Big Business

"Creativity comes from trust. Trust your instincts. And never hope more than you work." - Rita Mae Brown

It was impressive, and even Kate could see that was an understatement.
In her sixteen years working in this business, she had never once thought that her dream of having her own corner office, her own team, would ever be achievable. She certainly knew it was possible, but was unsure if she had the stamina and credibility to get there. She had made it to the fifth floor, an office directly next to Jethro Gibbs and she could only assume it was the friends in high places she'd gained over the years, one in particular, who had pushed her up the scale; they obviously knew she was more than capable of co-directing. To think that this had started out as a two year internship as a design assistant way back when.
The ceiling high windows in her office provided an amazing, albeit distracting, view of the city she now called home; at this time of evening it was even more spectacular than during the day. The walls were painted, at her choosing, a lush apple red, with built in shelves for her books and portfolios. Stacked against the far wall, awaiting perfect placement, were framed panorama images of New York, Paris and London; three of the major cities she'd lived and studied in. There were boxes to be unpacked, stacks of books to be shelved and office equipment to be set up. The latest she could begin organising her space was Sunday, if she wanted to get stuck into work straight away on Monday.
In the centre of the room, facing away from the windows, was a black ash desk still carefully wrapped. She could see herself sitting there in a few days, signing off on projects and evaluating expense reports; talking to clients; sharing a late meal with Jethro as they went over portfolios and threw ideas back and forth. If one thing Caitlin Margaret Todd knew, it was that she'd finally made it.
She'd lost track of how long she'd been standing at the windows, but suddenly noticed it was getting progressively darker than when she'd first looked out over her new kingdom. She caught sight of her reflection and began to wonder if she'd changed at all since arriving; if having this new power would make her stronger than she was now, or if it would weaken her. However much she changed, she certainly appreciated the image she represented.
A sharp white shirt with almost invisible embroidery sewn down the front; black pencil skirt which stopped a few inches above her knees, and a matching blazer which had been discarded earlier in the evening once she started organizing her office. She'd let her hair grow out over the past few months and it now sat across her shoulders and then some; the curls, which had been fuller earlier in the day, were now beginning to drop and were in serious need of a touch up with the curling irons. The four inch black heels and black framed reading glasses atop her head were the real killer. It was provocative and work ready, and she loved it.
Growing up in New York had taught her everything she needed to know about looks, and how to work them right. She knew she could stand in a crowded room right now and gain the attention of everyone in an instant without having to do a thing; it was this knowledge that fuelled her need for power.
While on the outside she knew she looked like a business minded sex goddess, on the inside she was ready to call it a night, go home and throw on an old football jersey she'd never returned to an ex-boyfriend. And she was never more ready when she suddenly realised how much closer to home she was living now, than she had done in the twenty years since leaving. Her excitement waned suddenly, leaving her over exhausted and definitely more than ready to go home; especially when she calculated the driving distance between where she was and where she came from.
In retrospect it shouldn't bother her, that her family home was a little more than a five hour drive away, but it did. She swore the day she left she'd never step foot back there, and she'd kept to it for the most part, only having returned twice for very short periods of time. The second and last time she'd gone home, it had been for a week and it was one of the most draining experiences of her life. Even growing up, splitting her time between school, work and taking care of four kids under the age of ten had never been more exhausting than that one week.
She'd been grateful to Jethro at that time; he'd checked on her apartment despite not being needed to and he'd been there when she'd finally arrived home late at night, with dinner on the table for her. He admitted later that night as they were clearing up, that he'd been worrying about her, and her lack of contact with him. He ended up spending a few nights with her, just to make sure she was as okay as she said she was; she suspected this was payback for the months she'd spent with him a few years previous in ninety-one, seeing him through his nightmares and dark days after the deaths of his wife and daughter.
That had been the hardest point of their relationship. At that moment in time she'd known Jethro Gibbs for a little under two years, and had just recently been taken onboard as her internship had ended. She'd become good friends with him in that short period of time, and it had been at Jethro's request that Kate be taken out of the design studio in the basement, and work directly with him as his assistant; she still hadn't found the words to thank him for that.
When news of the crash got to her on Saturday morning, she was dumbfounded. He came to the office on Monday, and she told him he didn't have to be there; since it was in Jethro Gibbs' nature, he didn't listen to reason, and pushed ahead with his day. He was still there until almost midnight, until Kate took him home; she didn't leave him for almost a week, and spent most of her time on his couch with him wrapped around her. At twenty-two years old, that was the first time she'd seen a grown man cry, and it was something she didn't want to see, especially from this man, ever again.
Her choices of whether to think of home and reminisce or not were taken from her, when a pair of strong arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her back to lean against the owner's chest. It seemed after all this time, Kate and Jethro had developed mind reading and sensed when the other was thinking about them. She liked it.
"You thinking about me again, Katie?"
"About how much work I'll not get done with this view distracting me."
Jethro pulled her back with him until he was leaning against her desk, with Kate situated between his knees. From where they were now, they could barely see past their own reflections to the city, but Kate found it didn't bother her. Ever since they began spending more time together outside the office, rumors had been circulating about their almost likely involvement with each other since they acted more like a couple than colleagues. There'd been a time where she considered it, but she valued Jethro too much to see his heart be broken again should it not work out between them.
He moved them again so his chin was on her shoulder, and Kate leaned more comfortably into him, her hands curling round his forearms; he was the only man who could make her feel safe, now that the superhero complex had worn off on her father.
"We made it, Jethro. We own this place now."
"You excited?"
"Let's just say, I'm glad I know you. If it hadn't been for you, I'd still be stuck in that basement. But I am kinda nervous."
"Is that because you're the big, bad boss lady, or because you're closer to Jackson?"
When Kate pulled away, Jethro knew he'd been wrong to bring it up. Her childhood was a sore point and something they never discussed; just like he never discussed Shannon or Kelly. He sighed as she walked away and over to the stack of books in the corner, keeping her back to him, and pulled her glasses down to her eyes; he knew this signal well. The glasses going on meant end of discussion in Kate language, and when they came off she wanted to fight. He also knew when to push the issue with her, how far to take it, and right now he wouldn't stop until the black frames were off and she confronted her feelings for the subject.
"You wanna talk about it?"
"What's there to say? I left and now I'm a five hour drive away; I can deal with it."
There was a venom in her tone, which surprised both she and Jethro; she hadn't spoken like that since the argument with her parents, and she didn't like the fact she was using it on her closest friend. She replaced the book she'd lifted and stood up, smoothing out her skirt. She turned slowly to face Jethro, not knowing what she'd see on his face at the tone she'd used with him, but found nothing but understanding.
"Jethro, I'm sorry. I guess I'm just a little stressed; I don't mean to take it out on you."
"Hey, never apologize; it's a sign of weakness. And I can take anything you can throw at me, Katie."
Kate smiled a little, knowing exactly how much of her sass he could take, and moved her glasses back into her hair signalling a truce. She crossed the room and sat next to Jethro on her desk, leaning against him as she finally let the exhaustion show. He once again wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
"You settled into the grand suite yet?"
"Would you stop calling it that? It's not even that big."
"Kate, I've seen the blueprints; it's huge. You don't even have enough furniture for the first floor."
Kate pinched his side and he moved away slightly. Another topic Jethro had learned she didn't like discussing was money. Specifically, how she could afford a three level penthouse in north west Washington on her salary. It was information he could probably get from her if she were drunk, but he'd seen Kate intoxicated once before and it had some extreme after-effects; that had been the month she made him promise never to let her have more than one glass of wine. She'd stated her reason being that she became to truthful, but she eventually told him the truth and he'd readily agreed after telling her she'd never end up like that as long as he was around.
"To answer you're question, no I'm not. I still need to build the bed, unpack, go shopping...so much before Monday."
"Okay. We'll finish up here, find a decent takeout joint and then see if I can build a bed as easily as I can dismantle one."
"Sounds like a plan."

Identity

“The more anger towards the past you carry in your heart, the less capable you are of loving the future.” - Barbara De Angelis

