Enslaving the King

Chapter 2

Raine leaned against the rail, humming to himself, fingers tapping the solid metal. The busy Hub of Heroism was full of people going to and from work, or just taking a break. His eyes scanned the throng for his meetup, Echo Eye doing quick assessments of the people there. A few eyes drifted back to him, sometimes gazing too long until Raine glared them away. Fortunately, no one said a word. Raine wasn’t in the mood, which was why he preferred being here. The Hub, offering a variety of public relaxation and refreshments, had to be the busiest thoroughfare on Helios. And people were less likely to start problems unless they wanted to risk drawing the ire of the nearby loader bot patrols.

Raine was a provocative sight. He looked fantastic. Not that he’d gone overboard. He wasn’t one for trying too hard, didn’t need to. He had chosen some nice and suggestive clothing, one where the shirt vest had a steep V to show off his neck, chest, and body art (tattoos, yes, he took pride in those), and tight enough pants to entertain the eyes. He’d cut and gelled his hair, even broke out his favorite face cream, the one that left his skin soft and inviting. It was a special occasion.

Rupert Holloway had hired Raine.

Why was that special? Holloway happened to be Vice President of Marketing. It was a well-sought position of high turnover from what Raine had gathered. Then again, anything above middle management and below exec level tended to be that way, fought tooth and nail over. It was the gauntlet that either made or killed the potential future company heads.

It was riskier for Raine to take this job, being around people who happily assassinated each other behind closed doors.

But the amount of money he’d be collecting would be lovely , so very worth it, and he would certainly earn more prestige at the Pleasure Palace. Yes, prestige mattered. Prestige got one noticed. Got one featured on the PP website’s front page and thus guaranteed well-paying - no, scratch that, best-paying - clients. Previous to this day, Raine had only ever serviced as high as department managers. He was still a small-time escort as far as anyone who mattered was concerned. But a vice president was a small (hopefully, arguably) step away from the exec level, the place where the real money happened, the sort of money that could set Raine up for life. Raine had overheard the escorts who got to work that level talking about what they were making, and it had always turned him green with envy .

Raine sighed.

What it would be like to work for Lord Hayden, he thought. Lord Hayden. CEO. Hero. King of Hyperion. The one high-level exec Raine allowed himself to fantasize about, to entertain a lot of fan-love for. He admired the man’s accomplishments. In another life, Raine would have loved to run a company just like this one, but this life had led him differently. 

Lord Hayden was everything. He wasn’t some stuffy, boring, old CEO who looked almost ready to retire, where people barely knew his name. He was younger than most CEO’s, could be anywhere from his thirties to his fifties. Stories spoke of all he had accomplished as an adventurer on Pandora. Vault openings, bandit slayings, wilds-taming.

Raine wasn’t an i***t. He knew most of it was bullshit, a marketing scheme to put Hyperion on top by making its president seem larger than life. But he respected what it had accomplished, how well it’d worked. 

He knew that Hayden as a person wasn’t the same as he was painted by Hyperion advertising. But even real Hayden was more interesting than most CEOs. Though rarely seen by the low-level workers, most knew Hayden as a voice that rang scathing or bored over the intercom, a notorious username ~HHayden69~ that caused trouble on random websites, or a bundle of energy that rushed through the hallways on good days, or darkened them on bad ones.

Oh. And also Lord Hayden had murderous and blackmailing tendencies that weren’t talked about much in the open, but provoked a lot of whispers behind closed doors.

So yeah. Raine was safe fantasizing about fake Hayden, the hero, the legend. He didn't exist. And he would never actually meet the real Lord Hayden in person. He knew about the whole never meet your heroes blah blah-

Lord Hayden had become a name spoken with quiet annoyance at the Pleasure Palace. Many escorts had hoped to be hired by Lord Hayden, had done everything they could to appeal to him, but to no avail. Lord Hayden's money was untouchable by the PP, a fact that annoyed Raine’s supervisors. Raine couldn’t feel the same. Whether it was because Hayden didn’t want to blow money on something he could get for free, or because he was more monogamous than he seemed, (or even that it ensured Raine was at a greater distance from the object of his fantasies) Raine had to respect that small fact about Lord Hayden.

