Baz froze, immediately retracing every stupid thing to come out of his mouth for the point that flipped off a switch in her. She'd been so responsive. She'd dared him to kiss her.
Rei's lips brushed his cheekbone. She whispered. "I have this fantastic image of a view out across the Côte d'Azur, something out of a painting. Curtains wide open. The smell of the Mediterranean in the air, accommodations that hopefully do not involve a pull-out couch..."
If Rei pitched France to him like that the first time, he might not have felt so guilty about leaving Temperance.
The description only made Baz ache for her more because it meant she wanted him back. Just not necessarily then and there, but back nonetheless.
"And if you kiss my neck again... I won't stop myself," Rei's voice came breathy and Baz believed her.
She kissed him again, her hand cupping his cheek. Softly, to keep Baz's blood from pumping faster and faster. Or maybe it was for her own benefit. It didn't stop Baz from wanting her.
Rei didn't pull away, toeing a line before the point of no return. Touching, hungry but not ravenous, like kissing him was the appetizer for a meal she planned to take in France.
"That's a lot of power to give me," Baz said between the fleeting kisses.
"Use it well," Rei replied.
At the very least, it was good information to hold onto for a later date. Baz knew which dials to twist to turn her on.
She settled against his chest. Of all the impossible things encompassed within the span of a little over a week, it was hardest to wrap his head around Rei, there, in his arms.
***
Rei woke first, becoming aware of herself in space gradually. A dream faded, a warm sun and a sparkling ocean lapsing into the pull-out couch reality.
She was in deep.
Sébastien's arms were wrapped around her, her back to him. His breathing was too deep, too rhythmic for him to be awake. Rei let herself stay there. She couldn't forever. The thought of Diego's face—she would get up before that, just not yet.
Sébastien was giving up his life in Temperance because of Cheng's greed. It wasn't fair. It was exploitative poisoning oozing out of Jasper and infecting Rei's brother. It wouldn't surprise Rei at all if her father's success, if the entire foundation of their fortune, was based on white lies and white-collar crimes, but Cheng leapt straight over fraud and copyright infringement into burglary, extortion, blackmail...
It wasn't just Sébastien. Jasper made that clear when he threatened her. Rei needed Sundial. The things she loved relied on big donors. She needed Sundial's sway to bank those $25,000 a year diamond donor offerings from family friends.
But what if she didn't? What if Cheng could not extort her?
Rei thought of Sébastien's warehouse apartment, full of books and art and not much else. She thought of him paying off Diego's student loans, of paying rent in advance. What he chose to do with his money and what he didn't. Investing only in the people and the things he valued.
There were things Rei surely valued. There were so many things she couldn't dare lose, and so much that she could. Had what she owned ever truly reflected what she cared about? Did she cling to things because she was expected to?
She had an opportunity to realign.
Rei reluctantly slithered out from Sébastien's hold, careful not to wake him prematurely as she found her shirt and made herself decent. Her fingers raked through her hair, combing out the tangles of tossing around the bed, and pulled it away from her face and into a ponytail. Sébastien stirred behind her, still asleep but presumably subconsciously aware that the space next to him had been vacated. It was hard to believe anyone who looked that innocent could possibly be planning a break-in later in the day. If Rei hadn't found him on her balcony, if she hadn't seen him run up a wall to sneak into his own apartment, she wouldn't believe it either.
Innocent as Sébastien might have been, Rei liked him better awake. She liked the passion hidden under the casual, cavalier attitude. She liked that he seemed unbroken by the pressure Rei cracked under. And if not unbroken by life, at least he had recovered from it. It swelled the bravery in her chest, this human proof that it was possible to hit rock bottom, start from scratch and rise again.
Before she could succumb to the urge to slip back into his arms, Rei padded quietly into the kitchen, brewing a pot of coffee in the coffee maker to keep her hands busy until Diego's door creaked open.
He stepped out of his room in sweats, peering curiously out of the hall at her. Perhaps it was too early to remember that he didn't trust her, like the only thing that really mattered at that moment was that Rei was making coffee and all other misgivings could be temporarily forgiven.
