Why would thieves sabotage a plane before breaking into a place? That made
no sense at all. Heather had been checking out information about other
thefts in Europe with similar traits. She wasn't really shocked to find
some in India and South Africa as well. One in Argentina was suspect, and
the one in Venezuela was probable as well. Looks like the kids had been
quite busy, but still, one thing that was prevalent was that whoever it was
made sure that they entered at a point where there would be the least
amount of people around. They wanted to make it as safe as possible for
everyone involved. So why prevent a scheduled trip? The plane wouldn't be
able to be used to look for them by air, and besides, it would have been
gone. It made no sense at all.
Heather had the part with them, and she was going to take it and the computer prints back to the United States for some more analysis. Tyler knew a few people in aircraft engineering and he could tell her if this part was supposed to have failed in flight and it was just a good mechanic that caught it early. If the part was something that would have kept the plane from returning to Italy, sabotaging it would have made more sense, but she couldn't see them risking the lives of the passengers like that. Granted, Liz knew a lot about sports cars, but planes were much different.
Heather wanted Donnelly in HRT to look over the computer records and see if he could tell her anything. She wanted some kind of hard evidence to link the little brats to the thefts. Getting them to confess was going to be much easier if there was something undeniable staring them in the face. It was that or shocking them into blurting a confession. That was the harder to do, but Heather was having a little idea form if the evidence thing didn't work out.
In the meantime, Heather and Jon had to go back to his resort before going to the US. He wanted to see this to the bitter end, and Heather couldn't really complain about having him around. He knew when to stay out of the way, and having him on the flight back would make it much more pleasant than the flight out there. Granted, it would be hard to have a worse flight, but Jon had the ability to take her mind off of what was going on. He seemed to know that she needed a mental break from what she was uncovering, and was able to distract her with talk about the things going on at the resort, and she told him about the evil that was Chambers. On the way back from Italy, she noticed something a little odd. No matter what Jon was talking about, what he wasn't talking about was Katie.
Jon needed to go back to make sure things were set for him being gone a few days. This was the busy season, and not the best time to be taking off, but he had a great deal of confidence in his managers. They didn't need him to babysit them constantly, but there were some things he needed to tidy up. Heather wasn't about to complain. He gave her this information rather than point the police in the right direction. If he needed a few extra hours, they were all his. Besides, it was going to be a few days before the twins got home anyways. That was more than enough time to plan an ambush.
They got to the resort mid-morning, and their flight back to America wasn't until early evening. Jon said that would be plenty of time for him to take care of everything. He was going to make hotel arrangements, but Heather found herself offering to let him stay with her before she realized that she was going to do it. It was the polite thing to do since they weren't sure how long they were going to be in DC and when they were going to New York, but it seemed a little off somehow. Thinking about it, they hadn't spent the night in the same place since they had broken up. It wasn't a big deal though. Heather had a bedroom and a couch that folded out to a bed. She had just spent six weeks in close quarters with three guys. This wasn't any different.
Heather had left the majority of her stuff at the resort, and just taken a small overnight bag to Italy. It made things easier traveling light, but she was looking forward to getting into some casual clothes for the trip back. The resort was completely booked as it normally was during the high season, and Jon had felt a little bad that he didn't have a room of her own available, but his personal suite had two bedroom, and ample space for Heather to stay. Although, considering her reaction to Katie, he was rather glad that Heather wasn't spending the night anyways. It would have been awkward to say the least when he went to bed with Katie and Heather had to go into the guest room. No reason for it to be awkward, after all, Katie was his girlfriend, and Heather wasn't, but it was just better this way.
They had come through the back entrance since Jon didn't want to be seen with travel bags in front of his guests. They might not see him, but they got a cozy feeling knowing that the owner was so close at hand. Telling them he was skipping out to go running all over the planet with a girl was not good for business. As a matter of fact, it was Katie's biggest bone of contention with him that he wouldn't take off and go on location with her every now and then during the winter. This was a special circumstance at any rate, although he already knew he'd hear about it from Katie that he would run around with Heather and not her. Well, Heather alone was a special circumstance.
