Chapter 9

As she waited for Quatre to arrive, Dorothy paced nervously in the hotel room. Despite the fact that it was an elegant, exclusive hotel, everything seemed tawdry to her as she waited for a married man to meet her. That morning when she had arrived at work, an envelope from the Preventer chief was lying on her desk, and inside she found the two card keys. She had considered calling Bob Morley and telling him that she refused to accept his assignment. She was mortified by the very real possibility that Heero had reported what he had seen in her kitchen and his superior had assumed that she would not balk at spending time alone with Quatre. The reservation had been made under a fictitious name and a week had been paid in advance. Dorothy couldn't spy on Quatre! She refused to believe that he would knowingly supply the dictator on L4 with mobile suits when they had been unilaterally outlawed throughout the Earth Sphere United Nation. She decided to ask him outright.

So she called his office hoping that she could meet him there, and when she was told that he had not come in for the day, Dorothy was faced with the delicate task of calling his suite at the hotel. Fortunately Rashid took the call and he informed her that Quatre had taken his daughter to the zoo. He was so specific in his information that Dorothy suspected he wanted her to seek him out. Knowing that meeting him at the zoo might be viewed as suspicious to the tabloid press that was eager for any stories that might rock the seemingly ideal marriage of the tycoon and his beautiful wife, Dorothy devised the innocent excuse of publicity for the zoo. When she suggested it to her superior, the PR director had difficulty meeting her gaze, then mumbled that she would do what she had to do. She suspected that if news of an affair between her and Quatre Winner leaked to the press, she would lose her position.

The morning at the zoo had been so enjoyable that she was disappointed when it had come to an end. Spending time with Jamila filled an empty place in her heart, and yet it was painful because Jamila was another woman's child. Dorothy didn't try to pretend that Quatre and Jamila belonged to her, but she did devote her energies to making Jamila's trip to the zoo a day to remember. Dorothy knew that she would never forget it.

Hearing the card slip into the lock, Dorothy smoothed down her skirt and turned to face the door. Quatre stepped in and quietly closed the door before turning to see her. For a moment he stood across the room, his gaze locking with hers. Dorothy couldn't think of anything clever to say because she was feeling as nervous as a teenage girl on her first date. This feeling of not knowing what to expect was not unpleasant, and her resolve to keep this meeting from becoming personal was quickly evaporating.

"This isn't like you, Dorothy," Quatre finally said, walking across the room to her.

When he was standing before her, she felt a tingle of excitement race down her spine. "Are you disappointed in me?"

Quatre framed her face with his hands, tilting her head up and looking into her eyes. "You can't imagine how I feel at this moment. Disappointed in you? Never. I am wondering if you are disappointed in me for leaving Jamila with Rashid so that I could be with you."

"Was your wife there?" she asked. The thought of his beautiful wife waiting for him back in his hotel suite cooled her ardor a bit. Although she didn't want to, Dorothy jerked her face from his hands and moved away from him to sit on the small sofa.

"I don't know," he said as he sat with her. He ran a hand through his hair, then looked at her with a confused frown before reaching out to put his hand on her thigh. "Does it matter?"

Dorothy stood and moved away. Wringing her hands, she resumed the pacing she had been doing. "I wanted to talk to you, Quatre."

"You could have talked to me at the zoo, or we could have arranged to have lunch with Heero Yuy sitting between us." His tone was sarcastic. "You didn't need to lure me here."

She paused to look at him, part of her angry about his accusation, the other part feeling guilty because she had lured him here. "We couldn't have this discussion at the zoo, not with Jamila present. You may not think she is old enough to understand what is happening around her, but I think you would be surprised how much she observes."

Quatre seemed to consider what she said, and for a moment he didn't say anything, then his eyes met hers. "I know she has observed that you who have no child are a better mother than her own."

His comment touched a chord deep inside her, and she had to take a settling breath before speaking again. "But Sadirah is her mother..."

"Sadirah is no mother!" Quatre stood and approached Dorothy, and there was genuine anger in his eyes. "I have never seen her touch, let alone, hold my daughter with affection. The only mothers Jamila has ever known are the nannies that have been subsequently banished by that bitch."

"Some women have difficulty adjusting to..."

"I didn't come here to talk about Sadirah." He reached for her, but Dorothy stepped away.

"She stands between us, Quatre, no matter how much you don't want to see her there." Dorothy didn't want to talk about Sadirah either, but she had a conscience regardless of what Bob Morley might think, or Heero Yuy or even Quatre. "You must have spoken vows to her. Will you so easily break them?"

