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When Jada had gotten the phone call, she'd stared at her caller ID like it had sprouted another head. He never called her. What was going on? She scowled down at it, debating. Marlo Xanis was a conundrum, but if he was calling her, something had to have either exploded or someone had to have died. He never made first contact. Sometimes not even second contact either, meaning there were a lot of open-ended text messages out there. Still, he had been there when she needed him, giving her a place to stay after her parents had withdrawn their financial support, and that was why she had answered.

The bus pulled to a stop and she got off, glancing along the familiar street. She'd just gotten home from work when he'd called. She hadn't bothered to change- she looked fine. Her kitty hadn't been happy to see Mommy leaving so soon, but she had explained to the Toyger that 'Mr. Xanis means free food for Mommy' and the cat had gone back to sunning himself, sulking.

As she entered the hotel, she was pleased to see some familiar faces and swung by the desk to say some hellos. Beatrice said her son had gotten all of his wisdom teeth taken out and now he had dry socket and was generally miserable. Victoria was pregnant again, and her husband was delighted. George's granddaughter was turning 18 in a few weeks. (He was only 54. It was making him crotchety.) And Brandon was still asking for a date. She spent a few minutes down there with them all (assuring the handsome desk clerk she was still thinking about that date). "Marlo in his office?" she asked, and got the negatory. A surprise. Marlo loved his office.

What on earth could he want to talk to her about? She reached into her purse as the elevator started up, pulling out her compact and checking her makeup. The bruise was well-hidden, the cut in her lip from where Ares had kicked her in the face almost healed. She didn't expect Marlo would ask, but she didn't have a well-thought-out answer that would explain why she hadn't filed a police report. Again.

Ding!

She closed her compact, stepping out of the elevator and going to the only door on the 30th floor. Here went absolutely nothing. What did he want, anyway? Not that she would turn down free food and the chance to see an old friend, but she really didn't have anything to offer. Landing her hand, she knocked politely.

After Jada knocked on the door she had time to take one deep breath, one last desperate attempt at finding the Zen state that Marlo's presence had almost always denied her. Breathe in and breathe out. Strangely, when the door opened? Instead of the complete loss of composure that had once been trademark to seeing him, she felt... nothing. Well, not nothing nothing, she wasn't dead. But her cheeks didn't flare to life, her heart didn't start desperately racing, wanting to beat out of her chest. She felt blessedly- suspiciously- normal.

Well, until her name came out clipped, like he was angry at her for something, and her stomach knotted. He- wanted to talk? "Who are you, and what have you done with my Xanis?" she leaned up, her lips brushing lightly across his cheek in a practiced, familiar gesture. Habitual, instinctive. Marlo smelled strongly of mint, laced with the faintest whiff of cigarette smoke and the cologne that she had gotten him for his birthday. It was oddly appealing. "You know, if you keep smoking, Xanis, you're going to give your kids cancer before they are even a twinkle in your eye." She had personally always thought the habit was a little gross, but damned if she didn't still reminisce every time she got the faintest whiff of cigar when she stepped into her father's supposedly locked-off study in the old Montgomery home.

"It hasn't been too long." she corrected her friend, sprawling lazily across his couch and crossing her legs. Her legs, at the knees and not at her ankles- Szelem would be scandalized at her daughter doing something so "classless" in front of any male. On the plus side, Jada wasn't in a skirt, legs fully encased in her black slacks."But it's been long enough. I have something to show you." Reaching into her purse, she pulled out one of her 'comp cards' for him. "Here." Five of her best shots, her calling card for her modeling work. Maybe he had seen some of her recent ads? Then again, maybe he was a hermit and hadn't.

She just didn't know. There really was a lot she didn't know about a man who was one of her last remaining not-dead-or-corrupted friends.

What was there that Xanis wanted to clear up between them? "Look Xanis, if this is about the fact I still haven't paid anything back on my hotel stay, I am really sorry. I'm trying to keep a roof over my head- regardless of what my recent wardrobe enhancement may have said. These shoes were just calling my name. Look!" She extended her leg, waggling her foot. Or- s**t, what if he'd found out- "And it this is about the raid on the restaurant cheesecake the other night, blame-" No, blaming Brandon would be bad. He could get fired. Getting her potential boyfriend fired was a bad idea. "- okay, I am to fault for that one." What could she say? "A- so what exactly did you want to clear up?" Okay, now Marlo was making her palms sweaty.

There was no guilt there.

Really.

None.

"You'll be smoking until the end of days then." She could feel the smile spread across her face. Until his next line. She choked, covering her mouth, the flush heating her face. "Well, I am... happy you found them. I'm sure their loss was an awkward time for you." Silence. She glanced up at him through her lashes, a guilty sort of amusement on her face. Still, it passed quickly and she decided a much better course of action (compared to thinking about his...) would be to just pretend nothing had happened.

Nothing.

