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Hannibal groaned before dropping his head to Clarice's chest, attempting to regulate his breathing the same way she was. Her legs still clung around his waist and her hands cupped the back of his head and stroked his shoulder. He could hear her heart beating violently, the thump of it hitting his forehead. She was warm and loving, and, although it wasn't their first time together, he knew he couldn't go another eighteen years with playing out fantasies in his dreams.

He gently rolled onto his back when she lowered her legs. The absence of her body didn't last long when she draped herself over his side. He wrapped his arm around her, his thumb tickling her spine. Her head rested on his shoulder and the scent of her hair wafted up his nose pleasantly. "I've missed you, Clarice."

"I've missed you too." Clarice whispered. She began drawing patterns on his skin with her finger, her nail raising goosebumps in their wake. "There's so much I wish you had been here for. So much I wanted to share with you. I should've just run away with you then." She looked up at him, a smirk on her lips. "It could've been fun to see you be a father. I've only ever seen you as the cool and collected Dr. Lecter. As you once said to me, it would fascinating to know you in private life."

Hannibal smiled and shrugged. "You can still join me. My offer stands as strong as I do."

Clarice sighed. "I can't do that to Bella. It's her senior year. Her whole future is ahead of her, and I don't want to be far from her." She rested her chin on his chest, gazing at him. "It's too dangerous for you here."

"Well, we can let her finish out her senior year here. A few more months won't kill me entirely." Hannibal pondered Clarice's stance. He didn't really care to think about being away from Bella either. He didn't know her at all, and she was his only heir. She was his legacy. "I don't know what she wants to study or what she plans for a future, but Europe could be a great place for her. I have a few places there and a residence in Buenos Aires where I spend summers. She could study in France, England, Italy. Any place her heart desires."

Clarice bit her lip. "Our daughter has a mind of her own. Telling her all of this. . .I don't know how she'll take it." She stood up from the bed and began putting her work clothes back on. "She doesn't even know you're her father. My God! She's going to freak out when I tell her. I raised her so that she would be innocent. So that she wouldn't have to face the pains and traumas we've been through. The truth will destroy that."

Hannibal stood from the bed and quickly took her into his arms. She didn't fight him as she buried herself against his chest. He pressed his lips into her hair. "Clarice, you and I both know that innocence will be lost one way or another. I will not attempt to sway your choice as a parent over Bella, because I haven't exactly earned the title of being her father, but we won't know what she really wants unless we tell her everything."

"I know." Clarice murmured into his chest. "I just don't want to lose her."

Hannibal nodded his head. "I understand. She'll need time to process. Finishing out her senior year here should be plenty of time. Whatever she wants." He rubbed her back, a little frustration growing now that she was fully clothed again. "As nice as you look in these, Clarice, I'd really rather them not be on you right now."

Clarice smiled before pulling away. "I need to make an appearance at the office and then pick up Bella from ballet practice."

"Shall I prepare dinner for the three of us then?" Hannibal asked, his hands rubbing together as if formulating a grand plan of sorts.

"She's staying with Ardelia for the night. As much as I want you two to meet, I think I need to tell her the truth before you are introduced." Clarice explained, looking in the mirror and fixing her hair as best she could without a brush. "I was planning on telling her tomorrow after I pick her up."

Hannibal frowned. "What am I supposed to do?"

Clarice smirked and pecked his lips. "Rest up. We still have lots of catching up to do." She didn't see it, but she knew the smile that graced his features.


Bella walked over to her coach with her phone in hand, plastering a worried expression on her face. "Coach Pellagrim, I just got a message from my mom. She says she's coming here to pick me up. There's been some kind of emergency. Is it alright if I head out a little early?"

Pellagrim stood from the piano and rested his hand on her shoulder with a smile. Bella resisted the urge to shake it off of her. "Of course. I need to work with. . .everyone else anyway. Have a good weekend and do those exercises I've been telling you about."

"Will do." Bella hoped it didn't sound as sarcastic as it felt. She quickly grabbed her bag and and left the school through the back doors, hailing a taxi when she was a couple blocks away.