Quatre sighed. "I spoke vows so that I could give my child a family." His eyes met hers. "I am not proud of this, Dorothy, but the fact is that I took advantage of Sadirah's innocence and Jamila is the result. I have asked Allah a thousand times in my prayers why it could not have been you who gave me Jamila after I had done exactly the same thing to you."

Dorothy turned away so that he could not see her tears. "You did not take advantage of me, Quatre. Perhaps I took advantage of you."

She felt his presence behind her even before he put his hands on her shoulders and pressed his face into her neck. Dorothy shuddered as her need for him threatened the control she had on her feelings. Stepping away, she put a few feet of distance between them and turned again to look at him. He didn't hide that he was becoming frustrated.

"Stop playing games, Dorothy. I want you, and I know when I touch you that you feel the same. I don't want to talk about Jamila, and I certainly don't care to be reminded about my wife, not by you."

Dorothy couldn't move if she wanted to when Quatre closed the distance between them and slipped his arm around her waist. Drawing her to him, he lowered his head to hers and this time she allowed him to kiss her. As his lips moved over hers, she forgot the original purpose for meeting him here, and she responded by sliding her hands up his chest and around his neck. Quatre reached down to lift her, and as he carried her to the bed, she clung to him and pulled him atop her when he laid her on the bed. The weight of his body on hers, the obvious proof of his desire pressing against her suddenly made her clothing an irritation.

Pushing him over on his back, she broke the kiss and straddled him. As she unbuttoned her blouse and tossed it aside, he slid his hands over her thighs and up her back where he unhooked her lacy bra then slowly drew it down her arms before it joined her blouse lying over the edge of the bed. His gaze met hers for a moment, and Dorothy shivered with anticipation when his lids lowered and he sat up to press a brief kiss to her lips before moving downward. She ran her fingers through his hair, holding his head to hers as his mouth caressed her flesh and made her body smolder with long unfulfilled desires. Her back arched to him, and she felt as if she had little control over the sensual movement of her hips against his. His touch made her ache for more, and she knew there would be no stopping what would happen even if she had the willpower to use some sense.

Quatre reached behind her to unfasten her skirt, then rolled her onto her back to peel off the garment which joined the pile falling off the bed into a heap on the floor. Her last coherent thought was that her clothing was going to be wrinkled, then Quatre slowly worked off the rest of her clothing as he kissed a trail downward. Dorothy grabbed handfuls of the bed coverlet and bit her lip in a futile effort not to sound wanton but failing miserably as he brought her to brink of pleasure she hadn't felt in too long. When he moved away from her, she moaned in disappointment until he tossed off his clothing and quickly rejoined her.

Smoothing back her hair, he looked into her eyes. "Tell me that you want me, Dorothy."

"You know that I do," she answered breathlessly.

She arched to meet the joining of their bodies, then clung to him helplessly as he brought her to such a pleasurable plateau that she shamelessly cried out his name. Sex with other men wasn't the same as being with him. As she was lying in the circle of his arms, his lips caressing her temple as her body slowly came back down from the heights he had taken her, she was forced to acknowledge that she would never feel the same. Dorothy wasn't exactly sure when he had taken her heart and soul, whether it had begun out in space during their erratic youth or in Barbados when they were both lost and searching for someone to cling to. Being with him again made her realize how empty her relationships had been and how much she really didn't enjoy them. She hadn't really been looking for a man to make her feel like Quatre did because deep inside she knew that such a man didn't exist.

"How long do you have this room?" he asked her as one of his hands caressed her tingling body.

Sighing, she looked at him, knowing that she had yet to achieve her purpose for coming here. "When must you return to L4?"

"I was planning to stay on Earth for another week." He brushed her lips with his own. "I'd like to stay longer, but I have to return as soon as possible."

"How can you live there when the president of your colony is a fanatic who seems determined to bring war to space again?" Dorothy moved her head so that she could see his face.

Quatre frowned at her. "Is this a particular concern of yours?"

She hesitated too long in answering and she saw in his eyes that he realized she might have other motives for meeting him here. "I'm sorry, Quatre, but I am worried about you, and your little girl."

"You don't have to worry about us. Opponents of Mahmad Al-Jazar taint the information you must be getting about my colony."

"The man is a ruthless dictator, and I cannot believe you are defending him!" Dorothy pulled away from him. "It must be true! You are funding his activities!"

"What are you talking about?" Quatre grabbed her wrist to prevent her from leaving the bed.

Dorothy glared at him. "I thought you might have changed! Because you have a wife and a child, I was sure you had curbed that self-destructive streak in you, but you haven't."

"I have changed, Dorothy. You changed me, or don't you remember?" He pulled her to him, and although she was determined not to yield, when he held her in the circle of his arms, she had difficulty thinking rationally.

"I hoped I had changed you, but I was wrong. The only one who had been changed was me."

