Alea Iacta Est Chapter 14: Wagers Never End Well, a cruel intentions fanfic

For Katie and Nicole, who made me see that one villain isn't enough and had Mathieu De Comte promoted from a flat character to a mysterious enigma.

Oh, and for wicked vamp as well, who made me so happy because of nine successive reviews. If I were in your place, I'd have just kept on reading. ;-)

Chapter 14: Wagers Never End Well

"The greater the fear, the nearer the danger."

-Old Danish Proverb

Where the fuck was his journal?

Sebastian had rummaged through his drawers angrily, the sweat prickling down his back and not at all helping matters. He had been looking for the past fucking hour and had somehow turned even Annette's study room into a chaotic mess in his frantic search for that invaluable artifact that contained some thoughts which should never be read by anybody else except him?

"God dammit!" he'd yelled, his voice echoing throughout the empty second floor of his townhouse. When did he last write in it anyway?

"You know I love annoying you."

"Almost as much as you love Annette?"

He almost slapped his forehead at the realization that he had left it in the most dangerous place he could ever leave his journal.

The Valmont-Merteuil place, the fucked up home of his childhood… Which was where he was at the moment. Not even bothering to acknowledge the doorman who gave him a respectful nod, he continued into the familiarity of his former home, half expecting to get a glimpse of Satan herself trying not to limp with her stitches. What he got a glimpse of, however, was not what he was expecting at all. His blue eyes widened in curiosity as he heard the soulful, lingering tones of the seldom used piano reverberate through the sitting room where he and Kathryn had first discussed Annette's manifesto in that magazine. He stopped walking as he stared curiously, and upon seeing that Belinda was not alone and that her companion for the moment was somebody awfully familiar, Sebastian chose to remain in his current position of ambiguousness.

The very same man he had walked in on with Kathryn was sitting next to the gray eyed model on the piano, their skilled fingers passing the ivory keys with such precision and elegance it caused a gentle, haunting music that somehow shook even Sebastian. The lingering music of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata caused an inexplicable flutter of apprehension in his heart... A sense of foreboding that there was more to come. More incidents, more issues, more something... As was the case with Kathryn's return. Belinda had her head on the man's shoulder and even more surprising was the look of contentment on her beautiful face as she brushed her lips against the man's cheek, her piercing gray eyes peaceful and at ease.

"Do you love me, Mathieu?" Belinda murmured, leaning her head against his shoulder and completely oblivious that they were being watched.

What the fuck? Sebastian wondered to himself, who the hell was this guy?

"Always." The man answered, his fingers continuing to play even though Belinda had succumbed to the warmth of his presence.

"Eavesdropping, Sebastian?" a smooth, mocking voice whispered in his ear, making him jump.

Mathieu and Belinda looked up, the intensity of their inquisitive gaze making him uncomfortable. Kathryn walked in, smiling that Cheshire cat smile as they all glanced at her now glaring stepbrother. Kathryn's gaze flickered over the two who sat on the piano bench, the proximity between them not seeming to bother her one bit, which further confused Sebastian.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked incredulously, the mystery of the entire situation not at all escaping him.

"Oh, that's right… I haven't introduced you." Kathryn smiled, as if she had been waiting for this moment for a long time. "Sebastian, this is Mathieu De Comte… My fiancé. Mathieu, this is Sebastian Valmont, my eavesdropping stepbrother who always seems to find his way back home no matter what the circumstances are."

"Your what!" he exclaimed before he could help himself, momentarily forgetting the reason why he came there. "This guy who's practically been groping Belinda's your fiancé? What the hell, Kathryn?"

Mathieu stood up, not even flinching at Sebastian's words. There was a smile on his handsome face that Kathryn's stepbrother couldn't comprehend. "Groping, Sebastian? That's exaggerating it a bit, don't you think?"

"Nobody asked you, Mathieu." He snapped, grabbing Kathryn's arm. "I need to talk to you." Before she could protest, he dragged her to his father's study and closed the door, the journal now completely leaving his mind.

