Carson Evolved Ch. 10

Author's Notes:

Welcome back to my story, my faithful readers! Thanks for hanging with me, and especially to all of you who have taken the time to comment or send me feedback messages. They're greatly appreciated.

Like always, if you haven't read the previous chapters, you're going to get lost. I don't make much of an effort to explain references to earlier events and characters (of which, there are a lot).

The last chapter was long, and a lot of stuff happened. As a result, I'm curious if others felt like the pacing was too fast; I thought that it might be. So, I'm going to try limiting the scope in future chapters. Hopefully, this will satisfy those of you that feel like there hasn't been enough character development for some of the Lionesses as well.

Mea Culpa: This is getting irritatingly regular, and I apologize. I realized after the last chapter that I had managed to shift Elsa Lund from being Helga's daughter (ch. 04) to her granddaughter. The error was in chapter four; I always imagined Elsa as the fresh-faced young maiden to the elderly, dour matron, Helga, and she should have been identified as the granddaughter earlier.

Standard disclaimer: Please, if you like the story, or if you don't like the story, take a moment to comment. It's especially helpful if you have something constructive to add. It helps me quite a bit to see the story through others' eyes.

Finally, as always, all sexual activity takes place between adults.

—MB

*****

Jozef found himself in a sour mood, again, just like he'd been for the better part of a week now. Years of meticulous planning, devious machinations, and overall selfish ambition had gone into making his son the vehicle by which control of the Project would become Jozef's. The thought of having that much power gave him a stronger erection than the efforts of his current wife, Gianna.

She was his third wife, and while she was still sexy, her 53-year old body wasn't really doing it for Jozef anymore; she'd almost reached her expiration date, just like the previous Mrs. van Heuvals. She was riding him hard, but he was distracted and she was getting tired. You'd think having a former model and actress, widely considered in her younger years as one of the sexiest women on the planet, would be enough to hold his attention.

Despite advancing in her years, Gianna's body remained firm. In her early years, she'd never been especially busty. As she aged, though, her curves swelled voluptuously into what the artists referred to as 'Rubenesque.' Her Italian heritage remained, with the long Roman nose and full, pouty lips competing for attention with her large brown eyes. Her hair, with a little chemical assistance of course, was still the color of espresso.

"I'm sorry," she apologized, quietly.

"Mmmm?" he said. "Oh! It's not you. I'm a little distracted with a problem I can't seem to solve." He might be a bastard, but he did have a soft side.

Gianna wasn't buying it entirely. She'd gone into this marriage years ago with eyes wide open. Jozef was a man of many passions, and that had made him irresistible in her eyes. In the intervening time, though, she'd learned that he would never have as much passion for her as he had for power. That, too, was a kind of aphrodisiac. But she couldn't help wishing that he was a little more interested in her. Aging was hard enough on a woman, especially one who'd traded on her appearance for so long. To have her husband lose interest was a bitter pill to swallow, and yet she knew that it was her medicine to take these days.

I wish he'd just make a little effort in bed. It's been a long time since I felt like a real woman, she thought. As usual, she said nothing aloud to indicate her growing displeasure at the state of affairs in her marriage. She kissed his cheek and slid out of bed to begin preparing for the day.

Behind her, Jozef barely noticed that she'd left. He continued stewing over the unraveling of so much hard work. At least the blackmailer, whoever they were, had not yet followed through on the threat to release the stolen data from NeoGenesys. Every day that passed without an anti-viral treatment was another exponential growth in the number of infected men. The failure of the hit squad to locate and eliminate the hacker stuck in his craw nevertheless, because the threat remained active. Still, in light of the inaction, Jozef was beginning to wonder if the threat of physical harm had been enough to cow the hacker into submission.

Then, there was the fact that Emil and his team had been unable to locate and secure Jordan.

That part confused Jozef as much as it angered him. He had no reason to suspect any of his people of being a mole, but he couldn't shake the feeling that someone had tipped Jordan. His son seemed to have disappeared. As irritating as it was to Jozef, as long as his son continued to lay low, it accomplished much the same thing as if Emil had snatched him. There was always time to deal with his disobedience down the road.