Quatre rolled her on her back and looked down at her. "I'm not aiding Al-Jazar in any quest to conquer space."

"What are you manufacturing on satellite X7350? According to Preventer operatives you have concluded a contract with Al-Jazar to produce mobile suits for his military."

For a moment, he stared down at her silently, and then she saw the anger in his eyes as well as in the tensing of his body. "Is that why you met me here? To screw the answers out of me?"

Tears burned her eyes. "That wasn't my intention."

"That must have been somebody's intention and you let them use you like a common prostitute. I already have one of those, Dorothy. At least I knew that Sadirah was fucking me for wealth and position. I thought you wanted to be with me." He shoved himself away from her and swung his legs over the edge of the bed.

"I am sorry, Quatre, if I have hurt you, but it wasn't my intent. I had hoped to discuss this rationally with you, but you didn't give me a chance."

He didn't look back at her so she couldn't determine how he felt except by his voice and he kept it coolly neutral. "Is that why you kept flinging Sadirah at me like a bucket of ice?"

She put her hand on his back and she felt his body shudder beneath it. Dorothy could only hope that he wasn't repulsed. "I didn't want you to make a mistake you would regret later."

"Did you make a mistake that you will regret later?" He turned around to look at her, seeking her gaze and Dorothy didn't look away. "Like you regret what happened between us in Barbados?"

Her hand fell away, and she felt an ache in her heart. He would never know how much joy and pain those few days had brought to her life.

Something had awakened Dorothy from the fitful sleep into which she had finally fallen after Quatre left her at her door without a word. After what had happened that night, she realized that she was confused about her feelings about Quatre. His erratic behavior revealed to Dorothy just how troubled he was despite or because of his wealth and power. Quatre Winner didn't seem to be able to find his place in a world where peace had abruptly replaced the turbulence of war. Dorothy understood his feelings, but while she had shut herself away, he had adopted a lifestyle that would kill him. That attitude she couldn't understand. Dorothy was beginning to realize just how much she wanted to move on with her life.

The wind rattled the windows of the French doors and lightening illuminated the room for a moment. Drawn by the fury of the storm, Dorothy tossed aside her blanket and crossed the room to look out the windows. The wind was making the palm trees sway and bend, and in the eerie pre-dawn light, she could see white-capped waves crashing up against the shoreline. Thunder rumbled in the distance, so she knew that the full brunt of the storm was not yet upon them. Opening the door, she stepped out onto the patio and turned her face to the wind, closing her eyes and shaking out her long hair. After the hot, humid days, she almost felt relief as the wind rushed against her, lifting her hair and whipping it around her.

Lightening brightened the sky again, and Dorothy opened her eyes to look along the shore. As thunder cracked almost overhead, she saw a figure on the beach and realized that Quatre was standing at the edge of the water holding his arms out to the raging wind, dressed as he was earlier so she guessed he had not slept at all. His unbuttoned white shirt flapped out behind him until a gust blew it off, and Dorothy watched as it whirled in the air before crashing into the foamy water. Not only did he ignore the storm rolling in upon them, but he turned to face it.

The crack of thunder accompanied the lightening that raced through the sky directly above them, branching out in many directions. Dorothy couldn't stand by and watch a bolt of lightening fry Quatre Winner when she was quite sure he was still in some drug-induced delirium. So she crushed her own fear of the storm and ran down to the beach, her heart seeming to stop in her chest each time the thunder boomed and the lightening charged the air.

When she reached him, she gave him a shove that made him stumble forward and he barely managed to catch his balance to keep from pitching face first into the churning water.

"Are you crazy?" she shouted, trying to make herself heard above the wind.

Quatre spun to face her and she saw that he was laughing. "I should be asking you that, Miss Dorothy!"

"What are you doing out here? You are going to get killed!"

He swept his arm out to the wind, and behind him she saw lightening hurtle downward to the ground which shook shortly thereafter with the thunder. "How can you not love nature's fury? We don't have this on L4."

Dorothy tried to look at the storm from his point of view and could only see the danger. "Can't you watch this from a safe distance?"

A gust of wind whipped the hair around her, and Quatre reached out to brush it away, then rested his hand on her cheek. "It's not the same unless you stand in the middle of it."

Lightening struck so close by that her heart jumped and she moved closer to him. Quatre slid his hand up and tangled his fingers in her hair, then lowered his head to press his lips to hers in a gentle kiss that soon turned as wild and passionate as the storm breaking around them.