Clarice pulled up in front of the school and smiled when she saw Winnie walking along the sidewalk. She waved at her before her daughter's best friend ran over to the rolled down passenger window. "Hi Winnie. I'm just here to pick up Bella."

"Bella left practice twenty minutes ago. She told Pellagrim that you were picking her up then because of an emergency." Winnie stated, sounding more scared by the second. "Do you think someone took her? Oh my God! Is she okay?"

Clarice knew that Bella wouldn't have listened to a text from an unknown number, not even her work number. They had a special language for situations like this that nobody knew. "She's fine. I think she's just trying to beat me home."

Winnie looked like she had just been told world peace had been accomplished. "Oh, thank God. I didn't know she would go to these lengths."

Clarice furrowed her brows. "What are you talking about?"

"Um," Winnie blushed furiously, "she has a boyfriend?" She saw Clarice's brow arch. She was a terrible liar, and Clarice was seeing through her. "Bella would kill me if I told you. That is if you don't kill her."

Clarice rolled her eyes. "Winnie, just tell me what's going on."

Winnie sighed. "Bella applied to a college up in New York to study dance. . .and psychology."


Bella walked through the front door of the townhouse and let her messenger bag slip to the floor in the corner. Music was playing softly from the living room and someone was moving pans around in the kitchen. It did smell good, better than the times her mother tried to make something extravagant for them to eat. She froze though when she heard the voice of the stranger in her home. She had listened to enough tapes to know that voice.

"Back so soon, Clarice. I was hoping to have dinner ready when you arrived." Hannibal rounded the corner and stopped in his tracks when he saw Bella standing by the front door looking like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Holy shit." Bella breathed. "You're Dr. Hannibal Lecter."

Hannibal straightened, not wanting to frighten the teenager. "I am. You must be Bella. Clarice said that you wouldn't be joining us tonight."

Bella gulped, glancing around her home. "She wouldn't tell me who was coming over. I figured I at least deserved to know that much since she was kicking me out for the night." She glanced around him when another delicious aroma hit her nose. "What are you making?"

"Rack of lamb. Fortunately, I can alter the proportions to make enough for three." Hannibal smiled before stepping aside. "Care to join me?"

Despite her gut telling her to flee, Bella walked passed him to the kitchen to see four pans going with the lamb and its sides. "It smells amazing." She watched as he returned to his place behind the oven, working the pans before turning to the cutting board. "My mom knows you're here, right?"

Hannibal glanced up at her before returning his attention to the veggies he was slicing. "Yes. We spoke this morning." He stabbed a fork into one of the pans and held it out to her, a sliced yellow veggie at the end of it. "Here. Try this." Bella took the fork from him and did as he said. She handed the fork back to him when he held out his hand. "What does that need?"

"Salt." Bella stated.

"Good girl." Hannibal grinned before adding more salt to the pan. He turned back to her, allowing all his attention to her. The pieces were starting to come together. Although she looked and spoke like Clarice, she had his piercing eyes and clear concise voice. Her taste in style coming from her mother while her taste for the finer things came from him. It was a good mix to have for a young girl. Humble on the outside, but sophisticated through and through. "Do you cook?"

Bella shook her head. "Not really. My mom doesn't do a lot of cooking."

Hannibal patted the counter next to him. "Why don't you join me then? I can teach you." He saw the hesitance in her eyes, but she walked around the small island to stand by him. He passed the long, sharp knife over to her and knew that this was a test for both of them. But, she wasn't afraid to be near him in the slightest. "Alright, hold what you're chopping into with your fingertips pressing down into it. Your nails should graze it. This helps to prevent any injury from the knife. Then, let the knife do the work." He showed her with his own hands briefly before letting her go ahead. She looked as composed as he was. "That's it. You're doing magnificently."

Bella felt a sense of pride fill her. She couldn't explain it. It baffled her to think that she could take pride in praise from a serial killer cannibal. It wasn't long before she was finished slicing the yellow looking cucumber on the chopping board, leaving her with the sharp knife in her hand. One swipe and she could take the life that took away so many others. Many people would consider her a hero. But, something stopped her.

The relief that seemed to take over Hannibal's stiff physical stance when she set the knife down only confused her more.

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