"What the hell is your problem?" she hissed, grabbing her sore arm. "Opening my stitches isn't enough that you had to make a new bruise, Valmont?"

"What kind of sick shit is going on in this house?" he demanded, running a hand through his thick curly blond hair, his blue eyes blazing at the now smirking Kathryn. "You do realize your fiancé and your sister are probably having an affair, don't you?"

To his surprise, she actually laughed. "Oh, I get it…" she replied, making herself comfortable on the large leather chair Edward Valmont used only once or twice in his life. "Is this brotherly concern or jealousy?"

"I knew the shit you snorted would someday destroy your brain cells." He scoffed, the slight turn in his gaze making her smile wider.

"Uh huh. So which one is it, Sebastian? Let's see… I suppose we could rule out brotherly concern because ever since I got back, you've kissed me, slept with me, literally of course, and given me a bath. And unless you have a fucked up version of sibling relationships, that's not a very brotherly thing to do… Now… could it be someone's jealous or have I missed out on option C?"

"You're deluded." He responded, beginning to head out when Kathryn's words stopped him.

"Would you like me to compare you to him? Would you like me to say which one between you and Mathieu helps me sleep better at night? Which one kisses me better? Protects me better?"

The gold, gleaming door handle felt cold to his touch even though he had only placed his hand on it a few minutes ago. Sebastian stopped for the briefest of seconds, the inner part of him, the one who had brought her flowers that day in her room, wanted to hear her reply.

"Would you?" she asked more softly, yet the lowered volume in her voice did nothing to soothe his nerves.

"Goodbye, Kathryn." He said instead, opting to go up to his room and take his journal before she said what he didn't want her to state. That Mathieu did everything better than he did, and Sebastian hated himself for feeling that way.

"Would you like to know who loves me better? Come back here you fucking coward!" there was a harsh tone in her voice, the one she reserved for when she really wanted to hurt the person.

"I want to fuck."

"And I don't."

He slowly turned to face her, and there was that defiant gleam in her haunting, almost hollow green eyes. She was still seated on his father's desk, her delicate arms primly folded on the table yet there was a definite look of anger on her face. "You can never compare that." His voice sounded as cold as he wanted to feel, he wanted to be numbed by her words, those beautiful pieces of broken glass she hurls at him to get him to bleed for her… He was tired of Kathryn's games, her mind fucks. He was tired of longing for her, to get a moment of immense happiness only to have it replaced with days of anger and hatred.

"Why?"

"Because I never loved you." He'd said it; the unforgivable words they both knew existed beyond the very far boundary of their immoral lives. Whatever trace of emotion Kathryn felt was drained from her face, the last bit of warmth, given that it was anger, leaving her body. Despite this, her gaze never wavered from his as she silently stood up and closed the door until Sebastian could see nothing else but the elegant wooden carvings on the polished frame that shone beneath the white light yet secretly wasting away within.

---

Meanwhile, Mathieu and Belinda were still in the same room, although they had long abandoned the piano and opted to talk in hushed whispers, in case an intruder was in the midst once again.

"So that's him." He commented, leaning back against the antique chair Tiffany had purchased from Paris.

"I had the same impression when I first saw them together." Belinda replied, as if reading his mind.

"Oh? What impression would that be?"

She chuckled, watching his light colored brown eyes survey her carefully. "You seem to forget, dear Mathieu. I've known you since I was thirteen. You and I could very well see that Kathryn's intent to obliterate Sebastian won't be as easy as we all thought it would be, my sister included in the overestimation."

"I do love the scent of revenge, don't you?"

"Will you love it still when Kathryn realizes she might not be ready to become your wife? In fact, in the spirit of my sister and my, well, technically, stepbrother's fascinating past, would you care to make a wager on that?"

"On what? There's nothing to lose. Sebastian Valmont is her past, I'm her future. However complicated things might become, I'm sure of that. The only reason why I'm here is to oversee that she doesn't take a step back."