Raine’s Echo Eye spotted his client in the crowd: a sharp-dressed, Lord man in a dark outfit and gold tie, large H’s emblazoned on the collar of his suit Haydenet. Raine checked the time. Holloway was nearly ten minutes late. Not unexpected in the least, but slightly annoying.

“Ah, Raine, I presume,” Holloway said, practically watering at the mouth when his eyes landed on Raine. At least this would be easy, Raine reflected. From his experience, he could already tell just how easy this client would be.

“Yup, that’s me,” Raine replied. He dropped his voice, filled it with honey, “ Mr. Holloway .”

“Excellent. I just have one…” the man fidgeted with the datapad he was carrying. “-matter, to attend to at my office. Would you accompany me?”

“Of course, Lord,” Raine purred and batted his lashes.

Holloway grinned, eyes darkening with lust, but he led the way.

The hallways grew quieter with each step that led away from the Hub of Heriosm. In an elevator, Raine laid on the flirting thick. By the time they reached Holloway’s office in a fancy hallway lined with plants and fountains - yes, Raine could practically feel the money here - Raine knew he had his new client by the balls. Good, good. Holloway’s body language was practically begging, but Raine made him wait.

Holloway may have been the client, but Raine was the one in charge here. As always.

“You want- in the o-office?” Holloway said, the first stammer so far.

Oh, well, that was just adorable, Raine jeered in his head. Of course, this sort of client was right up his alley, but there were times when they just didn’t click right for him. And he was feeling that now. Whatever. Raine didn’t have to click. This was a job, not a fling. “Mmhm,” he purred.

Holloway snatched his vest and pulled. This was about the time that Raine began to wonder just what he was about to work with here, what kind of s*x Holloway wanted. Holloway backed into the office, grinning, smug as anything. Raine glanced up for a brief assessment of the office-

What the hell?!

Raine reflexively yanked back from Holloway’s attempt to kiss him. Holloway looked miffed. Raine jerked his head. Holloway followed the gesture, eyes widening and hands going limp, relinquishing their hold on Raine.

With a jilted smile and a loose stance that betrayed something darker, Lord goddamned Hayden him-f*****g-self stood by Holloway’s desk. “Well, well, well,” he said. His voice was edged with fury, his expression all perfect white teeth. “Ain’t this amusing?”  Raine backed up, hitting the automatic door. It was supposed to open, but of course, it didn’t . It remained a wall between him and safety. With a glance above his shoulder, Raine saw the red light on the door. Who locked it? Lord Hayden? Or Holloway? s**t s**t s**t-

Don’t panic, this has nothing to do with you-

Even with Raine’s big plans to work for execs, Raine hadn’t ever anticipated encountering Lord Hayden in person - Helios was big , and the executive suites weren’t that close to Hayden's penthouse. Even the offices were far away from Hayden's. Hayden's office could only be accessed from the Hub of Heroism elevator, a weird location, but it’d worked to the advantage of all of Raine’s calculations.

Raine had had lofty goals, but he hadn’t meant to launch himself past the moon into the f*****g sun.

Guess he’d miscalculated. Or had just gotten very unlucky.

He knew it was the latter. This was just like the time he’d nearly gotten hired as a programmer for Hyperion but then a rich student had bought out the manager and Raine had lost it all. Only his chances of dying were much higher now.

“Holloway, Holloway,” Lord Hayden said, voice ringing with chastisement. His too-intense, mismatched eyes flicked between the two of them. Raine shrunk. Lord Hayden sounded different in real life to Raine than he did in the vids, or over the intercom. It was a richer, more powerful, sound. Lord Hayden chuckled. “Having fun ?” he growled, stepping forward.

“Erm- Sir,” Holloway attempted, “I… I don’t know what this is about, I was under the impression that-”

“Not one clue, eh?” Hayden asked, spreading his arms dramatically. “Then let me give you a hint, since you’re so clearly an i***t. It starts with a s**t company called Maliwan, and ends with this little thing.” Lord Hayden held up a small device that apparently Holloway recognized. All of the color drained from his face.

