High Card Bluff (House of Car...

Adri had thought that Catwalk would help shift some of the focus off of her and put it onto Honey's fashion line, but somehow it had only served to put even more attention onto her and that damn video. On the plus side, she'd definitely gotten a lot of work offers after all the free publicity, but on the downside at least half those job offers were against her usual contract terms.

For the first time since she was sixteen, Adri let her parents act like her agents and focused on trying to figure out what to do next. Of course, with her family and loved ones, it was never as simple and straight forwards as 'get over it and move on.' Honey and the James' all insisted that Adri hand over the list of people trying to violate her contract terms to the lawyer, and her parents didn't hesitate to do just that, so Adri figured in for a petty penny, in for a righteous pound; she told the lawyer about everything that had happened to her, by whom, and what she could recall doing in return. There wasn't anything Ms. Sawyer could do about the past incidents yet, but it'd felt a little freeing to tell someone who didn't immediately ask her why she hadn't told anyone at the time.

For a while now Adri had been trying to figure out what to do with her future, and it felt like the universe had conspired to suddenly force her hand. If she wanted to walk away from modelling 'for a while', right now she could and it wouldn't hurt her reputation at all. She'd enjoyed parts of teaching other models, but the whole experience was tainted by Desmond, and she had no desire to take over his role as show host. She had one year left to finish her Bachelors and after that Adri could either go for a Doctorate, or pursue life outside of school. Normally at the midpoint of summer, Adri would already have a booked solid schedule for modelling, and have already determined the courses for the next year. Regardless of the shit show her life had become, Adri was determined to keep her school life as tidy as possible. so she took the week, and weekend, after Catwalk to just focus on deciding her course load for her last year.

It gave her the time to simply settle and try to recover from the rapid upheavals her life had taken this summer. It also gave her and Tom a chance to catch his parents up on what had happened at all the parties this far, and what they'd been able to find out. Their tracker may only give off location information every ten minutes, but that information was a goldmine of where he had been, and who he could have been meeting.

"There's something that's been bothering me about the whole thing," Tom scowled, clearly not happy to have little to go on, "it all feels somehow a little... familiar. The whole, no new business after midnight, the way they engage in business, all of it. But it's still unpredictable."

Adri could understand his frustration, trying to explain something she didn't fully, confidently know could leave her sharp; it often left her brother silent. Tom seemed determined to go ahead even with only instincts to lead him. "Add to that, the implication that Jerred and his goons are watching me and both Tom and I think it's time to hand every bit of information we have over to the hiring body."

"Si," Maya didn't hesitate to agree, and maybe it was because Maya had never treated Adri as fragile, but her concern didn't feel condescending.

"It's easy enough to tell Leanne that I'm taking some time off socializing after the Catwalk, but they'll still be expecting you at some of these rallies," Adri decided to try and work on some of the issues they could resolve.

"I already have a text indicating that there is business this weekend, and that Jerred doesn't want me to miss out." Tom put the text in reference on the table. "We worked so hard to get in, now we're reaping the rewards of our labor."

"Be careful what you wish for?" Dri felt her lips curling smirk

"Brat." Tom said it like he would Reinita and Adri was glad for her model is composure. "Take the Jeep." Carlitos ignored their flirting and kept the discussion professional.

"Can you look into someone for me? I think he's the guy who put the card under my door as a heads up to the tracker. Shawn Moore, he keeps interfering, but in ways that end up in our favor," Tom's comment surprised Adri.

"Sharon's man? If you suspect him you should look into her too," Adri didn't doubt Tom's suspicions. She liked Sharon, but that didn't mean both of them couldn't be suspicious.

"Good plan, I'll get the search on those two going, and contact the hiring party," Maya was technically the boss of this project. "You two, try to stay out of trouble until we get more details."