Sunday morning came round all too quickly and Kate found the nerves of being company co-director were setting in fast. Thanks to Jethro, she didn’t need to spend frantic hours in the office, checking everything was organised and in it’s place since he’d dragged her there yesterday and put everything in working order. He felt it only fair since he failed to reconstruct her bed.
After they’d left the office on Friday, they’d found a not too shabby Spanish restaurant, Mezza Luna, just around the corner from Kate’s, which had surprisingly good wild mushroom ravioli on it’s menu. On their way back to Kate’s they’d picked up some coffee and iced tea and even some breakfast for the next morning, having known Jethro wouldn‘t be leaving that night. It seemed they lost their luck after that.
They ate quickly and headed up to the second level to start assembling the wooden bed frame Jethro had so graciously dismantled back in New York. The funniest thing she’d ever seen was Jethro Gibbs, crawling around her bedroom floor with a screwdriver between his teeth and determination in his eyes; for all his time spent building a boat, he was useless when it came to assembling household furniture. She couldn’t help thinking he was a typical man, ignoring the sheet of instructions, certain he knew exactly how to put the frame together. On Saturday morning, having had to spend the night with him, she learned that the man had the boat he’d been building in the basement of his brownstone in New York shipped down to DC; she spent a good three hours in his new basement sanding down ribs.
Those three hours gave her time for reflection, think about her past and about the words Jethro had said to her over dinner, “You can‘t let your past cloud your present.” She had agreed in a quiet voice, but even though he knew everything of her past he had no idea what it had been like to live it.
She grew up on a marine base in North Carolina, the eldest of five children. Her father was rarely home in her teen years, and her mother wasn’t exactly someone you turned to for advice. On the rare occasions her mother was sober, Kate could see the person her mother was, everything the drink masked, but those moments were few and far between.
Her brother Danny was born in seventy-six and that’s when Kate first took on the role of surrogate parent. His care had almost been forced on her at a mere seven years old, but she faced it with the same force which she faced everything. Jason and Sarah were born towards the end of the seventies and Kate found herself faced with the new challenge of being a surrogate mother to three. When the youngest, Owen, was born, Kate was already managing to split her time between school and childcare all the while maintaining a 4.0 GPA.
It wasn’t exactly the life she wanted for herself but she made the most of it; sticking in at school and doing extra credit assignments when she could; shutting herself off from her friends to look after her family; working at a local diner when she was able to.
Jethro had stumbled into the basement then, stalling her childhood memories for the time being and taking her up to the kitchen where he fed her before dragging her to the office. She hadn’t realised just how much she had come to depend on him, how much she loved him. It was hard not to love someone when you spent every waking hour of sixteen years with them, and they knew everything about you, right down to the intimate details.
Now she focused herself back on the present, and decided Jethro was absolutely right; she wasn’t going to let her past shape who she was anymore, she’d done that for long enough, determined not to make the same mistakes as her parents.
Kate had woken early that morning and set about getting her personal affairs in order, starting with finding a good doctors office. She’d loved her doctor, Collette Shepard, in New York and had even been in attendance at her daughter’s christening. Now she needed to find one here who she could a similar friendship with.
She’d been in DC for her third morning and already there was a pile of letters on her desk that needed her attention; Kate felt they could wait a few more hours, at least until she’d got herself into a routine. She changed into her running gear, grabbed her keys and driven up to Rock Creek Park, where she’d heard there was a good jogging route.
She took her time familiarizing herself with the route, keeping a leisurely pace. Running allowed her the chance to think, to work over her problems if she had any and come up with a suitable solution. She was surprised the park was as empty as it was for a Sunday morning, compared to Central Park which was constantly full of pedestrians and mounted police. Talk about a change in pace.
Coming to rest at a park bench, Kate checked her watch and realised she’d been running for almost two hours and it was just coming up for eight o’clock. She’d lost herself in the therapy running provided and already most of her morning was gone. Taking a seat, relieving the ache in her calves which came as a result of pushing herself too far after having not ran like this in a few weeks, and the result of wearing unforgiving three inch heels every day, Kate started to plan the rest of her day. Giving up half way through her plans and deciding to just be spontaneous, Kate trudged back to the top road to her car.
Driving through the still quiet streets of her new home allowed some more time for thinking and reminiscing. Thinking of her year long romance with seventeen year old Jack Thomas when she was fifteen. By that age she had the art of being a working single “mother” down; she could recite the number of times Sarah had been ill or the amount of fights Danny had got into at school. What she couldn’t do was work out how she found any time to spend with Jack that year.
Jack had offered her the freedom she hadn’t experienced in eight years, gave her the chance to be a teenager without the restraints of worrying for her family. With her father spending more time abroad than with them, her mother’s drinking increased as did her pill consumption. Danny and Jason were going through pre-teen angst, Sarah was wanting ballet lessons and the tutu that came with the dream and Owen couldn’t decide whether he wanted to spend all his time in Kate’s lap, too shy to go to day care, or if he wanted to be a fireman; time with Jack allowed her to live her life the way she never expected and she owed a lot to him. One night in particular came to mind.
Kate had finished her shift at the diner a little later than planned and arrived home to find her mother in a less than conscious state. It wasn’t unusual for her mother to be passed out in bed, not knowing where her children were. Kate often wondered if her mother appreciated all she done for them, all the things she gave up. It was more surprising that no one had ever called child services on them, what with the amount of time the neighbours had the kids after school. Luck always seemed to fall on their side in the form of Janis Price, who lived two doors down. Two nights a week, when Kate worked the late shift, Janis picked the kids up from school and kept them until Kate finished work and could take over; Janis was another person she owed a lot to.
In eighty-four, Jack was the one good thing in her life aside from her siblings and Kate fought hard to spend as much time with him as possible, usually meaning he arrived at the kitchen door on a thrice-nightly basis with the promise of a good time. On those nights they were usually enjoying what Kate knew were typical clichéd teen romance moments; in the darkened living room supposedly watching a movie or supposedly studying in her bedroom. Whatever their location on those nights, they always came to the point where they’d be crossing that line, and they both mutually agreed to stop at that point. It may have all be clichéd, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying it.
On the weekends they’d take the kids and go to the park or beach. On rainy weekends they’d hang out in the cinema eating popcorn and junior mints. Jack accepted her family’s situation and never forced her to abandon her brothers and sister in favor of spending more alone time with him and she suspected that‘s why she loved him then as much as she did.
Jack arrived earlier than expected that night. He’d borrowed the keys to his cousins car, and mentioned the fact he had something for her. Kate worried about making sure the kids were in bed but Jack had them all pile into the car an drove them to his house. Naturally Kate protested, but Jack said he’d wanted her to relax, knowing how much she had to deal with at home and after speaking to his mother at length on the subject, Rachel Thomas offered to take the Todd children for a night to allow Kate some downtime. In the few short months she’d been seeing Jack , Kate had found Rachel to be a friend, a confidant and a mother, but she never expected the woman to avail her services to her.
After getting over the shock, and quietly shedding tears of thanks and surprise, Kate and Jack got back in the car and he took them to the Harborlight Guest House in Cape Carteret, where he’d booked them a room for a night. She couldn’t remember what the room looked like or whether they ate chocolate covered strawberries or chocolate mints; drank red or white wine, but what she could remember was that it was the most romantic thing anyone had ever done for her, even to this day, and that it was the night she slept with Jack for the first time. The next morning, they relaxed in the bath, while listening to Bryan Adams. Their song was “Summer of 69”, which was pretty fitting as it was the year of Kate’s birth. Listening to that song now always took her back to that night Cape Carteret and probably always would.
The sound of metal grating together and the vibrations of a minor collision travelling through her body pulled Kate back to the present where she realised just how out of it she must have been; somehow she’d driven on autopilot to the grocery store and made it down three aisles before she‘d had any form of accident. Apologising meekly, Kate made her way around fellow shopper who looked as harassed as Kate felt, thinking of her past was becoming a dangerous thing to do.
Turning down the frozen foods section, Kate took a stock check of the items in the cart and noted she’d managed to pick up the items she’d been in most need of despite having no recollection of even driving to the store, let alone doing actual shopping. She was more surprised she hadn’t picked up condensed coconut milk or something equally disgusting which made her taste buds recoil in fear.
She needed to get out of there and go home where she’d relax for the rest of the day; she needed to stop thinking about the past because it was starting to affect her actions in the present and she had stopped living like that years ago. Making her way back to toiletries, Kate grabbed a few bottles of aromatherapy bath oils and headed to the checkout.
The drive home was uneventful and Kate was able to keep her mind focused on the driving by running through the names of Impressionist artists. Parking in the residents lot as opposed to residents garage, grabbed the grocery bag from the backseat and got out. Hearing the car automatically lock itself she turned and stared up at the building, just able to see the windows of her bedroom from where she was. Kate had no idea what possessed her to buy a three level penthouse when she could have just as easily rented a two bedroom townhouse, or a studio apartment like she had in New York. The security of the place had certainly appealed, as did the twenty-four hour concierge, but she didn’t need all that space the penthouse gave her. The asking price had meant nothing to her and she met it head on, especially after she learned of the on sight gym in the basement.
Shaking her head at the absurd idea of analysing her choice of home, Kate proceeded into the building when she was almost knocked over by a man on his way out, obviously in a hurry. She stumbled back, her free arm outstretched behind to prevent an injury when two arms caught her round the waist and pulled her back to standing.
“Sorry, I didn’t see you.”
“It’s okay; no harm, no foul.”
Kate looked up into the face of her attacker turned rescuer and blushed. At first glance he was gorgeous and definitely younger than her. He was slightly taller too and a part of her brain told her this was a plus, since she worked on the basis that tall guys looked good in photographs but short guys were better for sex in the shower, and this guy was a nice medium between the two. Her honest description of his appearance was that he had just rolled out of bed and with her estimation of his age being early to mid twenties, she probably wasn’t wrong.
He pinned her eyes with his and Kate lost herself in the depths of the warm hazel looking back at her. Neither one were compelled to move from the others space, nor to remove his hands from her waist. The saying “like a moth to a flame” came to mind with this brief inspection of each other and already Kate wanted to know more about him.
“You just move in?”
“Yeah, a couple of days ago.”
“There weren’t that many empty apartments available, I’m surprised you got one.”
“I bought in.”
His eyes lit up as he smiled at her, as if he almost realised who she was. He stepped back, removing his hands in the process, and gave her the once over. At first she was embarrassed since she was still dressed in her yoga pants and zipper hoodie, but when he nodded in appreciation of her looks, she smiled back.
“So you’re the girl Walter was raving about. He said you were good-looking, but I never expected this level of beauty.”
“Do you make it a point to come on to every woman you knock over?”
“Almost knocked over, and no; you’re the first.”
“Well, I guess I should feel flattered then.”
“I guess you should…”
“Kate. Kate Todd.”
She held out her hand and he looked at her a while longer before he took it in his. His skin was soft and warm and he had a grip that rivalled her own.
“Tony DiNozzo. Your security guard and general Jack-of-all-trades. Welcome to the building.”

“A woman uses her intelligence to find reasons to support her intuition.” G.K. Chesterton

Thirteen. The unlucky number according to superstition. Unlucky for some, but not quite as unlucky for Kate Todd.
Thirteen hours ago, she’d ran into Tony DiNozzo, quite literally, in the foyer of her building. Thirteen hours later they’re sitting half naked in her half furnished apartment eating Chinese takeaway from the carton, and fighting over the last piece of shrimp. Everything that had occurred in the past two hours, from the moment he’d shown up at her front door to collapsing back on her couch from sheer exhaustion, could have been attributed to any number of things, but the logical ones Kate could think of wouldn’t have lasted as long as this, surely they would’ve passed long before anything happened; things like adrenaline, energy rushes, sugar highs or endorphin highs. She had, after all, just come from a run that got her blood pumping, and the nervous energy in her system got her endorphins going and he just happened to be the first male she’d seen on that high. It was purely hormonal.
To really understand how she’d gone from asking him to help with her security system to ripping his shirt off his back, she’d have to examine in great detail what happened between them at nine o’clock that morning in DC Beans. Maybe it was something in the coffee that sparked the hormonal riot in her; then again, she and Jethro drank tons of the stuff together and never once had they had the urge to jump one another - the night in ninety-five not being included in this examination of her promiscuity of the last decade.
Thinking back to that morning, Kate tried to find where they’d gone from being mere acquaintances to fuck buddies in thirteen hours or less.
They’d been standing less than a foot apart, her hand still in his, and he offered to buy her a coffee to make up for nearly crushing her in his rush to leave the building. She was ready to decline, since no harm had been done to neither her or her groceries, but he insisted; she couldn’t exactly refuse when he flashed her a look that reminded her of a wounded puppy, and she suspected it worked on most girls he pulled it on.
Despite all appearances that he was in a rush to get somewhere earlier, he certainly wasn’t anymore as he idly led her down the road to the small coffee shop at the end of the street. When asked if he’d had somewhere he needed to be instead of buying her coffee, Tony told her that it wasn’t important and could be put off till a later date; having coffee with a beautiful woman, however, could not.
Kate knew he was trying to charm her, and was doing a pretty good job of it if she were honest; but whether he was doing it to get into her pants, or if he had a different agenda from the rest of the male population she was interested to find out. She’d known guys who’d seemed all sweetness and light, but what it came down to in the end was sex; she’d dated enough rats in the world to know that when what they wanted was denied, they either got violent or looked elsewhere. The cheating she could take, especially if she wasn’t into the relationship much to begin with. From what she could tell, Tony didn’t seem like the type to do either.
After they’d placed their orders, two regulars, one with sugar and a shot of hazelnut and the other with milk and two sugars, they grabbed a table near the back and leaped into varied conversation.
Kate learned Tony had originally intended to play for Ohio State professionally, but a knee injury forced him to give up that dream, so he left his football training and took up some low level IT work and by graduation knew how to build a computer from scratch, much to his father’s disappointment. With the money he made being a security guard, he’d been able to start a freelance security company where he was able to work for himself and reap the benefits.
Tony said he’d never been held in high regard, never been the apple of his father’s eye, so he done all he could to disappoint him. Being a security guard was the worst job in the eyes of DiNozzo senior, and Tony couldn’t have been more pleased when he learned he’d been more or less disowned and written out of the will. Kate was startled by the similarities in their childhoods. They’d both willingly left the family home at a young age to make their own way in the world. The only differences between them were she’d abandoned her family while he’d been kicked out. The kicker came when she learned how old he was. At twenty-six, he truly was a boy trapped in a man’s body. He had crazy plans and ideas and the childlike mind that convinced him he was going to succeed. It was a sight to behold, and Kate felt herself being more attracted to him as the minutes past.
They kept their conversation light, staying away from the subjects they intuitively knew would be painful, instead sticking to the original question which would be asked on a first date; favorite color, favorite dessert, favorite film.
Kate told herself they were on no sort of date, they were simply getting to know each other over coffee in a conversation that seemed unending. She wouldn’t deny that he was stirring something within, and it wouldn’t be the first time she’d fallen for some upon first glances. Her brain was telling her that ten years ago, Tony was still in high school while she was doing things she shouldn’t be with her boss; her body spoke a different story.
Two hours after they first walked into DC Beans and several coffee refills later, Kate and Tony had swapped numbers and parted company, with the promise that Tony would call later to see if she needed any help in the apartment. Kate never expected to be the one to make the first move, it wasn’t in her nature. She liked to have a plan ready for any potential guy who was set on charming their way into her life, she liked structure and control.
She’d gone home, taken her lavender scented bath as originally planned and set about organising her office. The letters she’d glanced over earlier were once again put on hold, as was finding a doctor’s office. By the time she was done, Kate was starving; raiding her refrigerator gave her nothing of substance, but enough for an energy kick. She had a dinner scheduled with Jethro that evening, but the lingering feelings from meeting Tony that morning had her calling Jethro and taking a rain check; immediately after she’d keyed in the digits of the number Tony gave her and waited for him to pick up.
Everything from that point on got a little blurry. She remembered asking if he could come over and start the process of installing a security system for her, bribing him with food so he‘d come over quicker, Tony telling her she needed no excuse for him to come over if she wanted him there. She‘d smiled at that, realising she was complete putty in his hands; it all went blank after that.
By eight o’clock Kate had just changed her clothes, again, deciding to go with the tight black jeans and long sleeved v-neck top, when there was a knock at the door. She’d stood on the stairs for a moment to gather herself, before she moved forward to open the door. On the other side stood a god clad in dark jeans and leather jacket with messy hair, a cheeky smile and warm eyes. They’d looked at each other for countless minutes before Kate finally moved to let him in. From then on in it was pretty much settled what would be happening that night.
Half an hour after Tony’s arrival, and after she’d shown him where the security cameras were to be placed, she was leaning over his laptop reading about the system he would use when he’d come up behind her with two bottles of iced teas he’d grabbed from the refrigerator. He was close enough that she could feel the heat radiating from his body, and the electricity that sparked between them when she’d grabbed the bottle and caught his hand in the same movement. She’d turned to thank him, hearing the nerves in her voice, and just decided to make the first move and kissed him. The bottles were placed down soon after, her arms going round his neck and his under her thighs to move her up onto the counter.
Images of herself against the wall with her legs wrapped around the guy who was practically a stranger to her flashed through her mind; on the kitchen counter, the couch and the living room floor; sitting on the kitchen table with his head between her thighs. Sitting at that same table now an hour later, Kate could feel herself winding up for another round.
“Kate?”
“What?”
Tony watched her and let a slow, knowing smile creep over his face as if he knew exactly what she was thinking at that exact minute; he probably did know since she could tell he’d been thinking of the exact same thing.
“Tony, how’d we end up here?”
“Sitting half naked together at your kitchen table at god knows what time? I don’t think you’re old enough for memory loss just yet, Kate.”
“No, it could just be the result of a lot of extremely good sex in a short period of time.”
“Stop; you’re making me blush. But seriously, I don’t know how we ended up here. We barely know each other and yet, I couldn’t stop thinking of you the whole day. Maybe it was just meant to be.”
Kate tilted her head to the side, never really having believed in fate or destiny, and narrowed her eyes slightly. She’d admit that perhaps she did want him to come over for something more than his professional opinion, which was more than obvious now, but to call it fate didn’t quite cut it for her.
“So, you’re saying I was destined to meet you this morning, call my boss and oldest friend this afternoon to blow off a dinner date; which I’ve never done. Call you for technical assistance which was really a front I was doing; I was really asking you to come over and screw my brains out. Is that it?”
Tony mimicked Kate’s position, thinking over her explanation as his smile grew wider.
“In a nutshell, yes.”
Seeing their food was gone, Tony stood and threw the carton in the bin, returned to the table and pulled Kate up from her chair. She was tired, and her muscles were aching in a pleasing way, but there was one last place that had yet to be christened as thoroughly as the rest of her apartment.
Now she was standing, he was wrapped around her from behind and the weight of Tony’s arms around her was like a warm security blanket, something which she hadn’t felt in a long time. She wanted just one more time tonight, to make sure she’d feel it enough all day tomorrow morning, to assure herself it hadn’t all been a dream, while she sat at her desk playing boss lady.
“Tony?”
“Hmm?”
“Take me to bed.”

