XV –Family reunion
The Dragon wasn't exactly pleased to see two teenagers stepping out of the car, once the driver had parked the car and opened the door. His eyebrows were trying to keep a small distance, frowning over the bridge of his nose and shading his dark eyes. On his left, Anastasia was playing her usual role, pretending to be bored and indifferent while hiding the cold shivers of fear that were racing up and down her spine.
As expected, the bodyguard was standing beside the weaker one of the couple. Anastasia didn't feel anywhere near safe, but she was constantly trying to convince herself nothing bad could ever happen to her. No… Her husband was the greatest danger in her life, and he wouldn't let anyone hurt her. No, that was his job – and he did it damn well. The woman was glad it was night time – hopefully, nobody would be able to see her eyes red in between the black and stiff lashes that outlined them. The cry she had stopped in her throat was numbing her head in hot waves of nervousness and superficial asphyxiation.
The driver had informed the Dragon of Light following them. The two had their way of communicating important details like this. Even so, the man still had a doubt of fear creeping up his nervous system. The Dragon was pissed, and that was never a good thing. He had never personally seen him like that before, but it wasn't difficult to picture what was going to happen next.
They had met in the suburbs, going into a dark and smoky restaurant. Light wasn't used to that kind of environment, and judging by how close Caterina was walking and how she seemed to be trying to get between him and the driver at all times, she wasn't either. Most of those at the tables were men and the women looked either like deranged assassins, or prostitutes… perhaps both. The boy was frightened to be descending into this hellhole – everyone around him looked like a criminal, the kind the police couldn't dream of catching… The kind that made the voice inside his mind shiver with excitement. His darker side would have loved to set a bomb into the restaurant and watch them all burn like filthy rats they were, disemboweled by the force of the explosion, dismembered or stepped over by their 'associates'. That part of him was growing excited just by the thought of such an explosion… while his good side was honestly terrified of being there.
They claimed a table and Caterina sat a little too close to her father, the side of her body and one of her legs toughing the side of her father.
"Why are we here?" she asked first, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
The Dragon was staring at everyone in the bar, silently asking not to be interrupted. Those at the tables near theirs sat up and moved, or disappeared somewhere. Light wasn't sure of the restaurant's structure.
"Was it necessary?" the man asked her, mumbling his words and nodding towards Light. The boy froze, tempted to let his darker side take control.
'You can't deal with this kind of situations, you're too soft… Let me do this. You don't have to do anything, just sit back and watch. They won't suspect a thing.'
"Yes. I trust him." Caterina leaned against her father's shoulder and his arm went over her shoulders. It was heavy, but she didn't mind that. It was safe.
"I don't." the man hissed.
"I can leave any moment, you see. It is only because of your daughter that I am here." Light heard himself saying. 'Relax… Let me take care of it.' the voice said inside his thoughts, and eventually, Light decided to give in – just for tonight. "My purpose was to see that she meets you safely, sir. I do not know your driver or other servants, so I decided it would be a better option for her if I came along."
All this time, Anastasia just looked at everyone around the table. "Can we keep family matters between family, and not share them with strangers?"
"As if you were the one to talk," Caterina bit back.
The head of the family ignored the short exchange of words between his daughter and his wife. Instead, he focused on Light. He was playing the caretaker card and it was painfully obvious… Yet, the man saw something recognizable in the teenager's image.
"If you wanted to leave, you would have left the moment you saw us." Once again, Anastasia was trying to shoo the boy away.
"But it is not my will that holds the power to decide, and correct me if I am wrong, but I assume neither is yours, madam."
Caterina watched Light and began to calm. Perhaps that answer would be enough to make her father see in him what she thought she saw – a part of the Dragon's younger self.
"My dear… This young man here claims to be worried for your safety. He is right about one thing – the decision is not his to take. Do you want him to remain among us?" he asked the girl. "Let me remind you, there will be consequences for at least one of you if he proves himself to have a loose tongue."
One side of Light was growing anxious and the other, furious. Caterina took a moment to actually think about it! Did it mean she was not completely on his side? Was she suspecting the presence of the darker voice inside Light's mind?
"Yes, padre. I understand. And I believe we can trust him with at least part of our family discussions."
Light's darker self was filled with both rage and power. He would have wrapped his hand around the girl's little neck and pulled out her words one by one, under the threat of breaking her neck like a little bird's. How could she not trust him completely? He had let her in on most of the details of his life – except one, but this was not something anyone should know. Still, he maintained a calm and serious exterior.
"Are you going to listen to your daughter for such an important decision?!" the woman asked in shock.
"Be quiet, woman. Do you underestimate my ability to deal with all possibilities?!"