It really should have felt like the jinx it turned out to be. Everyone was on high alert, but no one knew what for, or when it would happen. Just an endless, fatiguing sense of the Sword of Damocles dangling. So when Tom had to drive out to get the Jeep before his weekend business, Adri went with him; neither one wanting to leave her in the apartment alone. It was probably the misplaced sense of security that left them feeling safe as they headed out to get the armored Jeep, because they never made it to their destination

As Jerred had promised, as soon as all the public attention had faded off of Adri, those who had their eyes on them made their move. Tom turned the Supra towards the Guerrero lot and like the past repeating itself, a truck manned into them deliberately along the way.

The safety features of the car did their best to minimize the damage, and adrenaline insured that Adri experienced the whole thing in disjointed array of sensations.

The suffocating press of the seatbelt locked across her chest as inertia tried to throw her forwards even as the assault truck's momentum tried to punch her to the side. The hideous shriek of metal twisting and tearing, even as the brakes squealed and a deeper rattle shook through her. Tomas grunted next to her and the airbags popped any other sound away even as a strange powder filled the car. It was only seconds but felt like a lifetime before everything stopped moving.

"Go, get out and run," Tomas rasped out, his words driving her into action.

His side was crumpled in; the glass a mess of spider webs but not tearing them apart. Adri rushed to uncap her seat belt, relieved that it hadn't jammed and unlocked her door with a shaky hand. She could see someone coming around the back of the car to get her but Adri did like Tom said and took off running.

Her head was spinning, she could feel her equilibrium tilt, and she was unfortunately wearing high heels because after getting the Jeep they were supposed to go on a date. And even as her ears were ringing she could hear the footsteps running after her and the sound of that damned truck backing up to come in pursuit, and to her horror she could hear them drag Tom out of the car but she didn't dare to look back.

She ran, and even aa Adrianna ran she knew that whomever was after them was going to catch her. She was in great shape and could do anything even in heels, but she couldn't outrun a car.

In her left hand she had her phone in emergency mode and was frantically pressing the button that would auto call the cops. Like running, Adri knew they won't be arriving in time to save her, but Adri had long ago programmed her phone to not just call 911 in emergencies. Everyone in the families got an alert; her parents, Tom's parents, the James', even Nate, Grace and of course Tom.

They may not be saved from this, but at least this gave them a chance to be rescued.

Adri was still outrunning the people on foot, but that truck sounded far too close and she was lucky they seemed to want her alive or else they could have simply ran her over.

Instead the truck pulled ahead of her and halted, men spilling out. She scanned the faces quickly and was almost not surprised to find that the asshole William was a part of the group. They were visibly armed or not alone as Adri heard another vehicle brake behind her. And even though she knew it would do no good, Adri couldn't help but look at the new arrival.

As expected, Jerred's eye catching sports car had made its appearance, and the man had not come alone. He drove, but being driven was someone closer to Carlitos' age and Adri's instincts screamed that this was the scariest motherfucker present. And as soon as he saw Adri looking at him, he smiled with satisfaction.

"Adrianna Vega, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." His Spanish was flawless in the way her father's was telling her it was his native tongue. "You may not recognize me yet, but I can promise you know me. Afte rall, I'm the man behind why you're named in remembrance of a dead woman."

Logan.

Even as her heart hit the floor, Dri kept pressing the emergency button on her phone as discreetly as she could. All the lessons she'd taken to defend herself and Adri knew none of them worked when you were outnumbered and outgunned like this.

And they already had Tomas.

"You'll ride with us, all calm and obedient, and Guerrerito will survive his ride in the truck with my boys. Misbehave, and he'll be the one to pay the price." It was a simple threat, and not one Adri doubted would be followed through on without hesitation.

But that meant Tom was still alive. She could work with that.

So Adri pulled every scrap of her model discipline on and tried to think of all the stories her loved ones had ever told her about their survival days. She didn't want to be taken to a second location, but sadly she knew they'd just kill Tom and take her anyway. The car crash proved that they were willing to get rough as needed.

Logan sat in the back with her, his body language relaxed and at ease; not needing a weapon to force her compliance. Not when it'd get Tomas killed for her to act up.

