Chapter 11

"The only reason why Remy kept on beating you was because there were only two people playing! The likeliness that he would get the good cards was high, leaving you with the crap cards."

Lex and Chloe, who had to finish their dinner alone together, had begun to converse – though slowly at the beginning – during the main course. They found that the only subject that they were comfortable talking about was Remy and his habits and their little moments with him. As they ate their dessert, conversation turned to the events of that afternoon – prior to the little awkward incident.

"Well, then, the next time I play that particular game with him, I'll make sure you're there, too, to join in," he replied with a smile tugging at his lips.

Chloe didn't have any particular comment to counter that so she just looked at him and smiled back then turn to face her food again. The sudden ring of a cell phone had taken them both by surprise. Glancing back at her, Lex gave an apologetic look and got up to leave, taking out his phone in the process. All Chloe caught of the conversation was a greeting before she was left alone in the dining room. She turned back to the melting heap of the ice cream left in her bowl and she felt a loss of her appetite. It had gone with Lex.

He, at that time was hurriedly walking to his study where he could find momentary privacy. Much to his surprise – and disdain – it was Shinomori Aoshi. He didn't need to ask for a name. How could he forget the way the man had so coldly brushed off Remy? He felt the irritation at his sudden intrusion after all these years begin to stir inside him.

"What do you want, Shinomori?" he asked brusquely.

"I want Takeshi… or as you like to call him, Remy," Aoshi answered in a formal voice. "He is my nephew, after all."

"Well, he's my son –"

"You know, I find it funny that you only realized this only recently. The last time we met, you looked at the child as if it was a monster and got rid of it as soon as you could get the opportunity."

"I didn't see you making it a point to get him back either," he shot back.

"That may be superficially, but the truth is, I always had a hand in keeping him safe. Why do you think he ended up with Gabe Sullivan? He was a good father, reputedly so, and a hard worker with a great capacity to love. He raised Miss Chloe Sullivan by himself, did he not? Speaking of the young Miss Sullivan, isn't she quite the character? You know, considering she isn't attached, I believe I would like to try a hand at courting her. She has such a good head on her shoulders, after all, and –"

"There's no fucking way that you're taking either Chloe or Remy away from me," Lex growled into the phone. "They're both –" He cut himself off and pursed his lips and breathed heavily to try to calm himself.

"They're both what, Luthor? Yours?" There was a cold chuckle on Aoshi's end. How he loved to toy with people's weaknesses. "That's a big leap, don't you think? It's only been a couple of weeks since they came into your hold and already you're claiming them as yours. Does she know that you think of her that way?"

"How the hell do you know that they – you're spying on me, you bastard," Lex seethed, feeling his hands clench.

"Well, it took you long enough to figure out. I thought that you'd find out more sooner than later, but I guess I overestimated your perceptiveness." There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Damn it, Shinomori, cut the crap and just tell me why you called."

"I want to visit my nephew. I want to have him twice or thrice a week away from you and near me." No joking there, Lex thought at the serious tone he was suddenly greeted with.

"Chloe won't like it," he said. "She's always with him."

"She can come, too. It would be my pleasure to spend the day with both of them."

The way the Aoshi said it set his teeth on the edge. "You'll have to speak with her on that, Shinomori."

"Very well, put her on the line and I'll speak with her now. I want this negotiation to be over and done with as soon as possible."

"Fine, I'll get her now," Lex informed the man through gritted teeth. "Call back in five minutes. She'll answer the phone."

The grunt and sound of the dead line told him that he would. He stood for a moment, his blood boiling and his heart wrenching before he collected himself and began his search to find Chloe. As much as he didn't want to, Aoshi had every right to the child… and the intrepid blonde residing with him as well. In a matter of minutes he found the two together in the library. She had taken a book he had recently bought for his son from the shelf – The Lorax, by Dr. Seuss – and was reading it to the boy, pointing at the pictures and using animated voices for the characters. He stayed by the doorway, watching them for a moment. They created such a beautiful picture that he hated to disturb it.