"How do you like your eggs?" Rei asked.
"Would've thought you had people to do that for you," Diego replied wryly, but his jabs weren't quite as antagonistic as they could be.
"They don't let me bring my people on archaeological digs. Budgets and whatnot. Had to learn fast," Rei replied.
Diego almost smiled. He could be won over yet. "Over easy."
He disappeared into the bathroom and Rei fried eggs and bacon while the shower ran.
Sébastien still didn't rise, even when Diego, shower-damp, slid onto the stool across from Rei.
"Over easy," she said, presenting him a plate, "do you take anything in your coffee?"
If he planned to withhold his approval, Diego ought to know that Rei had held out much longer and tried much harder to win her parents' affection. She could stand a few suspicious glances. If he wanted to remain intimidating, he would have to try much harder to mask his surprise at her hospitality—in his suite.
"Black, thanks," he answered and Rei obliged with a cup.
She added a little sugar into her own, though her mind was already whirring too fast to be considered groggy. It was easy to forget the plan was to leave Temperance. When she'd been a little girl in England, it was so commonplace to take spontaneous trips out of the country. It wasn't even that she was rich, it was just so easy to decide on a whim to go shopping in Paris over a holiday weekend, or ski in Switzerland another. Alright, wealth might have had something to do with it.
A flight from Temperance wouldn't be the quick jaunt Rei grew up used to.
"Baz, if you don't get up now, I'm eating all the bacon," Diego said, a throw-away threat over his shoulder at Sébastien still half-entrapped in the sheets.
"You wouldn't dare."
"What're you going to do? Fight me?" Diego said, shooting a conspiratorial glance Rei's way.
Sébastien threw off the sheets and blankets, sitting up as starkly as his hair was. "You know I'm faster."
The threat was an idle one as Sébastien fumbled around for the shirt he'd tossed aside early in the night. Rei pursed her lips, catching his brown eyes once and being rewarded with a boy-next-door smile. If Rei had ever tried to remember what her coming-to-America fantasy looked like, he would've fit so smoothly into it, the kind of guy Rei had imagined telling her bubbly blonde roommate all about.
It was much better this way. Rei's misconceptions revolved around football and she hadn't dared raise her expectations to anyone smarter than she was. Plus, she would've granted her All-American fantasy man a name that wouldn't have rolled off her tongue the same way.
Riley, maybe. Or Adam.
"So, how do I help you?" Diego asked as Sébastien took the seat next to him.
"You don't. I don't need you dragged into my downward spiral," Sébastien said, only to immediately receive the kind of look that communicated exactly how much that was not happening.
"Well, an anonymous tip to the police might be nice," Rei offered, "after Sébastien is far away from Cheng's house, of course."
The faster the better. Cheng needed to know his tactics would not last the test of time. His luck had run out. How well would Sundial do once it came out that its CEO stooped to thievery? Let him attempt to manage damage control on that scandal.
"I'll leave you my camera to hold onto. I don't know if the footage is any good for identification, but at the very least, it has Cheng meeting Rei's alleged hostage taker," Sébastien said.
"Oh, whoever shall save me," Rei added dryly.
Diego nodded, drawing his fork back and forth through the egg yolk on his plate.
Reality was sinking back in through the kitchen. Rei picked at a strip of bacon. Her stomach turned over and over, just the idea of eating unsettling her. Her own plans were not as inherently risky. Rei knew exactly what the consequences of her plans would be and that was enough to make her heart palpitate.
What if she was not ready? What is she thought she was, only to do something she couldn't take back?
Sébastien left his seat to find the camera, rifling through a mass of black clothing. "Only one glove..." he muttered, mostly to himself before producing the tiny camera.
"You can manage with one because you're going to quit after this, right?" Diego said. Never had a threat sounded so heartfelt. Sébastien shrank at it, aware that it wasn't a true scolding. He placed the camera on the island.
"You really don't have to do anything, D," he said, "I already kind of made you adopt a cat."
Rei's heart swelled. She reminded herself over and over that she had convinced him to leave everything and he was not succumbing to the same inner turmoil she was. A cell phone vibration interrupted the inner turmoil for just a second.