"Your cell phone please," Logan remained polite, and Adri hand it over without argument.

As expected he tossed it out the window as Jared drove off. The only ray of hope Adri had was that as far as they knew, Jerred hadn't found the tracker on the back of this very car. It only gave a location every ten minutes, but that meant once they got to where they were going she just had to stall for time.

Ten minutes after arriving Maya would know where she is. The moment she knew, everyone of their tribe would know, and then it was a countdown to the Calvary arriving. And if the stories she'd heard growing up were honest, this Logan would probably want to take his time with her.

Not a pleasant prospect.

Instead of freaking out, Adri felt her nerves settle like they would for a job. The drive from the accident site to their intended location was quick, and Adri wasn't surprised to find it was another of those swanky houses Jerred liked to use for parties. Basically anonymous for all its true lack of individuality. She knew it hasn't one they'd been to before but it hadn't taken them longer than fifteen minutes to arrive, so they weren't too far from safer grounds.

From the moment she'd sent off the emergency text, everyone would have scrambled so Adri wanted to believe that her parents were already on the way to rescue her. Even if logic coldly warned that they couldn't be, yet. But at least she could finally see Tom, and how battered he was in comparison.

The truck had rammed his side of the Supra, and it seemed William was the type to hold a grudge, because it looked like Tomas had been pistol whipped at least once. Adri wanted to spit at and slap William and any of the others who could have hurt Tomas, but kept her body language controlled.

"I would love to give you a pair of slaps as payback 'chica', one from me and one from my girl," William sounded oh so frustrated to have to restrain himself, "But Logan says we're not to touch you. Yet."

"I'm going to enjoy crushing your throat with my bare hands," Tom's lip was busted and bleeding, and Adri saw his teeth stained red from the damage inside his mouth.

"Inside," Logan didn't bark or yell, but one simple word brought both Jerred and William in tow quietly.

Adri's heels clacked on the expensive marble floors, and she knew to walk carefully because fancy shoes never had proper grip for some unfathomable reason. It surprised her that the massive entry 'foyer' didn't echo with her heartbeat, as her chest hurt with how rapid her pulse was. Logan walked ahead and sat almost casually on an expensive looking cream-colored couch. And despite her fear, or maybe because of it, Adri couldn't help but get sharp at the entire situation. Just following meekly along felt like willingly walking into the lion's den. Only lions weren't big on rape and murder.

"You know, the decor was a terrible choice, do you know how expensive it is to clean pale Suede? And do you know how many people are going to fall on their asses if that marble gets even a little bit wet?" Adri could almost feel Tom laugh at her, used to both the tone of voice and her unconquerable mouthiness.

Jerred actually did laugh, nodding his head as if he actually did know, "You know Adrianna, in another life, if you weren't the boss's target, you and I would have had a lot fun."

"Sit down." Logan ignored everything that wasn't his own doing, and since no one was currently being hurt, Adri gladly sat next to Tom.

His arm curled around her protectively and Adri was glad to see he wasn't too badly battered so far. Logan smiled, as if this were simply a sweet moment he was watching, "You have no idea how long I've dreamt of finding your fathers, and making them suffer for a very long time before I killed them; but you seem to know the hi온라인카지노게임 there so I suspect you can guess," for the sake of his lackeys, Logan switched to an accented English, and Adri tried to figure out an escape route. Back through the marble foyer was a bad idea, as was going up the grand, sweeping stairs. She'd fall on the one and they'd have ample time to shoot her on the other. Out the back meant taking the time to open, and possibly unlock, the doors but the back yard at least had fancy hedges and statues to provide some cover. Tom was strong, but Adri wasn't certain how fast he was, all his fights with her brother were half-assed mostly. Stalling and waiting for rescue was still the most viable plan, so Adri was going to do her best to get the goddamn villain to monologue. Anything to keep their hands of both her and Tom.

"So how have you been enjoying Canada?" She asked a seemingly useless question but how he answered could tell her a lot.

