Part Two
Lex loosened his tie as he made his way up the spiral staircase, he had been in the boardroom all day and felt as if he were choking to death. The management of LuthorCorp was nothing new to him, it was what he had been trained for, getting to the bottom Lionel's seemingly endless string of 'extracurricular earnings' was another matter. So far he had discovered: several illegal genetic projects, two diamond mines and a string of Latin American supermarkets, amongst hundreds of minor business ventures which were all incorrectly registered. Such clerical mistakes might not have bothered anyone else; they may have just been happy to accept the extra revenue no questions asked but Lex was a Luthor and he always asked questions and demanded answers.
He had gone up against his father far too often to take any risks, even behind bars Lionel was a dangerous foe. Lex needed to have all of the information! He needed to know where every last cent of his father's money was, who his connections were, and how all of these businesses fitted together – it was no accident that they were left unaccounted for. Only then could Lex be sure that he would remain on top and that he could adequately protect his assets.
That was why he was there. He had only found out about this particular club a few hours ago and as he was planning on returning to Smallville the following morning, he had decided that he had better check it out immediately.
A couple of years ago this would have been his idea of a great night out, now it more closely resembled a chore. A few shots and the company of a pretty girl would have made it more bearable but as he had made quite clear upon his arrival, he was there for business not pleasure. Lex was certain that this was one of his father's more sinister plots, rather than just a way to fox the IRS; however successful a club was it should not have been yielding his father (and now Lex) over two million dollars a month.
Still, as Lex perused the scene, mentally trying to tally up how much revenue he should be seeing from the place, he felt his attention being dragged away from arithmetic at various intervals - he was trying to be a better man but temptation always came in such delicious packages. There were many gorgeous women there that night, some wearing very little and the majority of them were paying him a great deal of attention. Sometimes it was good to be young and rich. In his position there was no reason why he couldn't conduct business and find a play thing for the night as that was all that she would be, a play thing. There was no chance that any of the women present could hold his attention for more than a few minutes – if that – or divert him from the task at hand. He had made it a point to avoid women who could.
No, instead of spending another night in and alone thinking about errant blondes, he would make his business deals and solve the mystery within half an hour then pick up something nice to do for the evening on the way out and wake-up tomorrow not even remembering her name and ready to get on his helicopter back to Smallville.
He did his best not to snort when as he thought of Smallville, he had better get his fill of society and women whilst he was still in Metropolis. Here he was spoilt for choice; even now that Lex and his security team were out of the crowd and halfway up the stairs to the VIP section, there were still beautiful girls dotted around the place. He was looking for his normal tall, olive skinned brunette and was so busy trying to choose between the blued eyed one smiling at him or the green eyed one next to her – would it be too greedy to choose both? – that he probably wouldn't have noticed the blonde in the corner of the stairwell had she not drawn attention to herself by uttering an expletive, presumably in shock.
He spared her a quick glance, slightly amused; that wasn't the response that he was used to eliciting from females. Flirting, being coy, giggling to their friends behind their hands: yes. Swearing: no – well not outside the bedroom, at any rate. He wondered whether she was just shocked to see him there or whether he did not look like his pictures.
Shadows clung to the girl's form, tucked away in the corner as she was, but he could still make out the horrified expression on her usually suborn face and realised why she had sworn, he was a hair's breadth away from swearing himself. What the hell was Chloe Sullivan doing there?
Lex had always prided himself on being quick off the mark, but he must have been more stunned by the presence of the nosey reporter than he had thought. Before he could completely wrap his mind around the situation or open his mouth to say anything, one of the club's guards had reacted, grabbing her arms in a grip which was painfully tight - if the expression on Chloe's face was anything to go by. Lex felt his palms itching.
"I'm sorry Mr. Luthor, I don't know what she's doing up here", the giant of a man apologized. "She isn't one of the ones we allowed up". He added, seeming ill at ease.
No one else said anything, some not even daring to breathe as they concentrated on Lex. The only person who seemed more annoyed than worried was Chloe, although as Lex focused his gaze on her he was certain that he had detected a flicker of fear in her eyes. As if realising that she had given too much a way she redoubled her efforts to shake off her captor but that only succeeded in making him yank her back against him harder. The movement drew a sound of pain from her lips.