Very Important Person

“Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win.” - Bernadette Devlin

Monday morning was interesting to say the least.
Kate had woken and was slightly surprised to find Tony still lying beside her underneath the rumpled bed sheets - on the bed she had painstakingly put together herself after Jethro’s failed attempt. It gave her a slight insight into how the guy thought; either he wanted a friends with benefits system, which was fine by her, or he wanted something a little more long term. If it was neither of those things, then he was obviously too worn out to bother sneaking away like a thief in the night while she slept.
At that time of the morning, when her mind was still clouded with sex and sleep, she wasn’t sure what she liked more about Tony. The fact he was still there with he, or his stamina which kept them going until four-thirty that morning. Both were a huge plus to Kate, and it seemed she had snagged him for herself.
When he rolled over and pulled her into his side, Kate decided it wasn’t any of that at all. It wasn’t as if she was actively seeking a relationship with anyone, let alone guys ten years her junior, but if she happened to fall into one she’d quite happily go along for the ride and see where she ended up.
They’d rolled out of bed a little after eight and had enough time to split a cup of coffee between them or Kate would be dangerously late for work, she almost never made it out the apartment once he seen her outfit for the day. She did, however, have enough time to dig through the utility drawer in the kitchen where she had put the spare keys; she figured since she was at work all day, Tony would need to get into her place somehow.
Dragging him out the front door, he once again wrapped himself around her, like a child unable to part from his favorite toy and Kate let him. They moved as best they could towards the elevator and stood in the back corner, where Tony let his arms drift up from her waist so they were loosely draped over Kate‘s shoulders. They’d known each other for exactly twenty-four hours and their level of comfort with each other baffled Kate; she had been brought to several mind shattering orgasms at his hand, so there was no use in being uncomfortable around him now.
“I forgot to ask last night, but how much is this little installation costing me?”
“I won’t lie, it’s gonna be expensive.”
“How many zero’s do I need to put on the check, or can I pay you in kind?”
Tony chuckled into Kate’s hair, appreciating her straight-to-the-matter attitude and gave her shoulders a tight squeeze. He’d certainly been propositioned before, but never by someone he’d already slept with and was seriously falling for. As much as he wanted to take her up on her offer, he needed the money more than the sex, but he certainly wasn’t going to turn her down either.
“Three, but with you I’m willing to accept other forms of payment.”
“Really?”
“Really, really. Can I meet you for lunch?”
Kate mentally checked her planner for what her day entailed. She knew there was a meeting at eleven she needed to attend, and she had to consult with several of the design team that afternoon. Not to mention the whole day was going to be meet and greet with everyone, including clients.
“Come by my office around one, and I’ll see what I can do for you. Call it, payment in advance.”
The rest of the ride down was spent trading barbs and innuendo laced comments, which they both had plenty of. When they reached the third floor, Tony surprised Kate by making a move to get off. As they had done with a lot of things the night before, Tony had failed to mention he lived in the same building as her; he claimed it was easier working in the building where you lived than having to drive every day. It was clear in his actions that he didn’t want to leave her just yet, but she told him where her office was and he promised he’d be there. Just before he left Kate alone, he stepped back and gave her kiss which he hoped would keep her head spinning until she could return the favor at lunch, and judging by the look on her face as he left it had done slightly more than that.
For Kate, being alone now in the elevator gave her time to consider, again, where she wanted this thing with Tony to go. She was realizing, however slowly it was taking her, that he was totally smitten with her and she felt herself reciprocating his feelings equally.
The drive to work was nothing special, and Kate arrived in time to run across to the Starbucks across the street before she had to attend to anything that required being in her office. As a gesture of faith, she even bought a large coffee for Jethro to make up for her bailing on dinner last night. Being a two minute walk away from her office, the nerves really set in for Kate, whose hands were now shaking ever so slightly. In ten minutes, she was meeting with Jethro and Tom Morrow, the company director, then she would be meeting with her personal assistant and the rest of the day would be hers.
When her order was up, Kate grabbed the cups and crossed to what she was officially calling “her building”. She did, after all, have a quarter of floor space that was hers which was more than she had in New York. She had a PA for crying out loud so she knew she was more important now than she had been. It was times like these Kate thought she needed a serious ego check because she became a little egotistical, but with the way her life had been she felt she sometimes deserved to be.
All eyes were on her as she entered the building and took the escalator up to the first floor. From there she would board the elevator, meet Jethro in his office and together they’d meet Tom in the board room so he could officially welcome them to DC and say his farewells. Jethro had mentioned on Friday they may even get to meet with the other recently promoted directors before they flew out to their own branches, which was an interesting prospect, as Kate knew of the fling Jethro had had with one of their associates.
At the time, the associate was more Jethro’s than hers, and the woman in question had been more an acquaintance he’d met at a business conference in Paris. Kate had taken a dislike to the faceless nameless woman immediately, and not because her own jealousy had clouded her judgement of who her friend chose to have affairs with when it wasn’t her. The conniving bitch had built Jethro’s hopes up, and then she’d walked out and left him a Dear John; yet more time Kate spent convincing the man he wasn’t destined to spend his life alone.
Before she could get anywhere near Jethro’s office, a tall brunette jumped up from behind the desk in front of Kate’s office and stepped in front of her. Kate done a clinical assessment of the woman standing before her and decided, upon looks at least, she didn’t seem all that bad. Her personality and work regime could be a different matter.
In her arms she held a stack of folders, on top of which sat a brand new PDA and what Kate could clearly see as her schedule for the day; she really hoped she had an hour she could spare for Tony. It didn’t seem fair to sleep with him and not see him the next day, especially since he was doing all that work for her.
Kate wasn’t allowed time to think anymore of Tony as the woman in front of her, who Kate assumed to be her personal assistant, handed over the PDA and held out her hand. Kate stacked the coffee cups together on the desk and reciprocated the handshake.
“Good morning, Ms Todd. My name is Jeanne Benoit and I’m your personal assistant.”

Behind Enemy Lines

“If we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.” - Winston Churchill

The morning had flown by once Kate got her second coffee down her throat.
Jeanne was a pleasant person to speak to once both of them had gotten over their initial nerves. Kate wasn’t normally a nervous person and she certainly wasn’t shy when she met new people, but things had been happening so fast in the past few weeks that Kate wasn’t quite feeling herself.
She never got the chance to meet with Jethro before their meeting since talking with Jeanne had delayed her slightly; she was just glad she wasn’t the last person to enter the boardroom, but she wasn’t exactly the first either.
Jethro was already there, along with a woman she didn’t recognise, but knew exactly who she was. It would explain the look of Jethro’s face if she were right. Sitting with them was a young man Kate had once had business dealings with. To her he was Timothy McGee, but to the rest of the world he was Thom E. Gemcity.
A few years back when Tim was at his writing peak, Kate had handled the advertising campaign for his books. After the success of his novels, Tim had withdrawn from the writing circle and the limelight and had vanished. She heard through the grapevine that he’d expressed an interest in advertising and had eventually came to work at Artisan, she hadn’t realised he was now one of the branch directors.
She took the only seat next to Jethro, which he had obviously been saving for her, and slid the coffee cup across to him. Resisting the urge to slouch down in her seat, which wouldn’t have gone over well with the green eyed redhead across from her, Kate could already feel a migraine coming on and it was barely nine o’clock.
Tom had come in shortly after her and they’d gotten down to business. It became apparent that Kate wasn’t the only person who could feel the tension between Jethro and the redhead, who she learned was named Jennifer Shepard, because Tom drew the meeting to a close quickly, instead of having the expected hour long chat with them. All they really needed to know about each other was that Jennifer was heading up the Paris branch of Artisan while McGee covered London.
In the elevator on their way back to their offices, Kate and Jethro began discussing their assistants. Kate didn’t talk much about Jeanne, but Jethro was raving about the college intern, Abby Sciuto, who was apparently very much like Kate was at that age; cocky, bolshy, spoke her mind. Kate liked her already and was looking forward to meeting her.
“Was I really bolshy?”
Jethro turned to her with a raised eyebrow and a disbelieving look on his face that made Kate blush and smile shyly; she knew exactly what she was like at that age because it was that same attitude that had her sitting in an office on the fifth floor today.
“The kid called me, and I quote, ‘her silver haired fox’.”
“I won’t disagree with her, but you were mine first.”
Jethro laughed and wrapped his arm around Kate’s shoulders, which allowed her the opportunity to steal back the coffee cup she’d given him, hoping his brew would be enough to get rid of the migraine which she was officially blaming on Tony. If he hadn’t kept her up till all hours, she wouldn’t be tired and therefore she wouldn’t have the damn migraine. It was the only downside to really great sex; she was a crabbit bitch the next day.
Jethro had willingly handed over his coffee, having seen her frown and mumble something about killing Tony, whoever he was. Giving Kate his obligatory once-over, he spotted a bruise on the back of her neck which hadn’t been there the last time he’d seen her; he hadn’t seen a bruise of that sort anywhere on Kate in the last ten years since the time he’d bitten her shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise lasting three weeks.
“So what happened to you last night; d’ya have a date with a vampire?”
“What?”
“My little Katie has a hickey right…here.”
Jethro touched her neck right next to the bruise and Kate’s hand flew back to cover it, her eyes going wide. She hadn’t paid much attention when Tony started nuzzling her neck last night, she was too exhausted to care what he was doing, but now she knew the son of a bitch had marked her, claimed her as his.
“I’ll kill him!”
“Who, the vampire? He’s already dead.”
“Shut up! I mean my security guard. He’s installing my security system as we speak.”
“So that’s how you got a pretty decent sized bruise on your neck?”
“Well, kinda. He was up last night -”
“I bet he was.”
“To discuss where to put the security cameras in the penthouse and one thing led to another.”
“Kate, the last time one thing led to another, we had some serious hangovers and you had to get the morning after pill.”
Kate reached out and flicked the emergency stop and turned to Jethro with anger in her eyes. They had promised each other they’d never bring that night up again, because despite what had happened between them then, it wasn’t a pleasant memory for either of them. She’d never seen him act like this before with any of the other guys she’d slept with, so why was suddenly acting like a jealous lover now. Kate knew it probably had to do with him seeing Jennifer again after all these years, but that didn’t give him the right to take it out on her. No matter how much they let each other get away with or the things they let slide, they never took their anger out on each other.
“Don’t even start about that night. It’s been ten years, so why bring it up now? Is it because you saw Jennifer and you feel insecure again?”
“This has nothing to do with Jen. This has to do with you and sleeping with guys you barely know.”
“Where the hell do you get off?”
“Fifth floor, please.”
“Don’t act like a smart ass, Jethro, it doesn’t suit you.”
“And acting like a slut doesn’t suit you.”
The stinging pain in his cheek and her palm knocked some sense into the pair of them and they each retreated to opposite sides of the elevator. Somewhere during the last day they’d gone from being close, personal, intimate friends to strangers who merely worked together. They’d never once treated each other like this before and Kate was scared that everything she knew as suddenly starting to collapse around her ears.
She willed herself not to cry, because she was stronger than that, and she didn’t want Jethro to know how badly his words had hurt her. She wanted to regain the Ice Maiden persona she’d had in college, but she just couldn’t find it in her, so she let the tears fall.
“Why are we acting like this? Are you jealous that I may have found someone? Are you pissed off that it isn’t you, because we both agreed that last time it was a one time thing.”
When nothing was said, Kate nodded her head slowly and hit the stop switch again and the elevator jolted to life. The remainder of their ride up was spent in uncomfortable silence, even when Kate handed the coffee back to Jethro not even a thanks was offered. Just before the doors opened, Kate wiped away her tears, hoping her eyes weren’t too red and stormed off to her office. Jethro stepped out slowly, and tried to find the words to apologise to the woman he’d just broken the heart of.
Kate remained in her office for the rest of the morning, only stepping out briefly for her eleven o’clock meeting and again to meet with the design team she had complete control over. They had just taken on a new campaign and Kate didn’t have enough information about it to fully understand what it was they were advertising. She loved being in the design studio watching the computer techs play with graphics and logos and the smell of the ink from the printers office; this was home to her and if she could she’d spend the rest of the day down there, reliving her previous job then she would have.
It was twelve forty-five when Tony DiNozzo walked through the main door and into the world of Artisan Publications carrying a bag of Chinese takeout, from the same place they’d ordered from the previous night, in one hand and a litre bottle of iced tea in the other. Following Kate’s instructions to the letter, he found the elevators and hit the fifth floor button.
He’d realised earlier, what with Kate being new in this office, she may not be able to make it out of her office for lunch so he was going to be generous and bring lunch to her. He figured they would need to talk about last night and if they could be heading anywhere and they couldn’t exactly discuss that in a crowded restaurant or café.
He hadn’t been in a serious relationship with anyone in two years since he called off his engagement, and eventually the relationship, with his girlfriend of three years. She had taken it entirely the wrong way when he said he didn’t want to rush into marriage and by the time they split up she was driving him crazy. Tony had finally managed to get her to stop with her persistent phone calls, begging him to have her back, once he threatened her with a harassment suit. He didn’t have much of a dating life for a while after that.
He’d had the occasional one night stand and girlfriends he’d been with for a few weeks, but none of them felt right. Running into Kate yesterday, and talking with her, he felt a serious connection with her and honestly wanted to pursue something with her. Even if she didn’t want that, if she simply wanted a friends with benefits system, he’d go along with it if it meant he got to keep her in his life.
Arriving on the fifth floor, Tony could see the door with Kate’s name on it and headed towards the desk that sat outside, which he assumed belonged to her secretary or assistant or someone who dealt with her meetings. The brunette he seen at the desk had her back to him, and was busy on the computer. He cleared his throat to gain her attention, but she kept her back to him. Tony raised his eyebrows at her ignorance, but ignored her behaviour in favor of getting to see Kate again.
“Excuse me, I’m here to see Kate Todd.”
“Do you have an appointment?”
“Sort of. She told me to meet her at one.”
“Ms Todd isn’t available at the moment, can I take a message?”
For the entire conversation, she kept her back to him and continued to work on the computer. It was starting to grate on Tony’s nerves and he was saved from saying something when the elevator opened and Kate walked out.
“Tony, you’re here.”
“Yeah. Promised I’d be here.”
Jeanne turned in her seat upon hearing Kate greet Tony and when she realised the guy she was talking to was the same guy she was in the middle of sending an email to, she paled. Tony was too caught up in seeing Kate to have noticed she was watching them, and Jeanne felt herself getting angry. She watched Kate lead Tony over to her and him realising who it was he was about to be introduced to.
“Tony, this is -”
“Jeanne.”
“Hi, Tony.”
“Jeanne is my assistant.”
“Nice. How’ve you been, Jeanne?”
“I’m good. Real good.”
“That’s…that’s great. Kate, we better go inside or the food will get cold.”
Kate had felt like a third wheel witnessing the conversation between the two. She nodded her head and led the way into her office, taking the bag of food from Tony who rushed through the door and took a seat on the sofa that had been delivered on Saturday morning. It was obvious to her he couldn’t wait to get away from Jeanne, but Kate didn’t know how far to push the issue since she didn’t really know him that well, but she figured he’d explain it all to her eventually.
In the end, they never spoke in detail about what happened the previous night, but mutually agreed to see where things went with them. Kate asked how the installation was going, and Tony asked how her meetings had went. Kate was as patient as she could be, but her curious streak was dying to ask about Jeanne, and he was obviously looking for a way to tell her. The tether on her curiosity finally snapped and she couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“Tony, how’d you know Jeanne?”
“She’s my ex-fiancée.”