Heather was tired and was looking forward to a couple of hours of sleep before they left again. Travel was tiring and she hadn't really slept in a couple of days. Unfortunately, she was more like her mother in needing sleep. It would be nicer to be like some of her aunts and cousins and not need to sleep for days on end. Jhondie's colleagues were amazed at her ability to do back-to-back surgeries that lasted ten and twelve hours and not falter. Taylor would spend an hour or so in a hot tub and be ready to practice again. No wonder she was fast becoming one of the best ballerinas in the world. She had an unfair advantage that she could practice more and work harder than the others, not to mentioning inheriting a revved skeleton and muscular system. It still wasn't fair that she didn't need to sleep though and Heather did.
Later, Heather wasn't sure if she was glad or not that Jon hadn't called ahead and said when he would be back. It probably would have saved a lot of anger and embarrassment, well, maybe not considering the IQ levels of the other people involved, but then again, it wasn't right for the deception to continue. Another way might have been easier, but this was certainly undeniable. In any case, Heather was glad Jon didn't have a gun on him.
One of the chambermaids had stopped Jon in the hall for a moment, and Heather was the first to open the door to his suite. Her inhuman reaction time seemed desert her for a moment at the sight in front of her, and when Jon came up behind her, there was no way she could keep him from seeing what was right there in the living room. That's what she told herself later at least.
Edmond was sitting on the couch, head back, eyes closed, with the dopiest grin imaginable. His pants were around his ankles. Katie's favorite Angora sweater was draped over the armrest of the couch with a lacy bra on it, and from her position on the floor, it was obvious to even the most casual observer what was going on. The coffee table had pictures from Katie's latest shoot covering it, and one didn't need to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce exactly what the flow of events had been.
Katie had tried to jump up when she heard the door opening, but Edmond had his hands in her hair. "You sent for a friend, darling?" he muttered with that stupid smile. "You certainly do want that cover more than the other girls." He closed his eyes and kept grinning.
"Yeah, don't mind us," Jon said casually from the door. He brushed his way past Heather and headed to the bedroom. "I would certainly hate for you to lose your shot at the cover." His tone sounded casual enough at least. But there was no mistaking the sheer fury in his eyes. Heather could tell he was fighting to keep himself from hurting Katie or Edmond or the both of them. He didn't believe in hitting girls, but Edmond was in serious danger. Katie was in more danger, but she wouldn't see it coming until Heather struck.
Katie finally jerked back away from Edmond, and leapt to her feet. With more than a little disdain, Heather thought that maybe Katie could talk her way out of this. She could claim she needed a toothpick and there weren't any around, so Edmond had something of roughly the same dimensions. "Jonathan, wait!" she said desperately.
She wasn't bright enough to retreat at the absolute loathing on his face. "You do not want to talk to me," he growled. His hands were squeezing the handle of the bag tight enough to make his knuckles white. Heather knew that she was the only person in the room that could stop him if he lost it, but quite simply, she would be much too busy making them a drink for later. "Put your clothes back on and get your whoring ass out of here before I throw it out."
She crossed her arms over her bare chest, whitening a little and taking a step back. Jonathan had always been smiling and joking around her. He was patient and listened and was fair. She had never seen him like this before. He had never once threatened her or scared her. She tossed a furious look towards Heather. He wasn't like this until she had shown up.
Edmond had calmly stood and gotten his pants back up. He was a veteran of these little encounters, and most were quite civilized. Most of the models that he dealt with tended to date within the community, and everyone understood the rules. This was just part of the game. When the male walked in, as would eventually happen, there were harsh words and a bit of posturing, however, nobody wanted this on the cover of some tacky tabloid. He could probably leave right then, except all of the pictures were there, and he needed to gather his belongings. Pity. It was easier just to leave and let them sort things over. Everything would be fine by the time there was another awards ceremony and they went together. He might have left anyways, but there was the question of just whom the luscious little thing with Katie's boyfriend was. She couldn't be that washed out rag at the airport. With a bit of work, this one could be quite glorious.
When Edmond smiled at her, Heather felt her skin crawl. She was planning on staying on the sidelines of this little drama for now. From the look on Jon's face, there was nothing that Katie could say or do to get him to forgive her. Heather hoped not at least. The reminder of good sex and a cute little pout would not sway the Jon she had known for so long. She didn't think he had changed that much, and from the way Jon was acting, she felt pretty secure in that assumption.
"Let me get dressed, and I'll get Edmond out of here, and you can get her out and we can talk this over," Katie said, her voice a little shaky. Her eyes were wide and she gave Jon her best "innocent" look. It was the one that had always swayed him. It usually turned him on, and they would end up having sex and the argument would be forgotten. For some reason, it just didn't seem to be working.
