The Confrontation

When I left the building, I struggled with my heart beating madly to calm it down a bit. Kiba was not also giving me a break by pulling on the leash and wanting to get home as soon as possible. I shouldn't be nervous, I was married for many years, and I was nervous and felt like a teenager that there was a young woman in my house. My canine friend was looking at me suspiciously and with some judgment in his eyes.

"I don't know what you mean, so don't look at me like that," I muttered, tying it to the post by the store, even though I knew it wasn't necessary.

Already on the way here, I was composing a shopping list in my head, thinking about what my wife would have typed if she had ended up somewhere without any supplies. Ex-wife, I corrected myself immediately. It took me a while to complete the whole thing, especially since Kiba was barking, again and again, to make me act faster. The worker was eyeing me suspiciously and I think he wanted to say something about my dog but decided it was too late to interfere, and simply went back to looking at some magazine. But I felt that he was following me closely.

"You know that when you bark, you get attention?" I said to Kiba when I was undoing the leash. "We're going back."

The dog was crazy about this girl, but didn't the same affect me? Lucretia emphasized that we don't really know each other, which was true, and yet one meeting with her was enough to make me feel depressed when she didn't come and then despairing when it turned out that she was missing. I tried to look for it on my own and get as much information as possible from colleagues who were assigned to the case but were forbidden to tell me anything. Kiba and I suffered together.

And it wasn't about the promise she made to me about that, but I think she was very attached to it. Yes, I needed to talk to someone about my divorce, my marriage, and everything I was going through during this period without judging and pointing out whose fault the breakup happened. I wanted to meet her again and get to know her, rediscover a woman with such interest and intrigue. Did I fall in love at first sight? It's ridiculous, I laughed silently. But could I have denied it with certainty?

I thought about what her family must have gone through, and I wondered why she didn't want to meet them right away. But I felt that they should know where he was and that he was nearby. Anyway, she called her father on my phone, so it was a question of how to find out to who this number belonged. I pulled out my phone and in a message asked David Parker to meet in front of the police station the next morning. I was going to take time off anyway to be with Lucretia.

The day we met, I had the feeling that when she smiled, there was always sadness behind it. I felt like she was tired of something, it was probably the constant hiding and lying, so I let her talk, and with every word I was more and more intrigued by her. And besides, it was a beautiful, charming young woman that fate had put in my way. I wasn't planning on throwing that snowball at her then or encouraging Kiba to do anything to get her attention.

I admonished my dog ​​to be quiet when we got back to the apartment. It was too quiet, so Kiba and I looked at each other, but we were afraid that the girl might disappear. I was relieved to see that she fell asleep on the couch. I didn't want to wake her up and scare her, but I looked at her for a moment, smiling, fighting the urge to reach out and gently brush the strand of hair that covered her cheek. My ex-wife had short hair throughout our relationship, and I always wished I had been able to afford such a gesture toward her.

I quickly got my bedroom ready and prepared the bed. I couldn't let her sleep on the couch as she was my guest. I picked her up carefully, she seemed so light and muttered something in his sleep. I froze for a while, but she didn't wake up, Kiba watched me, making sure not to make even the slightest mistake. I laid her down gently and tucked her, she rolled over on her side and wrapped the sheets tighter around her. So that's the type you fight with for every inch, I laughed to myself. Kiba was staring at me pleadingly.

"Okay, you can sleep here tonight," I sighed heavily and brought his lair back before he would do it himself and make a noise in the process.

I quickly got ready for bed myself and lay down on the couch in the living room, but couldn't sleep. Every now and then I would get up and check that Lucretia was sleeping soundly, to every slightest sound I got up sharply, ready to react, but the night itself passed without problems. I thought about the situation I was in all the time, sometimes not quite believing that it was all happening. I fell asleep for a few hours, but it was not good-quality sleep.

When I got up I took Kiba out and made breakfast, and asked my animal friend to watch over her to eat when she got up. I myself got ready to meet the father of the girls. I felt strange as if I was going to tell him that I was going to ask for her hand or something like that, and one such experience was behind me.

David Parker had changed in these three months, but he was looking exceptionally bad that day. I guessed he hadn't slept all night, and his red eyes showed that he had cried those hours. He hasn't shaved in days. His clothes were wrinkled and sloppy.

"What do you want?!" he asked irritated.

"Just talk," I replied, my voice calm. I did not want unnecessary nerves and quarrels in front of the police station.

"About what?!"

"About your daughter," I replied, and that made him rush at me.

"What do you know?! What have you done?!" he shouted.

"Lucretia is safe, but you need to calm down, then I'll say more then." I had to hold him down because suddenly he seemed to run out of strength. He put his head on my shoulder and began to cry bitterly.

"Where's my daughter?" he asked in a calmer tone. "Yesterday she called me suddenly, she was apologizing, she sounded like something was going to happen to her."

"I took her to my place," I replied, patting him on the shoulder. The guy also needed some comfort.

"He's in town? So close? Was she here all the time?" he asked, I was surprised he didn't assume it was me holding her all the time.

"No, I brought her yesterday. She was kidnapped by her own family. I'll tell you everything I know, but maybe coffee first? It would be useful to you, right?"

He nodded uncertainly and allowed himself to be led to the nearest donut cafe. Well, someone was doing good business with it when he opened it right outside the station. I fulfilled my promise and told him everything. How Linda had contacted me and asked for help in organizing Lucretia's escape, but I couldn't give him some of the details he asked for. He calmed down more and more when I mentioned that Lucretia was safe, but after a while, he returned to worrying about why she didn't want to go home. I told him that she must have spoken to Victor and that she had made the decision after that.

