Vegas.

Las Vegas.

Sin City.

The city that never sleeps.

The city of lights.

The city where what happens here, stays here.

Where people went to get smashed and lose a lot of money.

So what was she doing here?

Elena thought to herself as she entered the elevator to get to the penthouse.

She needed sleep. Sleep had eluded her as Harry had arranged this trip and steamrolling her along. It was barely twelve hours since his pronouncement and they had already checked into a hotel and ordered breakfast. A late breakfast since he had forgotten something on the way to the airport and needed to head back. Thus, making them miss the breakfast buffet. Oh, the horror, she mocked internally, her eyes fixed on the closed doors as the elevator travelled all the way to the best penthouse.

Now that she thought about it, she hated lights, she never wanted to get drunk and lose her hard-earned money and she wanted some accountability.

Then how had Harry convinced her to take the two hours' flight here?

"I've just gotten confirmation that Xavier is here,"he suddenly said, his gaze fixed on his phone.

That's why.

While waiting for her to wake up, he had been hard at work, thinking about a way to speak to his brother without anyone from the company being involved and his parents catching wind of it. She hadn't been there but from what he had related, this was the best option.

With it being so difficult to his schedule, especially without anyone in the company knowing, he couldn't lie in wait at his next meeting. And his apartment was a definite no since he stayed in a building that was owned by the family. He had been on wits' end when he saw a news article about an upcoming party. It was by a family that the Reynolds couldn't snub so Xavier had to go.

It was pure happenstance but it was a sure sign from the heavens.

And she was sure to feel happy about it when the nausea and fatigue left her. Right at the moment, she couldn't stand the sight of his face and voice. Her rage, and something else, was at the edge of exploding and being in the same elevator was pure torture.

When were they going to reach their floor? Why did they even have to have the best room, at the top floor, in the first place? Grumbling under her breath, she shot him a glare when he shifted and bumped into her. Being aware of her mood, he raised his hands and backed away. Nodding once in satisfaction, she returned to watching her warped self in the elevator.

The elevator was still going and the air was getting too heavy with the continued silence, which was getting on her nerves.

"So what's the plan?"she asked to lighten the mood. "Do we ambush him? Like at his hotel? Or the event venue-"

"Nothing so obvious,"he said, wrapping his arm around her. For a moment, she thought about pushing him away but this was helping her anxiety so she leaned into him, allowing him to lead her into the hallway when the elevator finally stopped and entered their room. She even allowed him to settle her into the sofa, where her exhaustion caught up with her.

Her body suddenly weighing down on her, she laid on her side and brought up her legs, her arms wrapped around the pillow cushioning her head. She snuggled into Harry's hand when he sat beside her and placed his hand on her head. Silence reigned, both caught in their own thoughts.

"So what is the plan?"she asked, sitting up after regaining some energy. Fatigue was pulling at her limbs still but she wasn't as drained as a few minutes ago. "I don't understand what you mean by "Nothing so obvious"."

"It's quite simple actually. I'm sure Xavier knows we're here and, with or without that flash drive, he will be suspicious. So I have put it out that we're here for our wedding and honeymoon-"

She couldn't hear anything else. Did he say what she thought he said? Surely not. They just had an argument about it. Why was he going behind her back-

No, no, she must be mistaken. But, since they had come to an agreement, she should clarify. Calmly, taking deep breath, she asked him with an even tone. Or so she imagined. But what came out instead was a shout that people from the ground floor could hear.

"Wedding? Honeymoon?"

---------@@@@@-----------

Jason let out a sigh. This had been the weakest point of his plan. Getting her to go along with it was going to be the biggest hurdle.

And it wasn't like he was serious about it. It was just a pretense, an act. They were just supposed to act like a couple. Some kisses, some PDA, maybe visit some of the Elvis impersonator chapels. Something that was not related to Xavier. Something that wouldn't get his guard up. But this something was making Elena hyperventilate and all the color was leaving her face.