Dorothy didn't notice when the heavens opened up and the rain poured down upon them. She clung to him as he made her forget the storm, forget who she was, forget how cruel he had been to her only hours earlier. The flesh beneath her fingers was slick from the rain when she ran them over his chest and around to his back. Quatre's hands slid over her shoulders, pushing the lacy straps of her sopping wet satin nightgown down her arms as he peeled the wet layer from her skin. When it pooled around her legs until landing in the ankle-deep water they were standing in, he moved his hands slowly up her body, stroking, caressing until she didn't think she could bear the pleasure he was giving her.

Lifting her, he carried her across the beach and back to her bedroom where he lay her gently on the bed. When he stepped back from the bed, she bit her lip to keep from crying out her disappointment. Dorothy wanted him to finish what he started, but he seemed reluctant.

"I had better go."

She scrambled to her knees on the bed and grabbed his arm before he could leave. "Why? Why are you doing this to me?"

For a moment he said nothing and she could hear the driving rain as well as the thunder now moving away with the storm. "You know why I brought you here?" he finally asked her.

Dorothy didn't want to answer.

"To make a fool of you, Dorothy Catalonia." He sounded angry with himself, and he plunged his fingers through his wet hair. "But you have turned the tables on me."

Her heart ached and tears make her eyes prickle to hear her suspicions confirmed, that she was even less than a momentary diversion to ease his boredom, but the object of his depraved amusement. "I...I haven't tried to..."

"You don't need to try." Quatre closed his eyes and shook his head as if trying to clear it, then he opened them to glare at her. "Go to sleep, Dorothy, or I will do something that you will probably regret."

Dorothy looked at his face. "I would regret it if you didn't."

He continued to glare at her for a moment, then he reached down to jerk off his pants. Dorothy tried not to show how frightened she was as he joined her on the bed, forcing her on her back and covering her body with his. When his mouth covered hers, she barely had time to realize his kiss was not so gentle before his intrusion into her body was causing sharp, burning pain.

She moved her head away from his kiss and was about to beg him to stop when he drew away from her. Her relief was short-lived however because he grasped her hips in a bruising grip and suddenly thrust deeply into her, breaking through her barrier. The pain was so intense that she could hold back neither her cry nor the tears that followed. Dorothy didn't want to believe that he could be so heartless, but then she became aware that his lips were kissing away her tears.

"I'm sorry, Dorothy," he murmured in her ear. "And yet I'm not."

Grabbing a handful of his hair, she raised his head to look at him in the faint light filtering in from the window. Despite the pain that had subsided to a dull ache, as her body grew accustomed to him, she said, "I'm not sorry either." Then she added shyly, "Is this all there is to it?"

A slow smile curved his lips. "There's a little more."

A little more turned into a lot more, and the sun was high in the sky before she drifted off to sleep curled into his warmth, a contented smile on her lips.

Waking later, she judged by the position of the sun that it was late afternoon. Quatre was gone, but in his place he had left a large white lily. She smiled to herself as she lifted the flower and breathed in its fragrance. Dorothy wasn't completely ignorant about sex, having heard other girls talk about their experiences when she was at boarding school. She had never had anything to add to such conversations because when she wasn't at the all-girl school, older men who didn't seem to see her as a female surrounded her at the Dermail home. Dorothy wouldn't even be able to put into words how Quatre had made her feel, nor would she want to share the experience.

Realizing that she was hungry, she sat up and winced from the sudden pain she felt as she stood. Parts of her that she hadn't noticed in the past were aching from sudden and thorough use, but it wasn't an unbearable pain and it soon subsided by the time she stepped into the shower. Standing under the hot spray, she smiled to herself as she thought of Quatre's hands touching her, his lips moving over hers, his body one with hers. Dorothy couldn't imagine having thoughts of anything else from now on.

The glass shower door suddenly slid open and Dorothy gasped and sputtered under the water when she saw Quatre standing just outside the shower wearing only a towel around his waist as he watched her.

"You started without me." He grinned as he tugged off the towel, and tossing it aside, stepped into the shower with her.

The shower was small, but Quatre soon showed her an advantage to that. Food was forgotten until much later when she was lying in his arms, a cool breeze wafting over them as she watched the sunset through the open window. Somewhere a phone was ringing, but beyond a slight tensing of his body, Quatre didn't acknowledge it. Just when Dorothy thought she might go answer the phone, the ringing stopped and Quatre relaxed.

She lifted her head from his chest to look at his face. "Shouldn't you have answered? It may have been important."

He shrugged. "I pay people to take care of things for me."

"Do you pay people to provide food for us?" Dorothy's stomach growled.

Quatre chuckled, then sat up. "I guess we'll need some sustenance in order to keep this up."

Although they had been as intimate as a man and woman could possibly be, Dorothy still felt her cheeks heating with a blush. He noticed it, but he only smiled before turning away from her and leaving the bed. Grabbing his towel from the floor, he wrapped it around his waist. "I'll meet you on the patio in about ten minutes."