Jada watched as he lifted the comp card in one hand, eagerly anticipating his response. She'd absolutely agonized over which pictures to select, and was really hoping for a compliment, or something similar. 'Oh, nice picture, Jada.' Marlo would say. 'I really like the way this one brings out the color of your eyes.' But no- no, instead, he'd ask what might have been the most... male... question she'd ever gotten in regards to her card. "I... well, yes?" Was it a trick question? "I've been doing modeling for some of the local shops. Not all of my work is clothing, though- One of the artists I've was an amateur jewelry maker, and she thought my hands- well." She still found money for manicures. "But you don't exactly put pictures of your hands on something like this." Bathing suit pictures were much more effective. "A- Oh. I... we are supposed to put our sizes on them. In case the client has... umm.... specifics. Err, body shapes, or whatever." She had 37 hips, too. Though he might know that. If he had bothered to read past her breast size.

Oh Xanis. Women had breasts just out there like that because nature hated men. It was that simple.

"Work is work, and while I am still outliving my means, I am 'work'ing on it." She shrugged. "I'm getting by for now though. Castor is taking it hard though, without the maids to pamper him on their fifteens. I think he's lost a few pounds. And he might be allergic to the smell of poor in the carpet." It was getting progressively harder to remain casual with the kind things he was saying.

"It is very generous of you, Marlo." she said after a moment. "You are a very, very good friend." How had she gotten lucky enough- okay, so she'd kind of stuck to him like a pesty little parasite. But then they'd become friends. So she didn't particularly feel guilty for taking advantage of him. He'd just said, after all, that he was a willing participant.

As for- "You suspended him?" the heiress almost wailed it. Oh god. At least he was back now, but- "He didn't tell me he'd gotten suspended!" Then again, the last time she had seen him, aside from today, he'd been checking her tonsils. Not too much talking had been involved. Marlo sat down next to her and Jada shifted her weight, turning her body to face him as he cupped her chin in his hand. She leaned into it lightly, smiling wryly at him. "I know better too, Xanis." He might not mind if she asked, but she hadn't. "And what is my punishment to be for my part in your employees transgressions?"

He'd never told her no? Did she remember-

She pulled away from him, pushing to her feet. "So, I believe I was told that there would be food this evening." Avoidance 101. "I certainly remember that." Did she remember what he'd said to her that night? She remembered a lot of things about that night. Including how safe he'd made her feel.

She glanced over her shoulder as he asked for a copy of her portfolio, pleased by her friend's interest. "Of course you can have a copy!" she told him. "But Xanis, I don't need you to find my work for me. I can do some things on my own." she had to. "I know you want to help me, and I am... I simply can't thank you enough for everything you've done... but my modeling is something that I am doing for myself." She tried to peek into the kitchen area, to see if she could tell the dinner plans. Marlo never failed to make something enjoyable when he cooked for her. "You still haven't told me wha-"

He grabbed her arm and she jumped in surprise, blinking at the roughness of his hand against her skin. "I'm not running anywhere." Why was his voice suddenly so- She felt him wrap his arms around her, nose brushing her short curls, and suddenly her zen was gone as quickly as it had come. This wasn't fair. She had loved him, and just as she was making her escape from the feelings that had caused her nothing but confusion and pain, this blue-eyed rat b*****d was making her tremble. It wasn't fair! "Running would involve me leaving right now." It was tempting. She could just leave right now, and come back when he- when he hadn't been drinking. Or whatever had brought this on. She hadn't smelled any alcohol on him, but Maria was a professional lush- he might have picked up some tricks.

"Any relationship that I have with Brandon is between he and myself. H- How do you even know about that anyway?" Not that the desk clerk had been secretive about his affections, but he had hardly been screaming from the rooftops that he had been asking her out- and thus far being consistently denied a date. Making out with him wasn't really dating. More taking him out for a test drive. Anyway, did Xanis normally pay that much attention to his staff? Or did she just get lucky and choose the wrong guy to develop an interest in? "I think I know enough to decide if someone is good for me or is bad for me." Marlo wasn't one of those good things. He was like a poison, working his way through her slowly, making her head spin and heart flutter.

His lips brushed against her neck, and the heiress nearly jumped out her skin, spinning to stare at him. Her skin was tingling where his lips had stroked her flesh. "You- what?" What was he saying? What was he doing? What on EARTH was going through that pretty blonde head of his? "You can't just take back something like that, Xanis. It isn't that simple." It couldn't be. He'd hurt her.

Her expression was uncontrolled- confused, vulnerable. "Your timing really sucks... Marlo." She wasn't going to be his yo-yo.

"Marlo, no one thinks you're being made a fool of." Did they? "They know I'm your friend, they know- I told them about how you helped when... that man... they know how good of a friend you are to me. No one thinks-" she was trembling now, stammering. Did they? Was her flirting with Brandon making Marlo's staff think- No, everyone knew better. "They know you just think of me as a friend." Special lengths?

He was hurting her. Jada bit the inside of her lip as Marlo's fingers dug into her arm. She'd been hurt worse, and if he realized that he was hurting her, their friendship- their whatever- would regress to the stone age. No. This was the most honest he'd been with her since that night, the night of her debut, the night when everything had gone to s**t. "Just saying you want to take it back doesn't mean it works that way! You can't take back the way you made me feel, Marlo, or the way you hurt me!" She was pulled to him, and she closed her eyes, breathing him in.