"The only reason why you're here is because you're starting to doubt Kathryn's loyalties. Don't think I didn't recognize that almost panicked tone in your voice when I called you."

"She's mine." He gritted his teeth, his deep gold colored eyes flashing angrily.

"Yes, but for how long?"

Mathieu seemed to be deep in thought as he absentmindedly stared at the silent piano, his attractive features placid as he remained silent for a couple of minutes before a smile came upon his face. "You want proof, Belinda?"

She raised her light colored eyebrows, obviously enjoying Mathieu's sudden shift in confidence. "How do you propose we find your proof?"

"I'll take your wager."

"And the terms?"

He shrugged, "I don't particularly care because I know I'll win."

"Fine. If Kathryn leaves you for Sebastian, well, actually, if she just leaves you since you're so overconfident, you're mine. I mean it, Mathieu. No fucking other women, you don't talk to Kathryn ever again. We go back to Paris and forget this entire thing ever happened."

"Your desire to consummate this love you have for me exceeds my expectations." He smiled thinly, tracing a line down her jaw line and watching as hey gray eyes seemed to shine more vindictively under his touch. "Are you sure that's all you want? It wouldn't be entirely painful for me to devote the rest of my life with a beautiful woman such as yourself… And it's not like you have few lovers, Belinda. In Paris alone men are making absolute fools over themselves for you, I doubt it's not the same case here."

She gave him a pointed look, "Perhaps, but they're not lovers. They're toys. Breathing, living objects of lust that I easily get bored with. You, on the other hand, I'll never tire of… Wasn't it you that said I should never settle for anybody else? And besides, what could you possibly give me materially that I can't acquire on my own?"

"Good point. And if I win?"

"I'll crystallize Kathryn's hatred for her stepbrother."

"Elaborate."

"I'll fuck Sebastian…"

"That's hardly a risk to take." He rolled his eyes, "You'd fuck him anyway."

"…While Kathryn watches." Belinda finished, chuckling at the now interested look in Mathieu's eyes. "The most unforgivable sin, the ultimate betrayal… For him to fuck Kathryn's sister if and when he proclaims his so-called love for her. Do you think she'll ever forgive him let alone trust him again?"

"Will she ever forgive you?"

"When I tell her that I only wanted to prove to her that she was just Sebastian's mistake, a moment of distraction from his floundering relationship with Annette, then yes, I think she of all people will understand. Best of all, she'll come to you. No more Sebastian to trouble your relationship once she hates him more than I hate my mother, and that's saying a lot."

"You fascinate me." Mathieu held out his hand, his expression serious as Belinda shook it gently. "Are you sure about this?"

"It's done." She smiled, standing up to kiss his cheek. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to work."

"And what of Kathryn's initial plot of revenge?"

"It's still there." She reassured him, grinning wickedly. "It wouldn't be such a challenge if she wasn't going to play with fire, now would it?"

"Let her frolic in it, as long as I'm around to regulate the flames." They were, of course, talking about the seduction of Sebastian Valmont. A plan Kathryn had yet to initiate for reasons they could only guess.

As she stood up to leave, they heard a loud crash echo in the halls of the Valmont-Merteuil residence, which only meant one thing.

Mathieu sighed, "Kathryn."

They heard the slamming of the door leading outside, which indicated Sebastian had left… and it seemed as if he wasn't on particularly good terms with his stepsister.

"I'll see you soon." Belinda picked up her purse, breezily sauntering out of the place. "Looks like you have your own business to attend to."

"With Kathryn, it's never business." He replied, failing to see the faintest glimmer of disappointment from Belinda's face as he turned on his heel and headed to Edward Valmont's study.

---

He paced around his spacious room, a cigarette in his clenched fists. Casting a furious look at the wrong package that sat silent on his table, Blaine Tuttle yelled into the cordless phone, flicks of spit escaping his mouth.