But the dark cloud of Shinomori's phone call was hanging over him so he cleared his throat to make his presence known. They turned their heads to him and he nodded as a hello. Chloe in turn gave a tentative smile – still feeling awkward around him. It would soon pass, he thought to himself.

"Chloe, someone is going to call in a few minutes who would like to speak with you," he informed her bluntly.

She cocked a brow. "Really? Who is it? Is it Pete?"

"Actually it's a man named Aoshi Shinomori." He waited a heartbeat. "He wants to talk to you about… Remy."

"Okay… that's quite strange. Why would he need to talk to me about him?"

He was just about to explain when the cell phone that he was holding began to play the tune to Dream Theatre's 'As I Am', causing the people in the room to focus their eyes on the little device. The fact that he listened to such raunchy music surprised Chloe somewhat, but she found that it still fit him – different and edgy for a businessman. He first looked down at the LCD screen then at her with a grave look. It was Shinomori. Stonily, Lex, handed the phone to her and she took it with shaky fingers. Taking a deep breath, she clicked the answer button and brought the earpiece to her ear.

"Hello, Mr. Shinomori."

Please, call me Aoshi, Chloe. She blinked at the familiarity in which he was approaching her.

"Um, okay… Aoshi." She glanced up at Lex who's eyes narrowed dangerously at her. She couldn't stop the blush that stained her cheeks. "Will you please tell me what the meaning of this phone call is?"

Actually, it's about Remy… and you. As the boy's uncle, I find that I'm entitled to seeing him at least three times a week. Don't you think so?

"I guess so… but why me as well?"

Well, for one, I've been informed that he doesn't go anywhere without you… and also you intrigue me.

At that comment, her cheeks became a darker shade of red. It didn't go unnoticed by Lex and even when he tried to keep a tight reign on his anger, it didn't stop his hands from clenching into very tight fists. "Well I barely even know who you are," she commented in what she hoped would be somewhat calm. "And we haven't even met. What makes you believe that I'm as fascinating as you take me to be?"

A hunch, Chloe… and most of the time, my hunches are right. Now, will you allow me to spend time with both you and Remy for the three days of every week? I would very like to be a good influence on my nephew…

"Well, your intentions are very noble and you are entitled to your time with him, so I don't see why not. When would you like us by?"

How does this weekend sound?

"I guess, it's okay for Remy, but in my case, I won't be much of a companion. I've got catch up work to do."

That's absolutely fine. You can still join us for meals and such. I'll keep Remy distracted so don't be afraid of distractions. I'll be expecting the both of you at five in the evening this Friday. Is that okay with you?

"I think so. Let me just check with Lex." Putting a hand over the mouthpiece, she turned to Lex. "He says that Remy and I stay with him for the weekend and that we be at his place at five p.m. on Friday."

"I can't stop you from going, Chloe," he told her. "It's really your choice."

She bit her lip, turning the idea over in her head. Then, removing her hand she said into the phone, "It's okay."

Good, then it's settled. I'll see the both of you soon. I'll send a car over to fetch you. Until then, Chloe; sayonara.

There was a click of the phones disconnecting and her ears met the drone of the dial tone then nothing. Silently, she handed the phone back to Lex, who took it with a closed look upon his face. "You know," she began, "You could come with us."

"No, that's fine. You both have fun while you're there… just a word of warning, though, Chloe: Aoshi Shinomori is known to be a notorious womanizer. Although he's discreet, it's still known amongst all of the business world of what he does."

"Why are you so worried? I'll be fine."

"I'm just trying to look out for you. Someone ought to, after all. Why can't it be me?"

"I don't know," she answered. "It just seems like a Pete or Clark thing to do. I never expected you to be like that."

What if I'm acting that way out of jealousy? He was slightly startled that the voice in his head had actually suggested such a thing and pursed his lips in the possibility of such a thing from escaping his mind. "I just felt the need to warn you. Well," he promptly said quickly. "I think I'll go do some work before heading off to bed. Take care, the both of you. Good night."