It wasn't Rei's. She hadn't turned on her phone since leaving the fundraiser party. Instead, Sébastien took out his phone, his face twisting as he read the screen.
"It's Gwen," he said.
Rei stiffened. Gwen was a piece on the board she had forgotten, at least in terms of the wrench Gwen could throw into things. Rei had certainly not forgotten that Gwen took it upon herself to find Sébastien like a bloodhound. It was like Gwen knew Rei's taste in men better than Rei did herself. Even after all the years they'd known each other, part friend part rival, Gwen still had a talent for getting under Rei's skin.
It was ridiculous to think so. In all likelihood, Gwen just spotted Sébastien a mile away, the person who was just a little off beat at the fundraiser.
"Well, what does she want?" Rei asked, biting back her feelings, "when did you speak to her last?"
"I left her at the hospital," Sébastien said, a bit sheepishly, "the day after I was at her house. She just wants to talk."
Rei bristled. Just talk. She never wanted just to talk. When Gwen was in town, asking after brunches with Rei, she never just wanted to catch up, even when their conversations seemed innocent. Gwen always wanted to be on top of gossip. She was excellent at catching the nuances in conversation, reading between the lines of the things Rei didn't say. The fights with her family, her love life. Gwen was so good at picking out Rei's hesitations and her lies.
"Maybe she knows something," Rei said, aware of the irony in her hypocrisy, "it'll look stranger if you don't talk to her."
Sébastien nodded without looking up from the screen. He tapped out a reply. A briefest flit of doubt crossed Rei's mind. Maybe Sébastien would remember that Gwen was as beautiful as they came. It didn't matter that even Gwen was convinced of being Sébastien's second choice.
Even at her most confident, Rei was still the girl who had grown up next to Gwen Ferrero. That had an effect.
Rei's certainty wavered a moment.
"She wants to meet at the breakfast diner by the hospital," Sébastien said.
"Maybe you can make it into another pap photo," Diego said. At least Rei wasn't the only target for the quick jabs.
"Go. Tell her you haven't figured out anything new," Rei faltered, "ask her—"
The words wouldn't come out, but Sébastien nodded solemnly without Rei having to find them. She needed to know, even if she knew that she had already effectively said goodbye to Angelo.
"I've got a few errands to run," Rei announced, plastering on a forced smile, "I'll see you at the museum later. Call me if you need to." She didn't look forward to the 500 notifications she'd receive after a week leaving it powered down. Alas, it had to be done for the sake of communication.
Rei gathered herself. If she stopped moving, she would lose her nerve. She risked breaking.
"Rei."
She closed the door behind her before her name could become a sentence, hiding her face before it could give her away.
But Sébastien followed her out. Rei turned as the door swung shut a second time, giving Sébastien plenty of time to reach out for her arm.
"Last night..."
The flicker of doubt came back and Rei's knee-jerk reaction was to pull out of his grasp and sprint away. Instead she froze in place, fearful of an apology she didn't want to receive.
Sébastien leaned in, finding her lips before she could find words. Not a mistake. That's what last night was. She kissed him back, standing on her toes until she had to breathe.
"Be careful, okay?" Rei whispered.
"I always try," he said.
***
It took very little persuasion for Rei to arrange a short notice meeting with her financial advisor. All she needed to do was remind him how much money he was dealing with.
She settled across from Miles Weiler, smoothing a blouse slightly wrinkled from being unceremoniously stuffed into her suitcase. At least Rei had the presence of mind to change into something more authoritative than yesterday's clothes.
Weiler steepled his fingers across the table, shooting side glances toward the door as if someone might come through at any moment. It made Rei nervous, too, as if she wasn't already. What better time to make brash financial decisions than when her advisor likely believed she had been kidnapped?
"Ms. Collingwood..."
She nodded idly at her name. "I have a very simple request, Miles. I just want to sell everything I have in Sundial Security."
Weiler blinked at her and Rei squared her shoulders as if that alone would somehow sell the position that she was entirely serious and of sound mind.
"Everything?" he asked, the incredulity everything Rei expected. "You realize..."