"The only thing I want to hear from that mouth of yours," Jon said through gritted teeth, "is where to ship your crap off to." Her eyes filled with tears. Tears worked on her Jonathan. He'd feel bad that he upset her that much and would calm down and they would talk, and then the make-up sex would be great and all would be forgiven and forgotten after that. When the first tear slid down her cheek, his expression softened somewhat. His hand touched her face lightly, the palm running under to cup under her chin. And then his fingers came together in a hard clamp on either side, making her wince in pain as his upper lip curled in a sneer of absolute disgust. "Don't even start with that crying shit. It's only making your makeup run and you look like more of a whore than you already do." He shoved her lightly away from him, making her stumble back several steps.
When Katie made her last ditch effort to talk to Jon, Edmond sidled up next to Heather. She wasn't in the least bit telepathic, but she was picking up on him loud and clear. And now she felt like she needed an hour or two in a hot bath to clean the slime off of her. He grinned. "Tell me my dear, have you ever considered modeling?"
Blood splattered all over the pictures on the table, the loud crack of a fist making contact with a face rapidly followed by the thud of Edmond's body hitting the floor. Heather blinked at him, not sure if she should be shocked or impressed. A lot of both actually. Jon heard that last comment from Edmond, and he had said it in a low voice, and before Heather could deck him, Jon was already over there, and now Edmond's nose was a veritable fountain of blood.
"Edmond!" Katie screamed, kneeling beside him. "Are you…oh my God…" she looked up at Jon with no guile this time. "You…you hit…"
"And if he's still here in five minutes, what I am going to do to him then is going to make this look like…like what you were doing to him," Jon snapped, and then stormed out of the room.
Katie was helping Edmond sit up. He touched his nose, shocked to see the blood covering his hand. "He…that brute attacked me!" Edmond stuttered. "Summon the police immediately!"
Heather snorted. They finally noticed her standing there. She smirked. "Funny," she sneered. "I distinctly remember seeing you take a swing at him first." She examined her nails. "Don't whine because you were on the losing end of self-defense." She gave them another snide smile and walked out to find Jon.
Jon didn't answer when there was the light knock on his office door. He was leaning back in his chair; cursing himself for ever thinking that Katie might be different. He had worked with enough famous people to know how the business was. Katie had sworn to him that she was getting ahead on talent alone. Yeah. She was certainly using her talents on Edmond all right. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She had no idea how much he wanted to slap the hell out of her right then and there. Oddly enough, it wasn't Edmond that he had been angry with really. He was just doing what he normally did. Katie was the one who had made a commitment to their relationship, and she was cheating on him. Edmond would have gotten away, but when he made that comment to Heather, Jon saw red, and before he knew that he was going to do it, Edmond was bleeding all over the place.
The door opened, and he whipped around, ready to throw Katie out bodily this time. Heather peeped around the edge of the door, and then walked in. Jon relaxed a little in his seat. He wasn't exactly in the mood for company, but if Heather didn't want to leave, then she wasn't going to, and there was no way he could get her out by himself. There was a small couch in his office and she perched on the armrest. Jon almost smiled. That was so typical of her to have the whole couch to herself, and end up sitting where she wasn't supposed. Drove her mother crazy.
"Edmond wanted to call the cops," she said. Jon rolled his eyes. No denying that he hit him. His knuckles were sore from that hit. "But it's their word against ours that he attacked you first."
Jon blew out a breath. "The word of a respected resort owner and an FBI agent against some Hollywood trash, huh?" There was no mistaking the bitterness in his voice. He had spent a year and a half with this girl, and she was nothing more than glorified trailer trash. What did that make him?
Heather gave him a tight smile. "Whenever one of my guy friends would break up with their girlfriend, this is usually about when I would say that I saw her in a porno once."
Jon looked at her, and couldn't help the smile. He laughed. "I sure can pick 'em."
"Hey!" Heather said with indignation. "I resent that remark." That only made Jon laugh again, and Heather smiled. He wasn't in love with Katie. This was more just being pissed that he got played than losing the love of his life. Yuck. Katie as the love of a life was just a disgusting thought all around. Girls like that were good arguments for forced sterilization of the terminally stupid.
"Transgenics, supermodels, I just have a problem settling down with a nice, normal girl."