The Peacemaker

“They cannot take away our self-respect if we do not give it to them.” - Mohandas K. Ghandi

Jealous one-time lovers, ex-fiancées, a new job and a fledgling relationship. If Kate was a drinker, she had plenty of reasons to throw work out the window and head to the nearest bar to get shit-faced, but she wasn’t so she couldn’t no matter how much she wanted to.
Tony had patiently told her how he’d met Jeanne and his reasons for ending things, and the fact she seemed to think she still had some level of power or control over him; that she could stop him seeing other women, and get jealous when he had a date. Kate couldn’t believe the woman sat outside her office could be so obsessive and controlling, and that was on the assumption that Kate believed what she was told, which she rarely did; she liked to double check. Tony certainly seemed nervous seeing Jeanne again, and Kate wasn’t about to ask her assistant her view on the break-up and treat her as if she were a suspect under interrogation. Not only did she not want to put tension between her and the woman who was now set to fetch her coffee every morning, she didn’t want to put any sort of tension between her and Tony, as it wouldn’t be a very good start to whatever they had.
For the remainder of the hour they had together, Kate pushed all thoughts of Jeanne and Jethro from her head and just enjoyed being with Tony. It would take her a while to get used to being in a relationship, if that’s what they were calling it, because it had been so long since she’d had a steady man in her life; after the little stunt Jethro had pulled in the elevator, she no longer considered him and what they’d had for the past sixteen years anything more than a close, personal friendship. This was all subject to change, because she honestly didn’t want to lose him, but only if he proved he really regretted how he’d acted and what he’d said. She needed him to apologise and because getting Jethro Gibbs to say sorry was equal to drawing blood from a stone, she’d know how much he regretted his actions and how much he’d hurt himself in the process.
She had led Tony out the office after he’d gotten too comfortable and almost, but not quite, convinced her to christen her office couch; she had after all said she’d give him something for his trouble, but wasn’t specific. Standing in front of the elevator, under the glaring eyes of Jeanne, they’d shared a goodbye kiss which would’ve turned into more if it hadn’t been for Jeanne clearing her throat. Kate never considered herself an exhibitionist, but to have Tony’s hands on for just another second she would’ve clearly reconsidered that. They’d looked over at her with red faces, but she was too engrossed in her paperwork than she was in them.
When Kate returned to her office, she decided to just give up on working after all and really wished she’d taken Tony up on his offer; it would’ve been much more fun, especially with the risk of being caught, than finding out who her important clients where and what they required of her. She’d laughed when her mind turned that thought into something else which she blamed, along with her dissipating migraine, on her new lover. One day with him and she had the mentality of a frat boy.
There was nothing that required her immediate attention since she hadn’t been around long enough to get anything of much importance and her next meeting wasn’t until later that afternoon. Under normal circumstances she would’ve gone to Jethro’s office, but that was out of the question.
When Jeanne walked in with a report she needed to sign off on for the designers, Kate was slightly apprehensive; the woman had seen her ex-fiancé more or less screwing her boss by the elevators. There was an obvious change in Jeanne’s attitude from when she’d first met her, she could see it in her eyes, and if what Tony had said was true, it was quite possible she was about to deal with the wrath of a jealous ex and to be quite frank she couldn’t be bothered. Kate couldn’t resist wondering what it was with people trying to bring her down when she was finally happy, or as close to it as she could be.
The highlight of Kate’s day, after her visit from Tony, came in the form of a young man named Jimmy Palmer, resident delivery boy. The two embossed silver envelopes he handed her only meant one thing; Tom was having a party. Morrow was known for his extravagant parties and he usually had no reason for throwing one other than the fact he wanted to celebrate. His Christmas party had even made the newspaper. She was about to call Jimmy back when she realised he’d given her Jethro’s invitation as well as her own, but she figured this would be as good a time as any to see if he was ready to apologise. Taking a breath, she stood and made her way towards the door.
Casting a shy glance in Jeanne’s direction, Kate seen she wasn’t there and continued on her way to Jethro’s office, noticing that Abby wasn‘t at her desk either. The entire day seemed to be going downhill and the outlook for the rest of the week wasn’t looking great either. If she could patch things up with Jethro and find it in her to forgive him, then her week could get better.
Holding her head high, she walked towards Jethro’s door and paused outside for a moment. She had no reason to explain herself to him, she was doing nothing wrong. Hadn’t she deserved the right to have fun and actually enjoy her life for a change, instead of bowing down to everyone’s expectations of what she should or shouldn’t do? So she slept with a guy she’d barely known five minutes and was planning to continue; Kate couldn’t see the big deal with it. More importantly, she couldn’t see Jethro’s problem with it. Steeling herself for the wrath she knew Jethro was likely to bring down on her, Kate pushed open the door.
He turned in his chair when she entered, having been looking out the window, and Kate didn’t need any words of apology because she could see on his face just how sorry he was. Even after Shannon, she hadn’t seen him look quite as ill as he did now.
“If this is round two, I’m not so sure my face will hold up; you’ve got a pretty hard hit.”
Kate smiled and shook her head, looking at Jethro fondly. There was barely there bruising on his left cheek, but she bet her morning coffee it was tender as hell to touch; she hadn’t meant to hit him quite so hard, but he provoked her.
“No, I just came by to drop off this invitation; Jimmy gave me it by accident.”
Any and all fight had left Kate when she entered the room, so she was calm enough to walk around Jethro’s desk to hand the envelope to him before sitting on the edge of the desk.
“Why?”
“Why did I go off on one? Why am I jealous? Why do I absolutely hate the thought of you with someone else? Easy; I love you. I‘m jealous because for so long, it‘s been us against the world. We‘ve battled the rumors and the stories. We‘ve had to deal with people making assumptions about us, by asking us somewhere as a couple. For sixteen years, Kate, it‘s been you and me and suddenly, there‘s someone else and it just feels like I‘m losing you.”
Jethro stood suddenly and began pacing around the room. It seemed to him that every woman he’d ever loved or cared for was taken from him whether it be by death or love for another, they all left him to become a misanthropic man with a cynical outlook on life. For more than a decade, Kate had been his light. She’d been there for every high, low and medium and that was simply because she took away the lows and every moment with her was a high. It was true he’d never loved anyone like Shannon, but Kate was hitting a close joint first on that scale and having her leave him felt like the last straw.
“I admit I was jealous when you told me about what happened with Jen in Paris, but you have no right to jump down my throat about my sleeping with a guy I barely know, when you done the exact same thing; it’s called being a hypocrite.”
“So maybe I am being a hypocrite. But I’ve been the one man in your life that you’ve been able to rely on and trust. What we have is something more than a friendship or a relationship, and it scares me that you won’t be in my life as much anymore.”
“We’re very Mulder and Scully. They went through everything together and always came out stronger, just like us. And just like us right now, one of them is taken away it makes the other realise just how important they are to them and they fight to get them back. I suppose in this scenario, I‘m Scully.”
“Well, I’ve always been partial to a redhead.”
“You know I’d do anything for you, but I’m not dying my hair.”
Kate laughed as she walked towards Jethro and he stopped long enough for her to slip her hands under his jacket and squeeze him tightly. To her, he always was and always would be the best thing that ever happened to her and somehow she wanted him to see that nothing would ever change that, but she also needed him to see they never would‘ve have made it as a couple.
Kate knew that Jethro knew how important he was to her, and she him, because they practically lived in each others pockets, but Jethro, naturally, was right. What they had was more than a friendship or a relationship; they were a fairly tale couple who weren’t a couple and Kate figured he was seeing Tony as the wicked witch who swooped in to shatter the happily ever after they were living.
“Do you honestly really think, if we’d been in a relationship, that we’d be as good as friends and as close as we are now? Let’s face it, you’re a pain in the ass and most of the time I’m a controlling bitch.”
“Doesn’t makes us love each other less though, does it?”
“No. But we wouldn’t have made it in a relationship. I value and care for you too much to be someone who’d break your heart; I don’t want that, because I hate seeing you so broken and if my being with Tony is going to do that to you, then I‘m sorry.”
“Don’t be. If you think he’s trustworthy and you can rely on him, the way you do me, then I’m happy for you. Honestly. My only request is that I get you every Saturday night until an outrageous time on Sunday morning; I need my girl to help me with the boat.”
“Jethro Gibbs, you got yourself a deal.”
Kate smiled up at him before standing on her toes to kiss his chin. She went back to resting her head on his shoulder, her designated place, and felt stronger than she had all day knowing that her rock hadn’t crumbled on her after all.
In a secluded corner of the cafeteria, Jeanne had her phone against her ear and was waiting impatiently for the person on the other end to pick up. Seeing Tony with Kate, her boss, the woman she answered to, was enough to push her anger and jealousy out with her limits. He shouldn’t be seeing other women, he shouldn’t even be considering it. How dare he treat her as if she meant nothing to him. How dare he sleep with her boss, of all people.
She didn’t deserve a man like Tony, it was obvious. Kate looked as if she were the type to use them and throw them out once she’d had her fill; Tony was more than that. She needed Tony to see that Kate was no good for him. Jeanne would never admit that she was scorned or hateful. It had been two years after all, plenty of time to get over it; but she knew Kate had only arrived in town on Friday and already she seemed pretty cosy with Tony. No, she didn’t want him to see Kate was no good, she wanted something more.
She wanted revenge in its finest form.

