Caviar and BBQ ~ Worlds Collide (Close)

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Alessia Da Veaga

International Corporate Royalty... The daughter of a business mogul and her American husband. Born and raised traveling all through Europe she was feeling smothered... trapped in a fairytale that she knew was not really the reality of the world anymore. She managed to prove herself to her mother and found herself in Malibu. Living on the beach a tad reclusive trying to keep her mothers associates in the States from fussing over her too much. She attended special shows and meetings for her mothers company.

She had decided to slip away from it all and tour the city only to find herself at a quaint little BBQ place. Walking in she had never experienced anything like this before... the food was wonderful and she found it entertaining that people could sit at the counter and watch the man cook. Everything was wonderful until two men walked in to rob the place. She quickly learned that the owner who had been talking to her and helping her with the various types of BBQ sauce and everything was actually a Cop... a detective to be more precise. Two different worlds colliding as neither one wants to give up that instant attraction.

The closest to dressed up he gets is a suit for a non police funeral or wedding. In her world its tuxedos champagne and caviar... his worst nightmare firmly attached to the most amazing woman he has ever met... whats a cop to do?

~~~~~

Yes mother... I understand. Yes I am safe... the house fathers business associate and your lawyers agreed on for me fits your commands for security and my wanting space away from all the crowds and chaos. Right on the beach... I will send you pictures it is gorgeous Mother... I will... yes I know... I have meetings tomorrow with Gabriella and I am not going to forget dinner with Uncle Fred... Mother no matter how many times you call him Frederick his name is Fred... you don't have the power to change that. Yes I know... Put pa pa on the phone...

Yes Dad... I know... Well she will get over it... take her to that little mountain village she loves so much from her childhood she will forget her agitation at me or she might just figure out why I wanted a little seclusion.... I am going to take today while Mary over sees the decorators and all of that. I loved the apartment that your company set me up in but this house on the beach Dad is just so amazing. Not too big not too little just enough room I can entertain a decent sized party and have my privacy.... I know... I thought I might drive around and get used to the city try out some of the local casual dining places and see how the locals eat and live.Take her on a trip and I will talk to you both later.

With that she hung up the phone and slipped up to her room to change. Mary had already seen to her room being perfect first before the rest of the house so that Alessia would have a place to get away from all the workmen. She was glad that she had gone shopping after getting to Malibu to get some more "relaxed" clothing... Well what she was used to as relaxed clothing for now at least.

A soft silk sundress and sandals leaving her hair loose the natural curls resting over her back and shoulders. She had spent most of the day touring around town and shopping till late evening. A little later than her mother would have liked her being out alone but that didn't matter to her at the moment. She finally decided on a place for dinner as she pulled the car into a little place well lit with cars and trucks of all "social" standings and smiled. BBQ Bobs. It sounded quaint and she was not sure exactly what BBQ was though from the way it looked on the Cooking shows she had watched it looked divine.

Walking in she looked around seeing people sitting at the scattered tables and some people sitting up right at the counter watching the man cook from what they could see of it with his back turned to them. Sitting at the counter she thought might be fun as she found a seat a little by itself and walked over sitting down.

A voice called stating that he would be with her in a moment she simply smiled and waited.

The station was winding down for the night, most of the night shift had already left and the only guys left were packing up to clear off home. Not Oliver Shaw, he wasn't going home to his depressingly empty house, truth be told he wasn't in his house for much more than sleeping these days. He couldn't bring himself to part with it, but he hadn't really lived in it since Lisette. He forced it out of his thoughts, letting the scalding water burn away the day. It had been decidedly average, in fact better than average, they'd had nothing, he and his partner, boring yes, but the kind of peaceful boredom cops craved. He slipped his jeans on, followed by a faded blue t-shirt he grabbed his jacket and strolled out of the changing rooms.

"Hey Shaw, when was the last time you washed that shirt? Haven't you been wearing that for a week."

"Last week Tendance, I wore it last week. Anyway, I happen to like this shirt."

Tendance raised her hands defensively, "hey," she said, wrinkling her nose. "Don't smell like it."

