One disadvantage of helping the ladies in his life achieve their biggest life desires … they were often busy, just like when they woke up from their foursome, Max and Monica determined to open the bakery as soon as possible while Rachel disappearing to arrange the details of the shoot for tomorrow, including cooperating with Lily.
But, soon, he found an interesting location. A charity auction combined with brunch, one that was held by Al-Jamil Foundation … organized by Tahani Al-Jamil.
He couldn’t help but wonder exactly what Tahani’s existence meant in terms of the existence of afterlife, but considering his own unique background, he didn’t feel the existential dread it would have awakened in anyone else.
Maybe it did, maybe it didn’t. Either way, the trip was worth it.
Getting an invitation had been easy. A few calls to his business partners in New York not only arranged a ticket, but also an emergency ticket for a tuxedo fitting. He hadn’t been a fan of formal wear, but he had to admit, after all his stats, he did cut an impressive show.
An hour later, he was in an upscale ballroom in Manhattan, surrounded by two types of people. The rich, and the ambitious bottom feeders that wanted to turn their proximity to the rich into something fascinating.
Just at a glance, he identified five different scammers trying to convince their rich target to put money into their bogus scheme, while the real rich were trying to subtly put each other down.
At least the music was good, he decided as he looked at the string quartet, every single one of them professionals. Not true maestros, as those would never agree to be paraded like acquisitions, but still serious professionals around his skill level.
As he walked, he couldn’t help but pause when he noticed another familiar figure. Blair Waldorf, circling around the room like a true queen, her looks suggesting it was the time she was studying at NYU.
Tempting, but he decided to skip interacting with her, mostly because his eyes were already on the real queen of the day.
Tahani Al-Jamil.
He had to admit, Tahani was an even more impressive figure in real life than on the show. Her beauty was there, but she moved with a shocking charm around the room as the hostess, managing the party with shocking efficiency.
He had to admit, she was impressive in managing the situation, sometimes defusing a brewing disaster, while other times, subtly fueling the rivalries between two competing parties to make sure bidding would stay heated.
He always had a competence kink, and watching Tahani manipulate an army of rich people and their hanger ons, each sharks in their own right, was a thing of beauty. It only got more intense when she took center stage and started to lead the auction. She had the presence and charisma…
So much that, he genuinely had no idea what the System would reward from her. Attractiveness, Charisma, Perception … even Agility was not out of the question considering the grace her steps radiated.
The only time her perfect mask slipped was when she looked at the figures sitting at the head table. Her parents, their faces carved out of granite. Tahani looked at them. For the most, her expression stayed pleasant, but he knew exactly what to look for.
With every glance, her excitement turned into panic, realizing that another grand display she had put onto get the approval of her parents was failing, which she channeled to further manage the situation.
Watching her, he could see the damage it had left. He wasn’t surprised. For the older Al-Jamils, emotional abuse was clearly an art form. They were as sharp and smart as their daughters, but instead of putting those qualities to good use, they used them to shape the minds of their daughters and to turn them into warped overachievers consumed by their desire to get their approval.
It was evil. Genius and effective, but evil.
In a way, it was more tragic than even Barney’s situation. At least in Barney’s case, his parents tried their best, just failed. Al-Jamils carefully engineered it, all to have children they could show off to their peers.
Tahani did her best, carefully managing the auction to raise the target amount of two hundred million dollars, to go to her charity. Curious, while others were bidding, he dug into the records of the charity, both the public ones and, after some hacking, private ones as well.
What he saw surprised him. Most charities were barely disguised ways to cycle money, with most of the money spent on the charity owners, high salaries, vague marketing expenses for raising ‘awareness’, and consulting fees.
To his surprise, Tahani’s foundation was actually helping people, most of the money that was collected actually going to their targets rather than evaporating. A part of her perfectionism, he guessed, but still, it was a welcome detail.
Just when the last item had been announced, her father suddenly stepped onto the stage, and declared a surprise last line. A private concert from his daughter, Kamilah, singing her latest single.
Just like that, the room exploded with cheers. It was not surprising, as he checked Kamilah. She was not exactly a public name, but she was a famous avant-garde artist, the kind that people without taste claimed to like just to look sophisticated.
It wasn’t to say Kamilah was a bad artist. On the contrary, she was a bona fide genius, he could see from her samples, but even as she stepped on the scene, he let his gaze follow Tahani, whose smile froze as she did her best to maintain it and not start crying.
It was clear that Kamilah’s arrival was unknown to Tahani. “Father, I didn’t know my precious sister had the time—“ she started as she stepped away from the microphone, putting her hand to hide her words from the audience, but he had the angle to read them, nonetheless.