In the ten minutes she put on one of the dresses he had purchased for her the first day they had come here, brushed through her tangled hair, then went out to the patio to meet him. He was waiting, wearing casual clothing, and he had already mixed her a drink, which he handed to her.

Dorothy only took a sip before turning her attention to the food on the table. Although she was so hungry she would eat anything, an appetizing feast was waiting for them. "You must pay your servants very well."

"They are very loyal. I don't think money has anything to do with it." Then he added, "Of course I do reward their loyalty generously. I can afford to."

During the meal, the phone rang again, and this time the silent servant appeared carrying a cordless phone. Quatre seemed annoyed, but he took the call, and Dorothy couldn't understand a word he said because he was speaking Arabic. His tone was polite, yet impatient, and she wondered if he cut the conversation short when he handed the phone back to the servant who bowed and left them alone.

"Your manager is very persistent," she remarked.

"Too persistent," he grumbled. "Would you like to go for a walk on the beach? There aren't any phones out there to bother us."

Dorothy glanced out at the dark beach, bathed in from the full moon. She could scarcely believe that less than twelve hours earlier there had been a violent storm. Dorothy felt different and knew that it wasn't because of the sex. Looking back at Quatre who was waiting for her answer she knew why she had changed.

Quatre had filled an empty place in her heart. Without knowing how or why, and against any grain of common sense, she had fallen in love.

Watching Dorothy dress after her quick shower, Quatre felt a niggling sense of regret because he knew by her silence that she was bothered by what they had done. Even knowing that his marriage to Sadirah was on shaky grounds, she didn't want to be the cause of its complete collapse. She didn't realize that his feelings for her prevented him from committing to Sadirah, but then Sadirah didn't give a damn if he loved her or not as long as she had his money to spend and his name to use.

Dorothy finished buttoning her blouse and grabbed her jacket from the chair over which she had carefully draped it earlier. "I have to get back to the office."

"Which office?" Quatre didn't care if he sounded bitter. Then again, he should probably feel grateful that she had accepted the duty to spy on him or they might not have spent this afternoon together.

"I'm sorry." She headed to the door.

Quatre had the feeling that she wouldn't meet him here again, but he had to ask. "When am I going to see you again?"

Although she paused at the door, she didn't answer before she opened it and walked out.

Quatre stared at the closed door for a moment, and he felt a sense of loss every bit as deep as the day he had awakened to find her gone from the beach house. Somehow he had felt responsible for her leaving Barbados without an explanation, that she had seen something in him that had frightened her away. He hadn't planned to fall in love with her. At the time he had thought it would be amusing to break her tough shell and leave her a little wiser in the way of the world. Quatre hadn't expected her to be so naive, not after her experiences during the war. The woman he had seduced in Barbados hardly bore any resemblance to the girl who had fanatically done the bidding of the Romefeller Foundation by spying in the Cinq Kingdom then joining the White Fang in a misguided attempt to prove the futility of war.

When he first saw her in the restaurant, he thought she was a bored socialite who might appreciate some entertainment. After he realized his mistake, he should have sent her home, and even though he hadn't, Quatre hadn't planned to let things go as far as they did. But the romantic walks on the beach, the kisses in the moonlight weren't enough for either of them. He had even tried to push her away by letting her see the worst possible side to him at the dance club. Quatre hadn't expected the jealous rage he felt when another man was going to take her home, and he was sure she would hop on the first plane off the island. They might have been better off if she had. His heart had been broken when she left him, and he knew she was the only woman who could heal it.

Quatre took his time dressing, and when he finished, he called for his car, then went to the hotel lobby where he met Rashid. "Where is Sadirah?" he asked him.

"In the suite."

"What has she been up to today?" he asked curiously as he reached into his jacket to pull out his cigar case.

"Several pairs of shoes, a purse, lingerie that would make a prostitute blush..."

Quatre chuckled as he imagined Rashid standing in a lingerie shop watching his wife buy garments that she would wear in a futile attempt to seduce him back to her bed. After being with Dorothy again, he wouldn't even be able to pretend Sadirah was the woman he wanted. He could imagine the taste of her, how her supple body felt moving with him to achieve a mutual pleasure. There was nothing Sadirah could do to make him want her like he did Dorothy, even now.

After he was settled in the limousine with Rashid, Quatre asked, "She didn't meet any men?"

"Her father called her cell phone while she was shopping."

"I don't suppose you listened to their conversation?"

Rashid smiled then pulled out of his pocket an electronic device that allowed him to eavesdrop on any cellular phone conversation. Whatever signal it received was relayed to a receiver tucked in his ear. "They made plans to have lunch with Randolph Morrison tomorrow."