Raine tried to calm his racing heart. Just stay calm. This wasn’t his business, he kept reminding himself. He just had to get out of the room. But how? He scanned the door with his Echo Eye, but there was no way to hack it. Yes, he had a hacking feature because he thought it might come in handy, but apparently it was useless when he truly needed it.

He cleared his throat, drawing both gazes. “I’m...not a part of this, and I hate to interfere-”

Hayden stepped towards them, hands flexing. "No, no , pumpkin, you’re staying. Right. There.”

Holy f*****g s**t. Raine’s stomach dropped to his toes, heart slamming against his ribcage. His eyes darted around the room, trying to locate a hiding spot, or maybe something that could defend him. It was insane to think of. He knew that if Hayden decided him harm, there was nothing he could really do. But he had to try. Right? He couldn't just die. Not without trying. 

Right? 

He saw nothing but a desk and a personal bathroom. Well, wasn’t that fancy .

Lord Hayden was once again focused on Holloway. “Aren’t you gonna start blabbering excuses at me, i***t?”

“Th-that is the-” Holloway cleared his throat. “-potential file for Project Y. As I went over in the meeting. I drew it up in an attempt to woo the Maliwan overseer. As planned. The data is highly falsified-”

“Yeah, yeah,” Lord Hayden said, twirling the datadrive. “You think I’m an i***t or something?”

“N-no, I was just recapping-”

“Here’s the thing, I went over your falsified information and it checked out...Save for this friggin’ thing.” Hayden tapped the datadrive and a graph appeared. “Five. Seven. Five. Four. Eight.” Hayden glared at it. Raine had no idea what was going on at this point. “Was the access code for the real numbers...and guess where that code was imbedded? Right in your so-called falsified data.”

Holloway looked like he might have a heart attack. “I...that’s uh, impossible, sir! I went over it dozens of times-”

“Then how the frig is it still there?” Lord Hayden hissed, tossing the drive onto the floor. “ How ?” He repeated, jabbing his fingers forward. “There are two explanations. One, you’re an incompetent moron. Or two, you were trying to sell secrets, and judging by the fat deposit into your account and the attempted hacking that took three skilled techs and one AI to stop...I should guess...the latter .” He took another step towards Holloway.

With Lord Hayden's rage focused on someone else, Raine began inching his way along the wall toward the bathroom. He prayed to anything that might listen he could slip in there unnoticed, that the vicious president of Hyperion would forget he existed. He knew that all the whispers about Lord Hayden's murderous rage were true. 

“N-no, I didn’t.” Holloway was shaking his head wildly. “T-the deposit was from the original plan, it was a mistake- I would never betray Hyperion- I, just give me a chance, sir, I’ll fix it and then-”

“Nah, nah, we’re done playin’ games ,” Lord Hayden snarled, closing in on Holloway, fists clenching. “You couldn’t have made a data mistake- not when you’re this high up the ladder. There has to be some numbers competence in that skull. Bumbling screw ups are one thing. But Traitors - liars ? The absolute worst, lower than dirt.” He spat on the floor. “You have everything you could ever want. A well-paying job, benefits, a good home, hell, hot people to bed - but then you turn around and sell us out. And whoops, you aren’t even that good at it . Did you really think I wouldn’t find out . I spent all night parsing that damn code.”

“P-please.”

Holloway’s eyes shot to Raine, wide and pleading. Raine shook his head, hard, but his legs were shaking with each step closer to safety. He wasn’t going to feel guilty. This wasn’t his fault. It sounded like Holloway had screwed up, big time, and that had nothing to do with him. Nope, nope, this was not his business, not even a little. He was just an escort. He shouldn’t even be here. God, why did he have the absolute worst luck-

Holloway switched back to Lord Hayden, something like fire in his eyes. “It...it was him !” he yelled, breaking the moment. Raine froze, a mere few feet from the bathroom door, his mouth going dry. He made an aborted motion at Holloway. Lord Hayden's head tilted and followed Holloway’s finger to Raine, brows furrowed. Raine couldn’t breathe, or speak, or think.