Yes, she realized the end of a sentence he couldn't even finish. Yes, she was well aware of what she was doing and while she kept the Collingwood pokerface, her heart hammered. Yes, she would do it.
"Everything. If you can't do it..." Rei asked. Another proud Collingwood trick, passed on from her father. Fluster people into giving you what you want. Imply that if they cannot, they are incompetent. The sick sensation of resorting to it settled on top of the already nauseating cocktail of being very aware of her actions and going about them anyway.
"It's just that," Weiler fought for his words, considering them carefully, "that is well over 20 million dollars worth. May I suggest you consider leaving some invested and cashing out a smaller percentage?"
What ran through his mind? Already, a ransom had been made and claimed. Next, her captors intended to extort her into handing over millions more? Rei didn't blame Weiler for regarding her cautiously. She expected that most people in her position did not suddenly ask to essentially withdraw their fortune out of a glorified investment account.
"All of it," Rei insisted.
Weiler paused again. "Rei... if you are being forced to do this, we can call security. We can help you..." he whispered.
Rei wondered vaguely if that happened enough that the institution had a protocol in place.
"I promise I'm here of my own willing accord. I've just been taking a small vacation. No kidnappers making demands." She flashed him what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "I promise you, even I don't believe I'm worth 20 million dollars."
Genetics couldn't make her the money savvy woman her family wanted her to be. No amount of grooming had prepared her to sit in Weiler's office and discuss her own money like she had a proper claim on it. It felt like something she was just borrowing for the time being.
Her father treated passing on Sundial like a gift, but it was a responsibility. They were granted shares, but they were not intended to be sold like Rei was doing. The expectation was that Sundial would thrive under Cheng and Rei. Her ownership in the business was meant to stir her interest.
Well, the smartest thing Rei could do with her money was to separate it from a business that would certainly collapse. Wouldn't her father be proud of that?
"Forgive me for being cautious," Weiler nodded, but with the uncertainty of a man who had been handed too much money and didn't know what to do with the responsibility of it, "these are very peculiar circumstances."
"Well... what I would like is to set up two scholarship funds with Faraday University, one for the archaeology department and one for art history. Let's say we build both to be 2.5 million each. I would like to donate, let's say, 10 million to the Temperance Museum of History. Now, either I'm being honest with you, or I'm the clutches of the most altruistic captors in the state." Rei tilted her head at the man who was still attempting to comprehend her request. "Do you have a charity of choice, Miles?"
"The Cancer Foundation?" he floundered.
"Excellent," Rei said, "we'll put down 3 million for them, in your name. If it makes you more comfortable, we can put the remaining balance in an inaccessible account until this kidnapping conspiracy is resolved."
Why had she never done this before? Trading away Sundial, the thing she hated, the symbol of the family she didn't fit into in order to become this philanthropist she felt in her soul. Why had she spent so much energy trying to put up the appearance that she could belong to the Collingwood legacy if she wanted to? Why had so much commitment gone into trying to make her parents proud, trying to create a version of her own dreams that they might accept?
She spent so much of herself to please people she didn't even like and then had so little left for people like Angelo and Sébastien.
"Rei, you understand that much of your wealth is invested into this company?" Weiler asked tentatively.
Her heart beat so wildly in her chest. Where was the limit? Where did she stop? She had a stable job, but a museum paycheck would not sustain her current lifestyle.
"I think I might sell my penthouse," Rei said, swallowing hard, "there's plenty invested in that."
Yes, she abandoned it to curl into the studio apartment with the view of the university, but that had always been somewhere to hide. For all Rei's bravado, it struck her hard and fast that it was her privilege to go back and forth.
What did she value? What was more important to her than anything?
Rei took a deep breath, searching for her resolve.
She loved her work more than she loved her wealth. Cheng wouldn't get to pull her by those strings anymore.
Now that she'd made an appearance, the timer was set. If Weiler didn't contact the police himself, they'd eventually track her by her cell phone, her credit card, her passport. There wasn't room for mistakes when she had to leave the country before someone stopped her.
________
A/N: What do you think of Rei's move here?