"You're not a nice, normal man," Heather replied. "You keep attracting the unusual." That came out sounding a little odd to Jon. It sounded almost like she was saying that she was still attracted to him, but that couldn't be what she meant. Jon wanted to ask her to clarify that line, but the door swung open, almost hitting Heather, and Katie stormed in.
"Jonathan! I cannot believe you did that!" she practically screamed at him. "All the times I stood there and watched you flirt with other woman for the sake of business. I didn't say a word about you running off to Italy with some bitch that you used to know because it was good for your career, and the second I ask for a little reciprocation, you beat up the person that can springboard me!"
Jon stood, leaning on his desk towards her. "You really think me complimenting someone is the same as screwing them on my couch?" he asked with deadly menace. Katie was too caught up in her own drama as the victim to notice.
"That was not cheating," she screamed, stomping her foot for emphasis. "It's not like I wanted to have an affair with him. It's not like I fell for him. That is simply the cost of doing business in my field. It's like, for you, taking a new client out to dinner. You don't have to have it in the contract, but you know you're going to do it, and it's what's expected."
"In other words," Jon broke into her rant. "You're a prostitute, and that was your price." He came around the desk, and she took a step back. She didn't think he was the violent type, but upstairs had just proven differently. "You sold your body to get ahead. Sorry, sweetheart, but I've never in my life had to stoop to a hooker. Now get the hell out of my office, and go back to whatever street corner you came from."
"I am not a hooker," she gasped out, her face pale except for two bright red blotches on her cheeks. She shot a furious glance at Heather. "It's her isn't it? You really want to throw away a year and a half for some woman that you won't see again for years and years?"
Heather had every intention of staying out of this. This was Jon's fight, and she didn't want to butt in on this. It was rather fun to watch from the sidelines. However, Katie brought her into it, and since she did, Heather was going to stay there. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a dollar bill. "Let's see," she said sweetly, standing. "You look like you're worth about fifteen cents. So how much will this get me?"
Heather caught Katie's hand a few inches from her face. Katie's eyes widened at the speed of her reflexes and the tight smile on Heather's face. She looked like a cat ready to pounce. Katie tried to jerk away from the aborted face-slap, but it was like trying to get away from an iron manacle. "Maybe I should explain something you might not have realized," Heather almost purred. Jon thought about stopping this, but then changed his mind. One word would have stopped Heather, but his silence was all the permission she needed.
"You see," Heather continued, "Jon here has a problem with hitting girls. Unfortunately for you, I don't." In a snake-like burst of speed, her free hand whipped in between them, backhanding Katie across the face, and slamming her into the wall. She sank to the floor, holding her face, her vision blurred and feeling like she might pass out. Heather went to grab her and haul her up for a second go, but Jon gently touched her arm. Heather glanced over her shoulder at him.
"Thank you," he said with a small smile. God knew how much he had wanted to do that, but he had simply been raised better. "Can you make sure Edmond is out of here? I'll finish with this."
Heather nodded, and then went to leave. She turned back to him with a bright smile before opening the door. "I'm still debating on which uncle I should call about disposing the body. For some reason I'm leaning towards Xander. Let me know when I need to call." Jon almost burst into laughter right then and there seeing the abject terror on Katie's face. That alone almost made this whole incident worth it.
Jon grabbed Katie and hauled her to her feet. She let out a little whimper, but Jon cut her off before she could start some asinine talking again. Heather had landed the blow right across the eye, and it was already an angry red. Jon was willing to bed she'd have a spectacular black eye by that night. "Let's get one thing clear right now," he hissed at her. "I have cameras all over the place here, and that includes my suite. Trust me, I can edit out anything, and what I leave in, any tabloid in America or Europe would love to get their hands on. Now before you decide to say another word, you just think about what The National Enquirer is going to do with footage of the Sweetheart of Modeling using the ol' casting couch to get ahead."
"You wouldn't…" she gasped. "Oh, God," she moaned at his hateful expression.
"You're damn right I will," Jon growled. "If I ever see you here again, it's going to the highest bidder, you got that?" She gaped at him, and he gave her a little shake. "I said, got that?"
"I got it!" she sobbed. "Jonathan, I love you!"
He didn't dignify that with a response. Love? She thought this was love? No, he knew what that was. This? This was good sex and good times. All he had ever needed to know about love had just walked out the door a few minutes before. To even compare a tramp like her to Heather was an insult on so many levels that it wasn't funny.