Holloway’s eyes widened in mock-realization. "He...he seduced me." What?! "He must have gotten the numbers and edited the document! He must’ve had access, with those implants-”

Raine gaped at Holloway, anger breaking his stillness. “Are you f*****g serious, asshole? I don’t-”

Lord Hayden barked a laugh. “Oh, Holloway, you are a tool !” Hayden howled. “I can’t even tell if you believe that or not-” Hayden busted a gut then and there, as if he had just been told the funniest joke he’d ever heard.

Raine saw Holloway whip something out and realized this was all just a distraction. A gun. “Sir-!” Raine cried out in alarm.

Lord Hayden spun back to Holloway. Holloway shot the weapon at Hayden. Raine dropped into a huddle on instinct at the deafening noise. He heard it continue until the weapon went click. His ears rang, blood pounding through his skull. By the time the ringing had faded, all he heard was a dull scuffling and gagging. He risked a glance up. His eyes widened.

Lord Hayden straddled Holloway, strangling the life out of him. “Friggin’ shitbag!” Hayden growled. Holloway sputtered, hands clawing Hayden's arms, to no avail. His pistol was out of reach on the floor, must’ve been lost in whatever scuffle Raine had missed. Hayden's hair was all out of place, falling messily over his brow and ears, flecks of blood on his mask, face twisted into the nastiest look of hatred Raine had ever seen. It was...disconcerting. His clothes were disheveled, and he heaved breaths like he had run a marathon.

Raine had to remember how to breathe. “Jeezus,” he muttered.

“Pl- please…” Holloway grunted, eyes darting to Raine.

Raine sank lower to the ground. Fear. And...something less respectable pooled inside of him. He was glad he wasn’t clearly visible at this point, huddled low, most of the room between him and the point of violence. He shook his head and started to slink back towards that bathroom, so close, so far.

Raine was halted by Hayden's voice. It wasn’t directed at him, but he still couldn’t move.

“Oh if you’re still talkin,” Hayden was muttering, “then I’m obviously not pushin’ hard enough!” Raine heard more choking. Holy s**t, holy s**t he was about to hear someone die right in this very room! He….he wasn’t anywhere near prepared for that! He’d been on Helios for years now, and he’d known of people taken down by the internal corporate subterfuge and power struggles, but never had he witnessed it, nor had he planned to.

He heard a sickening crunch and gagged. A violent heave hit him. He leapt up, rushing to that bathroom. He lost his breakfast in the toilet.

Hayden's murderous tendencies had never been a secret. But to actually see it. Raine’s hands shook against the bowl as he tried to regain himself. The taste in his mouth made him want to heave again, but he took several deep breaths, trying to calm stomach.

There was a knock. Raine jumped. Lord Hayden's voice filtered through the door, causing Raine to flinch yet again. “What’s the matter, cupcake, you that weak-stomached? Get out here!”

“Y-yeah, okay,” Raine stammered, heart thundering. Was he next? For a fleeting second, he was grateful the bathroom automatically locked. Then he realized Hayden wouldn’t be deterred by that for long. Helios was under his command. If he wanted in this bathroom, he would get in. Yeah, the lock delayed things, but Raine knew it was pointless to draw this out. “I’ll ...I’lll be out...in just a second, sir.” So much for hoping that Hayden would forget about him.

“You have exactly two minutes to finish up. Then, I’m dragging your ass out, pumpkin!”

Raine was going to die, wasn’t he? It was only a matter of time before something like this happened. And there he’d been, convinced he’d been very careful throughout his career as a p********e. But he hadn’t. He’d underestimated Holloway’s stupidity. And he was going to die because of it.

How was he to know Lord Hayden himself would have beef with his client?

Would Hayden strangle him too? Put his hands around Raine’s throat and squeeze ? Damn it, why did he want to think about that? Raine shook the thoughts away. They weren’t helping.

