*text*

Vanessa smiled at him. "Your secret is safe with me. Don't worry. Now, I'm going to try and get some sleep because I have to look as regal as possible tomorrow if this plan is going to work."

"I'll wake you up a few minutes before we land," he says with a nod. "So you can get your mean face ready."

Vanessa yawned and nodded as she closed her eyes. "Whatever would i do without you?" She asked sleepily.

"Cut a bloody swath across the world on behalf of your boyfriend," he mutters in suggestion. But the plane ride is quiet and still; the ride to the woman's house is the same, with an added touch of... It's anticipation in the same way that someone anticipates a root canal.

He stays behind her, shadow close and looking as dangerous as he can without really trying, as they walk up to the door.

Vanessa took a deep breath before she knocked on the door. She was praying that Catherine was home. Otherwise, this trip was all in vain. Still, Vanessa tried not to let it show how nervous she was.

She opened the door to see a young woman whose face had been on the news in the past 24 hours quite a bit. Well, not really the news but the gossip shows, where she had been tied to a face that she knows very well. Intimately. "Hello." She makes herself cold, aloof, distant; she knows the reason that this princess in love with Nate has come to her door and she will not simply roll over to bow to her will without something in return.

He doesn't like this woman... And he knows that Vanessa's going to hate her...

"Catherine, right?" Vanessa said, hoping that her voice wasn't shaking too much. Vanessa wasn't sure whether it was from rage or fear. "I have a proposition for you."

"Usually, that's my line," she hums. She steps aside to let them in because it's polite, really. "But I suppose I should be flattered that I've deserved a visit from royalty so I should listen, I suppose. What," she hums, musing, "are you offering?"

Oh, he's going to shoot this woman by the end of the hour.

"I'm offering you a chance to clear your name of being a lecherous, disgusting whore." Vanessa said calmly. "Either you accept my offer or I'll convince Nate to press charges." She shrugged. "It's your choice."

Vanessa nodded. "Sure did. But trust me sweetie, you don't want to go up against my lawyers. I can assure you the trial will be long and will drag your name through the mud. Or, we can avoid all those unpleasantries and you can go along with my plan."

"Oh, he must be so ashamed," she hums. But regardless of the logic of it all, she does feel some sort of remote fondness for the boy; he had been in such a bad way when they found each other. She waves her hand as if to clear the air. "All right. Whatever you need. I'll prefer to keep my name on the pleasant side of this whole ordeal. You wouldn't believe," she laughs lightly, "how many of my friends have asked if it was true, the envious bitches." Such a beautiful young man.

He will keep his hand off of his gun. He will keep his hand off of his gun. He will keep his hand off of his gun.