"I'm used to hotter summers, so the weather has been fairly mild for me since I landed," Logan chatted amicably with her, as if the promise for violence had never occurred. "Though I find this city abysmally boring, so I've quite enjoyed seeing the little shows you put on."

Adri was fairly certain he was referencing both the Catwalk, as well as the whole Desmond debacle, and yet she suspected there was something more. So she trusted her gut. "You came in for Jerred's littler Casino Royale might didn't you?"

Logan threw his head back and laughed; a proud and sarcastic clap at her deduction. Jerred had been showing off that night, and unfortunately both she and Tom had made themselves main attractions. "Your name caught my attention, however Vega is a common last name so I couldn't be sure. But eventually I was certain, so I knew it was only a matter of deciding on what I wanted to do." Now his easy amusement fell away and Logan looked dangerous, "I could have followed you back to your fathers and kept this between us men but then I wouldn't get to make Malcolm and Carlitos mourn for Adrianna Vega twice," he gave a nod and suddenly William and some men grabbed Tom and hauled him away from her, needing all five guys to get Tom tonto a kitchen chair and tying him in place. Jerred kept her in her seat with both of his hands pressing gently on her shoulders, as if afraid to even wrinkle her dress.

The others were allowed to hurt Tom, but had clearly been severely warned against doing any damage to her. She might be able to use that, somehow; for now they had Tom secured in place on a ridiculously modern metal kitchen chair, her lightly trapped on a couch, and the apparent upper hand. If this was how the situation stayed until the Calvary arrived she could endure it.

Especially when Logan sent all but Jerred and William away. "Now I do believe this all started with you owing young Jerred here a strip dance," Logan's smile had lost its friendliness; all the toothy danger of a shark's grin.

As soon as Logan implied what he expected, Tom started to struggle against the bonds violently. Adri held as still as a statue, aware that Jerred was still holding her in place lightly. A distant part of her was just grateful there was no camera for the experience while the rest of her brain was trying to figure out what to do to get out alive.

"Let me make sure Tom is ok first," Adri negotiated as if it were just a job, breathing slightly easier as Jerred lifted his hands off her shoulders.

They'd already taken her purse and tossed her cell phone, in the dress she was wearing for her date she couldn't even hide the joint in her bra with her. She had on killer heels, and the push up bra to match, the little black dress on over top was really just the sprinkles on top of the sundae. Her purse had a lighter, her lipstick and id, and some cash in a roll; nothing to constitute a weapon.

It wasn't like she was a physical threat to anyone in this room but herself.

And as if to prove that point to all the men watching, Adri's sexy but not so practical high heels slipped on the marble and she staggered against Jerred. He caught her and held her tight in an embrace that warned he was choosing to let her go as she pushed to step away.

"Go see your man, while you still can," Jerred warned with malicious glee in his tone, and all the room watched him grab her ass, and no one seemed to see Adri pick Jerred's pocket.

She took the only useful feeling item and kept it carefully curled in her hand, and was glad her social gamble had worked. William and the others were used to reporting to Jerred, not Logan, and all the things they'd taken from Tomas they'd given to their usual 'leader'. That included the pocket knife Tom had earned with the uneven stitches on his leg. The amount of things coming full circle right now was Leaving Adri feeling the urge to roll her eyes and sigh, but she didn't dare. Instead she sat on Tom's lap carefully and hugged herself to him.

"Catch," she could only breath the warning in his ear as she dropped the knife, and almost went limp as she realized he caught it. If they survived this she'd have to ask him if he finally caught her lift, or just had really good reactions. His hands were tied behind the chair, so no one saw the drop.

Now she just had to distract everyone so he could cut himself free. "I'm going to go live up to my name now, brace yourself," she didn't bother whispering, knowing it was vague enough that only someone who knew her as well as Tom did would understand

Brat, Reinita, hell even Persephone all worked right now. Adrianna Spade Vega was the daughter of the Reaper and it may have taken literal decades to reach this point, but she would be ending this tonight. Persephone originally meant bringer of doom after all.