Lex fixed him with a look that would have made Goliath rethink his actions and the man visibly paled - if he had known what Lex was actually considering doing to the bastard then he would probably have passed out from fear. Satisfied that his control was recognised, Lex considered his options. He could be direct: he could just tell them to let her go, grab her and take her home, no one would think to stop him but something inside him did. He had a bad feeling about this, she wasn't one of the ones they had allowed up? Why would they be so worried about her presence? The young Luthor took a step forwards, sneering slightly. There was no reason for him to reveal his weakness to anyone. He would figure this out before they even realised that he was on to them.
They had no way of knowing who Chloe Sullivan was, he doubted that any of them read The Torch. As far as they knew she was just a pretty girl who was hanging around the VIP section. Strike that, she was an incredible sexy girl who was just hanging around the VIP section. Where had Chloe got those clothes and that make up from? He had not been able to help noticing that her wardrobe had become a little less baggy this year, but this took form fitting to a whole new level. If she decided to dress like that on a daily basis, even Clark would have to take notice.
Lex had to struggle not to smirk at the mental image of Clark examining Chloe's new wardrobe, the farm boy would probably have a heart attack. He wondered whether he could convince her to dress like that every day, it would certainly make small town life more interesting. Actually, based on the attention that she was now soliciting from the men around him – they seemed to find their gaze flitting back to her ever so often, however hard they tried to keep their focus on Lex - she should only wear clothes like that for him, in his mansion. Oh God, what was he thinking? He didn't think about Chloe like that! He couldn't let himself get distracted especially not when he had a mystery to solve, he had not spent the last few months ignoring her to protect her only to lose his self-control now.
There was no reason why the guards and management should have been worried about her being there, as there were always one or two girls who talked their way passed the bouncers, so what did they think she was? And what did they think was she doing there? Come to that, what was she doing there? And how had she got into the club in the first place? How had she got into the VIP section?
Chloe's presence meant that there was a story. So he had been right, something sinister was afoot. If there was one thing that Chloe Sullivan was good at discovering it was trouble … and Luthor family secrets, but that didn't mean that he was going to let her get in any deeper. He should just let them chuck her out, she had no business being there, but something told him that they wouldn't just let her leave. They might be suspicious, they might hurt her. He felt his fists clenching again and tried to relax them.
Deciding on his course of action, Lex gave his audience his best arrogant smirk, "She probably just wanted to meet me".
Chloe's skin had almost been buzzing with excitement as she had worked out how to break her story, but upon seeing Lex her blood had turned to ice. Being discovered by anyone she knew would have been bad enough but there was a chance that a normal human being would have been kind enough not to blow her cover, but she was fairly sure that Lex would ruin her just for fun. She had tried to turn and run but the guard had been too quick for her. She closed her eyes in a mixture of mortification and dread, how on earth was she going to get out of this one?
The one good thing, she supposed, was that she was certain that Lex wouldn't be mixed up in anything this shady so she would be able to report it. She knew that she should have been happy about this, but she wasn't. She was angry. If he had just waited one more day then she could have collected all of her information, called the police, written her article and blackmailed him into letting her father have his job back. Instead, she was going to be humiliated and it was all Lex's fault!
She tried, unsuccessfully, to yank her arm from the vice like grip as her mind was raced to come up with a plan to get herself out of this mess when she heard Lex offer her one. Did he really just imply that she had gone through all of this to meet him? She stared at him in shock, would that really stand up as a reason for her being there? Would anyone really buy that? Judging by the expressions on the faces of their small audience, yes they would.
"Isn't that right, baby?" Lex asked again, closing the gap between them. Chloe gulped, the bruising pressure exerted upon her arms had cessed, she was finally free to make a break for it but she felt as if were held still far more tightly than before as Lex advanced. She had tried to tell herself that she had no other escape plan – which was the truth – but that was not the reason her feet refused to move. She had always known that he was attractive, she had more than her fair share of adolescent fantasies about him, but he had never taken her breath away like he did now nor had she been held so captive by his gaze.