All Over The Guy

“There is no occasion for women to consider themselves subordinate or inferior to men.” - Mohandas K. Ghandi

She’d never know why she limited herself to one glass of wine whenever she drank because she was starting to severely regret that decision to be almost tee-total.

Kate arrived home a little after five to an empty apartment. She hadn’t exactly been expecting a welcoming committee, but it would’ve been nice if Tony had actually been around. She needed a drink, a hug and a bath in that order. Still bemoaning the fact she drank rarely, she was thankful she’d picked up a six-pack of beer on her way home because today really was the day for drinking.
The remainder of her first day had gone mostly without a hitch until she’d met with her most arrogant, distasteful client to date. The man had no concept whatsoever of the meaning of the words no or punctuality, nor had he any manners. She wasn’t even going to think about the toothpick thing. He reminded her of a mafia boss who’d exchanged his Cuban cigars in favor of a flavored stick.
Leon Vance had arrived thirty minutes late, barged in on Kate while she was on the phone and proceeded to demand a coffee from Jeanne three times, claiming she wasn’t making it right; not to mention insulting Kate’s intelligence by suggesting she knew nothing of what she was doing, and that she’d slept her way to her current position - pun intended.
The bad manners and arrogance she could handle, Vance wasn’t the first obnoxious asshole Kate had ever encountered in her life, but he was certainly the most hands on. She began regretting her decision to wear the sheer black blouse, that left little to the imagination, since Vance spent most of his time staring at her near visible breasts and her very visible lace bra; that was when he wasn’t making suggestions for some off the clock work she could do for him, while touching her thigh and trying to slip his hand under her skirt whenever she was near him. For future occasions, she was going to start keeping her most conservative clothing in her office as emergency wear anytime she knew Vance was going to be in the building, not that it would stop him right enough.
Eventually, after politely asking him to remove his hand and refrain from touching her several times, Kate had implied calling security to have him removed from the building due to his behaviour, not caring if they lost his business or not. Vance’s hands remained in his lap for the remainder of the meeting but by then it was too late; Gibbs was getting a new client and Kate knew he wouldn’t take kindly to the reasons behind Kate handing him over.
Kate had reasoned with herself on the drive home that she only drank in celebration or stress, and since today was both she felt she’d earned a beer or two and was sure Tony must be wanting something more than iced tea while he was at her place.
Setting her briefcase down on the dining table, Kate wandered through the archway to the kitchen, the only area that was cut off from the open plan layout of the first floor, and put the beers in the fridge after taking one for herself. Going back into the living area, she spotted Tony’s laptop on the coffee table, which she hadn’t seen when she first arrived and realised he must still be floating about somewhere. There were only so many places he could be, and she’d put money on him being on the roof.
Her heels clicking against the hardwood floors and steel stairs echoed loudly throughout the apartment and it made Kate realise just how empty her home actually was. The previous owners had left a few scraps of furniture behind, like the patio furniture and potted plants on the roof terrace, but Kate couldn’t see herself actually being at home there until she made it her own. She shuddered to think that the emptiness of her home represented the emptiness of her life, but she hoped it wouldn’t be that way for long just as long as she had someone by her side to help fill her life up with something more than publishing and sleazy clients.
Reaching the top floor landing, where her den was located, Kate head down the short hallway to the door at the end. The ceiling high plate glass windows, similar to the ones at the office, provided an excellent view of the Virginia skyline, and of Tony. He was sprawled in the chair nearest the shade the outer wall provided, with a bottle of iced tea held loosely in his hand, and was sound asleep.
Taking a swig of beer, Kate pushed on the handle and the door swung open quietly, letting her feel the cool air being on the roof provided as opposed to the suffocating heat of being on the street. Still, she was glad she kept her wool coat on as the breeze drifted around her bare legs.
She hadn’t the chance to properly study Tony while he’d slept that morning so she took the chance now, walking toward him as quietly as her heels allowed. Taking the bottle from him before it fell, she placed it on the deck and leant over him, looking into his young face as if it held all the answers she was looking for. As young as he was, he looked younger when he slept, something which Kate envied. She knew no matter what she still looked every bit her thirty-six years.
“You gonna stand there staring at me all evening, or are you gonna join me?”
Kate jumped as Tony’s sleep laced voice dragged her from her thoughts and he opened one eye to look at her lazily, silently appreciating her being there when he woke instead of him finding her to be still at work; he would blame this on the fact he’d been tormented all day by the thought of her in that blouse and wanted nothing more than to rip it from her body. Before she had the chance to respond, Tony had sat up and grabbed her round the waist, positioning her so she was sat between his legs and leaning against his chest.
“I would’ve sat down you know. No need to go all Neanderthal on me.”
“I know, you just looked like you needed a hug.”
Kate damned herself for letting her emotions show so clearly on her face, for letting her guard drop. When she was around Tony, despite knowing him now for a whole day, she felt as if he could read her mind and that she couldn’t keep anything from him. She became a whole different person when she was with him; she became human. Handing back her beer to him, Kate settled in for the long haul.
“I guess I did. Turned out to be a really long, hard first day.”
“You wanna talk about it?”
“I don’t know. The last time someone asked me that I got angry, but the subject in question was entirely different. I do want to say thank you though, again, for being so honest about Jeanne.”
“Well if we’re involved you deserve to know. I‘m hoping you‘d show me the same honesty.”
“I would. The only thing you really need to know is that I had a thing with my boss a few years ago, and now he’s a little jealous of you.”
It had been the one thing they hadn’t discussed at lunch. Their relationship status, Jeanne and work had all been fine points, but Kate didn’t quite know how to tell him that she loved her boss. He could easily have taken it the wrong way and she never would have seen him again, or he could be taking it like he was now. Calmly and patiently awaiting her story.
“What you need to understand about Jethro, is something I don’t really understand myself. I’ve known the man for sixteen years, and in those sixteen years I’ve been the one constant thing in his life. He’s had to deal with a lot of pain and I’ve been there with him every step of the way. We love each other, no doubt, and he got a little worried about me, us today. You ever see the X-Files?”
“Yeah. Scully was hot.”
Elbowing him in the stomach for his remark, she covered it up as if she were trying to get comfortable and settled for kicking off her heels and turning on her side so she was able to throw a leg over his and be completely wrapped up in him.
“Jethro and I are like Mulder and Scully, as I told him today. That basically sums us up, really.”
“So he’s like your best friend, the one you can tell everything to; I get that.”
“Yeah. But you know, I don’t want to talk until I’ve said hello properly.”
“Fine, we won’t talk.”
Kate turned again and moved so she was straddling him. Tony looked up at her expectantly as she towered over him, but she was giving nothing away. He set the bottle down beside the chair so he had both hands free to touch and caress and hold her. One look from Kate was enough to turn his legs to jelly, and for the most part he was glad he was always sitting when he was around her.
Kate smiled slowly and secretively, as if she knew something he didn’t. Tonight the tables had turned and now he was putty in her hands instead of it being the other way around. There were no words spoken, everything they wanted to say being done through their eyes and the only sounds were of the plants rustling beside them and the traffic on the street below. She was being wicked and they both knew it.
“You gonna say hi, or am I gonna have to do what I’ve been wanting to ever since I seen that blouse?”
“And what might that be, Tony?”
“Rip it off and ravish you, until the only thing you know is my name and how good I am for you.”
She closed the distance between them slowly, teasing him as her hands moved up to undo the buttons on her blouse. His hands stopped hers in their progress of getting her undressed, since he really did want to rip it from her body in some cheesy, macho romance way. Kate moved her hands to his shoulders and leant in closer, until they could feel the heat of each other’s breath on their lips, as Tony slid his hands to the opening between two buttons. He gave an experimental tug and Kate chuckled, moving only to kiss his jaw all the way to his ear where she softly whispered to him.
“I dare you.”

“There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy.” - George Washington

Kate had decided that she was never again daring or challenging Tony DiNozzo to anything in her life, because not only did he surpass expectations, but she knew he’d get his way every single time. She hadn’t honestly expected him to do it, to actually rip the blouse off her, but he had. He’d gone above and beyond and somehow had taken the tattered material from her completely without removing her coat - that took skill. The remains of the blouse had been thrown somewhere on the terrace, but Kate was too interested in getting him out his jeans to care where it landed.
At first she worried the wooden furniture wouldn’t hold their combined weight, let alone their sudden movements, but it had been sturdier than it looked; she could now safely check exhibitionism off her list of things she never would’ve done if she were in her right mind and not punch drunk on whatever she was wrapped up in with Tony.
The day and her lack of sleep had caught up to her, and Kate fell asleep with her coat and his arms tight around her, and hadn’t woken till she felt herself being set down on a couch. Opening her eyes she realised she was in the den, and Tony was leaning over her telling her he had to go to work, but he’d be back around ten if she wanted him there. There was no denying she wanted him back with her, since it would be their first night together after having settled on what they were. She had fallen back to sleep with a smile on her face as Tony removed her shoes and covered her with a blanket before he left.
The sound of a telephone ringing had dragged Kate away from her Cuban retreat with Tony and back to the real world. She’d managed to divest herself of both the blanket and her coat while she’d been sleeping, having been too hot, and was laying sprawled on the couch in her now wrinkled skirt and little else. She’d stumbled from the couch to grab the receiver before it rung off, but was greeted with nothing but silence on the other end and caller ID stating number withheld. She’d thought nothing more of it as she showered and dressed in her comfiest pyjamas.
Not being in the mood to cook, she’d ordered pizza, resolving to save some for Tony, and had grabbed another beer from the fridge when the phone rang again. Unlike the last time, the mystery caller remained on the line, opting to stay silent instead of hanging up upon hearing Kate’s voice. The calls continued throughout the night, increasing in number when Tony returned; between them, they’d managed four hours of sleep with the phone calls coming every twenty minutes until they’d eventually stopped at three AM. Neither were very happy bunnies the next morning, and took it out not only on each other but kitchen appliances and crockery as well.
She’d thought long and hard as to who would be calling her like this, calling only to hear her voice and raise her guard. He’d done it for an entire month while she’d been in Paris, but at the end of that month she at least got confirmation it was indeed he who had been calling; this wasn’t like him, and if it was, he had a lot of explaining to do.
If it turned out to be him, the only reason he’d be calling would be to alert her to his location. Kate had no idea how she’d grown to love someone who loved to play mind games with her, who loved to keep her on the edge. She’d fallen hard for him at the time and it was her own innocence and naivety that allowed her to do so; if she were to meet him tomorrow she wouldn’t feel the same way.
The most shocking thing about that relationship was the fact that she’d stayed with him for five years, enduring his games before they finally became too much and she called it a day.
At lot had happened in the two weeks since that first phone call. For a start, Tony had taken up semi-permanent residence at her place, only jumping down to his apartment to check his mail or when he needed a change of clothes. He had been drawing out the installation of the security system and a job that should have taken two days at the most was nowhere near complete.
The calls began increasing on a daily basis but occurred mostly at night, and the strain was showing in Kate. She found herself in a catch twenty-two; if she stayed at home in the hopes of getting some sleep, the phone would be ringing constantly with her anonymous caller, and if she went to work to avoid the calls, she found herself falling asleep during meetings with Jethro and sometimes locking her door during lunch for an hour’s nap. When she started receiving the same calls in her office, it was the last straw.
She’d spoken with a Detective Fornell, a man roughly Jethro’s age with less hair and a worse disposition and set the ball rolling with him. Both she and Tony informed him of any potential enemies, including former lovers, and they talked about what to do if the phone calls continued or increased or even became threatening. Kate found herself wishing they would become threatening because that would give them not only a voice to track down, but an idea as to why they were receiving the calls in the first place.
Detective Fornell didn’t provide much hope of the person being caught, but he promised he’d do all he could to find them if at all possible; he’d seen it in their faces how much this was pushing the couple to the point of pulling their hair out. He requested they come back in a week, or sooner if anything changed, with a phone bill and a possible record of any and all calls they received both at work and home. He noted the fact that it only seemed to be Ms. Todd who was receiving the calls at work as well as home, so he also requested she get a phone bill from her office to see if they could make any connection to the calls she received at home despite the fact it was glaringly obvious there was a connection as there were no calls to her home while she was out.
When they’d left Detective Fornell to his work, neither Kate nor Tony felt any better about the situation, but at least now they had someone working to put an end to it all. Driving down Indiana Avenue, Tony couldn’t shake the feeling they were being followed, but with the amount of traffic surrounding them, he couldn’t be sure and he certainly wasn’t going to say anything to Kate as she was already on the edge as it was.
He thought back to what they’d said to Detective Fornell, and the amount of names they’d mentioned, the amount of people in the past few years who could quite possibly hold some form of grudge against them. Most of the girls he’d mentioned he only remembered due to the circumstances through which they split up; Michelle thought he was cheating and broke into his apartment to find proof, he learned Monica was married, Debbie was similar to him at that time and was only looking for a one time thing as was Lisa. Naturally he mentioned Jeanne, but he didn’t think she’d have what it takes to harass them like this.
It had been one of the most twisted ways of learning how many partners your lover had had before you. He knew everything, and everyone, that had been mentioned would be brought up at some point, like all secrets were and despite the fact he didn‘t want to do it while in a car with a sleep deprived woman at the wheel, he was curious to know about things. Like the fact she failed to mention her most recent long term lover, Tim, had died four years previously or that she had almost been engaged to a guy who owned his own airport. He certainly knew how to pick his women.
The only words spoken were when Kate mentioned she was cooking that night and was wondering if he thought they should pick up a bottle of wine or not to go with the meal. Tony honestly wasn’t fussed what they drank due to the surprise of having a home cooked meal for the first time in years.
It caught Tony off guard when he realised in the two weeks they’d known each other, he and Kate had formed some sort of routine. She’d come home, they’d have dinner, he’d go to work while she went to bed and they’d do the reverse the next morning by having breakfast together before he went to bed or started work on installing her security system. If it hadn’t been for the fact he was already with Kate, he would’ve used that as an excuse to hang around. What he felt when he was around Kate was nothing like when he’d been with Jeanne or anyone else. This at least felt real and something to fight for if it went belly-up. Perhaps he’d only thought he’d loved Jeanne, because he couldn’t honestly say he knew what love felt like.
“Kate?”
“Tony.”
“I’ve been thinking. About us and how two weeks ago, we barely knew each other. Hell, we still barely know each other, but that doesn’t bother me.”
“But something obviously does.”
The car came to a slow stop at a red light and Kate finally looked at him. He could see in her eyes how much she wanted to forget the past two weeks and simply sleep uninterrupted and he would happily join her once everything was resolved. But the strength she was showing through all this had Tony admiring her, for a lesser woman would’ve freaked out over it. He knew Kate had her weaknesses and her fears like everybody else, but she never let them show. She was probably stronger than any woman he’d ever known and she deserved to know exactly what he thought about that.
“Not so much bothers, as shocks me slightly since this is the first time I’ve felt it and I finally understand what the songs and the movies are all about.”
“Tony, my brain is only functioning so much right now so forgive me for not knowing what the hell you‘re talking about.”
“I’m talking about the fact, that I’ve slowly come to realise that I think, maybe possibly, I love you.”