"If you expect me to dance, can I at least get a little music?" Adri could use all the help she could get.

"That's doable, but keep being demanding and I'll tape that mouth shut until I plan to use it," Logan warned and Adri wondered if her nausea showed.

Jerred seemed the most excited by this whole ordeal, the supposed guest of honour for the first part of Adrianna's ordeal of the night. He sat in an equally expensive love seat and almost patted his lap as if to invite her on it. The sound system clicked to life and music quickly throbbed out in a passable beat. If this had been a regular party, and Adri surrounded by friendly strangers, she could have enjoyed the music and dancing at least a little. But there was no ignoring her current context, so Adri had to channel every bit of her model discipline to move her body at all. She knew how to move and make the body look good to a camera, she could dance passably well to anything but polka, and Adri had dressed with every intention of being watched while she stripped tonight; it was truly an injustice that all of it was being wasted on these useless fuck wits.

None of her rage, fear, or desperation showed as Adri spun around and swished, delaying unzipping and stripping off her dress for as long as she dared to. But before Jerred could get impatient and grab her, Adri spotted Tom trying to discreetly cut his ankles free so she had to unzip to keep their attention.

All she could hear at first was her own heartbeat, trying desperately to not look at Tom and give him away, and yet understandably disgusted by looking anywhere else. Her satin and mesh bodysuit on display in the same shade of red as her lipstick; it was enough to have all eyes on her. But unfortunately William turned to taunt Tom and spotted him cutting his other ankle free.

Fuck-shit.

Adri did the only thing she could think of in the situation; she took off her shoes and even as Jerred tuned to stand up and Logan reacted, Adri grabbed her heel and lunged at Jerred. After that it was all physics, momentum, and deadly accuracy.

A part of Adrianna would never forget the feeling of her heel punching into his eye socket, and she wasn't certain if it was sane to be horrified and proud at the time. William and Tom were fighting over the knife as Adri backed away from the very dead Jerred.

Literally killer high heels.

She left one on the floor and one as an adornment, and ran in her newly bare feet across the no longer dangerous marble floor. Logan still seemed determined to hurt her slowly, so she wasn't shot as she ran, but he definitely chased her. Adri passed the staircase's fancy rail and shot her hand out, swinging herself in a tight turn as Logan literally skidded past her due to his loafers. She had seconds of a head start and she intended to use every one of them.

One.

She ran as fast as she could back towards where Tomas was on the ground with William. The smaller man was on the ground, whatever advantage he'd assumed to have gone as Tomas did exactly as he had promised earlier and crushed his throat with his bare hands.

Two.

Dri spotted the knife Tomas had dropped when William had tried to tackle him. It was no machete, but it felt like Archangel Michael's flaming sword as she headed for it.

Three.

She sacrificed the lead her bare feet and nimble tricks had gained her and stooped down to grab the handle of the knife. Logan was right behind her, ignoring Tom and William both as he seemed determined to be the one to handle Adrianna himself.

Four.

It was as she turned to face Logan that Adri realized that for all her luck and agility so far, she still hadn't anticipated one thing. The gun already being in Logan's had as he tackled her to the ground with an earth shattering bang.

Silence.

Not even that stupid, high pitched ringing that movies liked to use to show that the character's hearing had gone out. Just silence, the slowly blooming sense of sickness and pain, and the sight of Logan staggering back upright.

"Stupid bitch, knife versus gun; I win." Logan spat down at her, pulling the small blade out from the inside of his leg like it was nothing and then the blood started to fountain out.

"Femoral artery jackass. I just made you kill yourself," Adrianna panted around the pain in her abdomen, determined not to look down and see if he'd killed her right back.

She'd been shot.

But as Logan toppled to the floor, gun abandoned as he struggled to keep the blood in his body with the pressure of his hand, Adrianna felt satisfied that she'd live out of spite if needed.