"I'll have Hans escort you off of the grounds. Don't even think about coming back." His grip around her arm tightened, and he half-dragged her out of his office. He was glad it was near the back where there weren't guests around. That would be more than he wanted to explain. Hans, his head of security would take care of this problem, and then he had to get things together. More than ever now, he was glad to be getting the hell out of there for a few days at least.
Heather had the part with them, and she was going to take it and the computer prints back to the United States for some more analysis. Tyler knew a few people in aircraft engineering and he could tell her if this part was supposed to have failed in flight and it was just a good mechanic that caught it early. If the part was something that would have kept the plane from returning to Italy, sabotaging it would have made more sense, but she couldn't see them risking the lives of the passengers like that. Granted, Liz knew a lot about sports cars, but planes were much different.
Heather wanted Donnelly in HRT to look over the computer records and see if he could tell her anything. She wanted some kind of hard evidence to link the little brats to the thefts. Getting them to confess was going to be much easier if there was something undeniable staring them in the face. It was that or shocking them into blurting a confession. That was the harder to do, but Heather was having a little idea form if the evidence thing didn't work out.
In the meantime, Heather and Jon had to go back to his resort before going to the US. He wanted to see this to the bitter end, and Heather couldn't really complain about having him around. He knew when to stay out of the way, and having him on the flight back would make it much more pleasant than the flight out there. Granted, it would be hard to have a worse flight, but Jon had the ability to take her mind off of what was going on. He seemed to know that she needed a mental break from what she was uncovering, and was able to distract her with talk about the things going on at the resort, and she told him about the evil that was Chambers. On the way back from Italy, she noticed something a little odd. No matter what Jon was talking about, what he wasn't talking about was Katie.
Jon needed to go back to make sure things were set for him being gone a few days. This was the busy season, and not the best time to be taking off, but he had a great deal of confidence in his managers. They didn't need him to babysit them constantly, but there were some things he needed to tidy up. Heather wasn't about to complain. He gave her this information rather than point the police in the right direction. If he needed a few extra hours, they were all his. Besides, it was going to be a few days before the twins got home anyways. That was more than enough time to plan an ambush.
They got to the resort mid-morning, and their flight back to America wasn't until early evening. Jon said that would be plenty of time for him to take care of everything. He was going to make hotel arrangements, but Heather found herself offering to let him stay with her before she realized that she was going to do it. It was the polite thing to do since they weren't sure how long they were going to be in DC and when they were going to New York, but it seemed a little off somehow. Thinking about it, they hadn't spent the night in the same place since they had broken up. It wasn't a big deal though. Heather had a bedroom and a couch that folded out to a bed. She had just spent six weeks in close quarters with three guys. This wasn't any different.
Heather had left the majority of her stuff at the resort, and just taken a small overnight bag to Italy. It made things easier traveling light, but she was looking forward to getting into some casual clothes for the trip back. The resort was completely booked as it normally was during the high season, and Jon had felt a little bad that he didn't have a room of her own available, but his personal suite had two bedroom, and ample space for Heather to stay. Although, considering her reaction to Katie, he was rather glad that Heather wasn't spending the night anyways. It would have been awkward to say the least when he went to bed with Katie and Heather had to go into the guest room. No reason for it to be awkward, after all, Katie was his girlfriend, and Heather wasn't, but it was just better this way.
They had come through the back entrance since Jon didn't want to be seen with travel bags in front of his guests. They might not see him, but they got a cozy feeling knowing that the owner was so close at hand. Telling them he was skipping out to go running all over the planet with a girl was not good for business. As a matter of fact, it was Katie's biggest bone of contention with him that he wouldn't take off and go on location with her every now and then during the winter. This was a special circumstance at any rate, although he already knew he'd hear about it from Katie that he would run around with Heather and not her. Well, Heather alone was a special circumstance.
Heather was tired and was looking forward to a couple of hours of sleep before they left again. Travel was tiring and she hadn't really slept in a couple of days. Unfortunately, she was more like her mother in needing sleep. It would be nicer to be like some of her aunts and cousins and not need to sleep for days on end. Jhondie's colleagues were amazed at her ability to do back-to-back surgeries that lasted ten and twelve hours and not falter. Taylor would spend an hour or so in a hot tub and be ready to practice again. No wonder she was fast becoming one of the best ballerinas in the world. She had an unfair advantage that she could practice more and work harder than the others, not to mentioning inheriting a revved skeleton and muscular system. It still wasn't fair that she didn't need to sleep though and Heather did.