“Whoever said anybody has a right to give up?” - Marian Wright Edelman

Why couldn’t his marriage have been as simple as this?
He’d found her car easily enough and discreetly followed behind Kate when she left work, and later when she left home with Tony in tow, which he was pleased about; Kate not wanting to leave him behind showed she was feeling insecure about the entire situation, which was exactly what he and his associates wanted.
For now at least.
When he’d first been approached, he hadn’t quite understood what was being requested, but now he couldn’t believe quite how well things were falling into place. Especially when Kate pulled over outside the police station and got out the car. He knew it would only be a matter of time before they worked out who was behind the calls, no matter how careful they had been to protect their identities, but hopefully not before receiving their surprises; he was the man with the contacts and it would’ve been a shame to have wasted all his resources on Kate Todd who, according to his main source, was nothing more than a two-bit whore, if she spoiled his game too early.
It helped immensely that he had an insider who provided him with all he needed to know about this woman; he needed his insider to keep him up to date on any changes, but he knew she needed him more than either cared to admit, especially now since he was back in the States permanently. The only thing she hadn’t given him was a reason he was to go after this couple, specifically this Kate character; now was not the time to wonder about her motives, he had a call to make and a package to deliver.
This little outing had come too early for his liking, and deviating from plans wasn’t something he or his insider liked to do willingly, but if this woman wanted so easily to play their game then so be it. He only hoped his men were will within the area to get in quickly and make the drop.
When his phone rang a little over an hour later and his man told him everything was in place, he couldn’t have been more relieved because just at that moment, his target walked out the police station and got back in her car. The ball was back in his court now and all he had to do was follow her home, wait for her reaction and he was done; as far as he was concerned he‘d have nothing to do with the rest of the game, he would just be the chauffeur for the other two when the time came, sink into the background and he‘d have no worries.
Simple.
***
Walter Patrick Davis had thought he’d seen it all in his fifty-seven years.
The assassinations of Kennedy and King; the rise and fall of Presidents; national and international scandals. Man, woman and animal sent to space, the invention of the cell phone and the increasing popularity of computers. He’d seen a lot which made him happy, but nothing had made him prouder than the day Tony DiNozzo approached the front desk with a genuine smile on his face for the first time in years, and the cause and effect standing right beside him.
His heart had gone out to the boy when he first arrived to work with him and he’d instantly taken him under his wing. Having not had the chance at a family of his own, Walter looked on Tony has the son he’d longed for, and he made sure Tony knew that he would continue to do so for the rest of his days.
He clearly remembered the day Tony told him he was engaged; the kid had been so happy and it made him happy and when he learned Tony had called off his engagement, the poor boy looked like hell and Walter had felt it too. It had been obvious even to Walter, that while Tony may have loved her to some extent, the girl hadn’t been what he was looking for.
Kate Todd, however.
The second he seen Kate arriving in the building that first morning he knew she’d be perfect for Tony; even when he knew nothing about her, she could’ve been an axe-wielding maniac, but she was certainly easier on the eyes than that harpy Tony’d been with before.
Walter had been so caught up in Tony’s excitement that he almost forgot about the package that had been left at the front desk for Kate just a few short minutes before she had walked through the door. He‘d only stepped into the back office for a few minutes and when he returned, the small, padded brown envelope was laying on the desk with Kate‘s name typed on a white label.
Whoever had left it either didn’t know which apartment was Kate’s, or there was another reason for not placing it in her mailbox.
Walter thought back to anyone who may have delivered it, but for a Monday, the hallways had been pretty quiet; the early morning mail delivery from Paul had been the highlight of his day, if he didn’t count the two guys who’d come in a little over an hour ago and headed straight for the elevators. He never paid them much mind as they crossed the hallway, but he heard them arguing about something and whatever it was sounded heavy. He didn’t recall having seen them leave, but he‘d been so caught up with Tony and Kate that he wouldn‘t have noticed if they‘d slipped out anyway.
He watched Kate carefully as she came back to the desk to pickup her package, noticing how she tensed slightly as she looked over the plain brown envelope which incidentally enough had no postage stamp or return address. He couldn’t blame the girl, having heard through Tony what had been going on lately.
He just hoped they were strong enough to get through whatever was going on together.
***
The words had cut through her like ice.
He loved her, or at least thought he maybe possibly did, which more or less amounted to the same thing in her books. Kate had stared at Tony until the traffic around them had started moving again and she turned automatically to resume their course home. He obviously didn’t know what he was talking about, he didn’t love her. He’d lost it through lack of sleep, that had to be the reason he was spouting nonsense like that.
She’d gripped the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white, focusing solely on getting home in one piece, but she could feel Tony’s eyes on her when he wasn’t looking around at the other cars. She knew what he was thinking, because she had felt it too; they were being watched or followed or something.
She just wanted to forget about the calls and her sudden bout of paranoia and this sudden admission from a guy she’d known two weeks. She didn’t quite know how to respond to him, and Tony seemed quite happy to drive along in silence, but for Kate it wasn’t what she wanted. She didn’t want to conceal any part of herself from this man, cause she truly believed he did love her, and she badly wanted to love him back.
She knew she was a complicated mess, more so now than she had been fifteen years ago, but it all seemed to have culminated to this point where she realised that perhaps, maybe possibly, she loved him too. They’d faced each other at the same time and the shine Kate could see in Tony’s eyes made her own admission worthwhile.
They stopped briefly to pick up a bottle of wine and when they finally got back home, the first thing Tony done was wrap his arms around Kate and tell her, again, he loved her and then dragged her inside so he could inform Walter just how happy she‘d made him. Walter didn’t have to say anything, the look on his face told Kate just how pleased he was for them, that Tony had finally met his match.
As she dragged Tony away, she heard Walter call her back and she turned to see him standing with an envelope in his hand. She hadn’t been expecting any deliveries and if it had been regular mail it surely would’ve been in her box so she was a tad hesitant about accepting it. Looking it over, it was clear it had been hand delivered, but she could think for the life of her who would be sending her anything; certainly not Jethro, or any of her family. Unless he had gotten a hold of her address, as well as her phone numbers, and was now sending her something to remind her of their time together in Paris.
She spied Walter watching her and gave him a smile, turning back to Tony who was waiting by the elevators and obviously itching to get upstairs if the way he was tapping his fingers against the wine bottle in his hand was any clue. He could be such a child sometimes, but that didn’t stop her from enjoying the time she spent with him; he made her laugh and smile, even if he did have the habit of leaving wet towels on the bed and the lid off the peanut butter. None of it mattered, however, when he made up for his misdemeanours in a variety of surprising ways.
In the elevator, Kate took up her stance of leaning against Tony while he wrapped his arms around her shoulders. She kept turning the envelope over in her hands, trying to work out what could be inside, but the only thing she could tell was that whatever it was, it was soft, but that may have just been the padding.
“Hey, when’s this party you were talking about, by the way?”
“Oh, uh May twenty-third. Why?”
“You looking for a plus one?”
“Sure, if you behave.”
Kate’s curiosity got the better of her, as it was known to do, and she couldn’t resist the temptation of finding out what had been sent to her. She tore the top open as Tony looked over her shoulder, but all either could see inside was what looked to be a stack of paper and a piece of fabric. When Kate pulled the cloth out, she dropped the envelope, spilling out a pile of photographs and near enough fell to her knees.
“Oh my god.”
“Kate?”
Tony could feel her shaking against him as she fingered the red silk negligee in her hands and he wondered how a tiny piece of clothing could get her so worked up.
“This…this is mine. It was a gift.”
“How can you tell? There must be millions floating around.”
“I had to do a little repair work on it; the strap was broken and I sewed it back on.”
“Kate, what are you trying to say? That someone’s been in your apartment?”
She looked over her shoulder at Tony, eyes wide when she realised what he’d said and especially after everything that had been happening, knew it was entirely possible. She didn’t know why, but her mind kept drifting back to him and his games and Paris, since it was he who had given her the negligee in the first place.
“Ari…”
“Your ex from Paris?”
“This is the kinda thing he does; he plays games and screws with peoples minds. He gave this to me.”
She held up the negligee before letting it drop to lie with the forgotten envelope and unseen photographs.
“Okay…we’re going to get upstairs and the first thing we’re going to do is call Detective Fornell. If it is this Ari, then they’ll stop him.”
“And if it’s not, Tony? What if it‘s someone else, but I‘m thinking it‘s Ari because I know how he is?”
Her voice was little more than a whisper and because there was nothing Tony could say to that, he wrapped his arms around her tightly and let her breakdown. He’d seen it coming since earlier that day but didn’t know when or where it would finally hit her. If it was this Ari guy, it certainly explained some of Kate’s behaviour, and if it wasn’t, then they had really pissed someone off or they were just plain unlucky.
When the elevator stopped, he let Kate go and she headed towards her door with the wine while he bent down to pick up the envelope and it’s spilled contents. He thumbed through the photographs one by one, all of them black and white surveillance images featuring Kate either alone or with someone. He didn’t like how the calls had quickly escalated into something more in less than a day, but it was the last photo in the pile that sent the shiver down his spine.
It was a color image of Kate, taken while she’d been at work that day, judging by the outfit she was wearing. Her face had been scratched out and across the middle, in barely legible writing, was the first solid proof of a threat; whether it was against himself, Kate or both of them Tony didn‘t really want to know, but for now he‘d take it as against both.
I’m always watching you.