"Die Mad pendejo," she saw Tom take Logan's abandoned gun, covering her back as they both expected bad guy reinforcements to come running. So Adrianna ignored the pain and crawled over to where Logan had sprawled, "My Padre carved my name into your belly the same day he took your balls from you. Today you die because you didn't have the good sense to stay forgotten," she pried his bloodied hands from his leg and it took only a short while for blood loss to do the rest.

When the front door finally burst open, the maniacs wielding guns that came through were her family. The cavalry had arrived thirty seconds too late. Adrianna wanted to wave but passed out instead.

Tom was left alive, aware, and mostly unhurt but he prayed to god and offered to trade any and all of the three if necessary for Dri to survive surgery and come through all right.

He remembered the car cash.

He remembered telling Dri to run and trying to do his best to delay the others from going after her.

He remembered William approaching him with a truck full of guys that tazed him, dragged him out of the wreck, and held him for William to hit before he was thrown into the truck and they took off after the brat.

He lost a little time after that, memory fuzzy on the car ride, the description of the house they'd gone into, or of anything except that Adrianna was alive, and his brain had finally put all the pieces together to figure out who the older fuckhead was. A little too late for it to do any good, but at least the sense of familiarity was finally explained.

His father had spared no detail in recounting the tales, including how Logan and his boys had done business back in the day.

It felt surreal to survive kidnapping, mild abuse, potential death, killing a bastard (that probably felt a little too good to be good), and seeing the woman he loved get shot all within an hour window of time. Even for Tom's family. And yet it felt far more surreal to survive all that and then have the door kicked in by his parents and an enraged Reaper. But alongside them were two people he hadn't anticipated. Shawn and Sharon, wearing official bullet proof vests.

Undercover fucking Interpol, and Tom had to give an official statement to them even in a waiting area while Dri went under the knife.

Too many things made sense only now, and Tom felt numb and burned out all at once. He just desperately needed the brat to wake up and be grouchy at him again. He wouldn't survive really, not if she didn't.

Of course, thankfully, a professional somewhere decided to take a look at Tom as well.

He definitely had a concussion, was well into the depths of shock, and if he ignored all of that, he was really hungry. They'd given him something for the pain in his face too, but this time he didn't need stitches.

Once the doctors, and fucking Interpol, were done pestering him, Tom was gladly mobbed by the Tribe. His mother held onto him for dear life while his father's had gripped his shoulder had enough to bruise. Reaper stared at him, silent in a way Tom now understood, the agony of failing to protect the people he loved and the drive to never fail then again. Alice was being smothered by Grace and on either side, and the Wolf was in an identical position as Carlitos but to Malcolm's shoulder.

Sharon and Shawn had disappeared but there were enough officials around that Tom quickly grew tired of answering questions until his mother chased them all away.

Silence again.

Everyone staring at the door as if will power could summon the doctor out with a good prognosis, Instead agonized minutes passed and Tom lost his mind and found the urge to pray to a god he still didn't know was truly real. No one suggested anyone would go home, they would all stay here and wait. One way or the other they would face it all together.

"She came through beautifully. Adrianna is a fighter and once she's up from the anesthetic we can let her family in to see her," The doctor was speaking even before Tomas realized they had arrived.

Tom found himself sitting down and bending over his legs as all the strength left his body. The doctor spoke to Alice and Malcolm but Tom just tuned it out and held his father's hand. His mother rubbed soothing circles on his back like when he was a small child, and now it was Nate crying and Grace try to calm him.

And now the Wolf stood looking at him as if waiting for Tom to tell them what he hadn't told Interpol or the police. "She did everything. Ran when I said to, kept her head enough to alert you all, found a way to lift a knife off one guy while we all watched and only I noticed." She was amazing, "Got the knife to me without them seeing it, and then kept them distracted so I could free myself." They were all accepting of this and Tom still knew he lacked the skills to properly express the immensity of what Dri had done. Just her intelligence, instincts, and sheer self-control, and she had done it all with no training. "When someone did notice my escaping, she used her high heel to kill Jerred," that seemed to stun everyone except Alice and the Wolf, "then got away from Logan while I dealt with William." No one but god needed to know how good it had felt to put that hijo de puta down permanently. "Before I could help Dri was back and grabbed the knife as Logan caught up."

