III - Uncomfortable


"I do not want my daughter anywhere near the police!" The man growled between gritted teeth.

"But darling, what could possibly happen? They have no way of knowing who Rosa is."

The Dragon pushed the woman off from his shoulder and towards the couch. Their butler, who was currently assigned to look after Caterina, had given him some horrible news. The man was pacing the room.

"They won't take long to find out..." Tears filled her eyes, but she was holding back with all her might. "I can't afford that."


At the restaurant, three hours had passed. Caterina had a general idea of Light, but not enough to know who he really was. On the other hand, Light was tempted to say he knew the girl, even if he had only heard unimportant memories and dates lacking in names and substance. As a first impression, they seemed to have two things in common - intelligence and boredom.

Because of these attributes, the two managed to relax and let loose for a short while. However, there were still important details left uncovered.

"Can we go now, signorina? Your Padre must be very worried by now." The old man insisted.

"Yes, we can." She replied shortly. "Wait for me outside. Call the driver if you get bored."

Vincent hid his anger with grace and made his way out of the restaurant. He considered the young lady of the house to be much too disrespectful and spoiled. More often than not, he felt humiliated to be spoken to in such way. The old man would have slapped her countless times for the public humiliation, but he knew such action would bring him not only a complete failure on a professional level, but also a possible death sentence.

"Excuse me for my reaction," Light began with an amused smile, "but it is quite rare to see someone submissive to such..."

"Humiliation?" she said the word he seemed to be avoiding. "Most will, for the right price."

"I see. I have figured your financial situation is much better than that of the majority. May I ask about your family?" Of course, he did realize the question was a great risk -he had heard of the Mafia members and how they could order an execution for as much as the victim having witnessed something by accident- but he was willing to take it. By that time, he had noticed the girl seemed to be enjoying his company, so he decided to set his bet on that.

"Yes, you may." she chuckled. "However, I may not answer."

"Ah, I understand. You don't trust me with such personal information yet... Is that it?"

"Yes, more or less. It all comes down to two things - money and trust. Either of these could take you far... but you have not enough of either at the moment."

"At the moment." Light repeated her words exactly. "But perhaps in the near future..."

He was interrupted by the butler returning to their table.

"Is he here?" Caterina shortly addressed the old man, who simply nodded and bowed.

"Caterina...!" the young man began, but was left wordless for a short moment. Should he ask if she wanted to see him again? Should he ask for her number? Was any of these necessary?

"Yes...?" She stood up and stopped, not having turned her back on him yet.

"I hope to see you again soon." he managed to say in a calm voice.

"Perhaps." she replied with a smile before walking out with the white-haired man.

In the car, Vincent took the passenger seat. Caterina was back to her serious self, sitting quietly in the back. The driver seemed to be the only one having a good day. He was quietly humming to a song on the radio and tapping the rhythm. When he noticed Caterina putting on her earphones, he turned his attention to the butler.

"What happened, old man?" he asked, sounding quite amused.

"Hmph! It does not interest you. Now keep your eyes on the road."

"I could, sure. But I could very well crash into a wall, don't you think? The daughter might get out alive since she's in the back, but we won't."

"You better not!"

"Then answer me." the driver insisted on a slightly amused tone, as if they were having the most casual conversation.

"You would never crash this car. The Dragon would kill you."

"Oh, don't worry. I can kill us both before he does. We'll take your snobbery and my curiosity to the graves."

"He will kill your family. You've heard of him, haven't you? Mindless fool! Slow down immediately!"

As the driver was speeding down the road, the old man began to panic.

"I'm an orphan. Is your memory failing already? My, that must be terrifying! We both know the boss doesn't like inefficient people."

"Shut up..." He growled. "What happened today is none of your concern."

"Ah, but I think it might be!"

"If the Dragon finds out we had this conversation..."

"No worries! She has her earphones on and there's no one else around. Convenient, right?"

"Fine. She spoke to Yagami's son, that's it." The old man was finally giving in.

"Yagami? And this is...?" The driver began as he parked the car.

"That's already more than you should know. Stop the engine and let me off."

"You? What about her?" he asked with a light chuckle.

"I don't care about that spoiled brat. Just let me off before you kill us both!"

"You really are a pain, huh...?"

The old man rolled his eyes. Once the engine had been stopped, the doors unlocked automatically and the driver went to open the door for the girl. He bowed down to her as a pretext to listen closely... There was no buzzing coming from the girl's earphones. He smiled.

As Caterina noticed this, he began to wonder if her suspicion of Vincent was shared by the driver. In that case, it would have been much easier to get rid of the old vermin. Their eyes met for a second, before Caterina allowed the butler to escort her to the apartment's door. She saw satisfaction on the driver's face.


Author's Notes:

Story proofread by the beta Eat4Fun.

Check my profile for news and announcements! Follow, favorite, review, or PM me. All suggestions and critiques are welcomed and will be considered!