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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 10, 2016 23:31:06 GMT -5
Diana Ward
Christian needed some time to process everything that had happened. Of course, it was impossible to come to terms with the fact that a woman you had an affair with almost two decades ago bore your child, that neither you or that woman have ever met that child because she was stolen away and hidden, and that you have accepted a contract to kill that woman within a day, but that was all the time Christian could afford to straighten things out. The contract on Diana's life was up in less than three weeks, and he wasn't sure now if he could go through with it. Not out of any romantic feelings for the woman, or even lustful feelings which there were plenty of. But simply as the mother of his child, who again, he had never known about until two days ago and had yet to meet. For all they knew, their child was dead. But when Christian briefly considered that idea he felt queasy, which was the exact sensation that made him question whether he should even consider taking out Diana at all.
His head still reeling, he knew he didn't have much time. So after a day to himself to think at home, he sent her an owl (without addressing the letter or leaving his name, as she had made a huff about anyone knowing where she was). I'm coming by tonight at six to discuss the search. That was all he wrote, but he knew it would be enough for Diana and she would likely still get upset that he could have exposed her somehow.
At just past six, Christian entered the inn and brushed past the innkeeper. He walked up several flights of stairs and down the long, dirty corridor until he reached her room. Instinctively he gripped his wand as he rapped his knuckles on the door three times.
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 0:09:26 GMT -5
Diana had her own problems to mull over while Christian was gone, but her mind kept traveling back to the man himself. She spent much of the time worrying if he might blow her cover or attract unwanted attention to herself. She contemplated obliviating him and moving on as that was truly the only safe action available to her, but she felt queasy at the idea. Additionally he wasn't the kind of man to be taken advantage of like that. A younger Diana might have been fooled by him, but she was not. There was something about Christian that Diana just didn't trust. Of course she didn't have the most trusting nature to begin with.
When she received his letter her first thought was to run. To disappear. She didn't think she'd get very far though before he'd track her down, or worse their daughter down. She also had yet to tell him the reason she hadn't located Alyx as quickly as she could have due to the enemies she had made. It was a mess.
Never the less she found herself waiting for him. She was startled when he knocked, having been accustomed to fearing any visitors. She calmed down gripped her wand and opened the door.
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 0:34:36 GMT -5
When she opened the door, Christian scanned her. She had her hand on her wand, as expected, and a look on her face that wasn't altogether trusting. But the rest of her...Christian allowed his eyes to linger on her curves. She looked good.
"Busy?" he asked with a cool smile.
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 0:45:43 GMT -5
"Very." she answered honestly but just as cool. Her eyes scanned him in much the same manner as his did her. She might not like him, might even convince herself that she hated him sometimes, but damn the man did funny things to her insides.
"Come in." she said casually turning around and shuffling some things in a drawer. Once he stepped inside the door shut behind him and a silencing spell went around the room.
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 1:01:45 GMT -5
He was ready for the gust of wind and the sound of the door locking behind him. A single night with Diana was more than enough time to know the woman was being paranoid, but he supposed it was with good reason as he'd been hired to kill her.
He got right to the point. "I have men who can find her. Alyx. But they'll need some information from you." He awaited the onslaught of bickering that would soon follow, knowing Diana didn't like giving up any information about herself, and certainly not to men she had never met.
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 1:11:18 GMT -5
Diana wasn't going to bicker. "No." she said simply. She wasn't going to bicker because she was ready for a fight. She wanted nothing more than to be reunited with her daughter, but it was too dangerous for Alyx to be revealed. If the men in her father's company found out about Alyx, they'd have another target to dispose of and Diana couldn't have that.
Belatedly she realized that she had put Christian in danger too, she knew now she'd have to protect them both until she had finished putting down all the men that wanted her dead.
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 1:19:54 GMT -5
"No?" he questioned, his eyebrows raised. "And what, prey tell, is your barmy excuse for not taking my help?" He looked at her calmly.
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 1:26:42 GMT -5
"No." she repeated. "I want your help Christian." not that she needed it.
Diana was so self-assured. She felt as though she knew everything, and while she believed that Christian could handle himself, she was truly ignorant of his skills or reputation. She had no idea who she was dealing with, although to be fair he had no idea who she was either, who she really was.
"But we can't involve other people."
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 1:48:26 GMT -5
He threw his hands up and shook his head. "I'm not a bloody detective, Diana! I pay people to find things for me. That's what my bloody help looks like." He considered again whether or not to keep the contract on her life. Every time he thought of his daughter or looked at Diana's ass the scales tipped one way, but then when she would act like a paranoid loon the scales tipped the other way. Some moments he was more resolute than others. This was one of those moments. "What is it you expect me to do?"