Chloe had never seen him looking quite so dishevelled before, it suited him. His designer jacket was slung carelessly over one broad shoulder, his tie was loose as were the first two buttons of his shirt revealing a glimpse of warm, soft looking skin. When she dared to raise her eyes to meet his, she saw a predatory look in them thitherto fore unknown - it should have scared rather than thrilled her.
She swallowed and nodded in response to his question, trying to avoid noticing the smug smirk that tugged at his lips. He was going to make her pay. Slowly, and with excruciating exactness, he drank in the sight of her, from her ruffled blonde hair, down her made-up face, her red halter top, her short black skirt, her black tights right down to her combat boots. He didn't make her feel unclean as others had, but she would have sorely liked to slap him, the only thing that stopped her was knowing that she had to keep up the act of being interested in him – at least until she could think of a better plan.
"Very nice", he purred as he reversed his perusal. It was a lot more difficult to keep his expression in place after he had seen those boots - they were just so her! - though they did nothing to quell his anger. He was absolutely bloody furious and becoming in greater danger of losing his self-control with every passing second. He had not lived in agony for months, watching looped footage of her in that damned safe house, longing to visit her, to talk to her but not being able to just for her to go and get herself into trouble. Damn it, he had had a full security team following her every move since the beginning of the school year, even as outwardly ignored her and let her think that he had forgotten all about her, just to make sure that she was always safe.
He did not know how his men had lost her – last he had heard she was spending the evening in her cousin's dorm –, that was a problem that he would address as soon as they were back in Smallville, but he had found her here so she was his responsibility. It was not enough to protect her this time, he needed to make sure that she would never get herself into this predicament again, he was determined to show her that men in the city - especially the ones who frequented clubs like this one – could not be trusted and that she should not be running around dressed like that.
"Join us at our table", he requested in a tone that sounded more like an order.
"Um, thank-you, I can't. My Dad will wonder where I am, you see, it's passed my curfew", Chloe said in a slightly breathy voice, no one seemed to believe that she was the right age anyway so she might as well use it to make her escape.
The men surrounding her laughed, "I'm sure it is", one of the coughed.
Lex snaked his arm around her waist, "Well if you are already in trouble, then you might as well stay and have some fun". He paused for a moment before adding with a grin, "I promise to return you to him after breakfast". This elicited another chuckle from his companions.
"No, I really must be going", Chloe placed her hands on his chest to push him back and was surprised by how firm he was, and how unyielding.
"I think not". Lex allowed his hand to travel further down her back until it caressed her behind, delighting in the shuddering breath he felt rather than saw her take. She wanted to kill him, he was certain. Had the situation not been so potentially dangerous for her, he would have found her expression hilarious - she was so clearly trying to resist throttling him. Well, she had got herself into this situation, she would have to learn what it was like to lose control … after all, she was lucky that it was only him.
Colour suffused Chloe's cheeks; this was not how she had thought that this night would end.
"I think that I'd better go …" Once again she made to leave but found that her hand was being gently held captive in Lex's much larger one.
"Aw, she's gone all shy", Lex announced to his cronies, before proceeding to nuzzle her neck and whisper, "There's no escape Miss Sullivan". Shivers ran up and down her spine as he engulfed her, he smelled so good and she thought that her knees would buckle as he gently nipped her ear lobe. Her mind revolted at such weakness, had it been anyone but Lex these moves would have had no effect but still she should have more control than this.
She was surrounded by him, she might just have been able to fight him off had he really meant to hurt her but there was no way that she could get away from the others. Suddenly the foolishness of her mission crashed over her as she looked directly into Lex's eyes. He was going to torture her for the rest of the night; they both knew it and she would have to let him without causing a fuss because she couldn't get away from him until he decided that she was allowed to. She was completely at his mercy, and she didn't like it one little bit!
Chloe was fortunate really, she could have been in a far worse situation. Tomorrow everything would be sorted out, and for now she was safe because it was Lex, not some other guy and she should have been grateful to him but at that moment she could not help but feel a surge of hatred towards him.
Lex gestured in the direction of VIP section and for once Chloe acquiesced, walking ahead of him with only a slight huff. Although she had been able to move with relative anonymity before, now that she had been singled out by Lex Luthor as his companion for the evening all eyes were on her - judging her, and probably trying to work out what he saw in her. So much for not being recognised later, at least the lights were still relatively dark.