He scowled at her as she laughed, slapping him on the back as they headed down the stairs into the lot.

"You need some new clothes then, go out to a shop that's not being robbed for once."

"Hey, its not my fault, I walk into a shop and someone shoots at me, its almost as if they don't want me spending money."

"If I had a shop I sure wouldn't let you in the door, let alone spend money."

Oliver rounded his car, scowling good naturedly. "I like the clothes I have thanks, say hi to Marty for me."

Sue Tendance had been his partner for nearly five years, but he'd known her for nearly twenty, they'd grown up together, he'd been the big brother she'd always wanted, now she was the big sister he'd never had.

"You should come over for dinner next week, I don't like you hanging around in the house all the time, you need to get out more."

She smiled kindly, since Lisette had died he'd been a shadow of himself, she only saw him come to life at that BBQ, he lit up. He'd leant on her for over a year after she'd died, he'd been distraught, and he still hadn't quite got over it.

He grinned, dispelling her fears, "sure thing," then in a rush her fears returned, "I'll be at Bob's tonight, drop in if you're hungry".

-

He pulled into BBQ Bobs lot fifteen minutes later, whistling. The door banged as he pushed it open, grabbing an apron and scrubbing up quickly before going through to the BBQ. Hey Bob, my turn, Bob was his oldest friend, and when he'd approached Oliver two years ago for help starting up this place he hadn't hesitated. Bob ran the place, but Oliver was part owner and loved nothing more to than to be behind the counter. He was a favourite with the regulars taking great pleasure in cooking for people personally, he knew everyone's flavour by heart. He saw someone sit down from the corner of his eye.

"Be with ya in a moment miss."

Then he actually got a look at her, it was as if a goddess had walked in and he had to stop himself from staring. Wandering over he rather unashamedly looked her up and down admiringly. He opened his mouth to speak and found himself momentarily lost for words.

"What can I get for you there?"

Her accent tended to thicken when she was nervous and this was no different as she smiled and spoke.

I... I really don't know... this is the first time I have ever had BBQ. What do you recommend?

Dark eyes falling into his as she bit slightly at her lip. Her accent a bit of a blend as she had spent most of her childhood in London, Bern, Santorini, and Barcelona and countless other corners of Europe. Brushing a stray curl back behind her ear she waited for his answer still staring into his eyes.

"Well, it depends what kind of meat you want, beef, chicken that sort of thing, after that its a matter of sauces."

She was staring into his eyes she's staring into my eyes dammit, how am I supposed to concentrate on anything when she's staring at me like that?

He leaned over the counter, resting hid forearms on the polished surface. Her accent was thick, foreign. He couldn't tell quite where, it sounded like she'd picked it up from all over.

"Never had BBQ, I am shocked, you poor thing, I guess we'd better educate you then. A little bit of everything sound good?"

He pushed away from the counter, turning to stoke the coals in the large metal tray, they glared with heat and he turned back to her.

"That accent? European? I'm afraid I can't figure out any closer than that."

He laughed, but he still couldn't pull his gaze away from those damn beautiful eyes.

She nodded with a soft laugh.

I was born Austria but traveled extensively all my life with my mother and father all over Europe. So I guess I have incorporated accents together from alot of he places we lived. As for trying a little of everything that sounds like a good idea.

She looked around the little place and smiled softly before glancing back to him.

I don't guess you all serve wine here do you?

He froze, mouth open. "Wine? Errr. No, not really, it's not really a big drink in a place like this. Sorry."

He trailed off miserably, what could he offer a goddess like this? A bud? Whiskey?

Don't be stupid

She didn't look like she belonged in a world like this, she was too beautiful, the dress to expensive, she sat at the counter as though she wasn't quite in touch with the world around, and he loved that.

He tried to change the subject, "so, all over Europe? This your first time in the States?"

She smiled having suspected Wine would be out of the question in a place like this which was fine with her in all honesty. She wanted to learn more about things that were purely American and what better way than with the help of an amazingly handsome man helping her.