Later, Heather wasn't sure if she was glad or not that Jon hadn't called ahead and said when he would be back. It probably would have saved a lot of anger and embarrassment, well, maybe not considering the IQ levels of the other people involved, but then again, it wasn't right for the deception to continue. Another way might have been easier, but this was certainly undeniable. In any case, Heather was glad Jon didn't have a gun on him.
One of the chambermaids had stopped Jon in the hall for a moment, and Heather was the first to open the door to his suite. Her inhuman reaction time seemed desert her for a moment at the sight in front of her, and when Jon came up behind her, there was no way she could keep him from seeing what was right there in the living room. That's what she told herself later at least.
Edmond was sitting on the couch, head back, eyes closed, with the dopiest grin imaginable. His pants were around his ankles. Katie's favorite Angora sweater was draped over the armrest of the couch with a lacy bra on it, and from her position on the floor, it was obvious to even the most casual observer what was going on. The coffee table had pictures from Katie's latest shoot covering it, and one didn't need to be Sherlock Holmes to deduce exactly what the flow of events had been.
Katie had tried to jump up when she heard the door opening, but Edmond had his hands in her hair. "You sent for a friend, darling?" he muttered with that stupid smile. "You certainly do want that cover more than the other girls." He closed his eyes and kept grinning.
"Yeah, don't mind us," Jon said casually from the door. He brushed his way past Heather and headed to the bedroom. "I would certainly hate for you to lose your shot at the cover." His tone sounded casual enough at least. But there was no mistaking the sheer fury in his eyes. Heather could tell he was fighting to keep himself from hurting Katie or Edmond or the both of them. He didn't believe in hitting girls, but Edmond was in serious danger. Katie was in more danger, but she wouldn't see it coming until Heather struck.
Katie finally jerked back away from Edmond, and leapt to her feet. With more than a little disdain, Heather thought that maybe Katie could talk her way out of this. She could claim she needed a toothpick and there weren't any around, so Edmond had something of roughly the same dimensions. "Jonathan, wait!" she said desperately.
She wasn't bright enough to retreat at the absolute loathing on his face. "You do not want to talk to me," he growled. His hands were squeezing the handle of the bag tight enough to make his knuckles white. Heather knew that she was the only person in the room that could stop him if he lost it, but quite simply, she would be much too busy making them a drink for later. "Put your clothes back on and get your whoring ass out of here before I throw it out."
She crossed her arms over her bare chest, whitening a little and taking a step back. Jonathan had always been smiling and joking around her. He was patient and listened and was fair. She had never seen him like this before. He had never once threatened her or scared her. She tossed a furious look towards Heather. He wasn't like this until she had shown up.
Edmond had calmly stood and gotten his pants back up. He was a veteran of these little encounters, and most were quite civilized. Most of the models that he dealt with tended to date within the community, and everyone understood the rules. This was just part of the game. When the male walked in, as would eventually happen, there were harsh words and a bit of posturing, however, nobody wanted this on the cover of some tacky tabloid. He could probably leave right then, except all of the pictures were there, and he needed to gather his belongings. Pity. It was easier just to leave and let them sort things over. Everything would be fine by the time there was another awards ceremony and they went together. He might have left anyways, but there was the question of just whom the luscious little thing with Katie's boyfriend was. She couldn't be that washed out rag at the airport. With a bit of work, this one could be quite glorious.
When Edmond smiled at her, Heather felt her skin crawl. She was planning on staying on the sidelines of this little drama for now. From the look on Jon's face, there was nothing that Katie could say or do to get him to forgive her. Heather hoped not at least. The reminder of good sex and a cute little pout would not sway the Jon she had known for so long. She didn't think he had changed that much, and from the way Jon was acting, she felt pretty secure in that assumption.
"Let me get dressed, and I'll get Edmond out of here, and you can get her out and we can talk this over," Katie said, her voice a little shaky. Her eyes were wide and she gave Jon her best "innocent" look. It was the one that had always swayed him. It usually turned him on, and they would end up having sex and the argument would be forgotten. For some reason, it just didn't seem to be working.
