wahey, there's the high roller! sex is foreshadowed in this part, but nothing bad should effect you.
I refuse to believe that there's only a handful of songs played on Radio New Vegas - the wasteland knows nothing about royalty payments! Frank Sinatra's 'Sings for Only the Lonely' - the album which includes 'One for my baby' interestingly enough... If you can't listen to ol' blue eyes then who can you listen to?

Swank's room was the not as nice as Annie and Boone's.

The suave man's voice had a breath of scotch to it, licking Annie's ear like a greasy tongue. He was a nice guy, but Annie liked him better when he was sober. He was less… loving that way. The lights were dim, Peggy Lee calling softly from the radio and coating the room with a free swarm of the senses. She was drunk on his perfume, tracing the soft fabric of his jacket with steady fingers.

He had her against a charred bookshelf, his rough prints on her chin as he inspected her neck. It seemed like all men had to have a bit of liquid confidence before they bothered with her, Annie noted that with a twitch of the lips; Boone being no different. Men were just as bad as women some days.

Licking the tips of her front teeth, she shook her head out of his grasp. "Are you gonna kiss me or what?" Swank laughed at her, smoothing her hair with his palms. Pushing her bangs off of her face, his eye stray to her wound. He made a sickening sound, causing Annie to cringe. She'd hoped he wouldn't notice it.

"You're a fine broad and all, but what did ya do to get that?" He asked, not letting her go but not advancing either. His eyes were wide, curious yet disgusted. He'd never seen a doll with a scar bigger than a bite mark.

Reaching up and taking his hand from her face, she pressed his digits softly to her forehead.

"I suppose the jig is up… And I was actually looking forward to enjoying you…" She sighed, feeling the give of his touch. He whipped his hand back, recoiling a few steps before pulling his gun from the front of his pants. His hands were the steadiest she'd ever seen, better than Alexander's and sharper than Boone's.

"Give me one reason not to fill you with lead, doll."

"Easy, honey." She reached up and pulled her knife free from her stocking. She held it in the palm of her hand, slowly lowering it to the shelf. The clink of metal hitting wood made his eyes zip between hers and the 'situation', aim faltering from her head to her chest. He took a step back in defence. Her elbow bent to slide it away. "I'm not here to hurt you. I'm sorry if it seems like I used you, I didn't mean to."

Reaching behind her back, she heard the safety click on his pistol. She shuddered, continuing to bend so she could lower the zipper. Slipping the dress from her shoulders, her eyes pinpointed his now shaking gun.

That was the only way to get a misbehaving man's attention, it seemed… one just had to take their clothes off… figured. She watched him check for weapons, tucking her curls to one side in a fit to calm him down with a more natural urge.

"Now," adjusting her garter so she could get to her cigarettes, Annie stood as nicely as she could in front of him "I'm here because your boss shot me in the head, and I want to pay him a visit. Now before you press the 'panic button', would you hear me out?" She nodded towards the bed. "Wanna sit down?"

He backed slowly to the sheets, gun never leaving her chest. Her brows were raised, her front gap returning to give her a cheeky look. After lighting a smoke, Annie paced, blowing mushroom clouds of smoke from her red lips before pressing her back against the window, resting against the sill lazily.

"Now you're a smart man, I know that." She winked at him. "And I think you deserve better than what Benny's doing to you." She offered him a cigarette, throwing him the engraved lighter as he accepted. His eyes skimmed over the silver Zippo, a sigh marching to his knees. "He also stole something from my boss. I think you know the man – Mr. House?"

"Benny's been fucking with House?"

"Yes, and he'll get you all burnt if he isn't stopped, bub. House already knows what Benny has done, and if he goes ahead with whatever he's planning you could all be vaporized and packed into a Fiend's jet burner." Her eyes peered into his, the warm red glow from the close Gomorrah gave the room a very nasty feel. "And I think you're a swell guy, Swank, so I want to help you."

"And why should I trust a shifty broad like you?" The gun was put down even so, the older man now crossing his arms across his chest. He seemed interested in the proposition, although a still a little wary.

"Oh honey, I've travelled halfway across the Mojave just to find the man because he shot me. I think I have bigger things on my plate instead of double-crossing you." Stubbing the smoke out on the sill, Annie grinned. Swank accepted this with a curious nod.

"So the big cat's a fink, hey?"

"Yes he is, and I wouldn't doubt that if he failed you would be the first to take the fall." Looking out the window at the strip below, Annie relished the fact that she already had him hook, line and sinker. "With him out of the way, you could finally get the respect you deserve. You run this joint, don't you? Benny just sits in his tower and gets all the credit"

The man stood, straightening his tie. He must have sobered slightly, because his attention was focused on her straight face. Tucking his pistol down the front of his pants, he placed his hands on his hips – pushing his button-up jacket apart to tuck behind his wrists.

"This is a little too much, toots. You can't lead a cat to his bed with good intentions and then throw this on him." Smoothing his hair back, his hand returned to his hip.

"Why mix business with pleasure?" She laughed softly at him, leaning to pick up her dress. The red light set off the angles of his face, making her stop mid bend to drag her eyes down his legs. "But… I suppose can always this off – I'm a pretty easy gal."

A scoff burst from his throat, his tongue wetting his bottom lip with one swipe. He looked her up and down, loosely shrugging his shoulders.

"I have to sleep on this."

"Am I invited?"

"I thought you didn't like to mix business with pleasure?" He teased; already back to loosening his tie. The radio cooed a soft Sinatra, his feet taking him to the carpet in front of her. Pressing his palms on the sill, her arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders.

