Someone to Watch Over Me - Chapter 13
Jan. 7th, 2012 11:39 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbottomsTitle: Someone to Watch Over Me (13/18)
Pairing(s)/Characters: Jack/Ianto, Tosh/Owen and OCs.
Rating: NC17 (overall)
Warnings: smarm, sap and crack – of the mills & boon type (seriously), m/m pairing
Disclaimer: Torchwood and its associated characters, and events are property of the BBC and Russell T. Davies but shamelessly borrowed for some fun.
A/N 1: Feels like it's been ages since I posted the last part but it's really only been about a day a half, right? But here is the next part in the tale of our stubborn lovers for you reading pleaseure. Enjoy as always. J
THIRTEEN
*~*
Jack faced the mirror and attempted to once again work his tuxedo tie into a knot.
For the past week, he and Ianto had avoided each other as much as possible while they still lived under the same roof. That had not been as hard to accomplish as it might otherwise have been, since Ianto had been working late all week. As a result, Jack had been able to catch up on things of his own and schedule some evening meetings.
Yet, the tension between them continued to grow, despite—or maybe because of—the fact that Jack was back sleeping in the guest room down the hall from Ianto’s. Jack was till furious with him, but he was also suffering from a serious bout of sexual frustration.
They were like two animals circling each other in the cage. And, unfortunately, their days of circling were about to come to an end.
Tonight was the Spring Ball, and even he knew it was the biggest and longest charity ball of the social season.
Usually he avoided such events like the plague. His company was well-known enough he didn’t have to hobnob with the rich and snooty. Business came to him.
But the Jones Foundation was one of the major sponsors this year, so Ianto had to attend. And if Ianto had to attend, so did he.
Even if they were barely on speaking terms. Even if his damned bow tie was choking him, he thought irritably, running his finger around the inside of his collar that he had worked his tie into a perfectly, if slightly too tight knot. He left his bedroom and headed downstairs.
The one perk to attending this thing was that Billis Manger, the indicted business executive Ianto was prosecuting, would be there. It would be a first-class opportunity to study one of the prime suspects in the threats against Ianto.
When Jack got downstairs to the front hall, he checked his phone message again and waited for Ianto to come downstairs.
Ten minutes later, a sound alerted him to Ianto’s presence moments before he glanced up. When he did, the sight of Ianto blew him away.
Ianto was a gorgeous, that was already certain to Jack, but the man that stood at the top of the stairs was absolutely stunning.
As he came down the stairs, he brushed the front of his tuxedo as if wiping away some imaginary lint. As he did so, a glint of something sparkled from the cuffs of his shirt, where, Jack noticed, he had diamond encrusted gold cufflinks.
‘Love the suit,’ Jack commented.
Ianto’s eyes flashed fire as he took his last step down. While the expression on his face said he was still displeased with Jack, his slight blush at the comment meant he wasn’t immune to the flattery.
Jack had been pleased when Ianto told him that he was going alone tonight. If he’d had a date, Jack had a hunch he’d have wanted to rip the guy apart.
Ianto arched his brow. ‘Looked you fill?’
‘For that I’d have to rip you out of that suit,’ Jack parried, knowing his words would rile him.
‘Then you’ll be looking a very long time’, he said coldly, and walked to the door, opening it forcefully and walking through without looking back.
~*~
When they arrived at the
And why not? He’d grown up in this world.
Seeing him in his natural world underscored the differences in their backgrounds. Jack had been furious when he’d thrown those differences back at him in the heat of the argument, but, if ever he was tempted to agree with him that those differences doomed a relationship between them, now would be the time.
Jack sipped his wine and watched as Ianto smiled and nodded at one of the mean nearby. The man looked at Ianto as if undressing him. James was his name, if he remembered correctly. A member of the Harper family, another very wealthy family.
Jack’s lips twisted as he watched James lean toward Ianto to whisper something on his ear.
Then he caught himself. He had a job to do tonight and it wasn’t ogling Ianto or going off in a jealous fit every time someone touched or approached him. Oh, he intended to keep his eyes on him, alright, just as he’d said, but that was only to make sure he stayed safe and stayed put.
Jack took another sip of his wine and scanned the room—just in time to see Billis Manger enter the ballroom. The businessman looked shorter and thinner than he had in the pictures Jack had seen of him. He was around sixty and no more than medium height.
Jack watched as Manger, and his date—a lady of high standing on the social scene—moved among the guests. Manger, despite his age, was a man about the town, apparently, squiring socialites to high-profile events.
A sycophantic prig, he thought. Ianto was right. Manger’s social standing was clearly essential to him. If the allegations of embezzlement stuck, he would be ruined. Not only would he be heading to prison, but he’d be an outcast from the upper-crust. For all his posturing, Manger had little more than his money to gain him entry into these types of events.
Jack had done some investigations and he knew that Manger neither came from an old-line family nor shared any prep-school ties with the people tonight. According to his investigations, Manger had grown up in a middle-class family and had graduated business school before starting his ascent in the business world.
Jack glanced over at Ianto and noted that he had also marked Manger’s arrival. He knew without asking, however, that he would avoid Manger. It would be improper for a prosecutor to be talking to a defendant in one of his cases.
On the other hand, Jack reflected, Manger looked at ease despite the fact that nearly everyone there tonight must know he’d had the audacity to show up even though Ianto would be present.
Jack narrowed his eyes. Manger was their man, then Ianto’ harasser was a cool operator. Exactly the type who would be hard to catch. And exactly the type he intended to watch like a hawk.
