Part Three
The icy wind that whipped around her was so piercing that Chloe was almost grateful for the protection and warmth that Lex's arm afforded her, draped around her shoulders as it was. Almost being the operative word as her natural instinct was still to try to bolt, the only thing that kept her from making the attempt was the warning squeeze Lex gave her, letting her know that there was no real way of escape. If she tried to run, she wouldn't get more than a few meters before being unceremoniously dragged back and she was determined to keep what little remained of her dignity intact.
"Get in", Lex ordered as he held open the door for her; with ill grace Chloe acquiesced. She automatically began to scoot over to make room for Lex only to find that he had slammed the door shut and locked it.
She tried the door and finding that there was no way of unlocking it from the inside, settled back into her seat and looked around the interior, she had not been in a limo since her aunt's funeral and even then she didn't think that it had been as nice as this one. She could just hear Lex's footsteps as he moved around to the other side of the car and she leapt into action. Chloe slipped her phone out of her purse and down her bra, if she knew Lex the first thing that he wanted would be the recording. She was fairly certain that he knew what she had been up to during that meeting.
Her heart raced as she saw the door on the other side of the car opening and Lex slipping into the backseat. His back was to her as he gave some more orders to the driver, and Chloe tried to compose herself, she had no idea how she was going to get out of this. Would he tell her Dad? Where was he taking her? She glanced at her watch again, she only had 20 minutes to get back before Lois.
Scenarios played about in Chloe's head. She could play dumb, deny that her name was Chloe, try to convince him that she was her own cousin … with a fake ID that quite clearly said that her name was Lana Kent. No, that wouldn't work. Maybe she could convince him that it had all been a ploy to meet him as he has suggested to his 'friends', that would probably embarrass him so much that he would back down. Oh no, now she was going crazy. There was no way that she could embarrass Lex. He would probably think her a stupid, insignificant little high school girl who had wanted to party in the VIP section, he didn't know that she was on a mission after all.
She sighed, just as she had been getting closer to Lex she would be put back again. She had hoped that after she had helped him put his father in jail and proved herself to be brave that maybe he could start respect her. She knew that he would never look at her the way that he looked at Lana, and they would probably never be friends but she had at least hoped that he would look on her as something more than Clark's annoying high school friend. Well, there was no hope for that now. He was going to think of her as a slut, and a stupid one to boot. Deciding that whatever happened, she was going to face it head on she looked directly at Lex as he turned to her.
"Hand it over Chloe", Lex told her calmly.
"Hand what over?" She asked looking extremely innocent.
"Save that look for Clark, it's not going to work on me", Lex informed her reaching over and plucking her purse from her grasp.
Reluctantly, Chloe allowed him to have it. It did not seem as though she really had any choice, besides, at least her recording was safe.
Lex didn't say a word to her as went through her purse, before turning back to her. "We will discuss this later", he informed her, holding up her fake idea and slipping it into his pocket.
"Hey, that's mine. That's stealing", Chloe exclaimed. She had paid a bloody fortune for that ID.
"Fine, call the police", he challenged, "then give me your phone".
Chloe rolled her eyes at the police comment, she guessed that that was her ID gone for good then, unless she could get into the mansion undetected …
"The phone Chloe".
"My phone?" This time she opted for a purely blank expression.
"That expression won't work on me either", Lex informed her placidly as they sped along in the limo. He stretched out, appearing to have all of the time in the world. He would get what he wanted, however long it took, besides it was better not to look at her too often. Not because of her beauty, he could deal with that. What made him almost lose his control were the faint marks on her arms that the brute had left. He wanted to hold her and comfort her, but if he showed her how much he cared then he would be lost. Steeling himself, he turned his head towards her again and fixed her with a piercing look that had cowed grown men before.
"It should be in my purse, if it isn't there then I have no idea where it could be", Chloe could only just meet his eyes. She knew that Lex had a temper and was a little worried what he might do next, she had not expected him to burst out laughing.
"God you have been dealing with high school boys for far too long if you think that anyone will fall for that", he said. Chloe looked annoyed, but not like she was in even close to giving in. He would have to change tactic.
Lex appeared to be thinking deeply for a minute before saying, "In fact, maybe you don't want me to fall for that. Maybe you want me to come up with ideas where it might be".
Chloe gapped at him. He couldn't really think that she wanted that could he? Sensing his advantage, he pressed it. Lex slid over to her and placed his hand on her leg. In terms of business it was the right move to make, you didn't show compassion, and she needed to learn her lesson.
In response, she backed up shaking her head.
Lex breathed a sigh of relief; she had retreated, she had learnt her lesson so there was no need for him to take this any further. The slightly panicked look on her face did not sit well with him and he looked the other way, hoping that the blackness of the windows would give him a moment to think. He should back off, if he had scared her then that was enough, that would keep her safe in future and she would give him the phone. She was smirking. He could see her damned reflection in the window and she was bloody smirking. Even now she thought that she could out manoeuvre him. Emotions raged within him; he was so thankful that she was not truly frightened of him and that he got to see the rebellious spirit which he so admired, but he knew that he could not let her win this time.
He advanced on her, he dragged her away from the door so that the only way that she could avoid him was to lean back. In a second he was on top of her, the weight from his body rendering her legs almost useless and both of her wrists were pinned above her head in one of his hands.
