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]

"I'm not at all happy with Serena," Eric replied, watching her throat for a moment before looking up at her, his expression impassive.

[borgiafatale]

"I took Tom's phone," she said. "I have copies of his photographs, as well as his texts with her."

[thenorthman]

"Those will be more useful to you than me," Eric stated. He doubted that reading the texts would yield much of interest, but there was always the possibility. He tilted his head slightly, then asked, "What do you want to know, for a look at that phone?" He didn't need, or want, to make copies.

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia really wanted to know everything, but she thought about what was the most important.

"I want to know about the power you wield," she said. "Both physically, and politically."

She was a Borgia, after all.

[thenorthman]

Eric actually chuckled at that. "That is a very big ask, for such a small favor."

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia did not think that an unfair appraisal. Particularly since she was fairly certain there was not much that would interest Eric in those texts.

So she considered this for a moment and decided, "And you can bite me. If you like."

[thenorthman]

Eric smiled again, and shook his head. "Still too big an ask."

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia sighed, impatient. "I grow weary of this guessing game. Shall I make my ask smaller? Will you tell me how vampires fit into the world and how they shape it?"

Of the two, she thought that she could find out about their physical abilities from Cesare or Michael, after all.

[thenorthman]

Eric watched her flatly for a second; if she read that as disapproval at her obvious impatience, she might yet be as smart as he had originally thought her. But this spoiled child routine was not to his taste. Was she truly so used to people falling all over themselves to please her?

It gave him urges he should really not give into, not if he wanted to keep a working relationship with her brother.

So, after a beat, he only shifted, leaning his forearms on his thighs and turning his head to face her, and answered her latest question. "We don't. Fit into the world. We live on its edges. But we do have business arrangements with people in the right places, so we can secure our own continued existence without human interference."

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia did indeed read his reaction as disapproval. It was enough to make her eyes flick away briefly, and she recalculated her strategy by a bit.

"Arrangements with people like my brother," she said. "What is your... business relationship, with him?"

[thenorthman]

"Ask him," Eric told her without missing a beat. "I'm not jeopardizing my relationship with him."

[borgiafatale]

That answer did not come as a surprise, and Lucrezia's lips quirked in approval.

"Will you tell me something he doesn't know?" she asked.

[thenorthman]

There were many things Cesare Borgia did not know, but Eric assumed that she meant something that she could use. Again, he was not going to jeopardize his relationship with Borgia. So he simply told her, "He doesn't know about Serena and Tom."

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia chuckled. "A good answer, because that I already know. He never would have asked me to meet with Tom if he knew that he was mixed up with this." She smiled at him. He was smart. "I know you do not want to jeopardize your relationship with my brother. I think that is wise. Though you should also know that there is no one who has more control over Cesare than I do. And I say that with all the affection that I have for him. It is simply a truth."

[thenorthman]

"Why are you telling me this, Ms. Borgia?" Eric asked her. If she was making him another sort of offer, she would have to voice it plainly.

[borgiafatale]

"Lucrezia, please," she said.

She considered him for a moment and then said, "I only mean to say that I am not a bad person to have on your side as well. I do not like being though of merely as my brother's sister."

[thenorthman]

And so her value would lie in her influence over him. Eric was not certain that she was making the point she thought that she was. But for now, he held out his hand. "Show me the texts."

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia had thought of that as well, but she was always wary of tipping her hand too much.

She pulled out her phone, and opened up a file of photos and screenshots of texts, and handed it to him. She hadn't even read them all, but she honestly didn't care if whatever was one them damned the vampire or Tom or not.

[thenorthman]

Eric read the texts quickly, once; vampire memory meant that he would remember them in perfect detail. Then he handed her the phone back. "Thank you. Lucrezia."

[borgiafatale]

Lucrezia had been watching him, how fast his eyes moved for one.

"Did you memorize them?" she asked.

[thenorthman]

"There's not much worth memorizing," he answered, and stretched his arm along the back of the couch, so his fingers could play with a strand of her hair.

[borgiafatale]

She would not shiver just because he touched her hair. She would not - damnit.

She cleared her throat and said, "Pity. Though it will be very helpful for us. There's nothing about vampires in those photos - just a man who enjoys being tied up by a woman who's not his wife."

[thenorthman]

"Tied up and bled," Eric remarked, with a small smile, still playing with her hair. "But there's no proof of our existence in those photographs, no. Do what you want with them."

[borgiafatale]

"I will," said Lucrezia, and slipped the phone back into her purse.

"Are there any vampires in positions in the British government?" she asked him.

[thenorthman]

Eric smiled at the thought, then shook his head. "No."

Honestly, they didn't need to be in positions of power in the human world. They only needed to know people who were.