The Blood Diamond

[borgiafatale]

The man that had asked Cesare to be introduced to Lucrezia was named Tom, and he was old and not terribly attractive and rather boring. But he also was not dangerous in the least. He had the air of submission on him, and Lucrezia was amused that Cesare may not have picked up on this. And though he spent his fair share of time they were having a drink to openly ogle Lucrezia, he was also checking his phone constantly for texts, and disappearing to take calls. It was not for work. In fact, it highly amused Lucrezia to think that a dominatrix had this man wrapped around her finger.

After one of the phone calls he returned to Lucrezia and asked if she had any interest in another quick stop before he returned her home. He had a friend who was a fan of her work and would like to meet her. She was at a club only a couple of blocks away. It was one of his favorite places, he told her; he thought she'd like it.

Obviously, she should say no. Cesare would have told her to say no. But now that she had her suspicions about the man, the promise of blackmail material was so close to her grasp. She imagined going back to Cesare with this, imagined how surprised and impressed he would be. She could help the family, too. Even without instruction.

Once they arrived at a place called the Blood Diamond, she wondered if he was really very stupid or just thought that she was. He brought her inside, and she realized that she was perhaps a bit underdressed. She had not wanted to seem the seductress that night so she had dressed in a manner that passed as rather innocent for her - a white dress, cinched at the top but flowing, almost sundress like thanks to an unseasonably warm night. Her hair was curled and left long. She also wore a rather large ruby at her throat, which would not have been her choice for a club such as this. And even in this environment, she carried herself like a princess - which perhaps was what was drawing the attention of those around her.

"I have to go find her," said Tom once he had settled her at the bar. "I will be back."

She nodded at him, and once he was gone, brought out his phone which she had taken out of his back pocket as he walked away. Jackpot. She idly scrolled through a series of photographs of the man tied and bound - not a pretty sight. In the occasional photograph there was blood on him as well, which wow. She sent copies to herself, idly sipping on a martini and ignoring those around her except for keeping her senses peeled for Tom's return. She assumed he would bring some beautiful woman with him, holding the end of his metaphorical leash. And she assumed as well that perhaps the woman was attempting to get him to convince her to join them - as if. But there were several cabs waiting outside, and it wasn't as if they could force her to leave with them in the middle of this crowded place.

And suddenly, there was a hand on her shoulder.

Lucrezia spun on her stool, instinctively grabbing the arm and twisting it. It belonged to a young man dressed in black leather and blinking at her in surprise. "Miranda and Tom sent me to - " he said, and she dropped his arm, standing now and on guard. Ah, so they'd sent someone else.

"Tell Tom thank you for the lovely evening but I'll be going now," she said, leaving Tom's phone there on the bar so that he could assume he'd simply forgotten it there.

"Miranda told me to fetch you," the man said, and his eyes looked slightly glazed, as if he were high. Or hyptonized.

"No thank you," she said, and turned to go.

He grabbed her wrist, hard enough to bruise this time, and she spun on him and kicked him in the groin. He doubled over but was not down long. "She told me - " he repeated, and this time grabbed her by her hair. When she yelped and tried to yank away from him he swung her in an attempt to bring her closer to him but their balance faltered and her jaw came into contact with the edge of the bar.

Despite the pain, she took the opportunity to reach for the compartment on the side of her purse, where she kept the knife that Michael had given her. She grabbed it, struck the man in the throat with her free hand, and when he released her, used a maneuver that Michael had taught her to come round back of him and put the knife to this throat.

This all happened so fast. Fast enough that she wasn't shocked that no one had yet come to her aid or indeed intervened at all. But once she had the man in her grasp, she saw that many of the people standing around them were staring with all kinds of expressions she didn't quite understand.

Her tongue darted out to taste the blood on her lip.

Comments

[thenorthman]

"Ms Borgia," came a voice behind her, coming closer, the sort of voice that didn't need to yell for its authority to be felt. "Few people can get away with pulling out silver in my club." An impossibly tall, impressively built blond man dressed in a black tank top and jeans stepped up beside her. "If you'd care to put your knife away now, you might yet be one of those lucky few."

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia looked up at the man who spoke (yes, up), her eyes widening very slightly. She was not a woman easily surprised or impressed, but...

The entire attack and her retribution had happened so quickly that it almost just now dawned on her that she had a knife to a man's throat. "He attacked me," she said, mustering up all the dignity she could. And why did it matter that the knife was silver? It was just like Cesare to tell Micheletto to get her something just as expensive as it was functional for no reason at all.

At the newcomer's expression however, she pulled away the knife and shoved the man away from her. He fell to his knees.

[thenorthman]

"Put it away," Eric very reasonably requested of her. His eyes were not leaving her, although he was aware of Serena's human getting to his feet in his peripheral vision.

[borgiafatale]

Somehow Lucrezia just knew that there was no way the man who had attacked her would dare do anything again, not with the blonde god there.

Without dropping her gaze, she bent and picked up her purse, and carefully slid the knife back into its compartment. But kept her hand just there on it.

[thenorthman]

"I'm to bring her to-" the guy in question started, stepping closer to her again.

Eric stepped between them before he could go any further, caught his eye, and told him, "Go to your mistress. Now."

The human turned heel and fled, and he turned back to Lucrezia Borgia.

"Will you join me for a quiet drink, Ms Borgia?"

He fucking hated politics.

[borgiafatale]

She should have said no, of course. Should have taken her things and gotten into one of the cabs outside. But there was no way that her curiosity would let this die here.