He found some mouthwash in the cabinet and helped himself to it, rinsing out his mouth very thoroughly. Because like hell was he dying with vomit breath. Raine had dignity left, you know.

“One. Minute. Kiddo, before I lose what little patience your now-dead shitbag boyfriend didn’t use up!”

“I...I’m coming,” Raine replied in a weak voice, too riddled with terror to try and correct Hayden's assumption on his relationship to Holloway. Raine walked out of the bathroom on unsteady legs, trying to find his stride, his confidence. It was all gone now and he couldn’t summon it back. Raine deliberately did not look where the corpse would be. He let his gaze fall to the floor, heart in his throat.

Hayden gripped his shirt and slammed him against the wall. It winded Raine, bruising his back.

Yep. This was how he died. Raine regretted not trying to hide in the bathroom for awhile longer. Long enough to think of some good final words, at least. He had nothing.

A hand wound around his throat, just as he'd assumed it would. God this wasn't how he wanted to die. Raine closed his eyes, shaking.

But the strangulating pressure Raine expected didn’t come.

“Hey, look at me,” Lord Hayden growled, voice heavy with warning. Raine complied, but it was difficult. Lord Hayden's eyes were still screaming murder, his looks still bedraggled. He was so close, Raine could feel hot breaths of air against his skin. Breaths that smelled kind of minty.

Raine swallowed, hard.

“Aren’t you quite the eye candy.” Lord Hayden rumbled out of nowhere, thumb flicking against Raine’s pulse point. “Mind telling me who the frig you are, sweetheart ?”

Eye candy? Sweetheart ? This was a bit much, right? Were his looks actually distracting Hayden? It was highly possible. Raine had confused plenty of “straight” men before. Could he use that to his advantage here? Maybe this was a good sign. Would Lord Hayden care about his name if he were truly about to murder him? But he did still have a hand around Raine’s neck, so...he couldn’t get too hopeful yet. Raine smiled, slow and sweet. “...Name’s Raine,” he murmured.

“Reeece? That sounds fake.”

Raine became indignant, his seductive edge sliding away. “Well, it’s not . Check the records at the Pleasure Palace.” It took a minute to realize who he was getting short with, and he added… “ sir .”

“Calm down, kit- Wait a minute, did you say the Pleasure Palace ?” Lord Hayden's brows went up. “You’re a w***e ?”

“Yes, sir. Eloquently put.”

“Well that explains why you look like you walked off the cover of a gay porno.”

Raine shot back without thinking, “you know what those look like, huh?”

Hayden opened his mouth. He closed it, glaring.  “...Y’know… You’re awful mouthy for someone I caught getting intimate with a traitor .” Hayden's hand squeezed lightly, another warning.

Raine raised his hands, swallowing. “Joke. Sorry. And I didn’t know he was a traitor, okay?” Damn it, what was wrong with him? He wasn’t out of danger yet! He just needed to put his head down and maybe Lord Hayden would let him live. He couldn’t explain why their friction was making him snappy. It just was, and he needed to contain it.

“So why were you with Mr. Bullshit over there.”

“Why do you think? w***e, remember? I was hired.”

“If you don’t mind, Mr. Grumpy, I’m just gonna check your story reaaaal quick,” Lord Hayden said. He relinquished his hold on Raine long enough to pull up a holoprojection. It was a website, Raine realized, the PP’s. “People love to lie to me around here, as you probably noticed…. Hmmm...I’m not getting anything for Reece .”

Raine frowned. “That’s because you’re spelling it wrong. R-H-Y-S.”

“Rice, got it.”

“Raine.”

“Rice.”

“ Raine .”

“That makes no sense. Your parents were idiots.”

Raine stood there, face pinching. He knew better than to tell Hayden who was actually being an i***t here. Hayden's murderous mood seemed to have dissipated with this new distraction, and Raine didn’t intend to change it back. “Ahah! Found ya, Rice! So you were being honest after all! Surprising!” Hayden let out a whistle. “Damn, check you out, kitten , looks like you’re quite an item there, eh? Five stars! Lots of good pics, uh, damn- ”

Raine cleared his throat. And spoke the words he couldn't stop. “Aren’t you supposed to be straight?”