The biggest thorn in his side was Carson Jayne. If Jozef had been an old-time religion kind of guy, he might've thought that Carson was a curse sent by God to torment him for some offense. The bastard had shown up out of nowhere, and now he was on the brink of accomplishing in less than two years that which Jozef had spent many years planning for his son to accomplish. The petitioning by the Okafor clan to match Orisa to Carson had been unforeseen, and in light of the defeat of the Lund-Clemonte petition, it was maddening. Not that he took it all that personally, but it had been quite some time, maybe decades, since a petition had originated from outside the van Heuval line for a match with them.

*****

Jozef was still puzzling over the problem of Carson Jayne in his office hours later. His emergence from obscurity, the unravelling of Eisenfaust's plans—if he didn't know better, Jozef might've thought that Carson was actively opposing him. From the moment the thought entered his mind, it lodged there and began to fester. Could he be behind the attacks on our group? he pondered. He hadn't seemed aggressive at the meeting. At least, he hadn't until one of his lovers was threatened. Jozef didn't know Carson at all, but he could read people pretty well. The look on Carson's face as he stared down Helga had shown that there was a blazing inferno of rage within him, under the right circumstances. Maybe he was more involved than Jozef had given him credit for to this point.

His musings were interrupted by the unexpected arrival of his daughter-in-law. Aria swept into his office with a flourish. Looking at her, he realized that even though he'd forced her marriage to his son, if the truth were to be told, Aria would not have been his first choice as a wife for Jordan. She was attractive enough, but Jozef saw something in her eyes that left him uneasy. But her father was one of his closest associates, and as far as Jozef was concerned, she was just a link in a chain. Besides, forcing Salvatore to submit to his will ensured that the order of things remained intact.

"Good afternoon, my dear," he said, feigning a pleasantness that he didn't actually feel.

"And to you," she replied just as falsely.

"What brings about this pleasant surprise?" he asked, curious.

Aria's face suddenly lost any trace of happiness. "I'm worried about Jordan. I know you said that he had a family emergency come up, but I just thought it was odd that he'd leave town without letting his wife know where he was going. And I haven't heard from him since he left. Have you?" she asked, watching him carefully.

Careful here, he thought. She suspects something.

He shook his head. "All I know is what his mother told me, that his grandmother was deathly ill and wanted to see him before she passed. She's been sick for quite a while; maybe she wanted to go over some arrangements for after her death? Jordan's not the most sensitive soul in the world, but he was always close to her." Actually, that part's true, he pondered. I wonder if she has the resources to hide him. "I'm sure it just slipped his mind."

Feeling a need to keep Aria from asking too many questions, Jozef stood and gently guided her towards the door. "I'm sure my son will be in touch soon. I'm worried about him too; could you let me know if you hear from him?" he asked innocently.

"Of course," Aria promised.

"I'm afraid I need to get back to work," he said. "It was good to see you, but I don't think you have anything to worry about."

"Thank you," she said as she left.

Aria managed to make it all the way until the elevator doors closed before she let loose the tirade that she'd been holding in. "Fucking rat pig bastard!" she fumed. "A gigantic pig who forced a piglet on me, that's what you are, Jozef van Heuval!" She managed to slip a more pleasant, serene mask back over her face by the time the doors opened again. Like always, though, her hatred of men in general, and men like her father-in-law in particular, kept her insides roiling in turmoil. There's a day of reckoning coming soon for all of you pigs, she thought.

*****

Coincidentally, about the time that Aria was leaving van Heuval's office, cursing his name, Carson was pacing his own office, also cursing van Heuval's name. He'd tried to put aside his emotions over the proposal that Helga Lund had made at the council meeting, with little success.

No, that was understating the case. Carson Jayne was livid. The image of Helga Lund smirking at him, daring him to make a scene in the council chamber haunted his thoughts. More and more, Carson had begun to believe that Clemonte was basically a sycophant to the other two, unworthy of real consideration or respect.