"So he confessed to everything," the man sighed softly and hid his face in his hands. "Did she ask you for this meeting?" he asked after a moment.

"No, Lucretia doesn't know anything," I replied, taking a sip of my coffee.

"You know you can't hide it from her, don't you?"

"I guess." I looked him in the eye as I said this, he smiled gently and laughed disapprovingly.

"You have no idea what you're getting into," replied David, becoming serious again. "One thing is bothering me because the family from her mother's side never wanted anything to do with her, so why did they? Can you tell me something about this Linda? What did she look like?"

"I was supposed to meet her, but she didn't show up and she didn't get out of the car yesterday, so I didn't take a look at her," I replied, trying to remember as many details as possible.

"What a pity," muttered the prosecutor.

"Through the glass, I only noticed that he had an unusual eye color, so golden," I added, suddenly enlightened by the action of my own memory.

The man dropped the cup from his hand and fell silent, suddenly lost in his own thoughts. For a moment I watched his gaze go back and forth as if he had a data array in front of him that he was hastily scrutinizing.

"Impossible," he said finally, and I didn't understand what he meant.

I closed my eyes and backed away until I felt a wall behind my back. I was scared, I wasn't ready to confront anyone yet. My heart was racing, I didn't know what to do and Kiba was barking more aggressively and louder. Suddenly I felt hands on my shoulders and a pull. I found myself in a hug I knew, all my muscles tense to the limit. I wanted to raise my hands and hug him back, even though I knew it wasn't the best idea.

"Lulu ... It's really you," he whispered, hugging me tighter and tighter.

"Yes, I'm here," I replied in shock and realized that Kiba didn't understand what was happening. I felt he was standing somewhere by my leg and growling, probably wondering if he should attack. I found his head with my hand and spoke calmly. "Kiba he won't hurt me, he's my brother."

"I was so afraid for you." He pulled away from me, still keeping his hands on my shoulders. He probably wanted to watch my reactions. "How long you are here? Why didn't you come home?"

"I ..." I wasn't sure what to answer him, the truth would probably be for the best. "I couldn't go home, I was afraid you hated me because Victor told you the truth after all."

"Why would we?" he laughed uncertainly. "Our brother didn't really mean it."

"You didn't believe him?" I asked, surprised, squeezing my eyes tighter. Why, I thought, when you should.

"Wow, seriously look at me, Lulu.” He grabbed my chin and turned my face to his side. "I'm going to take you home and then I will scold Victor for talking about such stupid things and that made you find yourself with that bastard."

"I can't," I whispered. "I do not want to hurt you."

"Come on Lulu, I don't feel like joking." There was a little anger in his voice. "This is not the time to be silly. We were all worried about you and I was thinking all the time about whether I should marry Ginny."

"You should," I replied confidently.

I was sure about one thing, then everything would be somehow better, and maybe it would be easier for me to come to terms with a broken heart.

"But you love me, and I can love you, too," he replied, surprised. "You know it's true, but I'd rather talk about it at home."

"Can you or do you feel it already? You don't know yourself, huh?" I laughed.

I was furious, that one word made me angry. Since he wanted to face the truth, I decided to give it to him. I was fed up with the insecurity and wondered what if. I decided to cut everything off now for my own good and for his sake as well. I assume he doesn't hate me anyway, and now it's gonna be a reality.

"We'll talk now," I said, lifting my eyelids and looking straight into his blue eyes.

His mind did not challenge me, he stepped back slightly frightened. I didn't want to hurt him, but I was too angry.

"Lulu, what's going on?" he asked, grabbing his head, even Kiba huddled in the corner somewhere, squeaking.

"I dispel your doubts, and Victor was telling the truth. I can read minds. I've always been able to. And you're right, I love you more than I should, but I knew there was no way you would love me back. I felt safe in my bubble of unrequited love and didn't have to worry about my love life. Anyway, who would want to be with someone like me? Did you want this? I tried to protect you from my power as much as I could," I said, staring at him as Hyacinth looks at me fearfully and wants the pain of my presence in his mind is causing to disappear.

"I watched your relationships, I saw how you treat girls. I read their thoughts, I knew about everything you were doing, you know how it hurts? No, it hurt the most when I remembered that you know about my feelings and you leave the door open because you knew that I would always be waiting for you. It was like that with Ginny, you love her, but the realization of settling down and tying up your life with one woman scared you." I looked deeper into his mind and smiled sadly. "I was just a perfect excuse for you that you might find interesting to use. It's nice to have someone on hand who is staring at you like a picture and will do anything for you." I crouched down next to him, now he was looking away, his fear growing and mixing with his anger. "You know, to make it easier for you, I could erase your feelings for me from your head, but there's nothing to get rid of. Well, don't tell me that you "can" love me, since you've never taken it seriously."

He lunged at me, shouting to stop. He hated the effect of my power well, and I noticed it now. On the one hand, I was disgusted with myself, that I had hurt him, that I got carried away, and on the other, I also needed to face this uncomfortable truth. I was glad to find out, and I could only do it this way. I would never have learned that from superficial thoughts. I closed my eyes and whispered that I was sorry. I could feel the tears starting to run down my cheeks.

"What do I need your apologies for now?!" he shouted furiously. "What for did you do this ?! What for did you say all this?!"

I could still feel his weight, he screamed and slammed his fist on the floor next to my head. I wanted it to be over, I didn't plan to face it, and I didn't ask to be born with this ability. I only lost loved ones because of her and I hurt them.

"Get out of my house." Suddenly I heard Tetsuya's serious voice, and the weight of Hyacinth suddenly vanished. "Unless you want to finish what we started recently, but I doubt you would be able to."