"Elena, it's fine. We can think of something else,"he said in a rush, trying to wrap his arm around her. He wasn't able to get his arm out before she pushed him away and tried to get up. As it was increasingly difficult for her to do so without help, he supported her lower back and somewhat pushed her to a standing position. She didn't even look at him after; she began pacing immediately after.

He tried going after her but she stopped short upon seeing him. Her arms came straight out, telling him to stay away. But her eyes were so lost and filled with tears that he couldn't stay away. Wrapping his arms around her despite her body language, he waited for her to protest. It wasn't like he was going to let her go if she did but it would have been much welcomed over her limpness now. It was even more alarming when he felt the boys were moving and kicking, suddenly becoming so active.

Not knowing what to say apart from telling himself not to panic, he took a deep breath and spoke to her.

"Look, I know that this is sudden but I couldn't think of anything else. My brother is a smart man, despite what the data says. I don't know why he allowed his records to be so black but it must have been a deliberate act. So we need time to gather more information until the time we confront him,"he explained softly. Unsure whether she heard him, he was about to continue when her arms came up around him.

"It's not that I don't understand,"she said into his chest. "But we need to talk about this before you actually take a course of action. I've always hated this about my family. My life, before I ran away, had always been decided, without even consulting me. Of course, I didn't know any better then but not now. Now, I refuse to just accept what anyone says. Especially not with you." Hitting him on the chest once, she raised her head and glared at him.

"W-what about your job? You had to listen to your managers and superiors. You even accepted them firing you,"he argued, piqued that she was painting him such a tarred brush.

"That's different. That's work. I accept that some things are out of my control. But not this. Not us. This is the start of the rest of our lives. Even if we don't get together, we still have to deal with each other. And I refuse to allow you to decide on everything willy-nilly,"she said firmly. Annoyed that she could still picturing them apart, he understood her point regardless. He wasn't sure she could come up with a better idea but he was still willing to listen to her.

"Alright. So what did you have in mind?"he asked. Her face immediately lit up.

"Really? You're going to listen to me?"she asked, her hands coming together in front of her in her excitement. Taken aback, he released her and nodded. Maybe he should do this more often. This was the first time he saw this expression. A positive, happy expression. One he had caused. Until now, all he had triggered were angry or sad expressions. But with a few words, she was practically bouncing around the room.

"I wouldn't have said anything if I didn't,"he murmured, scratching his nape with a lack of anything to do.

"Alright, okay, alright,"she said, repeating that a few times. Absently heading to the couch, she sat down with her face looking like it was deep in thought. Bemused, he followed and waited for her to say something. Minutes ticked by and still nothing from her apart from a few murmurs too low for him to decipher. He was even dozing off, with the long night and rush, when he heard his name. "Harry, I've got it. This is going to be perfect. Even Sharon and April said that it's brilliant-"

"Wait. April? Sharon? You talked to them about it?"he asked, his hand coming up to hold his head. His brain was still waking up after that semi-comatose status.

"Well, yeah. I had to when I began falling asleep thinking about the perfect cover,"she responded brightly. He wasn't even going to comment on that. As much as he wanted to take care of her, she was riding on such a high that anything he said was going to sound harsh.

"Go on."

"So there's this thing where women go on a pre-baby holiday. And as you know, I'm pregnant and my due date is in just, like, three months. Therefore, this is going to be my pre-baby, or pre-babies, holiday. I'm going to be enjoying Vegas as much as possible before I have to lug these brats out. And we can go everywhere without stirring suspicion."

This "pre-baby holiday" was new. He hadn't heard of that before. Of course, it would have been suspect if he had. But this was quite a solution. Unlike his previous plan, this wouldn't cause any argument between them. With proper research, he could milk this to his advantage-

"The best thing is that both Sharon and April are able to join me as well."

Wait, what?

ENJOY!!

Next update:  15 Sept 2018