Out of the Past Pt. 04

"Come on, now Claire, we have unfinished business."

"What the hell is wrong with you! Why can't you leave us alone!? Sebastian will give you the goddamn company, just leave us alone!" As she yelled Claire scooted backwards into the kitchen, hitting the cabinets by the sink.

"Oh, no. You owe me. You owe me! My stupid grandfather made it so two Kellners had t run the company. I married your mother because she wanted my money, my name, my protection for her precious daughter! She was going to take my crazy slut sister's place in name, squeeze my pathetic nephew out, but then she had to die."

He advanced slowly as he spoke, nearly frothing at the mouth. From the hallways came the sounds of grunts and shouts, punches thrown and glass things breaking.

Claire got hold and began to rise, looking about wildly for any weapon, unable to see in the dark.

"Then there was you. You would have been perfect! I saw how my nephew looked at you, you at him. Oh, father said it would be me and him and then one day you and Sebastian at the helm, but if you had just given in and been mine...you refused me and ran! You made a damned fool of me!"

She was standing now and her hand hit a wet gloppy mess of smashed fruit on the counter. Hope sprang to life and she slowly began to feel around as he came closer.

"You tried to rape me you fucking bastard!"

"Oh, that's hardly anything my dear. In ten minutes you'll be dead, just as Sebastian is dying now. Before I'm going to have a little taste of what I suffered so much for!"

Where was that knife? She thought frantically. "Suffered? Because one scared sixteen year old girl got away from your twisted machinations?"

"Suffered because my sister died for you!"

She stilled her search. Sebastian's mother? "What the hell are you talking about?"

"She saw us that night. She would have told father but I doped her up. She got away one night, taking crazy. I had to do it!"

"You- you pushed her down the stairs. You monster!"

He lunged for her just as her hand closed over the hilt of the knife. Claire didn't think, just slashed out and her hand connected. A sickening wet sound rang out and he slammed into her, forcing her into the sink nearly bowing her spine.

Close enough now his eyes reflected what little light there was and she blinked, realizing she still gripped the handle and it was between them. Screaming at the top of her lungs Claire pushed back and he fell heavily. Terrified she didn't let go of the knife and fell with him, still screaming.

It felt like an eternity later when Sebastian's arms came around her. Unaware of who it was at first she began to thrash and struggled until he shushed her and pulled her into his arms. He turned them away from the body on the floor and let her cry.

After a long while flashlights shone in the windows and police identified themselves.

"It's over now," Sebastian whispered, and picked her up. "We're in here!" He shouted to the police.

As the first officer arrived, wide eyed, staring at the scene, the sun broke. They'd made it, Claire thought, and began to cry again.

***

"It's just like skip tracing for credit."

Sebastian leaned over Claire's shoulder and began to nibble the spot below her ear that drove her crazy.

"Stop that!"

"Isn't it time for a break?"

"No, I'm trying to teach you the ropes here."

"I have some ropes upstairs," he said, delighting in her shivers. "Besides, can't we just hire someone for the grunt work?"

"That's Kellner thinking, and it has no place in Willoughby Enterprises."

"I love your determination but I hate it too." He grabbed her hand from the keyboard and placed it on the bulge in his swimming trunks.

She squeezed and sighed. "As much as I would love to explore that we do have some clients waiting."

"You know when you told me what you'd been doing in Toronto was secret I didn't expect it was this boring."

"Corporate espionage is boring, but it makes money. Now watch me work on this." Showing him the services and back doors, she began to compile information for a company preparing it's IPO desperate for information on how far along competitors were with the new circuit board similar to theirs.

Six months had come and gone. That long ago night Michael had died but Sebastisan had been able to subdue and restrain Jonathon Baroni. He'd been extradited to Toronto and still had to stand trial but Claire was prepared to testify.

Sebastian had decided to hand his company over to a board and retire. They'd settled into the house on Cooper Island but Claire needed something to occupy her time. In her travels back to Canada to meet with prosecutors she'd connected with some old clients and her list of new cases had grown.

Sebastian had a fine mind for engineering the fates of companies but when it came to grunt work he was like a little boy. Claire didn't mind, eventually like her he'd feel the need for something to do.

It was their third day trying to work together and for the third day in a row after one hour he succeeded in his game of seduce-the-boss. Petulant at being an employee he'd found some of her stockings and tied her hands behind her back and then proceeded to instruct her.

By the time they finished, exhausted and satisfied, it was time for lunch and then a nap. Tropical living was a different pace, but she really did want to keep on top of work. As they lay in bed, waking up to the hot sun of the late afternoon, an idea hit her.

Turning in his arms she kissed his chest and stroked his long hair. "You know, I can give you an independent project to work on that might suit you better. More face-to-face time and meetings than grunt work."

"That sounds promising, what is it?"

Claire took a deep breath. "Planning our wedding."

He froze for a moment but she felt his heart hammering and spread her fingers over his chest, taut with anticipation. "Claire...are you serious?"

"Yes. Oh, yes."

He leaned down to kiss the top of her head then cupper her chin, tipping her face to his. "I'll accept on one condition."

"Name it."

"No family."

Laughing, she kissed him, and they got to celebrating the honeymoon prematurely. Neither would have had it any other way.