Sorry it took a bit but I wanted to make sure this went through Beta. Lotsa cookies to Luv2Game for beta-ing this chap for me. Thanks so much for all the specifics and sleep you sacrificed. It means a lot.

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Chapter 3

"E-excuse me?" Rayn's fingers cupped over her mouth delicately as she tried to conceal the red spreading through her face. Still she couldn't hide the shock and her wide-open jaw from such a question.

"I said…have you ever been with a man before?"

Rayn cleared her throat uncomfortably as she leaned into the black leather sofa. Razer just sat there across from her in his recliner. No expression, no shame, he didn't seem to mind prying into her personal life at all.

The smirk on his face suddenly made her wish she had never met him on the bridge. It was strange enough that it was three in the morning. Maybe he had asked her to come so late for other reasons. Maybe he was looking for some sort of "payment" like Shiv was in the bar.

Looking at his calm face wouldn't give away anything but she was sure of one thing; If he really did have that kind of 'payment' in mind, she'd rather take over Kras herself. Better for her Dynasty to fall than her pride as a woman. Maybe she was brought up between the dirt of smuggling goods and involved with the most conniving of criminals but she still considered herself to be a lady.

She fixed her eyes on the glass coffee table between them, staring at the smoke spewing from the ashtray. How could she make herself disappear? It was too late now. Maybe this was a bad idea and she should have seen it coming with the way he went upon meeting her.

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"Get in"

Rayn looked around the deserted streets by the bridge. It was only Razer accompanied by another vehicle. The other man seemed to be another racer that she wasn't too familiar with.

"But what about my car?"

"Don't worry. Just get in. He'll keep watch of it until you return"

Rayn instantly looked over to the anonymous racer behind him. Missing teeth, tattoos and missing limbs. Not very trustworthy material.

"Don't worry, you're vehicle is in good hands"

She threw him a non-believing look. "I'm sure"

"It's true. Unless he doesn't value his life"

With that she saw the man's eyes widen fearfully at Razer's threatening words. Such power he had over people.

With that she got into his Havoc and they drove away, leaving her vehicle in some strange man's possession.

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She should've known better, she really should have. Now what had she gotten herself into. Being coaxed into this man's home just to be taken advantage of most likely, or worse.

Sensing the misunderstanding between them, Razer shifted more comfortably in his recliner before thinking of how to re-phrase himself. He'd almost forgotten whom he was dealing with. She would probably take these kinds of things too personally. She wasn't as blunt with things as he was.

"Ok, let me re-phrase this for you… What is it that men want?"

Rayn looked up at him, confused. She felt like he was a snake just waiting to wrap around her body and take advantage of her. Of course it may have all been in her imagination, but still. She fumbled with her fingers nervously, searching for the words to such intimidating questions. What the hell did a man's desires have anything to do with taking over Kras?

Now Razer seemed to be running out of patience.

"You're acting somewhat childish for a twenty year old woman"

Sudden anger flared in Rayn's amber eyes. "Childish? I am not childish!"

Razer only smiled as if to prove his already made point by her behavior.

"Not very childish but you can't even answer a few questions. I didn't agree to this for my health and I'd much rather be out on the tracks than wasting my time with a girl who can't answer questions about men. And you want to take over a city mostly full of criminals who happen to be men…amusing, very amusing"

Rayn clenched her fists at her sides as she stood up, "I don't think whether or not I've been with a man or what men want have anything to do with taking over this city"

Razer looked up at the furious woman before him. Her anger didn't ruffle his mood in any way and as much as he would never admit it, being here torturing her mind was far more fun than being at the tracks racing.

Razer sighed. He got up from the recliner to walk over to his fireplace. At the turn of a knob the wood lit up in warm orange waves. He walked on over to the kitchen beside his living room. Rayn just watched him, wondering what the hell he was doing while she was standing there fuming.

He disappeared into a door in the kitchen into what seemed to be a wine cellar. Rayn stared at the empty space in which he retreated to. Once she realized he was going to take a while she plopped back into the sofa. She felt like a complete idiot.

With nothing else to do but wait she began to observe his bachelor loft. It was surprising that a criminal such as himself had any sense of design. From the leather furniture in the modern living room to the blue and white mosaic tiles in his kitchen, it was a home that would cause any commoner to gawk in envy. Even though she hadn't seen the rest of the place she guessed the other rooms were just as nice as this one. It was like a home you saw in the magazines, clean, rich…and untouched. She wondered if he even spent any time at home.

Finally he came back through the door silently, stopping by some cabinets to pull out two wine glasses. With the glasses in one hand and the bottle in the other he finally walked back toward her. Rayn had calmed down and it seemed so had he, for the time being at least.

"Wine?"

Rayn eyed the green glassed bottle suspiciously as he placed it on the coffee table. Maybe he was going to crack it over her head for wasting his time? Maybe he poisoned it just as she had done to Jak and his friends? As all the possible reasons as to why she shouldn't drink anything he offered shuffled through her mind he popped open the bottle with another one of his sly grins.

"Hmm, don't think I'm going to poison you. I don't fancy that way of dealing with my enemies"

Rayn curled her lip because she really didn't want to ask exactly how did he fancy dealing with his enemies. That's the last thing she wanted to know.

She watched as he poured the glasses with crimson liquid and set the bottle aside. Judging from the golden embroidery on the bottle it seemed to be a fairly aged bottle of wine. It was a good brew.

He sat back almost lazily as he brought the glass to his thin lips. With a brief sniff in the glass he finally drank some. Wine sniffing. Funny. She never thought he'd ever do something like that.