"I DON'T CARE THAT IT'S YOUR SON'S BIRTHDAY YOU FUCKING MORON, YOU'RE A DRUG DEALER FOR FUCK'S SAKE YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO HAVE A CONSCIENCE!"

"Somebody's having a bad day." A dry voice commented from behind Blaine. Sebastian stepped out from behind the door frame and sat down on his bed (Oh, why couldn't he have been gay? Blaine thought to himself)

"Have you come to offer yourself to me, Valmont?" he finally quipped as he slammed the phone down.

His too-blue eyes looked exhausted, as if he hadn't gotten enough sleep for the past year. Sighing, he glared at the now platinum blond Blaine as he carelessly threw his journal on the floor. "Not now, Blaine. I've had a fucked up day." Pulling out a couple of hundreds from his pocket, he tossed it to the smirking drug dealer. "I need information."

Now that he had time to look at the usually impeccably dressed and refined Sebastian, Blaine could see the discrepancies in his old friend. His blond curls were somewhat messed up, as if he'd been running his hand through his hair in anxiety, there were large dark circles under his intense blue eyes and the first few buttons of his shirt was torn off, like Sebastian had impulsively pulled at it sharply in the midst of anger. Which was true, actually. As he'd gotten into his Jag, his mind swam in the realization of what he'd just done and he'd impulsively tugged at his shirt because he felt constricted. But what the fuck, she wanted a war, he wasn't about to let her win so easily. Surely she must have known she had some sort of control over him, as if even his journal had purposely escaped his memory so that he'd come back to that place where it everything started.

"Now, why don't you first tell Uncle Blaine about it?" He licked his lips greedily, inwardly groaning at how damn hot Sebastian could still be even though he's messed up. "Come sit on my lap if you'd like."

Sebastian ignored his remark, having been hit on and prayed for to be gay by Blaine a thousand times in the past. "If you must know, I had a fight."

"Oh? With Ms. Hargrove, I presume."

"With Kathryn."

Of course. Blaine should have known. Only Kathryn Merteuil could possibly have this effect on Sebastian. "Is that a fact? And what did the wicked witch say to make poor Valmont cry?"

"She's engaged, did you know that?" Sebastian said suddenly, the angry look on his features looking like something dangerously close to jealousy. "She went out and fucked Reynolds and all the while she was engaged to this stupid loser who's probably fucking Belinda, too. What a piece of work, I hope that poor asshole she's marrying knows what she's really like."

"Oh, you mean Mathieu?" The moment Blaine said Kathryn's fiancé's name, he suddenly wished he hadn't. Sebastian's scowl deepened as he stood up and started to walk menacingly towards him.

"You knew about that guy all along?"

"She might have mentioned it during her stay in Paris…" he trailed off, not even bothering to continue.

"And you didn't tell me?" Sebastian continued incredulously, now pacing the room the way he'd done when Kathryn left three years ago.

"Forgive me if putting you up to speed on that stepsister of yours you seem to detest so much wasn't at the top of my to do list. Just why do you care so much anyway?"

"Just tell me what I need to know about that Mathieu guy. Something about him rubs me the wrong way."

Of course, Blaine was about to interject the fact that he'd like to rub him the wrong way too, but looking at Sebastian's furious, intense expression, he knew that if he said that, he could possibly spend the night in the hospital with a couple of missing teeth.

"I don't know much, really. Kathryn might have mentioned him once or twice in our conversations. What I do know is that he came from old money… But as for his dirty laundry, aside from the fact that he's had his fair share of women in his lifetime, I don't think there's anything else I can tell you."

"I don't trust him."

"Why? Because he's marrying Kathryn or is it the fact that he's obviously a step up from all those other morons she's dated and somebody's feeling threatened?"

"I want him followed wherever the fuck he goes." Sebastian grabbed his journal from Blaine's unmade bed, carefully examining his prized possession to see if there were any disgusting stains Blaine's bed might have given it. As he pulled out a cigar from his jacket pocket, Blaine was suddenly caught by curiosity.