~*~
Ianto glanced around the ballroom. He’d managed to shake Jack for the time being. Unfortunately, though, his parents were bearing down on him. He braced himself as they approached. ‘Hello Mum, Dad.’
‘Ianto.’ His mother leaned in for a kiss before drawing back and looking searchingly at his face, concern echoed on hers. ‘How are you?’
‘I’m fine, Mum.’ He’d spoken to his parents earlier in the week about the shooting incident, but he’d spared them the details, which would have worried them needlessly.
His parents looked at each other. His father was and older version of Owen, but his dark hair was peppered with grey, giving him a distinguished look.
‘You should have told us you’d received another death threat in the mail just days before the shooting,’ his father said gravely.
Ianto suppressed his irritation. Jack, it seemed, had been talking again. ‘I didn’t want to worry you and Mum unnecessarily,’ he said, hoping the explanation was one they’d accept. ‘You were on a business trip hundreds of miles away last week. There was nothing you could do except worry even more than you’d already been doing.’
‘Of course we would have worried, you silly boy,’ his mother exclaimed.
Ianto took a deep breath. ‘Thanks to Owen, I have a bodyguard remember? I’m taking precautions.’
‘Jack said that you’d gone out without him when you were attacked,’ his father countered.
Snitch. What else had he told his parents? All Ianto needed in order to make his humiliation complete was to divulge their sexual exploits. Aloud he said, ‘Jack has been saying a lot these days.’ He turned to Owen as he parted from Tosh, who was talking to another guest, and strolled up to join them. ‘What else had Jack been saying, Owen? What have you been saying?’
Owen smirked knowingly but held up his hands. ‘Hey, he’s only trying to help.’
‘I thought I was getting a bodyguard,’ he said indignantly, ‘but apparently, Jack is doing double time as a spy.’
‘Now, Ianto—’
‘You should have warned me Owen. If I’d known Jack was reporting everything to you and the rest of the family, I’d at least have given him something interesting to tell you all. Although I’m sure you have drawn your own conclusions.’ The last bit he said while looking pointedly at Owen.
‘Actually,’ Owen said dryly, ‘getting information out of Jack is like prying open an oyster with your bare hands.’
‘Oh, come on,’ Ianto scoffed. ‘Are you going to deny he told you straight away about the shooting last week? Even before I had the chance to pick up the phone?’
Owen frowned. ‘Only because I called him and demanded to know what the hell had happened the night before. The cops called to let me know they’d do everything they could to try and keep this out of the tabloids. One of the nice things about being major donors to police charities is that the police brass remembers you when, say, your brother gets shot at.’ Owen paused and gave him a meaningful look. ‘Naturally, I had to ask what shooting.’
‘I was going to call you,’ Ianto said, knowing he sounded a bit defensive. The truth was he hadn’t been relishing that conversation with his brother—or any other member of his family for that matter. He knew his family well enough to know their reactions would have fallen somewhere between alarm and panic, and he hadn’t been wrong.
‘After I got a call from the police,’ Owen added, ‘I phoned Jack.’
‘Don’t you mean interrogated?’ he asked, his annoyance showing. ‘And why didn’t you call me first?’
‘Because, given the choice between the two of you,’ Owen said patiently,’ I knew I’d have a better shot with him at getting the straight story.’
‘Are you saying I would have lied?’
Owen gave him a knowing look.
‘Whatever,’ Ianto said.
‘And yes, believe it or not, I did have to threaten and cajole Jack,’ Owen went on. ‘He initially told me to call you. I think the only reason he eventually said anything was because I’d already been filled in more or less by the police.’
So maybe Jack hadn’t gone racing to his brother with the news.
‘I must say, I agree with Owen,’ his mother put in. ‘Jack seemed very reluctant to go into too much detail about the shooting when your father and I asked about it. Frankly, I think he wanted to spare us the unnecessary worry.’
‘And by the way,’ his father added. ‘Jack is not the one who told us about the threat you’d received in the mail. That was something that the police mentioned when they contacted your brother. But I do wish you would just let Jack do his job. Please, son.’
Ianto looked across the ballroom and his eyes met Jack’s. The look on his face said he was debating whether to walk over or not. He shook his head almost imperceptibly. He didn’t need Jack’s help handling his family.
He did owe him an apology though—at least for jumping to the conclusion that he’d raced to his family to blab about the shooting or their other activities.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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on 2012-01-07 08:03 am (UTC)Have I already mentioned that I LOVE it!!!!!
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on 2012-01-07 08:22 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 01:02 am (UTC)And i think it's time for Jack to start thinking that he is good enough for Ianto. who cares about their backgrounds and family status.
fantastic chapter as usual.
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on 2012-01-07 01:33 am (UTC)Thanks for reading.
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on 2012-01-07 01:08 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 01:34 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 01:17 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 01:35 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 01:17 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 01:36 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 02:21 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 02:33 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 03:29 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 03:46 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 03:51 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 05:10 am (UTC)Loving this story so much!
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on 2012-01-07 05:19 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 06:45 am (UTC)As much as I like Jack and Ianto together, I really do like the tension between them as well.
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on 2012-01-07 08:19 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 07:30 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 08:20 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 01:46 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 11:29 pm (UTC)Thanks. Next chapter up soon.
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on 2012-01-08 02:18 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-07 09:26 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-08 07:11 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-08 07:30 am (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-08 06:47 pm (UTC)Owen is really ... Owen!
:-))
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on 2012-01-23 10:19 pm (UTC)no subject
on 2012-01-24 01:50 am (UTC)