“The sad truth is most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.” - Hannah Arendt

Kate was looking decidedly queasy in Jeanne’s eyes, more so since her apartment had been broken into earlier in the week, that would shake anyone up. Office gossip was that Tony had originally been hired to install a security system, but had been otherwise engaged with getting Kate in the sack and had apparently moved in with her. Jeanne took everything that was said with a pinch of salt, but knew there was some truth in it; Kate was an attractive woman, it wouldn’t have taken her much to get Tony to drop his tools.
Or his pants.
Jeanne wouldn’t let herself worry about Kate, but she had begun to wonder if perhaps everything was finally beginning to get on top of her; it wasn’t easy moving to a new city, starting a relationship and getting stalked at the same time. It was a situation she wouldn’t wish on her worst enemy, but since Kate was already her worst enemy the thought seemed pretty redundant.
It wasn’t that she disliked Kate, she absolutely hated her. Jeanne only wanted her to see that she should never have gone anywhere near her man. Tony was simply taking some time from their relationship to get his head together before they got married; he may have been living a bachelor lifestyle, but that didn’t entitle the tramps of DC to sink their claws into him and take their pound of flesh.
Jeanne wasn’t stupid, she knew Tony had been with other women in his time away from her, but he’d never once flaunted it. At most, those women were a drunken fumble in the alley behind a club, but he seemed different with Kate. The thought that he may actually decide to leave her, his fiancée, for that two-bit whore upset her greatly.
Her desk was angled so she could clearly see Kate when the door was open, and Jeanne had been watching her all morning, before Kate had shut the door while she spoke with Jethro and it remained that way all afternoon, waiting for a sign to show she was unravelling at the edges but it just wasn’t showing. Jeanne was a patient woman and it wouldn’t be until she backed off would Jeanne put an end to it all. When it had first started, she had merely set out to scare Kate enough that she would leave Tony alone, but this break in was so much better than anything she had originally planned.
When the elevator announced it’s arrival and a man and woman in matching trench coats stepped off, Jeanne began sweating. She’d seen him once before, outside Kate’s as she’d driven past and had later been informed by Charlie that he was Detective Tobias Charles Fornell, currently investigating Kate‘s stalking.
The way he and his partner had looked at her before silently conversing meant that she had screwed up somewhere along the way and they were on to her. She’d been so sure she’d covered her tracks, made sure her numbers were withheld; perhaps she’d been too careless when the phone started going to the answering machine. But it might not have anything to do with her personally, they may have another reason for looking at her like that.
She was spending way too much time around Charlie, whose middle name was Paranoid.
As they approached her desk, Jeanne tried to calm her racing heart and act casual. When they stood in front of her desk and pulled out their badges, the female eyed her warily and Jeanne knew the jig was up.
“Detectives Fornell and David, we’re here to see Kate Todd.”
“Certainly. I’ll just call through and let her know you’re here.”
***
Kate was getting restless as well as already being nervous as hell.
Work used to provide a sanctuary until the phone calls had started there, and although there had been no calls placed to her office since Wednesday she still couldn’t get comfortable, let alone concentrate on work especially since Vance was scheduled for a meeting with Jethro that afternoon. The only phone call she wanted to receive was from Fornell, telling her they had evidence or a suspect, or something to eradicate the fear that she was being watched while she sat at her desk.
In the two days since the break in, Detective Fornell had been amazingly accommodating, easing the majority of her and Tony’s worries and had doubled his efforts to bring the situation to an end now that Kate’d had her home invaded.
On Wednesday he’d brought along his partner, Detective Ziva David who was working on tracking down the names on the list of possible suspects, when he’d been called to the crime scene, as well as a forensic team to gather any potential evidence.
While Kate had been doing a thorough check of her home, with David by her side, Tony had been in the kitchen with Fornell and was trying to put a date to the photos laid out before them on the table; since there was only a small handful he was in made the task more difficult. He couldn’t fathom the amount of single shots of Kate there where in such a short amount of time, not to mention the amount of time he and Kate spent apart from each other even though it seemed they were constantly joined at the hip; two weeks really wasn’t much time when it was laid out like that.
Kate had eventually returned to the kitchen where she had her first proper look at the photos she’d been sent. The ten shots in which she was alone and either shopping or running, she could date to being from the previous week; the five of her with Jethro could’ve been from Saturday or Sunday of either week and the nine shots where Tony was featured had obviously been taken over the two weeks they’d been together. It was the last photo of her at work she really couldn’t understand.
And it was that one which ultimately ruled Ari from the list in Kate’s mind.
When a gloved technician arrived to take their fingerprints, Kate had baulked at the suggestion, stating that her fingerprints were already all over her home. She’d calmly been told that it was to rule her and Tony out from the unidentifiable prints they recovered, if there were any, and so she gave in and was left with black fingertips and an almost ruined manicure.
It was that and the obvious lack of forced entry which prompted Kate to decant downstairs to Tony’s apartment once everyone had left.
The details she was aware of were that there was no sign of forced entry, suggesting someone had a key or they picked the lock, and that Walter could possibly be an eyewitness. She wouldn’t know about the call log, the fingerprints or the security tapes until they’d all be reviewed and analysed. In other words, she was in for a wait which she was hoped would be ending today.
When the phone on her desk rang, Kate grabbed at it hoping it was Fornell on the other end, but her hopes were dashed when she realised it was Jeanne. When she was told that Fornell and his partner were there to see her, her heart started beating double time; there was only one reason the cops would show up in person to tell her what they’d found. Within seconds she was opening her door and greeting the two detectives as they entered her office.
***
One of the first things Kate had done was phone Tony, telling him the minimum amount of information and he’d insisted on coming down to the office which was fine by her, then she crossed the hall to Jethro’s office and asked him to join her in the hallway. When they stepped out, Fornell and David had just left Kate’s office and were currently speaking to Jeanne, who didn’t look at all surprised about the situation. Jethro looked at Kate who merely shrugged her shoulders.
“She’s been making the phone calls.”
He slipped his hand into hers and gave her fingers as squeeze as she walked to Jeanne’s desk so she could finally confront her silent caller. Abby joined them silently, wanting to see the person who had made her friends life a misery for the past few weeks. It hadn’t taken long for she and Kate to form a special bond in the length of time they’d known each other, and Abby felt that anything that hurt Kate, hurt her too.
There’s was no time for Jeanne to gather her purse or wipe the almost smug look off her face as her rights were read and the handcuffs were put on her wrists, something, it seemed to Jethro, David seemed to enjoy doing a lot. He supposed slapping the cuffs on any criminal would bring about some self-satisfaction.
As Jeanne walked out from behind her desk, Jethro’s hand tightened on Kate’s and Abby took a step forward only to have Jethro’s arm stop her from beating the hell out of the woman before her. Kate looked at Jeanne and could only feel sorry for her; the woman must live a small life it the only satisfaction she got was from harassing people the way she did.
“Your personal items will be packed up and will be sent to you. I just have one question, Jeanne; why?”
“You wouldn’t understand if I told you.”
As she was led towards the elevator, it opened and Tony stepped out, his eyes widening almost comically as he realised what it was Kate had been keeping from him over the phone. He stumbled over to the small group in shock and instantly wrapped his arms around Kate, needing the support more than her at that minute in time.
Abby and Jethro went back to work while Kate and Tony entered her office. She was shaking and she didn’t know why. Maybe it was the fact that the person who had been harassing her had been sat a few feet away from her on a daily basis. It still didn’t explain who had broken into the penthouse though, but for now she was just glad she didn‘t have to be afraid of the telephone anymore.
Jethro came in with two glasses of bourbon and left again to start making preparations for a new assistant. Kate had just settled herself against Tony on the couch, glass in hand, when the cell phone on her hip rang, number withheld. At first she didn’t want to answer it after everything, but with Jeanne with the police she didn’t have to fear her silent stalker anymore.
“Hello?”
“They got the wrong person, girlie girl.”
***
Her bail money had been paid and there was a car waiting outside to collect her. An officer had escorted her out, made sure she was aware of her conditions, and released her back to civilisation until the court hearing. Now she had a black mark against her name, a criminal charge, Jeanne felt strange; it was oddly empowering for someone who had stayed on the clean side of the law all her life.
There was a cell phone lying on the backseat waiting for her, which she was thankful for since her belongings had been left in the office and would now be waiting in a box ready to send to her home. She would be blaming her egocentric ways on the stupid mistake she had made one of the few times she had called Kate; if she had only used the phone designated for such a game instead of her personal cell phone, none of this would have happened.
The phone in her hand contained only three numbers in the phonebook. The numbers of the three she knew would follow her rules and hers alone while they worked for her. It was in their unwritten contract that they each follow the rules of whoever’s game they played. She’d done it while they’d had their turns, and now it was Jeanne’s roll of the dice.
“Charlie, it’s Jeanne. I’m guessing you’ve been informed of recent events? Good. You know, if she wasn’t such a bitch, I’d almost feel sorry for her. But as it stands now, I can’t wait to play with her.”