Well, seeing that he was drinking from the same bottle, drinking the wine seemed safe enough. Carefully she reached out to grab a glass and brought it to her lips. He watched her, interested in her every movement. Before she took a sip she tilted her head at him in curiosity.

"Something isn't quite right"

His brows rose seeing that she had caught his attention.

"We're enemies correct? And here you are inviting me into your home and offering me wine? What are you scheming? What makes you so trusting?"

Razer set his glass back on the table. He folded his arms over his chest. His trench coat was hanging by the door so he was only in a black T-shirt that clearly complimented the curves of his tightened body. Another surprise to her considering his age.

"I'm not trusting at all actually"

Rayn looked baffled and he continued. "Yes I've invited you into my home and I offer you wine but did you think that I invite you here without knowing anything about you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You know where I live now. However I know where you live as well"

"What? How?"

"I have my sources. I know a lot more than you think so if you ever did decide to turn on me I can retaliate accordingly"

She gulped at retaliate accordingly. Then her eyes widened with the realization of it all. He did know more than she thought. She never told him how old she was so how did he find that out? Then again she should've realized it from the get go. Seeing that Razer was so different from Mizo's other henchmen, she shouldn't have thought she was the only one doing background checks on people. He was clever and that was exactly what she needed in her plan to win over the city.

She was speechless. With nothing to say she lifted the glass and sipped some wine into her mouth. Taking it into her cheeks to savor the aged flavor of the wine and then swallowing it down gracefully, letting the aftertaste settle inside. She failed to see the satisfied look on Razer's face.

She couldn't smoke but at least she can drink.

It was quiet for a few minutes. Razer lifted his wrist to see the time. 4:30 AM and there was a race later today. Not much time was left before the final race, less than two months to be exact.

"Sex"

Razer almost coughed out the remaining wine sitting in his mouth before he straightened up in his recliner.

"I'm sorry, my dear, what was that?"

"I said sex"

Now Razer was speechless and confused. First they were quiet and sipping wine then she comes out of nowhere and says something absurd.

Now Rayn seemed to smile at catching him off guard as he had done to her so many times.

"The question you asked me earlier, what do men desire. I said sex, you know, intercourse"

Razer blinked as he let her words register in his head. "Oh, oh, yes that. Well that may be part of it. What else do men seek?"

Rayn thought a bit before answering, "Power, money, maybe even danger?"

"Hmm…so what does that have to do with you taking over Kras?"

He returned to her the same question she had spat at him so angrily earlier. She seemed to be stuck for a bit so he decided on lending her a hand in thought.

"Think about it, Rayn"

He had called her by her name instead of 'girl' or 'dear' or anything insulting. Rayn looked up at him unsure of where their conversation should be going. He got up and lifted her up from the sofa by the hand. He released her as he stood standing in front of her.

"Men desire different things. That's what you've failed to realize and that is what you have been doing wrong"

"I see. So in other words, if I want to convince the Crime Lords or the men in the bar I have to approach them differently"

"Hmm hmm, exactly," with that he strung his fingers through his dark hair. Some strands seemed to go loose and they fell over his green eyes. Rayn quickly turned away attempting to pretend she didn't notice how attractive he looked for that moment.

"So that's it. This whole mess can be solved just with figuring that out"

"Not exactly. You're still in need of tuning"

"Tuning? What are you trying to imply?"

Already he could sense her becoming defensive. He eyed her for a moment before glancing at the clock above the fireplace.

"It's late and I have a race to attend to later on. Why don't you meet me after the race and we can speak further on this subject"

Razer moved to grab a post it on one of his end tables and scribbled something quickly on it. He handed it to her before heading to his front door.

How nice of him to show her the way out, or rather kick her out.

Still she followed him wordlessly and without protest. He grabbed his trench coat and led her to his Havoc outside.

"Shall we go?"

Rayn smiled sarcastically, "Like there was much choice in the matter"

Razer tugged a fresh cigarette behind his ear, "Very witty woman, very"

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Rayn's so-called wittiness was already gone now that she was fast asleep. He didn't expect her to doze off on the way back to the bridge. It was only a half hour ride but guessing from the way her head now rested on the seat beside him, she was probably not used to such strenuous schedules.

Razer stopped at a red light, the horizon of Kras City now coming into view. He looked on over to observe the woman in her sleep. Krew's daughter, soon to be the biggest Crime Lord in Kras if she pushed hard enough. Crime Lords were greedy, backstabbing and power hungry. Yet she looked like none of those things when she slept. She didn't seem to be any of those things awake either. Kras City was definitely in for a change.

She was so trusting as well. Sleeping in an enemy's car and if he was that kind he would either slit her throat or take advantage of her. Yet he wasn't that kind and she probably knew that, but still. She was too soft. That was where she needed tuning.

A slight feeling of pity came over him. It was too bad that she didn't know. It was too bad that she didn't know about her prized racer killing her father. It was too bad that he'd have to be the one to report it to Mizo so that he could use it against them. Mizo was fond of creating turmoil in the opposing team and disguised as Blitz, the possibilities were endless.

As much as he almost didn't want to do it, he had to remember there were no sides when it came between them. Right now she was on hers and he was looking out for himself. He wouldn't risk his neck for anyone. So meeting up with her would not prevent him from going about his usual duties under Mizo as much as he despised him.

Sorry princess, there is no mercy in this world. Not in these streets…

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Hope you found it entertaining. Also if you're looking for a good Jak story I've currently been hooked to a story called Dark War by the author Cyrex. It makes me feel like I wrote this chap in Crayola Lol. It's a must read so feel free to take a look.