If the bastard hadn't taken his gun out, the brat's improve escape plan would have been flawless. How she'd done it was beyond him, it had never occurred to Tom to use his phone to call for help. His idiot brain.

Waiting for the green light to be able to go in and see Dri was less agonizing than waiting to hear she survived, so it was no surprise that Tom slipped into a post adrenaline dose at some point. Nate woke from up an unknown amount of time later with a gentle tap to his foot. "Our turn, mom and dad just got back." Nate's eyes were swollen and red, bloodshot and sunken into his emotionally ravaged face. He looked like a man that had been killed and brought back to life, but who still remembered the grave.

Tom grunted and got up without speaking, feeling every part of his body twinge and ache. Car crash, Taser, ass kicking, and then he had the audacity to try and sleep in a hospital chair. He'd have been safer on his shitty couch.

Nate let Tom lead the way, both Tom's size and less than friendly appearance worked to clear the way in the exact opposite of how Nate's friendly handsomeness worked. But his best friend's objective good looks were nothing to how beautiful Adrianna was, alive and awake. Her face was pale and pasty, she was plugged in, hooked up, beeping, and carefully swaddled in bandages. And Tom's brain was already off designing the ring. Wade would never let him live it down and Tom did not care.

She was alive.

For once Tom didn't loom over the brat. Instead he held her hand, collapsed to his knees, and silently wept into her uninjured side as she hugged his head gently.

"Hades, King of the Underworld, kneels, weeps, and worries for his Queen," Grace's voice helped Tom shake off the emotions choking him.

"Aren't you supposed to be waiting outside?" Nate asked the less short red head even as he slung an arm over her shoulders.

"They can try to stop me, but no plan is fool proof to a sufficiently talented fool." Grace's irreverence helped settle Tom back and he regained his feet but left his hand to Dri.

"We lived, they died, and now I have a battle scar," the brat sounded drugged but proud and Tom was once again impressed by her sheer determination.

"The Supra's been impounded, and your purse was taken into evidence by Interpol." Tom tried not to cling too hard to her hand, but it would take the jaws of life to pry him loose right now. "Same with your dress and heels." Tom briefly wondered if they should keep those heels like a trophy.

"Fuck-shit. I'll need the purse if nothing else. I'm assuming the hospital cut me out of the body suit?" the more Dri talked, the less dazed she sounded.

"The Doctor will chase us away soon, but it is good to see you unshaken by all of this," Nate looked lost on what to say, emotions barely held in check.

"We'll give you two a couple of minutes," Grace was more astute than she behaved sometimes.

"Are you ok?" Dri demanded of him the moment they were alone.

"You got shot, I got roughed up a little." It wasn't even close to the same. He was glad she weren't beaten, but he'd have much rather have been shot than endure this.

"I didn't see the gun on him so I didn't account for it," she criticized herself like this was a round of poker she'd lost. "And it was a complete surprise to me when Sharon and Shawn showed up."

"It lines up, now that we know the job had originated locally to catch Jerred, but those two were after Logan all along. " That's why Shawn had always stepped in to 'help'. The card under the door to warn him, blocking him in the races, hell even his poker playing all made more sense. And from the brat's comment he was sure it was the same for her now too.

"Sharon always did seem a little vicious." Dri gave a weak smile, as if she hadn't driven a high heel into a man's head.

"Get some rest Reinita," he didn't want to go, but Tom could see the fatigue graying her skin.

"Hey Tom, let's take an actual vacation after this okay? No work." Dri demanded and he would be only too happy to comply.

"Good plan." He gave her a light kiss, his own face hurting after so much emoting.

