Part 47: The Spider and the Fly-1

What in God's name did she know about the FBI? Nothing, except for what she saw in the movies and on American TV. She meant to say "police," but "FBI" slipped out. Aiden had said the net was closing in on Brady and they were bringing federal charges; she must have had that on her mind. Maybe it already hit the news, which was why the asshole was so anxious to hide the paper and take her phone. She went to Kurt's side. "We don't have much time. You can either be charged with him or testify against him and get immunity." Was immunity the right word? She hoped that was actually true. "Where's your badge?" He eyed her suspiciously. "I want to see it." Crap. She narrowed her eyes. "I don't have to show you jack-shit," she whispered, pretending she was in a movie to stay calm. It's a movie. This whole thing is just a movie. "Now what's it going to be?" He shook his head furiously. "I could never testify against him. You don't know how powerful he is. What he can do," he whispered. "His time is up; whatever power he had is gone. We know what he has on you. You will be protected if you give evidence against him; you're his closest confidante." She was taking a wild gamble; she didn't know if any of that was true. To her surprise, he burst into tears. "I've done some terrible things. Awful, awful things." As far as FBI agents went, she was the worst. She started to feel desperation claw at her chest; a feeling of raw panic. Stay calm. She took a deep breath. "Kurt, there's no time. You have about five seconds to decide how the next five to 15 years will turn out for you." He lifted his tear-stained eyes to hers. She put a hand on his arm. "Now do you have the phone, or does he have it?" ________ Lucy swiftly made it back to her seat just in time and got ready. Hearing the door open to Lex's room, she finished up and quickly made herself a small plate of food. Her stomach felt hollow and raw, the last thing she wanted to do was eat something, but she nibbled on some fresh mango to calm her nerves and give her hands something to do. She was terrified that she'd be caught — the information she found out over the past 12 hours was frightening and she was plagued with self-doubt. Her heart seemed to pound louder and louder with each step he took towards her. How should she play it? Should she challenge him; try and make him mad like Aiden said? Or should she keep up the game of the innocent victim, the lamb being led to slaughter, in order to lull him into a false sense of security? She knew one thing: everything depended on her performance in the next few moments. She saw his smug smile, and suddenly a calm came over her. It was the same smile she'd seen in boardrooms all her life. The smile that said she was nothing but a meek subordinate, fit only to take meeting notes, or fetch coffee. The look she got when her ideas were dismissed; good ideas that were stolen and later put forward by some man as his own. She'd dealt with that smile all her life in the corporate world. Underneath her terror, she couldn't deny the satisfaction she felt when she dumped the coffee on him. Suddenly, it all became clear to her and she knew what to do. She pulled on the professional mask she'd been wearing since she was a junior executive and readied herself to wipe the smile off his arrogant face. "There. No harm done," he said, sitting in the chair across from her. Another crisp suit; this one in a light, regal grey. The creases in the pants could have sliced through butter. "I'm glad. I'm so embarrassed, please let me pay for the dry cleaning. I've always been a nervous flyer," she said. He held up his palm. "No need." She rolled the dice and plunged ahead. "Lex, I'm sorry." "You don't have to keep apologizing, it's fine. I prefer this suit for the warmer climate anyway." "Not about that. The offer of this trip was amazing. You've been a wonderful client, and I hope we can continue to do business together, but when the plane lands, I really have to get back to New York. I just can't continue on to Italy leaving things the way they are with Quinn. I've always run away from my problems, and I have to start doing things differently." So far so good, she thought hoping that the sprinkling of a few truths with the lies would make them go down easier. He sighed. "Lucy, I appreciate your loyalty. But we both know, there's no way I'm letting you go back to New York." Game on. "What do you mean, Lex?" "You've been fighting your attraction for me since the first night our eyes met at the ball. I could see you were struggling with your feelings, so I made it easier for you. That's why I offered you the contract. You jumped at it, talking Quinn into it, upending your lives. Quinn is out of the picture, let him go. There's nothing stopping us now." He smiled. "Lex, I'm sorry if I did anything to give you that impression. But I love Quinn. This was just a business arrangement." His laugh was a shrill bark. "You can drop the act, I know who you really are. When I first laid eyes on you, I thought you were special. Then I found out about your past, and I couldn't believe my luck. I'd finally found my queen. My filthy queen." He leaned forward and leered at her, causing her to recoil. What past? "Lex, I don't know what you're talking about." "Oh, but you do. Private investigators can unearth the most personal details, and mine is the absolute best. I know all about your past. Mine wasn't the first naughty party you've been to, was it? Your ex-boyfriend had many things to say about you — delicious things." He winked. She would kill or at least seriously maim Trent if she ever got out of this mess. She fought to keep her face impassive. "That was more his thing than mine. You've been misinformed. By the way, your party was boring," she said. "And your food sucked." He laughed and clasped his hands together. "I just love it when you put me in my place," he said, dropping his voice. "You can't tell me you're happy in that shitty little town, right back where you started. We're two of a kind, and we crave the same things: money, power, sex. A very particular kind of sex. I can give all of that to you. I can give you everything he can't." Her time was running out. As horrified as she was, she had to somehow find a way to speed things up. "It's a tempting offer, Lex but I'm not interested." She gave an involuntary glance towards her purse. "Don't bother looking for your phone, you're not going to find it. I had Kurt take it. We don't need any distractions from the weekend ahead. It'll be pure debauchery," he said.