"The only thing I want to hear from that mouth of yours," Jon said through gritted teeth, "is where to ship your crap off to." Her eyes filled with tears. Tears worked on her Jonathan. He'd feel bad that he upset her that much and would calm down and they would talk, and then the make-up sex would be great and all would be forgiven and forgotten after that. When the first tear slid down her cheek, his expression softened somewhat. His hand touched her face lightly, the palm running under to cup under her chin. And then his fingers came together in a hard clamp on either side, making her wince in pain as his upper lip curled in a sneer of absolute disgust. "Don't even start with that crying shit. It's only making your makeup run and you look like more of a whore than you already do." He shoved her lightly away from him, making her stumble back several steps.
When Katie made her last ditch effort to talk to Jon, Edmond sidled up next to Heather. She wasn't in the least bit telepathic, but she was picking up on him loud and clear. And now she felt like she needed an hour or two in a hot bath to clean the slime off of her. He grinned. "Tell me my dear, have you ever considered modeling?"
Blood splattered all over the pictures on the table, the loud crack of a fist making contact with a face rapidly followed by the thud of Edmond's body hitting the floor. Heather blinked at him, not sure if she should be shocked or impressed. A lot of both actually. Jon heard that last comment from Edmond, and he had said it in a low voice, and before Heather could deck him, Jon was already over there, and now Edmond's nose was a veritable fountain of blood.
"Edmond!" Katie screamed, kneeling beside him. "Are you…oh my God…" she looked up at Jon with no guile this time. "You…you hit…"
"And if he's still here in five minutes, what I am going to do to him then is going to make this look like…like what you were doing to him," Jon snapped, and then stormed out of the room.
Katie was helping Edmond sit up. He touched his nose, shocked to see the blood covering his hand. "He…that brute attacked me!" Edmond stuttered. "Summon the police immediately!"
Heather snorted. They finally noticed her standing there. She smirked. "Funny," she sneered. "I distinctly remember seeing you take a swing at him first." She examined her nails. "Don't whine because you were on the losing end of self-defense." She gave them another snide smile and walked out to find Jon.
Jon didn't answer when there was the light knock on his office door. He was leaning back in his chair; cursing himself for ever thinking that Katie might be different. He had worked with enough famous people to know how the business was. Katie had sworn to him that she was getting ahead on talent alone. Yeah. She was certainly using her talents on Edmond all right. Stupid, stupid, stupid. She had no idea how much he wanted to slap the hell out of her right then and there. Oddly enough, it wasn't Edmond that he had been angry with really. He was just doing what he normally did. Katie was the one who had made a commitment to their relationship, and she was cheating on him. Edmond would have gotten away, but when he made that comment to Heather, Jon saw red, and before he knew that he was going to do it, Edmond was bleeding all over the place.
The door opened, and he whipped around, ready to throw Katie out bodily this time. Heather peeped around the edge of the door, and then walked in. Jon relaxed a little in his seat. He wasn't exactly in the mood for company, but if Heather didn't want to leave, then she wasn't going to, and there was no way he could get her out by himself. There was a small couch in his office and she perched on the armrest. Jon almost smiled. That was so typical of her to have the whole couch to herself, and end up sitting where she wasn't supposed. Drove her mother crazy.
"Edmond wanted to call the cops," she said. Jon rolled his eyes. No denying that he hit him. His knuckles were sore from that hit. "But it's their word against ours that he attacked you first."
Jon blew out a breath. "The word of a respected resort owner and an FBI agent against some Hollywood trash, huh?" There was no mistaking the bitterness in his voice. He had spent a year and a half with this girl, and she was nothing more than glorified trailer trash. What did that make him?
Heather gave him a tight smile. "Whenever one of my guy friends would break up with their girlfriend, this is usually about when I would say that I saw her in a porno once."
Jon looked at her, and couldn't help the smile. He laughed. "I sure can pick 'em."
"Hey!" Heather said with indignation. "I resent that remark." That only made Jon laugh again, and Heather smiled. He wasn't in love with Katie. This was more just being pissed that he got played than losing the love of his life. Yuck. Katie as the love of a life was just a disgusting thought all around. Girls like that were good arguments for forced sterilization of the terminally stupid.
"Transgenics, supermodels, I just have a problem settling down with a nice, normal girl."
"You're not a nice, normal man," Heather replied. "You keep attracting the unusual." That came out sounding a little odd to Jon. It sounded almost like she was saying that she was still attracted to him, but that couldn't be what she meant. Jon wanted to ask her to clarify that line, but the door swung open, almost hitting Heather, and Katie stormed in.