Two of Luthor's private security stayed near the entrance but the rest had headed over to the table ahead of Chloe, helpfully indicating exactly where she was supposed to be heading. One of them pulled out a chair for her, but before Chloe could seat herself she felt herself being pulled down and backwards. Lex, who had been strolling a step or two behind her, had caught up and decided that the safest place for her was in his lap.
Chloe tried her best not to balk at this treatment as she did not want to draw even more attention to herself and wasn't sure whether most girls - or most girls stupid enough to end up in a situation like this, at any rate - might not like Lex's attention. Instead she buried her own face in his neck and hissed, "I'll get you for this".
Lex pulled his head back so that he could look her straight in the eye; he wanted her to be able to fully appreciate his arrogant smile. "I look forward to it".
His lips twitched even more as he was fairly sure he heard Chloe growl. It was so rare that he got the upper hand in his dealings with her that he was determined to make the most of it. As Lex discussed the business with his colleges, who all seemed to be drinking and womanizing as well, he allowed his hand to run slowly up and down Chloe's back, enjoying the light hitch in her breath every time his fingers grazed bare flesh.
He was so preoccupied with his diverting game that he found it difficult to focus on the business arrangements, this was certainly not a problem that he usually had – several of his best business phone calls had been made whilst he was um … relaxing. Had it not been for the fact that there was obviously something nefarious going on that he needed to uncover he would probably have given up entirely, but as it was he tried to ignore the warmth of Chloe's body pressed against him.
The meeting was rather uninformative and although he had not expected them to come right out and tell him what they had been up to with his father, he had not expected them to hide it particularly either. This type of man generally believed that everyone was as crooked as he was, and based on some of the press that the Luthors received Lex wouldn't really have been able to refute such an assumption. Had he not known better, he would have said that there was nothing underhand about this meeting, someone listening in would certainly not have gleaned any useful information, for which he was as grateful and he was irritated. He wanted to discover the truth, but the less that Chloe knew about all of this the better so it was probably for the best that they were not discussing anything of consequence.
It was only when they started talking figures that he grew concerned by Chloe's presence at the table. The numbers they were discussing were so obviously made up and the services they were referring to probably didn't even exist, someone like Chloe would easily hunt down the truth with that much ammo.
Lex didn't doubt that she would be listening to all of this and storing it in her overly developed brain, but still memory played tricks on people. He knew that better than anyone thanks to his father. So, unless she had a recording then he didn't have to … he could feel her hand moving slightly against his stomach and hidden from the view of everyone else at the table. It was with a groan that he realised that she had got her phone out and had been recording everything they had said. Just as he had been trying to distract her with his hands, she had been distracting him with her little sighs and shaky breathing - she had just done it much much better! He should have known that it would take more than a few lingering caresses to distract Chloe Sullivan.
Well he would never have expected her to let an opportunity like this slip through her fingers. But that didn't mean that he was going to let her get away with it, she had already almost got killed once because of him and her bloody cell phone, he couldn't go through that again. He would get that phone off her the second that they were alone together and wouldn't let her out of his sight until then, not that he had been planning to anyway. It would be fine as long as she didn't find a way to send it to Clark or someone else equally hot headed before then, he could still feel her fingers moving against him fiddling with her phone. He would have to distract her and get her out of there, post haste.
He resumed his caresses, this time allowing his fingers to run through her hair too, as desperate to feel in control again and to prove to himself that her earlier reactions had not just been a distraction as she gathered information as he was to find an excuse to get out of there.
Chloe almost growled, he must have realised what she was doing as he now seemed intent upon making her loose her mind. Well two could play that game, she wriggled to get more comfortable.
Lex choked on his drink and his eyes watered for a couple of seconds. Chloe, very helpfully, thumped him on the back, "Are you alright, sweetie?" She cooed over him.
"Fine, darling", he bit back,
Chloe grinned at him, clearly thinking that she had won.
"In fact", he rose to his feet taking her with him, "as we seem to be done here for this evening, I think that it is time that we get going. I have a feeling that this will be a night that you won't soon forget".
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