"Valmont, just what did she say to make you this fucked up?"

"Would you like to know who loves me better? Come back here you fucking coward!"

"You can never compare that."

"Why?"

"Because I never loved you."

"It's not about what she said, Tuttle." He sighed, heading out to leave. "It's about what I said. I'm completely fucked up."

---

As soon as there was that still sound of silence in the ornately decorated study, Mathieu could only come to one conclusion, and it involved a coke spoon. "Kathryn?" he opened the door cautiously, in case she was about to throw something in his general direction.

"Come in." her voice strangely calm and flat. Mathieu entered the room to find his beautiful fiancé sipping her stepfather's wine calmly, as if she'd expected him to be there.

"Are you okay?" he approached her carefully, noticing how her green eyes had a glazed look on them that could only mean his suspicion earlier was correct. Her precious crucifix dangled from her dainty arm like a serpent wrapping itself around the forbidden tree of Adam and Eve. He was overcome by that strange emotion he felt only when it came to Kathryn as he wrapped his arms around her to hoist her up, gently avoiding the shattered wine glass on the floor. Kathryn felt light as he half carried her to her room, her long brown hair tickling his neck as she silently allowed him to lead her upstairs. Her arm brushed against his and the soft feeling of her skin made him remember their days back in Paris.

Mathieu had gone to visit Belinda in her exclusive mansion that had been hidden from the prying eyes of the paparazzi when he chanced upon a beautiful stranger, strangely alluring despite the fact that she was leaning back on the soft fur lined couch that was warm from her delicate body. She had the most beautiful emerald green eyes he'd ever seen as she stared up at him wonderingly, possibly trying to figure out if she was just imagining him or not. Who was this woman? Belinda had sometimes allowed her 'friends' to stay at her place, but there was something about this particular woman that made her different from all the other airhead models Belinda befriended.

"Are you always this frail? He asked her softly as he kneeled in front of her, marveling at how this unknown person could make him go down on his knees just to talk to her. He was Mathieu De Comte, for fuck's sake. Even Belinda couldn't make him feel so much at one point. He was in control, always, always in control… Yet at that particular moment, it seemed like all the control he had went to this vision that lay sprawled out in front of him.

Her eyes lost its innocence as it seemed to sparkle mischievously, a dopey smile on her doll-like face. "You'd be surprised."

The sliding door leading to the balcony moved as Belinda strolled in, a cigarette in one hand. Her gray eyes lit up as she saw him, her satin robe flying as she quickly gave him a hug. "I've missed you."

"The meeting in Italy went well… It only took a bit longer than I'd expected."

"You mean blackmailing a sixty year old geezer with incriminating photos of him and his eighteen year old bitch took a long time?"

He laughed at Belinda's frankness, she certainly had grown up well considering he had somewhat raised her. He echoed the words that came out of that delicious looking candy colored mouth of the breathtaking woman that lay half conscious before them. "You'd be surprised."

The woman opened her eyes once again at his comment and Mathieu stared right back. There was that indefinite look of innocent malevolence in those green alluring irises, and he wouldn't be at all surprised if this woman was of complex contradictions. He promised himself at that moment that he'd find out.

"Mathieu?" she mumbled sleepily in his ear as he carefully set her down those soft sheets she'd once commented she missed during their first night together in Paris.

"It's me." He reassured her, untangling the crucifix from her wrist and placing it on the bedside table. Her head was laid on his chest and he could feel her breathing steadily, the effects of the coke already wearing off.

"Remember those things we talked about? The things I'd do and how you promised you'd help me no matter what?"

"Yes."

If Mathieu De Comte could see through Kathryn right now, he would see the steadily hardening of a mythical object (at least to his deadly albeit beautiful fiancé) called a heart. "I can't wait to see the look on his goddamn arrogant face when I fuck him up so badly he'll wish he was never born."