She could just bite him. That would be intensely satisfying, if horribly ineffective.

"Why can't you care? What's so terrible about falling in love, that you talk like it is something forbidden?" Yeah, it hurt, but only when the person you loved blew hot and cold, drew you close and then emotionally defenestrated you. (Xanis was a pro at that.)

Marlo cupped Jada's chin and she tilted her head into his palm, trusting. Was it- No. There it was, that oh-so-familiar glazing, blankness. The mask she was coming to hate.

And god, she was done with it. Right now.

She smacked his arm, putting her full strength into it. "You made a mistake. Yeah. You keep doing that, and I am the one you keep hurting with it. You called me over here to talk, and I'm not going to let you do this... this mistake... to me again. I'm not a Yo-Yo, I am a woman. I can't- You can't- Oh, god." Her fingers closed around his arm, fierce and unyielding, and she closed her eyes, letting her head fall against his wall with a painful thud. "How I would love to let you feel just a piece of how much you hurt me." She didn't open her eyes to look at him. "I'd been... so close..." So close to...

Everyone I ever loved abandoned me! Marlo jerked his arm away from her, forcibly, and she felt her hand fall numbly to her side, staring at him. She let him walk away, retreat to the door as if he was going to bolt, leaning against the wall. He sounded so vulnerable when he spoke to her, and she found herself creeping towards him, until she was close by his side.

Until her hand was on his sleeve, sliding down to caress his palm with two fingers, middle and pointer. "Your parents never meant anything to me. My mother is the greedy one. All I ever wanted was you. Why do you think I tried so hard to stay your friend? Even if you can't... even if there can't be love between us, and- I'm not saying there can't, I'm just... so confused- No matter what happens, you're someone I value. Not just for your bank account and your fabulous yet suspicious taste in women's shoes, either." She breathed out, stroking the fingers of her free hand over his lips, down his chin, up to cup his cheek. "Xanis, Giovanni is a total a*****e, and I can't even begin to explain why-" Why she hated him. What had happened that day, when the ******** had wanted to- "But you're nothing like him. Not to me. You're a beautiful soul," (Here she could hear Daphne disagreeing,) "Even if you can be a bit of a turkey-lip."

She licked her lips, staring at his tie. "My mother's a bit of a whore herself." she pulled on his arm, trying to encourage him to walk with her. Away from the door. Back to the couch. "My mother says she doesn't know for sure who Giulia and Aidan's father is, though a few of her lovers have demanded paternity tests." She squeezed his hand. "Come talk to me," her eyes flickered up to his, guilty, and she knew- and he knew- that she was manipulating him the only way she knew how, when she breathed out his name, "Marlo." His words, his pain, twisted her insides, and she wanted to make it go away. She hated seeing her friends hurt- she hated every bruise, and scratch, and those pains in their eyes that she couldn't brush away. All the money she'd had had been useless, just like her. They all suffered, and she couldn't do anything. But she had loved Marlo. He'd brought back the bitter sweetness of her love for Geoffrey. When his fa- no. When Giovanni had wanted... she'd felt the same impotent fury as when Geoffrey had died. But she hadn't been impotent, and she hadn't been alone.

"Tell me about your dreams. I- Inquiring minds, that is- want to know."

They sat down on the couch, and she breathed out, relieved. Okay. This was good. She let herself take a breath, relaxing, waiting for him to speak, staring down at his white carpet, taking note of a small spot his maids had missed. What should she say? How should she guide this conversation, make it something good for the both of them? She didn't want to lose him. Marlo was a good friend, a valued friend, and he was warm, and... And then she was falling backwards, her back pressed to the leather of his couch, his body over hers. He smelled so effing good. So close, and warm, and safe. He really dreamed of her?

His lips on her throat made Jada completely forget what they'd been talking about, her pulse rising, heart about to burst its way out of her chest. She shifted, staring up at him, not sure of just what she had gotten herself into. Out of her depth. As always. "What do you think we could have had by now, if things had gone differently that night?" If she'd been allowed to tell him what she'd wanted to. If he hadn't- well, if he hadn't been a coward. Such an uncharitable thought, by a woman who had been refused.

Oh god. He was kissing her. Marlo tasted differently than she remembered. He'd started smoking since they'd last kissed, and there was mint, and coffee, and his lips were still so nice. He was still so warm, and so firm, and he made her feel safe and so very unsafe. How could she feel safe, and unsafe, and confused? How could she want, and not want, and-

Kissing was nice. Her hormones said it clearly, doing a little dance that was guiding her every breath. The heiress reached up, wrapping her arms around his neck and shifting under him to be a little more comfortable. It was different, kissing Marlo. Mostly because when she'd been kissing Brandon, she'd been fighting his hands off, and he'd been panting like a dog. Mostly, because-

She was thinking too much. Because this entire thing, this kissing Marlo thing, was a wonderfully terrible idea. She needed to make a Pro|Con chart, didn't she? Before this went any further, and she-

His hair was soft, and her fingers were tangled in it.

Oh god. Oh, god.

She pushed at his shoulders. Kissing was bad. So goodly badly good. So... not what she had in mind.