Helga, though, was a cold, calculating, manipulative bitch. And then there was the evil puppet master pulling their strings, Jozef van Heuval. Carson had zero doubt in his mind that the petition had been orchestrated by the jealous leader of the van Heuval clan.

There were many things in life that concerned Carson, and others that irritated him, but very few things raised his ire the way that a threat against him or his family did. And the move against Elsa, and by extension Carson, certainly qualified.

Carson had stewed over the slight and analyzed various courses of action. Obviously, his team was making headway into dismantling and destroying Eisenfaust. But that was a long-term action with a distant conclusion. This was personal, and Carson wanted to make an immediate statement. The question was, how exactly? After tossing around a few different ideas, there was one concept he kept coming back to. Jozef had thought to take a woman Carson loved; Carson figured that turnabout was fair play. He didn't know about Jozef's wife or any daughters, or even if he might be attracted to them, but Jozef had been the one to bring significant others into play. Carson figured it was time to send a message that there would be consequences for actions taken against him or his women.

Pressing a button on his desk, he said, "Corinne?"

"Yes, oh bounteous source of creamy goodness?" Corinne had taken to slipping as many possible comments about her daily routine as she could into their conversations, much to Carson's consternation.

"Don't make me cut you off," he warned, half-heartedly. As much punishment as that would be for her, he would be punishing himself as well; she was really talented with her mouth.

Amused, Carson smirked when he saw her eyes get big on the tiny video screen. "You wouldn't dare!" she gasped.

"I will if you don't rein it in a little," he said firmly. "I can't concentrate on work if I'm thinking about how good your mouth feels wrapped around my cock."

"Fine," she agreed in exasperation. "I'll tone it down. A little. So, what can I do for you, Mr. Big?"

Carson ignored her giggles and said, "Can you contact Xavier Sloane and see if he's available for lunch? I have a special project in mind that he might be able to help with."

"I'll get right on it," Corinne promised. Before she disconnected, she smirked and in a nasally, mocking voice said, "You know I'd do anything for you, Mr. Jayne." He didn't even get a chance to reply before she disconnected, and he could hear her laughter from the other room.

He shook his head at her antics. Their flirtations had grown steadily over the time she'd worked for him. Now, having finally realized her dream of sleeping with Carson, Corinne seemed to be perpetually and simultaneously giddy and horny. And, his protestations notwithstanding, he enjoyed the lighthearted banter. He was able to do so because as soon as there were ears around that were outside the circle of his family, she snapped into professional mode. She was very good at hiding any hint of their personal relationship around the office.

Having set that plan in motion, Carson turned his attention to the newest feminine prospects in his life. Aria van Heuval (née Clemonte) had expressed disappointment that they hadn't been able to consummate her plan to cuckold Jordan during her last cycle. Nevertheless, she was pressing for a weekend with Carson when her fertile days arrived again in a little over a week. Meanwhile, Carson was enjoying getting to know Orisa better. She'd fit in naturally with the other women in his life, and he was struggling to remain patient.

The complicating factor with Orisa was that, unlike the other Lionesses in his Pride, she was already established in her life, with three children from her previous marriage. Two boys and a girl, all under the age of ten, made for a tricky situation to navigate. Carson did not want the children to feel as if he were attempting to replace their deceased father in their lives, especially since it seemed unlikely that Orisa would be joining Carson in living at his estate. He'd made the offer, but she was happy where she lived and was reluctant to uproot her children's lives too quickly. If they did end up having a baby together, it would be the first time that he had a child who didn't live with him. Carson wasn't entirely convinced that he was okay with that.

In the meantime, he was enjoying getting to know Orisa and her children. He was also taking his time courting Orisa properly. Carson had found that he viewed Orisa a little differently from the other women in his life. She was a mature, professional woman with an established routine and definite opinions about the way things were done. He was determined to help her overcome the grief and hurt from her previous marriage completely before they passed a point of no return like having a baby together. So, they dated and spent time together, with and without the children. They made out like teenagers sometimes after the children went to bed. But, to this point, they had not been intimate.

