smile to help his case. "Just the one, then I put you back on the street, I promise." His smile turned evil as he added, "And you know I'm a man of my word, after all I did throw you out once already."

Chloe stared daggers at him and he chuckled, trying to look as innocent as he could which was pretty ridiculous. She weighed the pros and cons for a second, then grumbled anyway, "Yeah, okay…" Lucifer's smile grew bigger and she couldn't help but chuckle at his hopeful face. "But just ONE drink, deal? Then I'm out."

"You have my word, Detective."

Her heart missed a beat and she looked away, cheeks a bit red as she tried to hide the fact that she kind of liked it when he called her that. She liked it way too much for her own good really. Holy crap, this was so unreasonable. What was she getting herself into…

Hope you guys liked this one too, I'm not very good at describing places, it doesn't come to me as easily as it would in French but hope you liked it anyway :D