Hearing Morrison's name reminded Quatre of another pressing concern. "What have you discovered about Khalid's motive for killing Atifah?"

Rashid raised a brow. "What makes you believe that he meant to kill Atifah? From what you have said, the first bullet was meant for Miss Catalonia."

Quatre frowned. "Why would he want to harm her?"

For a moment Rashid did not answer as he looked away to stare out the window. When he looked back, Quatre could see that he appeared to feel troubled. "My men are obviously aware of your dissatisfaction with your marriage."

Quatre lit his own cigar with a gold lighter that had been a gift from his father-in-law. "Are you telling me that they have discussed my personal life?"

"There are a handful who question how you could not adore Sadirah. She is beautiful, gracious, and fulfills her duties as your wife without complaint. Many men pursue her, yet she does not even look at them."

"Should I question the loyalty of my own men?" asked Quatre, annoyed that Sadirah had so easily duped the men that guard his life. He raised a brow when Rashid did not answer immediately. "Should I question your loyalty?"

"I would never betray you, Master Quatre. But I cannot help wondering why you won't love the woman who gave you a child and does all that she can to earn your approval."

Quatre ground out his cigar in the ashtray and blew out a breath. "I can't love her, Rashid. You know that I love someone else."

"And I do not understand how you fell in love with the woman that almost caused your death during the war." Rashid was clearly frustrated by the conundrum that his master's personal life had suddenly become.

"Do you think I wanted to fall in love with her? Her family gained its wealth by supporting war and producing mobile dolls, and what is worse, she was able to control those mobile dolls better than any soldier could. She grew up in an environment in direct opposition to the pacifist ideals of my family."

"She is a woman now and has made a life for herself separate from her family," observed Rashid. He shook his head sadly. "I suppose there is no denying the heart."

The car pulled to a stop in front of the office building housing the Preventers, and Quatre waited for his bodyguards to assemble before he exited the limousine. He could see that there was already increased security since the shooting had occurred only a couple of blocks away, and he was aware of the tension between his men and the security officers of the Earth Sphere United Nation as he went to the building.

The guard at the door was about to demand some type of security clearance, but Heero Yuy seemed to emerge from the panels of the wall to ease his entrance into the building.

"I suppose you want to see my superior," said Heero as he led Quatre to an elevator. When his men tried to join him, Heero put up his hand. "Your goons will have to entrust your safety to me."

Rashid nodded and Quatre heard him order the men to relax as they waited for him.

When the door shut, Quatre remarked, "I hadn't considered my men 'goons.'"

"Maybe you should."

Quatre raised a brow. "What does that mean?"

"You will soon find out." As the elevator headed upwards, Heero remarked, "I didn't think she would be able to do it."

Quatre's hand closed into a fist he would have liked to land on Heero's face, but he relaxed it. "You didn't put her up to it, did you?"

Heero shook his head. "I wouldn't do that to her. I thought she might be nursing a broken heart, but I didn't think it was over you."

"Dorothy doesn't have a broken heart over me." If she could walk away from what they shared in Barbados, then have sex with him so that she could get a little information, then she had a heart of steel.

Heero continued as if he didn't hear him. "After the war, she had holed up in Dermail mansion, and Relena was afraid that she actually might hang herself from the rafters. Then suddenly one day, she was gone and about a week later she returned with a tan Relena said she would kill to have."

Quatre smiled to himself as he thought of the afternoons on the beach when she had gotten that tan.

"I thought you might have had something to do with it."

Quatre glanced at him. "Is there actually something you don't know?"

Heero shrugged. "I hadn't realized that Dorothy Catalonia's personal life would be worth researching."

Heero would just find out anyway, so Quatre told him. "I ran into Miss Dorothy in Barbados when I was there on a working vacation. We had a good time, and that was that."

"Except that she shut herself away in the Dermail mansion again for a few months. Then she started doing bizarre things, such as buying that quaint little house and puttering around in a rose garden."

"And feeding the birds in the park?" The elevator opened and Quatre followed Heero out into a quiet corridor.

"That happened later, after she came back from Switzerland. I guess I know why now."

Quatre paused to look at him. "Why what?"

"Why she suddenly changed her life. She returned from Switzerland just a few weeks after your marriage to Sadirah Al-Barak was publicized. I guess she was forced to let go of any feelings she may have had for you, because she was a different woman when she returned and I don't think it had anything to do with her mission for the Preventers."

Before they entered the office of Heero Yuy's superior, Quatre put his hand on Heero's arm. "How do you mean that she was different?"