Yes my first time in the States... What would you suggest with the BBQ? And to be honest I am glad you do not have wine here... I get a tad bored with it actually.

He almost sighed in relief, at last, something he could do for this woman. He pulled a Budweiser from the fridge beneath the counter, opening it and sliding it towards her.

"That's what you should be drinking at a BBQ." He turned to flip the meat over, glorying in the smell of roasting meat and hot fat. In a few seconds it was cooked. He skilfully manoeuvred the meat onto a plate and put it on the counter before her. He pulled half a dozen pans from the nearby hob (the best sauces were always made fresh) and carefully drizzled sauce on the different pieces of meat.

"There you are, get your teeth into that." He pointed to a chunk of meat in an obviously Tomato based sauce, "my personal favourite, I like it hot mind so watch the spice in it. It kicks like a mule."

He turned away for a moment, ostensibly to tidy, but really to grimace, what am I going on about?

"So what brings you to America? On holiday?"

There were pubs in Europe so beer was not completely foreign to her just it being cold. That was the first surprise but became a very welcome kind of cold when she bit into the spicy BBQ Chicken.

Ohh... Ohh dear thats... yes.... a little... strong.

She could barely catch her breath till she had drunk nearly half of the blessedly cold beer not that it helped that much bet a little cool was better than nothing. She did not realize that several were distracted by her experience with the spicy BBQ as many regulars shot him humored or unamused looks.

Unknown to everyone a couple of people had walked in with no intent of dining on their mind.

He laughed as she bit into the chicken, the spiciness too much too handle as she downed half of the cold beer in one gulp. Some of the regular patrons looked over, one or two clearly sharing his amusement at her tackling of his signature dish. A few didn't look so impressed, turning back to their meals with unamused expressions.

"You sure you can handle that?"

The amusement was clear in his voice but it trailed off as two men walked into the BBQ joint. To a normal person they would just look like two potential customers looking to grab a bite to eat. To the practiced and paranoid eye of a street detective they reeked of trouble, the purposeful stride and telltale bulges beneath their jackets only confirmed it.

One of them shouted, throwing a table over as both drew guns from beneath their jackets. Glocks, serious hardware, there weren't many street thugs packing weaponry like that. They advanced towards the bar, one holding his gun ahead of him, he was the professional here, the other guy was swinging his gun around like a plastic toy. Unfortunately he was also the one whose eyes fixed on the girl at the bar.

"Empty the register now!"

The amateur nudged his friend, "what?"

"That's Alessia Da Veaga, she's rich as fuck, why don't we just take her hostage, we'd get far more money and..."

He eyed her lasciviously, "I'm sure we could get something else out of it."

She set down the beer bottle and quickly tried to find a much less spicy BBQ to try not willing to give up on this just yet. She nodded to him trying to laugh as well about it as she was finally past the burning for the most part. No one had recognized her or if they did they had been quiet and this handsome man before her clearly did not recognize her which was very refreshing.

Then everything seemed to erupt. Guns in view a table getting thrown she quickly looked around though just as quickly regretted doing so as she heard one of them mention her name. She bit her lip hearing what they said and the way this man looked at her she quickly looked to Oliver as they both closed in on her. She felt her hair being lifted up and a hand tracing down her back.

Oliver hadn't made a move towards the till yet, eyes fixed on the situation before him, watching the younger man lasciviously trace his hand up and down Alessia's back. He'd never heard of her, maybe that's what she'd been looking for after all. Anonymity, it didn't seem like she'd found it.

The older man took a fraction of a second to eye her appreciatively, keeping an eye on Oliver behind the counter, some owners kept a shotgun under the counter top and he wasn't going to let him get away with that. He paused for thought, obviously weighing up whether it was worth it, reasoning they could always take their fill and dump her he nodded.

"Alright," he gestured with the gun, "we'll take both."

Carefully, hands up, Oliver slid across to the register, fumbling deliberately with the buttons until the draw sprang out with a ding.

"Hurry the fuck up."