"All right," she said. "Mr...?"

[thenorthman]

"Northman," he answered, "but please. Call me Eric. Give me just a second."

He turned to one of his staff and stepped up to her, telling her in so low a whisper that no one else would hear, "Make sure Serena gets the fuck out of here before I lay eyes on her. Tell her to be here tomorrow, first thing after dusk." The vampire nodded and was off to do just that.

Eric turned back to Lucrezia and offered her his arm, meaning to take her upstairs. "We'll be more comfortable in the VIP section."

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia watched him carefully, catching as much of the conversation as she could, and then nodded. She followed after him, keeping her purse close.

[thenorthman]

"Nothing's gonna happen to you now," Eric told her as they climbed the stairs.

[borgiafatale]

"Because I am now with my gallant protector?" Lucrezia said with a little smile on her lips.

Though truth be told she was exceedingly proud of how well she'd managed to protect herself under the circumstances.

[thenorthman]

"You didn't seem to require much protection," Eric pointed out. Against humans, anyway. Even with her silver, against vampires would have been something else.

[borgiafatale]

"Those self defense classes must be paying off," Lucrezia said, always wary of tipping her hand too far with respect to her capabilities.

She tasted copper again, and brought a finger to her lip. "But perhaps not entirely unscathed."

As she sucked the bit of blood off her finger, a man passing by them gave her a very strange look indeed.

[thenorthman]

The vampire in question glanced at Eric, and then hurried down the steps. Eric led her past some alcoves to the VIP area, only guarded by a couple of vampires who looked like nothing so much as two clubbers having a chat in the doorway. It wasn't the sort of VIP area he liked to advertise.

He stopped by a hostess and picked a napkin off her tray, offering it to Lucrezia. "For your lip. Would you like some ice?"

[borgiafatale]

"Yes, thank you," Lucrezia said. At least it did not hurt much, or not enough pain that it bothered her. Cesare would have a fit if he saw it. Though from her first marriage she had practice making excuses for injuries.

"I take it you are in charge here," she said, looking Eric straight on as she took the napkin and dabbed her lip. "Very much in charge."

[thenorthman]

The addendum made Eric's lips tick into a brief hint of a smile, and he echoed her, "Very much," as the hostess went off to get her some ice. "How much has Cesare told you?" he asked, gesturing for Lucrezia to walk with him to one of the unoccupied couches.

[borgiafatale]

"You know Cesare," she said, not sure why she should be surprised. "I'm afraid I am here by chance, however. Or at least, not because of him."

She sat, and crossed her legs, milk white skin bare even though it was a bit cold outside.

"I have surmised," she finally said, "that this is some sort of BDSM club."

[thenorthman]

Well, bringing her up here had been a bit of a hasty move, Eric realized with her words. He carefully did not react to her words, and only said, non-committally, "It's my club."

Why would she have a silver knife if she did not know about them? And if she knew about vampires, even if Cesare hadn't told her about the Diamond, things would have been clear by now. He had glamoured a human in front of her, and on the next couch over, Mikhail was having his dinner.

So the only question was, what did he want to tell her? How could he use this to his advantage?

He fucking hated politics.

"But it's not strictly BDSM," he added, his mind made up. "Did your brother give you that knife?"

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia did not like feeling like she was in the dark. It was one of her least favorite feelings, in fact, that everyone around her knew something that she did not. It made her feel foolish. This was why she tried so very hard to find out everything she could.

She considered Eric Northman for a moment. On top of her uncertainty about the situation, he was immensely distracting. She wasn't sure she'd ever been face to face with a man quite so attractive, and she'd spent her fair share of time with male models. He was, in point of fact, precisely her type. No wonder Cesare had never mentioned him.

"His bodyguard did," she said, seeing no reason to lie. "And I would like to know why you reacted so strongly to it."

[thenorthman]

"We have a bit of an intolerance to silver," Eric stated, his gaze landing on a ring the girl wore pointedly. The hostess came back with an icepack slipped inside its sock, all ready for use, and held it out to Lucrezia with a smile.

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia looked at him for a moment, and as she held the icepack delicately to her face, she splayed her fingers to look at the ring on her hand.

"... we who?"

[thenorthman]

"We vampires," Eric answered, very simply.

If she freaked out, he could always glamour her. There wasn't a hint of Fae blood in her, that he could smell.

[borgiafatale]

"Vampires," Lucrezia repeated.

This, of course, was completely mad. She actually glanced around, wondering if it were some sort of prank being played on her. She had known there must be something to explain all the strange things that didn't make sense here. But this? Could anyone possibly thin her so gullible?

Still, laughing in his face or flouncing away in outrage were not the appropriate reactions. And still her curiosity ate at her. What was going on here?

So she took the silver ring off of her finger, and held it out in her palm. "Show me," she said simply. Fully expecting nothing to happen, of course, but then at least he would have to come up with some explanation.

[thenorthman]

"Put that away," Eric told her, very evenly. A little too evenly. "And I'll prove it."

But not with silver. Fuck silver.

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia knew that this was ridiculous, but she simply had to know what he was going to do.

She carefully dropped the ring into her purse. And then, as a sign of good will, she pushed her hair back and took off the silver hoop earrings she was wearing and dropped them in too.

[thenorthman]

"Thank you," Eric told her with a small smile, deeply appreciative that she had done more than he had asked for. Then he clicked his fangs out, and nodded his head in the direction of the next couch over, without looking away from Lucrezia. "He's feeding on her, not necking."