After that time was a blur of waiting, tears, and getting back on with life like they hadn't almost died. Dri left the hospital quickly and returned to her parents', while Tom went to his father's to finally scrap the Supra. It owed him nothing at this point, repaired and ran into the ground, and he still wanted to keep it.

Cerberus sat at his feet, already getting big with the entire lot to run around in, and all the treats his father was giving him. Even for the breed Tom suspected his puppy would end up on the bulkier side of average, but that worked in his life. With the rally parties and the work four madre finally over, Tomas found himself with his weekends reclaimed, and resisted Wade's urgings to pick up weekend shifts. He was down to Thursday and Fridays only now, and that only because none of the still relatively new hires could handle backing Wade up at its worst. They all knew Tom wasn't going to keep working there for much longer, but for now Tom continued to enjoy the shifts with his friends.

By August, Dri was recovered enough to visit him at work when she felt like being a distraction, and Tom found those nights were a delightful torture. Dri didn't dance all night long, but he knew she'd go until her endurance gave out so he'd have to stop her before that happened. The brat was an even worse patent than he was.

And Tom had already long ago proven that he was not a patient man, so he lasted until Dri had gotten out of the hospital before turning to both Wade and Nate for help. Nate wouldn't beat on a still injured man, and Wade would only fling verbal assaults at him for it so by the time Grace and Dri were once again joining them at the Nightside, Tomas was ready. He always was the type to jump in with both feet, so it was on the last weekend of August that he finally decided to try and get his own little revenge on the brat now that she was back on her feet again and up to her old tricks.

The trap was set, he sent her a picture of the lighter and told her to come and get it. However, it wasn't a joint or a lighter in his pocket, but something he'd designed himself in the back of his mind in June. And then he waited, each second properly agonizing until Wade flung a shot at him in an attempt to help, the crowds of people coming in after school ended helping more.

Once again Tomas was in a hockey mask and coveralls, so he knew Dri wouldn't find the surprise yet, and that only built to anticipation. Because there she was, once again with Grace beside her, but this time in far less provocative clothes. Considering that there were pictures of her in lingerie on the walls though anything would probably feel less provocative. It was a dark green dress that looked somehow familiar but for the life of him he couldn't figure out why. Until he recognized one of the flowers stitched into it.

One of Honey's Catwalk outfits, but not one Dri had presented. Like anything the brat wore it looked good on her, and Tomas was still impressed at the high heels she continued to wear without hesitation. After everything they'd been through, and his Reinita just kept her head up, refusing to let anything stop her.

So Tom waited, knowing that Nate would go upstairs while he took a little longer, and watched as patiently as possible as Dri went upstairs to dance.

"I should have laid money on this," Wade bitched in friendly tones as he patted him on the shoulder and went up in his endless hurry.

But unlike Nate, Tom wasn't nervous at all, his idiot brain had already bound them together. He went upstairs, in his regular clothes for once, and waited for the moment he felt Dri try to lift what she'd assumed to be the lighter in his pocket.

It didn't take long, though Tom was amused that the brat lifted the ring box out of his pocket and didn't even realize it right away. But the moment she did, Tom was delighted to see her head shoot up to find him watching. The soft astonishment that broke through her careful control drove Tom to lift his hand in that oh so familiar hand gesture, and Dri gave him a brilliant smile before taking his hand.

"Open the box." He finally loomed over her, the music in the club loud enough to create false privacy.

And despite normally being the type to bristle at being bossed around, Dri did as he said. In the box was a simple gold band with six rubies carefully set into it like the gems of a tiara. "Shall we?" it was easy to ask.

Dri looked at him with that beautifully arrogant smirk, "We shall." The brat allowed him to put the engagement ring on , and like the crown she'd once worn, it looked good on her.

Ophelia and Colby were doing their thing in October, and Nate and Grace were waiting for the upcoming May; Tomas would have to be patient enough to wait until after all of that to see Dri in a real wedding dress. But soon.

He was to father's son after all.