"Jonathan! I cannot believe you did that!" she practically screamed at him. "All the times I stood there and watched you flirt with other woman for the sake of business. I didn't say a word about you running off to Italy with some bitch that you used to know because it was good for your career, and the second I ask for a little reciprocation, you beat up the person that can springboard me!"
Jon stood, leaning on his desk towards her. "You really think me complimenting someone is the same as screwing them on my couch?" he asked with deadly menace. Katie was too caught up in her own drama as the victim to notice.
"That was not cheating," she screamed, stomping her foot for emphasis. "It's not like I wanted to have an affair with him. It's not like I fell for him. That is simply the cost of doing business in my field. It's like, for you, taking a new client out to dinner. You don't have to have it in the contract, but you know you're going to do it, and it's what's expected."
"In other words," Jon broke into her rant. "You're a prostitute, and that was your price." He came around the desk, and she took a step back. She didn't think he was the violent type, but upstairs had just proven differently. "You sold your body to get ahead. Sorry, sweetheart, but I've never in my life had to stoop to a hooker. Now get the hell out of my office, and go back to whatever street corner you came from."
"I am not a hooker," she gasped out, her face pale except for two bright red blotches on her cheeks. She shot a furious glance at Heather. "It's her isn't it? You really want to throw away a year and a half for some woman that you won't see again for years and years?"
Heather had every intention of staying out of this. This was Jon's fight, and she didn't want to butt in on this. It was rather fun to watch from the sidelines. However, Katie brought her into it, and since she did, Heather was going to stay there. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a dollar bill. "Let's see," she said sweetly, standing. "You look like you're worth about fifteen cents. So how much will this get me?"
Heather caught Katie's hand a few inches from her face. Katie's eyes widened at the speed of her reflexes and the tight smile on Heather's face. She looked like a cat ready to pounce. Katie tried to jerk away from the aborted face-slap, but it was like trying to get away from an iron manacle. "Maybe I should explain something you might not have realized," Heather almost purred. Jon thought about stopping this, but then changed his mind. One word would have stopped Heather, but his silence was all the permission she needed.
"You see," Heather continued, "Jon here has a problem with hitting girls. Unfortunately for you, I don't." In a snake-like burst of speed, her free hand whipped in between them, backhanding Katie across the face, and slamming her into the wall. She sank to the floor, holding her face, her vision blurred and feeling like she might pass out. Heather went to grab her and haul her up for a second go, but Jon gently touched her arm. Heather glanced over her shoulder at him.
"Thank you," he said with a small smile. God knew how much he had wanted to do that, but he had simply been raised better. "Can you make sure Edmond is out of here? I'll finish with this."
Heather nodded, and then went to leave. She turned back to him with a bright smile before opening the door. "I'm still debating on which uncle I should call about disposing the body. For some reason I'm leaning towards Xander. Let me know when I need to call." Jon almost burst into laughter right then and there seeing the abject terror on Katie's face. That alone almost made this whole incident worth it.
Jon grabbed Katie and hauled her to her feet. She let out a little whimper, but Jon cut her off before she could start some asinine talking again. Heather had landed the blow right across the eye, and it was already an angry red. Jon was willing to bed she'd have a spectacular black eye by that night. "Let's get one thing clear right now," he hissed at her. "I have cameras all over the place here, and that includes my suite. Trust me, I can edit out anything, and what I leave in, any tabloid in America or Europe would love to get their hands on. Now before you decide to say another word, you just think about what The National Enquirer is going to do with footage of the Sweetheart of Modeling using the ol' casting couch to get ahead."
"You wouldn't…" she gasped. "Oh, God," she moaned at his hateful expression.
"You're damn right I will," Jon growled. "If I ever see you here again, it's going to the highest bidder, you got that?" She gaped at him, and he gave her a little shake. "I said, got that?"
"I got it!" she sobbed. "Jonathan, I love you!"
He didn't dignify that with a response. Love? She thought this was love? No, he knew what that was. This? This was good sex and good times. All he had ever needed to know about love had just walked out the door a few minutes before. To even compare a tramp like her to Heather was an insult on so many levels that it wasn't funny.
"I'll have Hans escort you off of the grounds. Don't even think about coming back." His grip around her arm tightened, and he half-dragged her out of his office. He was glad it was near the back where there weren't guests around. That would be more than he wanted to explain. Hans, his head of security would take care of this problem, and then he had to get things together. More than ever now, he was glad to be getting the hell out of there for a few days at least.