“She decided to visit to save the event. We can’t take risks with Al-Jamil name,” her father responded, also trying to hide his face. To anyone else, it looked like a fun family chat.
To Tahani, it probably looked like he was once again favoring Kamilah instead of her.
But, Ethan had his own ideas about the situation. It wasn’t about favoring Kamilah. It was to make sure he had the center stage, using his two daughters as a way to frame the whole event as his victory.
A true narcissistic behavior, delivered with competence.
Ethan was suddenly happy that he had several skills that would ensure his safety even in danger. Because, that guy looked like he wasn’t above hiring a hitman to deal with him if he realized Ethan was ruining his grand plan.
His grand plan of impressing other rich people.
Impressive and pathetic at the same time.
But, as he disappeared to follow Tahani, he wasn’t sure exactly what to do. He couldn’t try to seduce her in the usual manner, as she was rather distracted by her shock, and even showing off with his skills wouldn’t work. Her super-rich heiress position meant that she usually rubbed shoulders with the most impressive people in the world, in terms of looks, skills, and other capabilities.
He decided to pick the shock value. He saw her disappear into a storage room, no doubt to cry. She could use some distraction.
He first adjusted his tuxedo, to look shabbier, and he even opened a few buttons. Then, he hacked the hotel’s security system … which was far easier than he expected. He merely used a brute-force attack on their administrative system. The password was the birthday of their IT manager.
Then, he entered as well, but instead of talking with her, he pulled his phone, as if he hadn’t caught her. “Yes, all teams are in place. We’re about to breach the vault and take the cash,” he started, while watching Tahani from a reflective surface.
She looked panicked and afraid, but she didn’t look like she was about to cry, which was an improvement.
He talked a few more sentences, only to stop when she reached for her phone. “I have an eavesdropper,” he said, then turned and closed in the distance, grabbing Tahani’s wrist, preventing her from making a call.
He carefully examined her expression, trying to see if she was actually afraid or just excited. Seeing that it was more the second, probably owing to the fact that she was never in danger physically, and even facing him doing a very convincing role of a thief, a physical risk didn’t register with her.
“T-there’s no need for it,” she said, her tone halfway between panic and excitement. “I … I’m sure we can come to an agreement.”
He took half a step back, examining her beauty in a way that remained appreciative rather than sleazy. “Change of plans. It looks like I have a princess to kidnap,” he said as he put his arms around her.
She shivered, fear and excitement mixing, then her eyes widened. “Hey! Wait a minute! The hotel doesn’t have a vault. Or cash. All the money is wired through banks!”
He let his smirk widen while letting the dangerous edge fade slightly. “And, isn’t that a pity,” he said. “Imagine how fun it would have been to kidnap a princess and rob the vault before riding off into the sunset.”
To her credit, she recovered quickly, and leaned onto her haughty tone. “Impressive bit, mister…”
“Let’s keep the name a mystery for the moment,” he replied, but his tone was humorous. “I still haven’t decided whether to kidnap you or not.”
She chuckled. “Good try,” she said. “But we have like thirty different hidden bodyguards. If you really wanted to, there’s no way you could succeed.”
He let his smile widen. “That sounds like a challenge,” he said. “Are you sure about it?”
That earned a shocked laugh from her. “A challenge, to kidnap me?” she said. “What if I let you get arrested if you get caught?” she said.
“As long as you accept my challenge, fine,” he said, letting his confidence take the surface. “If I win, I get my reward.”
“And, what’s the reward you want?” she said.
He smiled. “A date,” he whispered.
Her eyes widened. “A … date,” she whispered.
“I have my eyes on the biggest prize,” he whispered.
That made her freeze. “Most people would say my sister is the bigger reward,” Tahani whispered, but the moment she said that, regret filled her eyes. The comparison to her sister, which she inevitably lost, was her biggest, most consistent trauma, but she slipped.
“I’m not a big fan of derivative, second-rate art,” he responded, even as he suddenly threw her over his shoulder.
She let out a shocked, but very understandable gasp. “What are you doing?” she gasped.
“Kidnapping you, of course. Unless, of course, you want me to drop you and go kidnap the lesser Al’Jamil sister instead,” he teased.
“Yes, that’s my sister,” Tahani said, still protective of her sister despite the burning jealousy that her parents had forced upon her by carefully engineering every single interaction between them.
“It means you’re willing to sacrifice yourself to save her, of course,” he chuckled as he followed the service corridor. Twice, he had to hide to avoid waiters, and to her credit, Tahani didn’t shout for help, getting in the mood.
[Achievement complete. Seduce Tahani while convincing her to play a game she had never imagined herself playing.
Challenge: Daring]
[+25 Perception
1 Random Platinum Skill
1 Random Platinum Reward]
Intensity of the achievement surprised him, but then, he interacted her in one of her lowest moments, solving it in a way she probably never imagined.