But he'd come within reach, as he held out his other hand for the money Oliver swung the wireless card machine, there was a crack as it impacted the mans forehead and splinters of plastic sprayed out from the now shattered machine.

The man swore and staggered back, dropping his gun. Before the other could react Oliver had thrown himself over the counter top, diving onto the gun, twisting and squeezing the trigger. There was an explosion, terrifyingly loud and a tongue of flame leapt from the muzzle. It missed, plucking at the mans trousers with it's slipstream and he panicked, grabbing Alessia's arm and twisting it behind her back, pulling her up with him as he began to back towards the door.

Oliver stepped forwards, the gun raised, body turned sideways to make himself a smaller target. His voice was calm and soothing, as a trainer talking to a spooked animal.

"Just put the gun down, you don't have to get hurt here."

There was an unspoken promise there, but the gunman missed it entirely, waving his gun.

"Alright alright, I'm still in control here." He pressed his gun to Alessia's chin and Oliver stopped, "I've got the girl ok."

She recoiled from this vermins touch till everything else exploded. She yelped as her arm was grabbed and wrenched behind her. Staring panicked at Oliver she bit her lip till feeling the gun at her chin thats when she really freaked out clawing with her free hand trying to reach back and claw at him fingernails long enough to connect with his face as she was in fight or flight mode terrified and knowing she had to get out of this her mother and father would not deal with kidnappers or any other "terrorists" like that.

Her fingernails connected and scored three bloody scratches down the gunmans face. He swore and acted instinctively, letting go of her other arm and bringing his hand up to protect his face, he swung his gun around, it was lined up on her face.

There was a bang, and the smell of gunsmoke. The whole BBQ joint froze, it seemed as though time itself had stopped. Then the gunman slowly, oh so slowly toppled backward, gun falling from nerveless fingers as he collapsed onto the floor.

Oliver was holding the smoking pistol, a look of fury on his face and murder in his eyes. The older man was still on the floor, he took one look at the detective and thought better of trying anything.

With some effort he shook himself out of his trance. Crossing to Alessia, concern clear on his face he asked, "you ok?"

She was shaking terrified... not only of what happened but of this getting back to any of her fathers or heaven forbid her mothers people. A voice cutting through her fear... soothing voice. Her eyes found his as she nodded and without thought threw her arms around him holding on for dear life till she could stop shaking. Her eyes closed tight fighting hard to calm down before she broke down from the fear.

He didn't move for a moment, too stunned at the fact that this woman... this woman... this Aphrodite had her arms around him. It took him a moment to return the embrace, he awkwardly put his arms around her, stroking her back gently, soothingly. "It's ok, you're safe now."

That moment, that single, perfect, frozen moment, did not last long. The dying wail of a siren cut through it like a hot knife through butter and through the door he could see the glint of flashing lights. There had been a response to the gunshot after all.

Calming some in his embrace she took a deep breath as one of the elderly regulars walked over.

Here honey come sit with us till he handles this matter with his brothers in blue. We will watch over her you go deal with them Oliver.

Alessia nodded and walked with he old lady to her table.

They would not have gotten anything out of mother. She simply would have told me that I had lived a wonderful life. She does not deal with kidnappers or anything like that. She has done that to me before...

The old woman just nodded listening.

One of the regulars walked over, Miriam, she was a lovely old dear, but had an occasionally annoying tendency to mother everyone. She meant well though, and her concern now was welcomed as she led Alessia away. Oliver watched her go for a moment, thoughtful, then turned to the officers just now coming in through the door.

He raised his badge, making it easy to see, but he knew one of the two already. The first man, plump and grey haired raised an eyebrow at the scene before him, the gunman cowering on the floor and the body with the glock by its side. He sighed resignedly.

"Well, I guess they had it coming breaking in here."

Oliver nodded to the aging cop, "Applebaum. What time do you call this?"

The sergeant grinned, "just in time to stop you making even more of a mess."

The young man behind him was a rookie, Oliver had seen him around the station but didn't yet know him, he looked nervous, and though Applebaum had already holstered his gun he was shifting back and forth on his feet.