"She was like a woman rebuilding her life from scratch, and that wasn't the woman I worked with in Switzerland. That woman was energetic and passionate about doing what she could to make the world safer. I should have insisted that she come back with me, but Dorothy stayed in Geneva for a few weeks then settled into one of her families chalets in the mountains. By the time I saw her again, her tan had faded."

Heero pushed open the door, ignored the greeting of the secretary and walked straight into the inner office. The middle-aged man sitting behind the desk immediately stood and came to greet Quatre by holding out his hand. Quatre didn't take it. "My name is Bill Morley, chief of covert operations."

"I wasn't aware that I had become an enemy of the Earth Sphere United Nation," he said calmly although he was coldly furious that these people would suspect him of financially supporting a military campaign.

The older man's heavy brows drew together and he cleared his throat after glancing at Heero. "You didn't give Dorothy a straight answer about your operations on X7350."

Although he knew that Dorothy would report on their conversation, Quatre still felt hurt that she had. "I thought I would tell you myself instead of passing the message through your rather persuasive go-between." He noticed a tightening of Heero's jaw, and that he shifted uncomfortably. Dorothy had denied any relationship with the former pilot of the Wing gundam, yet he was obviously disturbed by Quatre's reference to her. So they had worked together in Switzerland? How much of Dorothy's tan had he seen?

Bill Morley cleared his throat again. "One of my operatives reported that you have a facility on the resource satellite that has been refurbished to produce mobile suits. He was in the process of transmitting blueprints when he was killed."

Quatre frowned as he considered the satellite. Several months ago he had approved the building of a shuttle construction factory although he had told Sadirah's father that he didn't see a reason to enter into that highly competitive market. But Hassan had assured him that a group of engineers had approached him with a project to build safer and faster shuttles, and after studying the proposal, Quatre had reluctantly agreed to finance it. Before coming to Earth, he had toured the nearly complete facility and had been impressed with the state of the art design.

He shook his head. "I don't know why your operative was killed, but it could not have been because of any nefarious activity on X7350." Glancing at the desk he noted the computer. "If you do not mind, I would use your computer to access my files."

"I would appreciate it if you would put our minds at ease." Morley laughed nervously as Quatre settled before the computer and entered the complex code to access the Winner Enterprises files.

Quatre found the file for X7350, called up the factory blueprint in addition to the proposals and contracts which he printed for them to study at their leisure. Heero watched him skeptically, so Quatre suspected that he still didn't trust him. Because they had once been friends, his distrust was unsettling.

He handed the papers to Morley. "If you see something out of the ordinary, you may contact me, but I doubt you will. Now, if you have all the information you need, I have work at my office. Next time, don't send Dorothy Catalonia to get answers to your questions."

Morley rubbed his neck nervously and Quatre noticed that his face had turned red. Heero stood silently staring at him. "Well, I am sorry about that, but we didn't really know what side of the fence you are on."

"There is no fence," Quatre told him. "There are outsiders who would like L4 to operate on the same principals of equality and democracy as the other colonies, but those ideals have no place in our culture. We prefer a firm ruler who will not tolerate the social abuses spawned by so-called freedom. The men who spread rumors of oppression are those who do not accept the heavy taxation Mahmad Al-Jazar has levied on the wealthy so that the poorer people may have food on their tables. These men planned a coup almost a year ago to remove Al-Jazar, and since its failure they have schemed in the shadows."

"You are implying that our agents have been duped by dissidents," said Heero skeptically.

"Duped or paid handsomely to misinform the Earth Sphere United Nation. But you can believe me when I tell you that Al-Jazar is not planning any military action in space, not with the current social and economic instability on L4. There will be civil war there if the Earth Sphere United Nation chooses to support his opposition."

"You have certainly shed new light on what is happening on L4. The culture there is quite different from what we are accustomed to dealing with," said Morley when he had finished.

"I hope that you will investigate further before the Earth Sphere United Nation takes any action." Quatre started to leave, but Heero stopped him.

"Before you leave, there is one other matter we must discuss."

Quatre raised a brow.

"I am speaking of the murder of Atifah Al-Shabat."

Because Quatre hadn't had the opportunity to discuss the matter with his men, he didn't want to do so with Heero, especially after Rashid's revelations. Quatre was very much aware now that there were factions among the men responsible for his safety, and that was something he needed to take care of before it proved to be a problem.

"I have no information for you," he told Heero.

"I have information for you. The morning of his death, Khalid bin Fayez received a substantial amount of money."

Khalid had been paid? Quatre did not allow Heero to see that he was surprised by the information. Rashid had implied that Khalid was attempting to kill Dorothy out of some sense of loyalty to Sadirah, but now Quatre wondered what his true motives were. Had Dorothy been the target or had Atifah? And why would he kill Atifah?

"Are you not curious to discover where the money came from?"