He smiled in the shadows of Kathryn's pristine blue and gold room.

"You seem to forget, dear Mathieu. I've known you since I was fifteen. You and I could very well see that Kathryn's intent to obliterate Sebastian won't be as easy as we all thought it would be, my sister included in the overestimation."

"I do love the scent of revenge, don't you?"

"Sleep well, Kathryn." He said, gently playing with her soft hair. He waited, but there was only the sound of silence as she finally fell asleep. Still, it didn't bother him the slightest. He had no intention of losing that wager.

---

Outside the busy streets of New York, Trevor walked Annette up to her multi-million dollar townhouse as a pair of blue eyes surveyed the two from the second floor.

"I'm glad I ran into you today." she smiled, noticing how gorgeous her ex had grown over the years. "I still can't believe you're studying here now. It's such a coincidence that we'd see each other again after so long."

Of course, a certain mysterious model and her enigmatic companion would beg to differ.

His kind blue eyes crinkled as he smiled down on her, his brown hair sticking up in a cute, bashful way that she'd never realized before. "We should definitely do this again sometime."

Annette felt that strange unfamiliar flutter that she hadn't felt ever since the Kathryn Merteuil had arrived. That wonderful feeling of being adored, of being paid attention to and doted upon as if she was the only woman in the world. She loved Sebastian, but she couldn't help but succumb to that feeling of utter loneliness she'd secretly been having. "I'd love to."

Upstairs, the figure turned away and crept back into bed, falling asleep with thoughts of war, flashes of dark hair, porcelain skin, and a cry of loneliness from the blinding white light of kindness and yellow purity he was corrupting with his dangerous obsession.

A/N: Now… How many of you guys have it in for Belinda and Mathieu? Hmm… I'm guessing everybody. Well, except Katie who for some reason likes him, although I'm not sure if she still likes him now... Hahaha, here's the thing. I like my characters complex; I think somehow their interactions with one another become more intriguing because it's clear that they have the intellect, if not to match, then to at least contend. However intricate Kathryn and Sebastian's characters are, it would be quite boring if they always one-upped everyone.

Heavenleigh88: thanks for the review and I'm glad you like it so far. I'll try to keep the momentum. Hahaha

Nicole: Evil…? Perhaps… Hahaha, but the only reason why I did throw him in was to keep y'all guessing, although I can safely confirm your suspicions that things will get only more complicated.

Katie: First of, THANK YOU for the email. I see how you're looking forward to how this ends so I'm going to do my best to make it as unbelievably twisted as I can. Now it's going to take me longer to update, seeing as how this particular curveball might take me a while to work with. Oh, and here's a bit of something from Mathieu and Kathryn's past. I know how fascinated you are by it. Hahaha… and I know I promised I'd send you an excerpt before it gets released but I couldn't bear to spoil the entire chapter for you. Call me an evil but nice writer. Lol, and like I said, if you do have any thoughts on where this story might go, just email. Like I said, I'm also reeling from the Mathieu factor, that is to say, I'm kinda stuck right now. And it's excruciatingly difficult. Grrr. I guess the writer's block moved from Sam to me now. Hahaha

J: Now I'm really glad I enabled anonymous reviews! As for the quick update, here's one but it's not really quick, is it? Hahaha, thanks sooo much I absolutely love hearing from you. Glad you liked it, and I hope I never run out of writing K/S-ish moments, at least, until this story ends. Dunno if Trevor's a virgin though, but if he was, then he's pretty damn lucky to have had Belinda as his first time. No doubt she's better in the sack than hoity toity Hargrove.

Washed out: Still astig? I hope it is. (Yeah, I know what it means. ;-P)

Wicked vamp: omg… You also merit a big THANK YOU! Haha, You still reviewed every painful chapter even though there were already a lot of them and woah, I'm glad you're back! Evil, evil exams! Now I must try my best to write more…
;-) I look forward to your reviews even more so that you might look forward to my updates.