He decided to go with Perception, as at this point, he was happy with his skill spread, and Perception was too important to let it lag behind.
His Tactical Awareness, combined with hacking the security system, allowed him to arrive at the garage without getting caught. Then, there, he quickly hotwired a motorcycle, much to Tahani’s shocked glance as he passed her the backup helmet. “Hold tight, princess,” he teased her.
“You can’t be serious,” she gasped. “T-this is stealing.”
“Just borrowing,” he whispered. “Don’t tell me you’re already scared?”
“I—“ she whispered, still hesitant, but he interrupted her with a kiss. She froze at first, but then she responded with passion, trying to hold her own but failing. Adrenaline could be a hell of an aphrodisiac.
When he pulled back, she barely registered him taking her phone and turning it off. Then, he used his access to the security System to add a note to the system saying that the motorcycle was impounded by the police due to an exhaust irregularity, making sure no one would question it.
[Achievement complete. Seduce Tahani.
Challenge: Hard]
[+10 Perception
1 Random Gold Skill
1 Random Gold Reward]
“Now, jump on it,” as he helped her put on the helmet, and they rode out. She hugged him desperately, letting out a panicked cry as he picked up speed, but her voice soon turned into excited cries.
He wasn’t surprised, not when he had swept her off her fight right when she was about to plunge into depression, only to treat her to an excellent ride, his Expert Driving allowing him to make it right between smooth and exciting.
Well, the first leg of an exciting ride, he thought as he pulled into a highway stop for bikers, the kind with a small shop.
“Why did we stop?” she asked, her accent even cuter now that she was excited.
“We need to make sure you look the part, pretty princess,” he teased her even as he helped her. The way she looked around made it obvious that she had never stepped into a place like this.
Considering her dress was expensive enough to purchase the store outright, it wasn’t a surprise.
She looked ready to argue, but when he kissed her again, she followed his direction.
The shop itself smelled of leather and motor oil, which, considering the alternatives, was actually pretty good.
The owner looked surprised at the view, but said nothing when he picked a few items for Tahani and pushed her into the dressing room. “I need to check—“ she started.
“No, you don’t. Trust me,” he said, and while she was busy letting out a shocked gasp, he made some purchases for himself, and changed into them. Nothing too impressive, just a simple leather jacket, jeans, and a white shirt.
When he left, two bikers from outside were walking toward the dressing room, no doubt wanting to flirt with Tahani, the aggressive way the bikers with criminal history preferred.
He cut off his path, still carrying his tuxedo. “Hey, if you don’t want to get beaten, leave,” the bikers said as they stretched, trying to look threatening.
Admittedly, they did a good job, especially displaying their knives casually, but Ethan knew exactly how to treat them. It helped that he heard the curtain of the dressing room open, meaning Tahani was watching.
He grabbed the biker's wrist and squeezed. “Are you sure you want to do that?” he asked, Intimidation Aura once again doing its job, but unlike the surfers he dealt with recently, bikers looked more confident despite the pain. One of them tried to pull his knife, but he was faster. He pulled it, used the back of it against his diaphragm, sending him on the floor. “Take him and leave, don’t make me get serious,” he warned, deliberately letting his dangerous edge show.
He was giving Tahani a dream journey through the ‘world of the poor’ at least the way she understood, and the right amount of violence worked perfectly.
She said nothing and pulled back the curtain, acting like she hadn’t even noticed what had been done, but he couldn’t wait until exactly how she would reward his brutish gallantry.
Then, the curtain pulled again, and he had to admit, the reward was rather impressive. The black top he had picked for her had already been on the small side, but she not only removed her bra, but also left most of the buttons open, turning the sexy top into something scandalous that would have given her mother a heart attack.
Similarly, her daisy duke shorts wrapped around her tightly, yet she left them unbuttoned and let them ride low enough to reveal her underwear, which was far too silky to come from the shop. Amusingly, she kept her heels, but he said nothing. He had a feeling that nothing in the world could convince her to wear biker boots.
Yet, even when dressed in a way that would cause an endless number of scandals, she didn’t look like a part of the shop; her stance alone gave her away.
Not that he cared. “You look amazing,” he said as he closed the distance for a merciless kiss, tempted to drag her back to the dressing room for a quickie, but instead, he dragged her to the bike.
They barely paused to get a bag to stuff their original clothes into. “I look ridiculous,” she said as she took the backseat once again.
“That doesn’t mean you don’t look amazing,” he said as he pushed the engine once more, this time leaving the highway for a nice, sharp turn. She hugged from behind, her hands slipping under his shirt, playing naughty.
He smiled.
Meeting with Tahani was proving to be more fun than he expected…