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 1:57:59 GMT -5
Thank Merlin for silencing spells. She was calm in the face of his anger, he wasn't going to catch her off guard today as he had the other day.
It was easy to pay people to do almost anything, but paying people or involving others meant leaving a trail and Diana couldn't afford that.
She wasn't really sure what she wanted him to do, she couldn't very well tell him to let her handle it. But essentially that is exactly what she wanted him to do. There was one alternative, but it hurt more than she could think about and she wasn't about to put that on the table yet.
"Be patient. I'm meeting someone tonight that may have some information."
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 2:07:32 GMT -5
Be patient. How on earth could she expect him to be patient? When he answered, his voice was calmer. "I don't plan on waiting another 16 years, Diana. When I want something done, I get it done." He looked for the clock. It was 6:13. "When?" And as an after thought he asked, "who?"
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 2:13:03 GMT -5
"At eight. A contact." she answered. She didn't think giving Christian Derek's name would do any good, what were the chances they'd know each other?
She realized she was being vague and sighed. It was difficult as she knew it would be with him, but she didn't know what else to do. She had to handle things her way, her way was the safest way.
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 2:20:02 GMT -5
Christian sneered, fingering the wand in his pocket. "So I can't hire someone, but you can. You make a lot of ruddy sense, Diana." Nearly two hours he would have to wait. And then what? Christian walked to the dresser and then turned and walked to the door.
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 2:22:40 GMT -5
"I didn't hire him." no he had volunteered to help, but only after he had become aware of her situation, and after she had learned she could trust him. Derek handled things the way that Diana needed them to be handled, and without explaining to Christian why things needed to be handled in a discreet way, she couldn't trust that he would handle them that way.
"Christian wait, where are you going?"
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 2:39:40 GMT -5
He spoke without facing her, his hand tightly on the wand inside his coat pocket. "You don't need me for this. You clearly aren't going to accept my help. So I'll find her myself."
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 2:58:14 GMT -5
"Please don't." she said her hand on her wand as well. She didn't want to force him, but she wasn't letting him leave. Neither of them were leaving the room until it was time for the meeting. Diana had taken what she deemed as appropriate measures to protect her family, and while she might fight it, that included Christian as the father of her daughter. If he couldn't leave, and she obliviated the innkeeper about Christian's appearance, then hopefully he'd be safe.
She had put other charms up in the room as well, for all intents and purposes the room was invisible to outsiders.
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 3:04:34 GMT -5
He turned to face her now. "Don't what? Don't search for my daughter, or don't leave you again? Because I'm already comfortable doing one of those things. It'd be like riding a broomstick."
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 3:15:26 GMT -5
Maybe his words hurt a little bit. He had intended them to, but it wasn't because he was leaving her, it was because she was beginning to want him around. She'd be lying to herself if she said that the past few days with him hadn't made her feel more alive, or hell just feel in the first place. But he was so comfortable leaving her, and while it wouldn't devastate her if he left now, it was still very clear that his feelings for her would never be anything more than lust. Temporary lust at that.
She thought she had changed so much, and she had, but where this man was concerned she was still that girl who wanted him to love her. Of course she wasn't ready to admit that to herself or anyone.
Instead she sighed as if she were losing patience, which she was, "Please don't leave here and mess up my investigation. Besides, you're a little off your mark sweetheart. Don't mistake the other day as an indication that I'd care if you left one way or the other. All I care about is Alyx."
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Post by Christian Ward on Oct 11, 2016 3:24:18 GMT -5
"And how long have you been looking for her? How far have you come, Diana? You can sit here and wait for your informant after knowing Alyx was alive for how many years? Some mother you'll be."
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Post by Diana Ward on Oct 11, 2016 3:34:34 GMT -5
He went too far that time. He hit Diana at the root of her insecurity, and he knew it was what she feared because she had said as much the other day. It didn't take him long to use it against her. In that moment something shifted in her eyes, any warmth she had at all left her.
He had seen the young naive child that loved and adored him in school, met the young woman who worshiped him and gave her heart so easily, he had encountered the cool aloof woman she had become, and brought out the passion beneath that cool exterior, but this was something different entirely.
"You have no idea the lengths I have gone through to get my daughter back. You have no idea the lengths I will go to, to get her back. You know nothing about me Christian, or what kind of mother I will be."
Her words were low, dangerous, and hollow. There was heat in her voice, but it was void of emotion. Diana wasn't "herself" anymore, she had built another persona entirely, one she depended on to do the dark things that needed to be done in order to bring her daughter home. That was the woman Christian was dealing with now, and heaven help him if he continued to push her.
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