"Holster that weapon Rork."

Applebaum turned back to Oliver and rolled his eyes, but Oliver smiled at him.

"Don't worry kid, his bark's worse than his bite, you stick close to him, you could have worse partners."

It didn't take long to sort out, the ambulance arrived a few moments later and took the dead gunman away while the other was read his rights and pushed into the back of a second cruiser.

Applebaum and Rork stayed around for a while, to take statements from the numerous witnesses, starting with Alessia...

She answered all the questions thrown at her enduring the looks and explaining everything sometimes twice since her accent again flooded her voice. She was still rather shook up and wanted Oliver nearby as she dealt with this fiasco. Sighing rather tired and still shhok up from all of this she debated going home but could not bring herself to do so knowing she would just be alone there.

So Oliver... is it always tis exciting at the BBQ Bobs?

She was trying to make a joke so she would not break down again attempting to put all this behind her till there was a commotion outside and the one they did manage to arrest escaped.

The guy had run, there was no catching him, he was well away. Thank god they'd managed to keep the press out of it though. He looked over to Alessia as she asked him "So Oliver... is it always tis exciting at the BBQ Bobs?"

He smiled ruefully, shaking his head, "no, not really, usually we're much more... peaceful."

He shook his head again, realising it wouldn't be long before the press turned up, she obviously wouldn't want them around.

"Hey, the media will be here soon, do you want a ride home?"

I... I've got my car right out front but you could follow if you like.

She bit her lip not wanting to think about it but she really could not stop. The man that escaped knew who she was now and that scared her. Which was written all over her face and eyes as she stood there watching Oliver.

You don't think that the one that escaped might try to come back do you?

"I... I've got my car right out front but you could follow if you like."

He nodded, he'd follow her, he didn't want to leave her by herself after something like that had just happened. He didn't really want to let her drive at all, not considering the shock she must be in, but he could sense she must have had a sheltered upbringing, trying to overprotect her might simply have negative effects. He could see the fear in her eyes, hear it in her voice as she continued.

"You don't think that the one that escaped might try to come back do you?"

He turned back to her, a reassuring smile on his face, "don't worry, I doubt he'll try anything, not after what happened to his friend, we'll make sure we catch up with him, there's nothing to fret about."

He looked over to the door, hearing the telltale hum of cars pulling up, the press was here, "come on, quick, before they can start asking questions."

Quickly pointing out her car to him and biting her lip wanting to get past the press she moved with him curling into his protection hoping he can help hide her from them. Holding the keys to her car out to him she knew she was too shook up to drive and far too scared to deal with the hounding of the press.

Don't let them follow us... please.

Moving warily towards her car she kept trying to glance around without catching any attention. Again the old woman seemed to know what was needed and began dragging the reporter around by the microphone keeping a clear path for the young lady and the cop to get out unseen. If any of the other patrons even sounded like they were going to mention the young woman's name the lady's husband other other dinner companions quickly shut them up. to keep her privacy safe.

"Don't let them follow us... please"

She sounded so lost, so alone, and he couldn't help but feel responsible for the helpless woman.

He tossed his keys to Robert, he would see that his car was dropped off back at his home. Miriam pulled the reporter towards her, clearing them a space through the press. The other regulars made sure that her name wasn't mentioned as she stayed close to him, almost clutching herself to his chest in self-defence.

They got to the car, and he was shocked to realise just how expensive the sports car must have been, he could see why those men had known him.he clicked the key, opening the passenger door for her and pushing her gently into the seat before jogging round to the other side. He slid into the car, turned the key in the ignition and felt the machine purr into life.

"Where to?"

She told him the address of the beach house as she sank low in the seat to continue to hide as they drove away. She wasn't all that far from BBQ Bobs. She smiled a little glad to have him there with her. She was sure he would prevent this from getting to anyone it should not get out to.

Thank you...

She smiled biting her lip as she looked at him... slowly the vibration and safety of the car seemed to help her calm as she finally began to speak.

YOu... really have no idea who I am do you?