He turned at that point, not waiting for a response and left the library and headed back to his home office. Once inside he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. He, of course, had finished all of his work in the time left before dinner. His purposes for coming to this room was to escape the overwhelming need to tell her to stay instead of go to Aoshi's place. When did this fondness for Chloe start? Did he always harbour some form of desire for her? He remembered meeting her for the first time and already finding her quite interesting. There was also her wall of weird and then their bouts of verbal judo that had drawn him to her. But it was merely a childish attraction at that time; she was only sixteen and he, twenty one. There was nothing sexual at all about their relationship and it was so sparse that they would meet that it ended up that they became mere acquaintances.

It had to be recently that he had grown to genuinely like this woman living with him. Just seeing her interacting with Remy, the looks of utter love and devotion on her face, made her seem so… wonderful. He wanted her to look at him like that; he that had lacked such looks when he was growing up in a world that was filled with deceit, lies, and betrayals; he that suffered the consequences of meteor exposure and been laughed at because of something that wasn't his fault. Walking over to his desk, he sat down heavily on the leather cushioned seat dropped his head into his propped up hands, his eyelids drooping tiredly. Too much was happening in such a short span of time that has caused too much tension inside him. Would he be able to keep in stride with all the changes – both internal and external? He wasn't sure…

When Remy was safely tucked in bed and asleep, Chloe sat in front of her lap top, hooked it up to the phone line and began a background check on Aoshi. Sure she knew a bit about the guy through the things she read in the newspapers, but there was more than what was in those articles that she needed to know. That was why she resorted to an old habit of hers: allowing her curiosity to lead the way. Page after page gave her general statistics and information on the company, but there was rarely anything on the net about the man himself. He really makes sure he looks clean… there was no way that he truly was, though, as every businessman was armed with something dirty.

She searched for two hours but to no avail. As she examined the last page for anything, she sighed and sat back tiredly. It was no use. The sudden trill of the lap top caught her attention. Someone had sent her a message, her eyes narrowed down at the screen name… Grey Storm. Chloe snorted. Must be some teenager looking for a chat mate. She scanned the message.

I figured your search would be dry.

Chloe frowned. Her fingers tapped the keypad to write a message back. Sunflower: Who is this? How do you know what I'm doing? After sending it, there was that few tense seconds of waiting. Her stomach twisted and she bit her lip nervously. Then the answer appeared.

Who I am is of no consequence. But how I know is because I've been watching everything you've been doing on the computer.

Chloe stiffened. This was not good. Everything she important was in this hard drive! Her work, her music… even her personal thoughts. She scrambled to type her reply. How much of my stuff have you seen? The same routine; she sent waited and read.

Just what you've been doing for the past two hours. Don't worry; all the other files in your computer are safe from my prying eyes. However, perhaps I could be of some assistance to your… predicament.

No sooner had she finished reading the message, a file to be transferred was waiting to be accepted by her. The title read: Ice Blue Eyes. It was only a text document so there was no harm in reading it… She accepted. The file transferred easily from her unknown friend to her and she curiously, though at first hesitantly, opened the file. Before her eyes was the complete file on Aoshi Shinomori and the family. Chloe drew in a breath of amazement. She was jarred out of her awe by the sudden trill that sounded off a message.

All of the information there is true to the last drop. Enjoy, my intrepid reporter.

The certain use of that particular familiarity seemed to sound something off within her brain. With the excitement coursing through her, she quickly typed in a message. There was a smile on her face; one that showed realization and knowledge. Thank you… Lex.

The grey eyes that read off the message danced with mirth. Always the sharp one, Lex thought fondly. He knew he didn't need to reply after that. He shut down his computer and walked out of his office to go to bed. His steps all the way back were light and most triumphant. Aoshi, step out of the way because Lex Luthor is here to stay.

To be continued...