Chapter25
The center of Acqui Terme was everything a younger Clarice had once envisioned Italy to be; mature Clarice delighted in it.
Hand in hand, Clarice and Hannibal strolled through the ornate stone pavilion with its natural spring fountain. On the patios of nearby restaurants patrons sipped glasses of wine, heedless of the fact that it was mid-afternoon on a workday.
Hannibal steered her through the town square and farther down a street until she saw a sign that read Ristorante Enoteca La Curia.
Turning to him, she smiled and asked teasingly, "An old haunt?"
"But it will be new with you, my dear. I want you to try their suckling pig with fig and onion; it's to die for."
Their host and waiter was also the owner, and greeted them like long lost family members. Clarice requested to be seated out in the terrace, which was empty and surrounded by lush greenery. In the distance a cathedral tower loomed over smaller structures.
Without looking at a menu, Hannibal placed their order. The beaming man departed to the kitchens but returned shortly, pouring them a deep red wine and depositing a plate of truffles and fresh mushrooms on their table. Trailing at his heels, a yellow Labrador retriever accompanied him.
Clarice eyed the dog, noting its fixated gaze on Hannibal.
"You seem to have quite the effect on animals."
"Animals don't encumber themselves with pretenses as humankind does." She waited for more, but he sipped at his wine. His eyes had dropped to the dog's.
"And neither do you, and they can sense that about you. Just the primal. Eat or be eaten."
"Clarice, I promised you we'd have this conversation, but do you really wish to have it here?"
"Well, we're alone. And I'd rather not have it hovering over the fine meal we're about to enjoy."
He sat his glass down and met her eyes. His palm extended, and the Lab tentatively approached him, allowing him to rub her ear and pat her head before she settled at his feet. "Very well. I once posed a question to you Clarice, a very important question. You were rather adamant in your response." [D]
Perhaps she was sorry for an infinite instance she'd brought up the topic, Hannibal's unexpected words hurt her immensely as she remembered those horrendous minutes, but now was the moment this part of his life had to be conquered. She'd have to climb that mountain or he'd have to level it.
Hannibal took a sip from his wine. Without his eyes on her, Clarice looked at the man and tried to define what, and who she saw.
"I... at that moment... could not accept the truth of love. It was insurmountable."
Hannibal delighted in her words. Love had been the mountain she'd been unable to move then. She could have asked him to stop then. But she hadn't. Not then. And now either.
"Would it be fair of me to ask you to stop?" she asked, more to herself than to him. "Was it fair to connect you being who you are to loving me?"
"You chastise yourself for the connection, Clarice, but may I remind you it was me who posed the question?"
"I took over the question. That makes it mine."
Hannibal recognized the moment, and jumped.
"So tell me, what's your answer?"
"I... Not in a thousand years. I won't ask you to stop, Hannibal. Loving me, you'll do what you think will be best for us. That could include stopping. Or the exact opposite. Whatever you decide to do will be fine, because it will be done in the name of love. I love you, Hannibal."
She sighed before she continued.
"I've seen things people wouldn't believe. Killed people who should have been in school, not waving guns at a meth lab. All part of the job. But I made damn well sure it was right. But I've seen good men being wasted for nothing but to secure one prick in an office his job. I quit the FBI years ago for good reasons, Hannibal."
Hannibal nodded.
"And I love you, Clarice, like I've never loved someone before. If loving you demands a sacrifice, you know I will make it."
Clarice nodded and cried as she took his left hand, and gently kissed the remains of his thumb. With his right, he lifted her head and kissed her. [MB]
There was a clatter in the distance and Clarice pulled away from Hannibal slightly. The owner was making his way back toward their table with a large platter in both hands, and the wink he shot her over the suckling pig confirmed her suspicions that the racket was deliberate.
Wiping at her eyes and returning his saucy grin with one of her own, she thanked him then dismissed him with the assurance that they needed nothing else.
Everything she wanted and needed was right here.
The food was, of course, delicious. But she barely tasted it.
She was too consumed by Hannibal.
Having never tried drugs, not a single experiment, she nonetheless imagined the buoyancy spreading throughout her body was akin to the most intense high.
After just a few bites her mind went back to his earlier statement, "Theydon'tencumberthemselveswithpretenses." She dropped her fork with a heavy clank and leaned into him, once again capturing his lips with her own.
Minutes later, pulling away for a gasping breath, Clarice leaned her forehead on his. Holding his eyes with her own, close and electric, she rasped, "Take me somewhere."
Hannibal's response was to dig in the breast pocket of his suit and deposit several bills on the table even as he rose and pulled her toward the gate leading back to the street. [D]
.
Alessandro sat behind his desk and wondered what had happened. Sure, one could simply say Clarice had put an end to their relationship. But things never were that simple. He was sure something must have happened. If not between them, then to her, to prompt her to break up so suddenly. She was a stranger here. And with the hours she put into the case, he was pretty sure it wasn't another guy she might have met. So, something between them had happened? It troubled him that he could not think of the tiniest thing that might have triggered it.
And he was angry. Angry he'd lost what he'd found. Lost what he hadn't found before. Alessandro knew many women liked him and would have liked... well, you know what. But he'd never liked them. All those women were so... empty. Immature. Like Chiara. Maybe because they were all so young and inexperienced, maybe because he was more mature than his age, but he'd never liked women his own age and had always preferred the company of women who were a few years older than him. Clarice, while older, didn't quite fit the picture, though. She'd been more than just more mature. He only couldn't really put his finger on it...
Her behavior was inexplicable to him. And as with all puzzles, they kept twisting and turning in his mind, waiting for him to solve them. What had happened that had forced her to break up with him?
.
They're starting to suspect something.
There are less of them online nowadays.
And they are more careful.
They do not know I can see them.
They would have abandoned this site if they knew.
Thank you, God, for keeping their eyes. Please, keep them shut so I can do Your work.
I'll have to stop for a while, make them think it's safe again.
Too bad the Questura hasn't made an arrest, that would help. Make them feel secure while they are not. While I'm still here... [MB]
.
The couple broke through the tree line, hand in hand, and continued down the sloping trail to the river.
The woman enthusiastically pointed left, to the remains of a Roman wall protruding from the rich earth. Stopping and leaning into her, he offered her a brief history of the area. At first his hands cupped her face as he spoke and then they idly slid down her throat before skimming the sides of her breasts and settling at her hips.
No longer processing his words, she watched the movement of his lips for a few moments before slamming her mouth to his mid-sentence.
Minutes later she pulled away, now leading him to the natural hot spring with its smooth tiered stones and steaming mists.
He uttered a broken, "Clarice," and there were no other words for a long time after that. [D]
Authors' Note:Dearreaders,thankyouforcontinuingthisjourneywithus. We hope you'll be our fellow travelers until the final chapter. We would like to warn you though, that aftermuchconsiderationwe havedecidedourfic.willnotcontainatruelemon.WewouldliketokeepourstoryaT. Andtruly,ifawriterisgoingtoundertake creating lemons the processshouldbefullyandpassionatelyembracedwithoutrestrictions. We feel that's not our way.