How To Lose Friends And Alienate People

“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill

He stood in the corner watching as she moved effortlessly through the crowds, pausing occasionally to speak with someone. He hadn’t seen her look quite so radiant before, with her hair in loose ringlets and a dress that was a cut above daring; she looked as if she most definitely belonged in this atmosphere with these people, and if he were blunt, she did belong. He was the one who did not, judging by the way Morrow and Gibbs had reacted to his presence by her side.
Of course he’d met Gibbs briefly in passing, when he’d learned of Jeanne’s antics. No introductions had been made that day, and nothing had occurred since then until the party, but he thought the least the man could do was to be civil. He’d been dodging Gibbs all night, because he had a feeling if he was cornered, the man with the eyes of steel, as he was calling them, would either beat him to a pulp for taking his girl from him or give him the “if you hurt her, so help me God…” lecture which he could do without; he already had that once before and it done that relationship the world of good.
Tony couldn’t work out why he’d offered to be her plus one, since Kate seemed to be doing a marvellous job on her own. Perhaps it had been his own insecurity rearing it’s head again, or that he wanted to show her that he planned to be more in her life than just the person to fool around with when she needed something more than what a pint of Ben and Jerry’s offered.
Whatever the reason, he was glad he did choose to attend because not only did he get to see his girlfriend, or lover or whatever she was, in her element, he also got to see the tattoo on her body that he loved staring at so much in the mornings.
It was his most cherished part of Kate Todd, amongst other things.
With Kate out there mingling, Gibbs somewhere other than where he was and the brunette and redhead duo at the bar who seemed to be eyeing him up for a feast, Tony had time for some wool-gathering. He could drift back as far as his mind would let him, or he could focus on more recent events, whatever he chose; just as long as the champagne glass he held remained full by the end, it was all good.
The first thing that came to mind was Kate, naturally. Since Jeanne’s arrest, and the first few days afterwards, she’d become slightly distant and quiet. The time she didn’t spend out at work, she spent in her office. Even after he’d gotten off his ass and not only finished installing her security system but upgraded it too, Kate seemed insecure. He’d try talking to her, listening to her but none of that was doing him any good when she wasn’t talking or listening in return. He had, at one stage, considered calling Abby but not really knowing why he chose to go down that path. He had thought that maybe speaking with another girl would maybe soften Kate up a little, particularly if she was close to her, which by all accounts Kate was.
In the end, all it took was a little eavesdropping on his behalf and a little trust on Kate’s. Plus a lot of interference from one Detective Fornell. Tony didn’t understand why past lovers always came back to bite them in the ass. First it was his, then it was hers.
Both of hers.
He’d woken in the middle of the night, surprised not to see her next to him. He ran his hand over the mattress, which was frozen, suggesting she’d been up for a while. He’d gotten out of bed and went out into the hall to look over the balcony to see if she was downstairs, and that’s when he heard her voice coming from the den. When he’d convinced himself that going upstairs to stand outside the door and listen to her side of whatever conversation she was having was in their best interests as a couple, she was already halfway to ending the call. And that’s when the name jumped out; Ari.
The rest of the conversation was inconsequential, all Tony knew at the time was that she was talking to her ex at god knows what time of the morning, while he stood in the freezing hallway in his boxers. When he heard her sigh and tell him to come in, he realised Kate was about to tell him a few things; and she started with the fact that Fornell had given her, at her request, Ari’s location and telephone number. She seemed almost dumbstruck by the fact Ari had not only achieved his dream of being Paris’ top rated and most sought after cardiovascular surgeon, but he was also married with two children and a third on the way.
Overall, she was proud of him for getting to where he wanted to be.
When Tony had the chance to look in her eyes, he could see the weight had been lifted and realised that all these days, she’d been wanting closure on that part of her life after it had been dragged up again against her will, and it seemed she’d got it.
They’d coped well over the four weeks since, more determined not to let anything stand in the way of their blossoming relationship. Kate had eventually come to realise that she needed to talk more instead of holding it all in, and as it turned out, Tony was one hell of a listener.
When he refocused on the present, he realised Kate and her tattoo had vanished from sight. He scanned the room, searching for the bare backed female in the emerald green dress with the tribal phoenix tattoo centred between her shoulder blades and couldn‘t see her anywhere. At the same time, he realised the brunette who had been eyeing him up from the bar was headed his way.
****
Kate could tell by the way Tony had suddenly become very focused on a particle of dust floating by that he had zoned out. She had warned him, seconds before they entered the house, as she fixed his tie while they stood on the stairs, he may very well be bored if she had to mingle with colleagues and all that jazz, but boy was he persistent. When she had finally stepped away from Hollis Mann, director of photography at Moda Vida Magazine, Tony was well into his daydream and Kate left him to it. The room was overcrowded anyway and she needed the fresh air.
Stepping through the French doors, Kate walked round the garden, admiring the rose bushes and magnolias, before eventually coming to the pool house. Even this building hadn’t escaped the fairy lights that seemed to be springing up everywhere throughout Morrow’s property, it was however, the only building that didn‘t have any have naked demi-gods with serving trays of champagne filled glasses. She’d given herself an allowance that night, and decided that if she was going to party, she was going down with the best of the them, to hell with the hangover she’d likely suffer in the morning.
Perhaps she’d blame her little binge session, and the full glass of champagne she currently held, on the absolute bastard that was Jethro Gibbs. And sometimes, she thought that perhaps that name was a little too good for him.
He had to go and make an ass of not only himself, but of her as well. He had to go and make a mockery of Tony’s job, of his age, and if he’d had the chance ask him what it was he seen in Kate or why it was Tony's ex-fiancée who’d been harassing them. Why he couldn’t just let the whole situation go and be happy for her like he said he would? It was never like Jethro to break a promise, and it certainly wasn’t like him to lie to her, but perhaps he hadn’t been entirely truthful when he’d said he was happy if she was happy. And it didn’t exactly help matters that Jen had returned specifically for this occasion.
Life was getting harder to live the longer she spent in Washington. Things were so much easier when there was no Tony, no Jen or Jeanne and Jethro wasn’t jealous. But no Tony meant a happy but not quite ecstatic Kate, so it couldn’t be all bad.
She was digressing, which seemed to be a recurring theme in her life these days.
Jethro Gibbs was an arrogant, self centred, antagonizing bastard who these days was making her life unbearable. That was the point she was trying to get across to herself and so far, with a little help of alcohol, it was working.
Maybe that was the problem. He’d certainly been at the party longer than her, so he had more time to do the rounds of the bar and get his mood to below despicable with the help of him more than likely seeing Jen, and he’d decided that after all he’d said he was just going to tell the plain truth.
She hated it, and him and the whole situation.
Having wandered round the pool a few times, and running things through in her head, Kate decided it was time to find Tony and pull him out of the potential trouble he may have gotten himself into in her absence.
The temperature had dropped several degrees in the time she’d spent in the pool house and Kate wanted nothing more than to be at home in her fleecy pyjamas, with Tony on the couch but she was required to spend at least one more hour making sure she met everyone she needed to, before she was allowed that pleasure. Before she could even get anywhere near the patio stairs, someone caught her arm and dragged her off to a bench nearby. She didn’t even bother attempting to scream, because there was only one man she knew of who could manage to smell of sawdust and coffee despite not having been near either all night.
Not a word passed between them as they sat down and Jethro wrapped his jacket around her shoulders. He sat as close as he could without sitting in her lap, in the hopes of transferring some heat to her body; as magnificent as she looked, the dress was not designed to keep her warm. Hell, it barely managed to contain the lithe, supple body she hid under the power mad suits she generally wore to work.
“Maybe I’ll get myself a little young thing.”
Kate cast a look in Jethro’s direction, wondering where he was heading with his comment. It was as if since Tony had arrived on the scene, Jethro had been on a steady road to a mid-life crisis; his comment prompted Kate to start looking for signs of one in the future.
“You know this was all for you of course, don’t you? This house, the cushy lifestyle.“
“Excuse me?”
“Kate, I’m not the only one who sees you. Tom does too. He told me, a few years ago, that if we hadn‘t been involved he‘d have snapped you up quick smart. Tonight he realised that you weren‘t with me after all and proceeded to inform me that it was a damn shame you weren‘t.”
“Quit it.”
“He thinks we’re well suited.”
Kate stood abruptly and started pacing the ground in front of Jethro. He had to lay this crap on her, on top of everything else, didn’t he. There was no way Tom had ever felt anything more than fatherly affection toward her, although she’d once thought the same of Jethro and this is where it had led them.
“I know what you’re doing.”
“Drowning my sorrows due to the fact that there’s more than one man here who wants what he can’t have and the fact there’s a boy who has exactly what it is that we want.”
“If you don’t stop with the bitching and your complete and utter bastardly ways, Jethro, you’re going to lose me for good. Is that what you want?”
“Kate…I don’t know what I want.”
“Yes, you do. And I believe there’s a redhead in there who, despite my better judgement, has exactly that.”
“I don’t want Jen.”
“Don’t lie to me. You know you do and you’re going to have to settle for her or someone else, because believe it or not, you can’t have me anymore and no amount of self pity is going to have me running to you.”
Thrusting her glass at him and shrugging off his jacket, Kate turned and headed back towards the house, leaving Jethro alone to think about all the things she’d said and not daring to look back at his face for fear she may just do exactly what she said she wouldn’t.
As Jethro watched her walk away as fast as those damn killer heels could carry her, he realised, again, he’d lost his best friend and most likely wouldn’t get her back this time.

Nothing But Trouble

“Show me a way to belong to the present by reaching into the past” - Nick Bantock

Jen Shepard made her way through the lessening crowd in time to see Kate Todd storm in from the garden with a slightly drunken Jethro Gibbs hot on her tail and grab her by the elbow, leading her over to a quieter corner.
From where she was, and the noise around her, Jen couldn’t quite make out what they were discussing, but from their actions she could tell it wasn’t pleasant, and knew she was involved somehow from the way Kate continually looked in her direction.
Ignoring the disputing couple and scanning the room, Jen caught sight of her assistant Katja and the younger guy they’d both been eyeing up from the bar earlier. If she’d had any of the confidence she did when she was younger, Jen would’ve been first off the bat and straight in there, but Katja was younger and far more willing to flirt with anything with a pulse; that wasn’t Jen anymore.
She’d make it a point to say that Jethro Gibbs had ruined her for any other man out there.
He’d been on her mind quite a lot since they’d met again all those weeks ago, and she was starting to realise she regretted the way things had ended between them. Maybe he’d been her last chance at a happily ever after, even if he was still a stranger to her.
Once again, Jethro caught her attention, and Jen watched as Kate headed over toward Katja and her quest with more than anger in her eyes; in the few minutes she’d spent with Kate that day back in April, she noticed Kate expressed everything with her eyes when she couldn’t allow her emotions on her face. A trait picked up from Gibbs, which was hardly surprising, if she were to believe the rumors she’d heard since she’d been at Morrow’s.
At least if they were talking about Kate and Jethro, they weren’t talking about her.
***
It was time to go.
She’d had enough of Jethro and more than enough champagne to last a life time; she had to get out of there before she said or done something she would severely regret. Kate’s only hope was that in the morning, she could go to work and forget about the scene she and Jethro had almost caused, which she knew hadn’t gone unnoticed by Jen. The woman had eyes like a hawk.
With the room beginning to swim and the effects of the alcohol seriously kicking in, Kate made her way over to the corner Tony had found himself trapped in with a flirtatious brunette, and a sudden feeling in her stomach hit her and started spreading outwards. She quickly established the feeling as jealousy, something she’d never felt before in any of her prior relationships, but she wasn‘t about to let it get to her.
But when the brunette put her hand on Tony’s chest, Kate felt the claws come out.
The thing about Kate was that she had never been a violent person, having always preferred to lash out with her tongue instead, and she couldn‘t quite work out why she was suddenly visualising herself having a catfight with this girl, who couldn’t honestly be more than twelve, who had her paws all over her man.
There had been one occasion in high school, however, but Poppy Jones had it coming to her and had provoked Kate in the first place, so it was really her own fault. Even if it had meant Kate getting suspended for a week or two.
All high school bitchery and fighting aside, the second she was close enough and was able to see Tony was about to freak out, Kate put a protective and possessive hand on his chest, effectively pushing the child away.
“Hi, baby. Who’s your friend?”
Tony had to bite his tongue at Kate’s use of the word “baby”; she rarely called him anything but his name unless she wanted something or was tired and it just happened to slip out. And the sickly sweet manner in which she had said it, told him she knew exactly what the girl in front of them was up to.
“Katie, this is Katja. Katja, this is my girlfriend, Kate.”
“I work with Jen Shepard in Paris.”
“That’s nice.”
Kate gave Katja the once over, smirked slightly and turned her attention to Tony, who had slowly been tracing the outline of her tattoo before he began tapping a rhythm on her hip with his fingertips; he wanted to get far away from this girl before Kate jumped her and clawed her eyes out. Not that he was against seeing a bit of girl on girl, especially if the winner was his girl.
“Honey, it’s getting late and we both have an early start tomorrow.”
Tony looked into Kate’s eyes and noted she was just as eager to get away, but also that there was rage and desire dancing in her pupils. Oh yeah, she wanted to get away all right, and Tony knew she just wanted to stamp her mark on him as a reminder of who really had their claws in him.
He couldn’t wait.
“Katja, it was nice meeting you, but I‘m afraid we have to go. Say goodbye, Tony”
“Goodbye, Tony.”
Tony gave Katja his best “what can I say, she’s possessive” smile as Kate led him away, leaving the girl alone in the emptying room. She watched them as they walked away; Tony leaning down to whisper something in Kate’s ear and her hand creeping under his suit jacket to caress his back at the same time as Tony’s hand came down from her hip to grab her ass. Katja merely sighed, and looked around for another potential guy. Some women had all the luck and she figured Kate to be the luckiest she’d met so far.
With that thought in mind, Katja turned back towards the bar to get another drink, and to also chat up the bartender who wasn’t all that bad looking. If she had another drink or two that is. He’d been trying lines on her all evening she’d been standing at the bar with Jen, and the only thing he got out of her was her name and she got his name, Charlie, in return.
Few more drinks in her system, Charlie might just be in luck.
***
“They make a good couple.”
Jethro snorted into his glass and finished the remainder of his bourbon; it was just like Jen to sneak up on him unaware and share her thoughts, whether he wanted them or not. She was one of the few in his life who could get past his defences and try to make him see sense. This time he wouldn’t let that happen since he didn’t entirely trust the guy Kate was with.
“If you say so.”
Jen came up by his side, handing him a glass of water. His erratic behaviour earlier obviously had to do with his alcohol intake and she wanted him to start clearing his head if there was to be any form of coherent conversation with him.
“Stop being jealous, Jethro; it’s not a good look on you.”
“It has nothing to do with jealousy, Jen, I just don’t get what she sees in him.”
“The same could be said about you and I. People don’t know what I see in you either.”
He caught her mistake, she was talking as if they were still together and maybe they should have been. It’d save a lot of heartache on everyone’s side.
“Kate believes I should still be with you. That I should give up any chance of being with her when it’s quite obvious I’m still attracted to you. Maybe she’s right.”
“Maybe she is.”
***
Kate had led him away from the main room and down the hall to what she assumed was the sitting room. It was quiet and tastefully decorated; to Tom’s standard of living at least. She had always known him to be an extravagant and elegant man, but sometimes there was only so much of that elegance she could take.
Her wish of being alone with Tony had been partially granted now, and Kate threw herself down none too gently on the overstuffed armchair and sunk into the cushions. She’d been on her feet too long in heels that weren’t exactly comfortable.
Tony came round in front of her and sat down on the edge of the low coffee table by the chair, placing his hands on her knees to balance himself. He was exhausted, which was unusual for him, since he was used to partying till the wee small hours of the morning and the time was only two in the morning.
“You know, I bet there’s a lot of empty rooms in this place just waiting for someone to use them.”
Kate leaned forward to unfasten her devilishly high heels and Tony’s hands pushed the material of her skirt further up her legs until his fingertips were just touching her upper thigh. She wouldn’t deny the sudden urge she felt to find a private room somewhere so they could truly be alone; the slightest touch from him cast her senses astray. He was the bad boy to her good girl image and he caused nothing but trouble in her life, but he also made her come alive in a way she’d never felt before too. He was worth every bit.
“Wanna go exploring, Tony?”
“As long as there’s a lockable door wherever we go, then yeah.”