*****

Carson managed to complete a few minor projects for his clients before the late lunch meeting that Corinne had successfully arranged with Xavier. He was only mildly surprised to find himself back where it all began for Carson, his old neighborhood bar and grill. This time, though, it was Carson who slid into the seat across from a surprised Xavier Sloane.

Xavier smiled and held out his hand. "Good afternoon, sir. It's a pleasure to see you again."

"Likewise, and don't forget, you can still call me Carson," he replied. Looking around the dining area wistfully, he said, "You know, I haven't been back here since the evening we first met."

His companion surveyed the area as well, and remarked, "It's nothing special. Just an everyday sort of place. But it will always mean something different to you, I imagine."

Carson nodded. "My life has never been the same, but I'm very pleased to meet under better circumstances than the last time."

Mr. Sloane chuckled and asked, "Not worried about the missus these days, sir?"

"No, thankfully, but there is something else, something I'm thinking you might be able to help me with."

"You need only ask," said Xavier. "If it's within my power, it will be done."

The waitress arrived just then to take their orders, which gave Carson another moment to organize his thoughts. Once she'd departed, he said, "When we met in my office that first day, you talked about how some members of the project believe that if the strongest alphas could pry a woman from another, then that was for the best, as far as the project's concerned. Is that about right?"

"I'd say that sums it up nicely," replied Xavier, "Though the ones that do are perhaps in it more for the sport of the thing than anything else. As I recall, the concept irritated you quite a bit. Why do you ask?"

Carson sipped his iced tea and replaced the glass on the table. "Before we proceed, I want to warn you that if you join me in my plan, you could get caught in the crossfire."

Xavier's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "You're not planning on doing anything illegal, are you?"

"No, no, of course not," Carson assured him. "As far as society is concerned, what I'm thinking is purely a personal matter."

Xavier considered the direction of the conversation to this point. Over the course of his career, he'd recruited dozens of people into Orriri. And in all that time, there were only a handful that had piqued his interest beyond the needs of the project. But only one had ever made an effort from day one to treat him as a peer, and he was sitting across the table.

"I've had a long career doing what comes naturally to me. My skills make me valuable, so I'm sure that I could probably squeeze through the cracks relatively unscathed, worse come to worst. What did you have in mind?" he asked, carefully studying Carson.

Carson studied his hands for a second, pausing before responding. He realized that he was putting himself in a precarious position even more than Xavier. Then he remembered Helga's smirk and he looked up with fire in his eyes. "I want to send a message. A very loud, very personal message. And I think you can help me with that."

Xavier quirked a brow at him and said, "Tell me more." By the time Carson finished explaining what he planned and what he needed, the enigmatic man had a bit of a glint in his eye. "Consider it done, Carson."

*****

Walking back to the tower, Carson was wishing that all lunch meetings were as productive as the one he'd just left. His mind was already turning towards other topics as he crossed the plaza outside his building. It was a crisp early autumn day, unseasonably chilly, but not completely uncomfortable. Thus, he wasn't surprised to see a few people scattered among the benches that surrounded the reflecting pool.

His gaze passed over the strange faces automatically, when something he saw caused him to stop and turn back. Halfway across the plaza was a face that looked familiar, but at the same time, he knew that she was a stranger. She seemed to be scanning the various people walking by, and when their eyes briefly found each other, hers darted towards a handheld device.

She must have found what she was looking for, because while she feigned nonchalance to everyone else, she quietly, but urgently, motioned for him to join her.

Carson checked the time and realized he was free for at least an hour, so he started in her direction. As he approached, he could see that her posture was nervous, and she was continuing to scan the people passing by. When he got within earshot, she motioned with her head to sit behind her.

Behind him, the strange woman pulled out her communicator and in a loud voice said, "Oh hi, Mom!" Lowering her voice, she murmured past her shoulder, "Pretend to talk on your headset."