“I mean…” Lord Hayden closed out of the site. “Yeah, but even I have to admit you're photogenic, right?”

Right. Photogenic. Of course. Still, Raine might have preened in any other situation to be complimented by Lord Hayden. And okay, he did preen a bit anyway, if he was honest. But the effect was considerably lessened when he remembered there was a dead body in here and that Lord Hayden hadn’t ever said he was letting him live.

“So, um...can I go?” Raine dared. He had to find out at some point.

“Wait a minute,” Hayden said, looking at him, hard. Raine tried not to wilt under the intense gaze. “Just one question, princess. You wouldn’t have anything else on Mr. Dead i***t over there I might need to know, would ya?”

Raine shook his head. “Nope. Sorry. You can check with the Pleasure Palace if you don’t believe me, but this was literally my first appointment. I know pretty much nothing about Holloway except for the fact he tested negative for STIs.”

“Right. That was probably because he couldn’t get laid without hiring w****s. Well, that’s probably it, then. Good thing I ridded this station of his lyin’, pathetic, traitorous ass, eh?”

“Yup. Such a great thing,” Raine said. Now that he felt a bit more confident he wasn’t going to die, he found himself lamenting the loss of a well-paying client. Hopefully word wouldn’t spread too far. He didn’t need his reputation being soiled by this.

“Anyway…” Lord Hayden hesitated for a moment, looking him up and down. “Are...your services for hire now, pumpkin, seeing as I just offed your last client?”

Raine scoffed. “Are...you serious?”

“Jus’ wondering.”

Raine let that slowly register. “I...suppose I might be.” Did...Lord Hayden want to hire him? As the full implications of that thought hit, he had to take a moment to breathe. Holy s**t-

“I am...recently single,” Lord Hayden started, sounding awkward. He was a million miles different from the hot-blooded killer from moments ago. “Which is irrelevant. Point is, this Lord stallion has a whole lot of built up stamina now. Haven’t had the proper outlet or time to let it out. So uh...could do with a hot piece of ass at my beck an’ call.”

Raine’s eyes narrowed. “Are you...saying what I think you’re saying, oh Straight One?”

“Look, kiddo. Don’t get it twisted. This doesn’t count. I’m offering you a job , not a fling . It’s not gay to pay you to get my d**k wet. And I did take your last job, so this just seems fair, eh? I’d pay ya Lordly .” Lord Hayden's brows wiggled. “Far more than that i***t was paying ya, I’m sure. And I’m far more worth it than him. All in all, a better deal.”

Wonderful. Repression. Internalized homophobia. That would be fun to deal with. Still, Raine put his hands out. “Look, I won’t even discuss this unless one, there’s no dead bodies in the same room as me, and two, you fill out an application online for my services first, submitted with a profile.”

“What, you mean like... everyone else ?” Hayden's eye twitched.

Shit. Raine didn’t need Lord Hayden offended. “It’s a safety measure, alright? I do it so I don’t die. This isn’t exactly the safest company to sell one’s body in.”

“Fine,” Lord Hayden said, “well, nevermind that. Totally ain’t worth it, especially for someone without boobs. Don’t need to pay anyone anyway. Sure there’s plenty who’d take it for free. Just forget it. I’m going.”

Raine watched him walk away, leaving the office unlocked. He was weirdly disappointed. But this was probably for the better, right? Lord Hayden was supposed to be off limits. Still...he’d had the opportunity for the biggest fish in the sea here. Several escorts would’ve taken that deal without thinking. His supervisor would probably want them to. 

Maybe he should have forgone his usual routes.

No. He couldn’t work for anyone unless it was done correctly. He stood by his rules.

In truth, Raine wasn’t sure if he could handle working for Hayden. Even if it gained him all the money and prestige on the station, he would probably pay the price with his life. In the end, that wasn’t worth it

Raine left the office quickly, ignoring the body of his former client.