Anastasia bit her lip and frowned, not daring to answer her husband. Instead, the driver cough in his fist, demanding attention.
"Sir, I believe there are other details we came here to discuss."
"Yes," Caterina agreed, "Do tell me everything!"
Light watched from his seat as the driver looked the Dragon in between the eyes. That was at least a sign of courage, if not something more… He was now wondering about the type of relationship this servant had with the head of the family, and of course, with Caterina. It was easy for this side of Light to see that Anastasia didn't really matter in the equation.
"The apartment had been robbed, Sir. I have seen a car with more men rushing down the street, no plate number and with a very fast and rather loud engine. The door was open and the hallway seemed ravaged. I did not enter – I called you immediately to announce there are some grave problems, Sir, and if I should give you the details on the spot."
Light noticed the calm and relaxed way in which the driver was speaking, almost as if all this was a game and he was reporting to a friend or close relative. The Dragon didn't seem the type of man who would allow close relationships to develop, though… so there had to be something deeper than what he was able to see.
"Was there anyone inside?" the man asked his servant, who simply shook his head. "Are you certain?"
"I have been there for two minutes, Sir. I heard no signs of a living person being inside."
The Dragon nodded, looking far away and deep in thought.
"What did they take? How many were they?" Anastasia rushed in with her questions, to which Light's darker self had to hold back from giving some sarcastic answer.
"I'm afraid I cannot answer, signora. I remind you that I had not entered the apartment and that the intruders were too far away by the time I reached the building."
The Dragon stood up and walked into a separated room. He seemed to be familiar with the place, Light noted. Though the fact that his daughter and his wife were so uncomfortable meant he only came here for business – from which the female family was excluded. The driver though appeared to be sharing a special bond with the other man… Just how exactly did he manage to get under his employer's skin? Light had to know, if he wanted to approach this rotting family in the future. Their influence could serve him well on his quest of doing something against criminals – the capital punishment becoming legal all over the world should prove a good first step. After that, the options will remain open.
Caterina sighed, as her mother kept asking the driver stupid questions that only proved the blonde had not been paying attention to his former explanations.
"Is this a usual sight?" Light asked, leaning closer to Caterina. She was approachable when her father was not around – he could even say she wanted to be approached.
"More often than I would like to admit." The girl rolled her eyes, then closed them completely for a few long moments.
"Are you tired?"
"Yes…"
"You didn't seem so half an hour ago."
To this, Caterina opened her eyes and looked at Light intently, trying to figure out what about him had changed. He smirked.
"Are you studying me?" she asked.
"Do not feel too special. We all do, it's in our nature. The strong sex will study the beautiful sex, each of us looking for his own interpretation of how you should all be."
"And what exactly are you looking for, pray tell?" The girl didn't like feeling under a magnifying glass. Immediately, her discussion with her father returned to her mind to haunt her. 'Am I weak… in your eyes?' She began asking herself what did the eyes of a man first see in a woman. Was it the face? Was it the long hair? It couldn't be the body – she was still rather flat – and many women would remain rather flat for the rest of their lives, but men still gave her attention. And it couldn't be the personality – they would first have to be attracted by something else in order to discover a woman's personality… right?
"Why would it interest you?" Light turned the question around in a second.
"You were studying me. So? What have you found?"
"Unless it is some form of attraction, it should not bother you. Are you going to ask every man who stares at you for more than two seconds about his findings?"
The girl hated the mockery in his tone. This wasn't the Light she liked, the one who took her out two hours ago. This was the one who replied to her text messages and made her throw her phone on the bed, debating if she should even bother to reply anymore.
"Perhaps. But I think you are not yet a man." Caterina leaned in her seat and crossed her legs.
"Just like you are not yet a woman, or powerful. Am I missing something…?"
The girl had to breathe in deeply and exhale slowly a few times just to calm down. Otherwise, the back of her hand would have crushed into the side of his face and she would have risked looking like her mother – with absolutely no self-control.
Just then, the Dragon returned.
"Padre…?" the girl asked, the only one allowed the right to do that.
"I have arranged for a different apartment. We will see it tonight. As for the other one, I will be taking care of it."
Caterina moved her legs closer to the couch, leaving enough space for her father to take back his seat, but the man did not. After a moment, Anastasia stood up as well.
Author's Notes:
Is peace going to return into our story? Or will something else happen and throw everything into chaos? How is Vincent involved with the robbery? Find out in the following chapters! Or you can send me suggestions and expectations to consider. Who knows? Maybe you could save the life of one of the characters!
So don't forget to review and PM me, follow and favorite!
Chapter proofread by Eat4Fun, as usual.