"The only time I'll ever break the rules for you, Valentino."

Smoking in the bed, Annie let Swank in on the plan. Her legs were yet to regain feeling from the previous hour, sweat still beading down her forehead. But still, she found a chance to squeeze his arm in thanks.

The table beside the bed began to vibrate with the shudder of the phone, Swank's hand swinging to catch the handle before it got out of control. Holding it in the crook of his neck, he sipped the cigarette with a long draw.

"Mhm… A man? Is he packing? … What does he want?"

Annie took this opportunity to stumble out of bed, the wetness between her legs a different feeling. Pulling her underwear up to her belly button, she watched her lover turn his feet to the floor.

"I'll be right down… No, no don't bother the boss… He told me he didn't want to be disturbed… Okay, pal, it's alright."

"What's wrong?" She asked as he placed the handle down, clipping her bra back around her torso with nimble fingers.

"There's a flat tyre in the lobby." Yanking his pants up his toned legs, Swank buttoned his fly. "He's not moving, and it's making the men uncomfortable. He's not armed, so there's no real reason for anyone to grab him so we're in a bit of a dig."

"A man in the lobby..?" Annie asked, mind flicking to Boone. She had been gone a little too long, and she knew exactly how he was about her… Knowing him he was just taking his time to know his surroundings, probably forming a plan to come pull her body from some basement. "Did they say what he looked like?"

"Nothing other than he had real cold eyes."

"Oh…" Tugging her dress over her head, Annie mussed her hair out of its flattened state. "Yep, he's mine."

"You've already got a man? Baby, that's rough."

"That's life, sweetie." Reapplying lipstick in his mirror, she straightened her hem before glancing lazily at him. "Still don't mean I still can't come around. He doesn't have to know everything I do."

They headed to the lobby, the conversation between them meaningless and subtle – avoiding any talk of the real plan. In the elevator, she assured him that she wasn't done with him just yet. The conversation died after that.

Finally making it past the slot machines, Annie's eyes rested on the looming man that everyone seemed to be avoiding. He looked the same as he always did, a step down from the handsome men in suits around her. He still had that clenched jaw, sunglasses on even though it was far beyond the time for that. Annie put on her worried face.

His jaw twitched when he saw her, sweeping her limbs for any marks or scratches. Finding none, Boone let her approach him first.

"Oh honey, what are you doing here?" She asked him dumbly, letting him take her wrist and lead her towards the door. As the door swung open in front of her, she turned and sent Swank one last wink for the night.

He straightened his tie, grinning at her handsomely from the crack of the closing egress. Stepping off the curb, the courier struggled to keep pace in her low-heeled shoes. Boone was rigid with silence, his footsteps like perfect placed movements that seemed only capable to a decorated soldier.

"Hey, nice hat you've got there, fancy pants." A drunk NCR soldier bumped into them as they passed, only making his grip on Annie's wrist tighten momentarily. She laughed at the line, the man haughtily pacing them up the steps of their casino.

He held her in place all up the elevator, dragging her back into the safety of their suite before he dared to look at her again. At first glance he only noticed the pink of her cheeks, cruelly reminded of the girls natural instinct to resort to promiscuity in times of trouble. The thought made him shudder.

The second time, though, he saw the love bites trailed from her ear to her collarbone. Boone let her go, allowing her to float to the other side of the room to take stance.

"What's your problem?" She snapped at him, taking a few steps back so she could remove her clothes. The thought just made him more irritated, having to turn away so he wouldn't look stupid in front of her. If he showed her even the slightest amount of exasperation he knew she would take advantage of it.

"You were gone longer than I expected."

Annie's good mood had been shattered by the sturdy man, the look on his face turning her livid.

"So? It's not like you really cared when I left anyway." Her words were muffled as she threw her dress to the floor. He followed her to the bedroom, trying not to watch as she removed her undergarments. She had a bad habit of doing that in front of him, even though he knew she didn't exactly do it to tease him anymore.

She stalked out to the bathroom, leaning over to turn on the taps. Annie was excited to touch all the parts that had recently been treasured, the feel of a good love still warming in her loins. She could now say from personal experience that Swank knew how to swing. Of course, she couldn't tell Boone that though.

"I'm here to look after you, since you can't seem to do it yourself." He told her, voice rough but still laced with the best intentions. His eyes grazed over the soft skin of her hips, trailing up the stomach to swirl around her breasts. If he weren't an honest man, the situation would have been turned to a different direction.

She pushed her hair behind her ears, stepping into the bath and slipping into the water. She leant her head on the porcelain, honestly expecting him to have walked away by now. But when she opened her eyes, he was leaning on the door frame with an embittered look on his face.

"What do you want from me, Boone?" She grasped the sides of the tub, pulling herself up again. "So I slept with him. It's my body, I'll do what I want with it."

"Weren't you supposed to kill the guy?" He asked, wondering how a girl bent on blood lust had so successfully ruined her own plan. She just laughed at him.

"That wasn't the guy I'm looking for. That's his right hand man." Leaning back, they kept eye contact. "I'm trying to be more strategic – not get myself shot up by a bunch of boobs in suits."

He just sighed and shook his head, turning back to the main room to walk away.

"You look like you're disappointed in me and I'm completely fine with that!" she called after him, soaping her feet lovingly. Boone lit himself a cigarette to fight the annoyance. "I want you to know that you're the only one feeling something about this!"

He just shook his head, returning to their bed to quietly stare at the ceiling.