Lex was sitting up, looking down at her. He wanted the reality of her situation to fully sink in. She was completely at his mercy, and he was going to get what he wanted from her.
"If you have any desire to procreate then I suggest that you get off me", Chloe threatened him, manoeuvring herself slightly so that her knee was very close to his crotch, it was a trick that Lois had taught her although truth be told, she had always scoffed at the idea that she could ever land herself in such a ludicrous situation.
"Don't make threats that you have no intention of carrying out", Lex warned her as he learnt down close to her. She could feel his hot breath on his face and neck. But more to the point she could feel the hand which wasn't restraining her grazing her thigh. The bastard, he was so confident that she wouldn't hurt him.
She tried to move her leg more, she wouldn't knee him unless she absolutely had too but another few inches and he would no doubt see sense, that was when she realised that she was held far faster than she had first though. Lex was straddling her too far up her legs for her to actually make good on her threat. She tested his hold on her wrists, it did not hurt, but she found it to be far more effective than she had first thought.
The realisation that she was indeed completely trapped must have shown on her face, judging by the look of triumph on Lex's, as his hand continued its course until it came across the bulge in her skirt and pulled out the container.
Lex could have cried with relief; he had what he wanted – he assumed that the box contained the phone - and Chloe appeared to have learned her lesson.
"I have no intention of hurting you Chloe, that does not however mean that others don't. But that's something that we will discuss later, the first thing is to make sure that that recording is deleted", he let her go and retreated to his side of the car. It would be far easier to think clearly if he could not smell her scent but unfortunately he found that it lingered. It was a soft, fresh, soapy smell which he found rather appealing but which didn't help much when he was trying to make a point.
Opening the container he scowled, "I know that this is not what I think it is".
"Well, I suppose that that depends on what you think it is". Chloe said as she righted herself and pulled her skirt further down. She intended to brush off what had just happened and being cheeky was the best way she knew of to do that, but the look on Lex's face told her that she had gone too far this time.
With an exaggerated sigh she explained, "It is a powder developed by the army that makes anyone who snorts it easier to handle and then pass out within five minutes, my uncle gave Lois and I a supply before we started high school so that if anyone ever forced us into using drugs we could give them some of that and run away".
It must have been Chloe's imagination but she thought that she saw Lex relax a little as she said this. "What did you think it was?" She asked.
"I was dearly hoping that it was talc, but you never know. You wouldn't be the first to get in over their head whilst working on a story", Lex handed it back to her.
"So you knew that I was working on a story?"
He looked over at her incredulously. "No, I thought that you had suddenly started travelling three hours to Metropolis just to consort with criminals and low lives - who would gang bang you given half a chance - for fun.
Chloe was oddly touched that he knew her well enough to know that she wasn't just some stupid flighty girl.
"Now stop messing about, give me the phone. I am not having you getting involved in something else that could get you killed because you have the only copy of the recording – although I cannot say that I know exactly what you found so fascinating about our conversation", Lex held out his hand expectantly.
"Lex, I …"
"The phone Chloe. There is only one possible place that it can be and I will take it from you if you don't hand it over in the next five seconds", he informed her.
"You wouldn't".
Lex just raised an eyebrow at her. They both knew that he would.
"One".
Chloe shifted uncomfortably, she didn't want to give up her information to him. She had only meant to give him a copy of it, not the original.
"Two."
He would probably just delete it, and that was her coup de grâce.
"Three".
She could still make her article work and there was enough there for the police, but it would be nice to have it. She had the feeling that it contained more than met the eye – or ear as the case might be.
"Four".
Maybe she and Lex could some to some sort of arrangement. Maybe …
She looked at him, he wasn't going to back down. He wasn't going to compromise. And he was about to say five.
"Fi-".
Chloe handed over the phone.
"Please don't delete it Lex, you have no idea how important this is", she begged.
"You're right, I don't. But I wasn't going to just delete it, I am going to send it to me and my lawyers, then delete it off your phone so that you will not be a target. Then you are going to explain to me what the hell is going on, why you are out here by yourself, why you didn't call me for help and how you got a fake ID and you had better have good excuses", he handed her phone back to her with a dark look.
The screen showed that she had got several missed messages from Lois.
"My cousin is worried, I had better call her I was meant to be back 10 minutes ago", Chloe hedged.
"Fine, call her and tell her that you met me and that I am taking you back to Smallville. You had better do it now, we are coming up to LuthorCorp we can talk on the helicopter and when we get back to the mansion", Lex took his keys, phone and wallet out of his jacket pocket and put them into the one in his trousers.
Chloe had opened her mouth to take issue with this high handed treatment when he did something so sweet that she couldn't object, he took off his jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, "I will be chilly outside. I will give you some privacy to call your cousin".
She couldn't help it, in spite of everything she melted a little. This was one of the first times that Lex, or any other boy her age, had ever treated her like they would a girl rather than one of the guys.
Lex opened the door, paused and turned back to her, "Chloe I am so angry with you right now that I could strangle you, but I promise that whatever it is we will deal with it", then he pressed a gentle kiss to her temple and left.
For several moments she sat there in shock. There was nothing special about the kiss, it was the kind that a friend, a brother, a cousin, an uncle would give you … so why did it make her feel warm and tingly right to her very core?
Chloe picked up her life line, "Lo, you will never guess what just happened to me!"