Quatre raised a brow. "Any trail you uncovered in your computer search was probably deliberately created."

"So it may have been, but I thought you should know that your men may be purchased, even by weasels like Randolph Morrison."

He shouldn't have been surprised, but Quatre was. Morrison had been the original suspect in the shooting, and he did have a clear motive for wanting Dorothy dead. Atifah had been an innocent bystander after all.

"We questioned Morrison thoroughly. He has absolutely no knowledge of the transaction, but then his financial records are quite easy to access as Dorothy could tell you," commented Morley. "I don't think the man is lying about his ignorance. He told me that he planned to ruin Dorothy socially."

Heero snorted derisively. "The Duchess Dermail doesn't give a rat's ass about her social standing. Morrison is nothing more than a petty thief."

The amount he had filched from Dorothy's accounts wasn't petty. Just to give himself some satisfaction, Quatre thought about sending Rashid to arrange for a visit between him and Morrison. He could think of some very gratifying ways to teach him a lesson that Morrison would not soon forget about taking advantage of the trust his clients put in him.

Heero accompanied him to the elevator. "Dorothy and I are friends," he told him to alleviate the stressed silence between them. "I think she has been through a lot that none of us really knows about, and she has desperately tried to put her family's past behind her by doing anything she can to help the Earth Sphere United Nation work. I won't stand by and watch her get hurt, not by Morrison, and not by you."

"She is the last person I would intentionally hurt."

"Intentional. Unintentional. The pain isn't any less, is it?" Heero pressed the button to the elevator to close the door, then walked away.

Quatre didn't speak to Rashid when he met him in the lobby, and they maintained their silence on the way to office building where he met Barak. Although he thought he should tell his business manager about the investigation by the Preventers, Quatre decided to keep it to himself. However, Barak brought up the situation on L4, again pointing out the sound financial decision to close operations on L4 until the political situation was resolved. He didn't let Quatre argue for the plight of the workers.

"We have many openings for them on X7350," he pointed out. "They could relocate there with their families until the crisis has passed, and any who wish to stay may do so."

The solution to the problem was ideal.

Too ideal.

Quatre didn't commit to the plan although he told Barak that he would give it more thought. By the time he left for the day, it was well into the evening and he had missed supper. His head was pounding from the tension he felt while in the presence of Sadirah's father after spending the better part of the afternoon with another woman. His heart ached because he was afraid that Dorothy wouldn't see him again and he knew it was unfair to expect her to ignore the fact that he was married to another woman.

When the reached the hotel, Quatre dreaded returning to his suite, knowing that Sadirah would make a pathetic attempt to seduce him which would end in an ugly scene that his men would hear about or even witness. He would have to worry about a knife in the back from the very men who should be guarding him.

Once in the elevator, Rashid asked, "What did you discuss with Heero Yuy and his people?"

Quatre explained the situation, leaving out the fact that Dorothy had slept with him in an attempt to get information. Rashid was obviously bothered that one of the men had taken a bribe to commit murder, so Quatre knew he could count on him to ferret out any other potential traitors. Heero's comments about Dorothy piqued Quatre's curiosity. He suddenly wanted to find out anything he could about what she had done after she left him in Barbados. So he asked Rashid to send a man to Switzerland to investigate. Quatre didn't know what he might discover, but Heero seemed bothered to not know what lay behind Dorothy's irrational behavior. Quatre would like the same answers.

Reaching into his pocket to take out a cigar, Quatre's fingers brushed the key card Dorothy had given him. The room was probably rented for a few days, and if not, at least until noon the following day. Quatre knew it was probably his only hope for a decent night's sleep, so he reached out to touch a button on the elevator to stop it at that floor.

Rashid looked at him curiously, then said, "When will you return?"

Quatre shrugged and stepped out of the elevator. "I'll give you a call. Tell Jamila that I will see her in the morning." As the door closed, he felt a wave of guilt as he imagined his daughter's disappointment that he would not be there to kiss her goodnight. He almost changed his mind about staying away, and he even pushed the button for the elevator, but Quatre knew he couldn't deal with Sadirah.

He was exhausted and thought he probably wouldn't even bother with room service. A good night's sleep was what he needed.

When he slipped the card into the lock and the door clicked open, Quatre realized that a light was on in the room. He wished he was carrying a weapon, and he knew the prudent course of action would be to leave, but Quatre stepped in the room.

She was standing by the window, just as she had been that afternoon, wringing her hands nervously.

The emotion crashing through him, the joy at seeing her again, choked him up for a moment, and when he could speak he asked as calmly as he could, "What are you doing here, Miss Dorothy?"

Her eyes were glistening with unshed tears. "I couldn't stay away."