Mind Games

Chapter Five: Promise of Misery

Lucca bordered somewhere between grateful and disappointed when Kanas didn't follow through with his promise for continuing appointments with her. He'd likely known that she wouldn't attend. But knowing that he was willing to book an appointment, that he was willing to wait for her, knowing that she wouldn't show up, it brought a smile to her face.

And it kept Lucca on her toes. That promise. The one that filtered across Kanas's face every time their eyes met during passing. The few times their paths had crossed between her classes and his appointments.

No words needed to be said between them, the smiles and silent knowledge were clearly understood by both parties.

And it made for an interesting game.

But neither approached their opponent in the coming days, continuing on with their lives as though the presence of the other didn't disturb something in the air around them. As though every time Lucca could feel the tiny hairs on the back of her neck standing on end, she could convince herself that it was the change in wind that had caused such a visceral reaction and not the dissecting gaze of the six-foot-tall European standing across a crowded hall.

There was no denying that there was something about him, something that had caught Lucca's attention. That had her change tact during their appointment. Something about him that had her confiding in him, even in the most vaguest detail about her past. A man like him, made it dangerous for someone like her and yet...

No, it was best not to think about a further additive.

It was easier to breathe when Thursday came around and Kanas resided back to his office. Easier still, when he stayed away on Friday.

By Saturday morning, Lucca could say that her life was returning to some semblance of normal. Whitley's death was no longer the big-ticket item with news coverage or school gossip. The university property was no longer hounded by press and concerned parents lingering over their grown children. Victor no longer harboured concerns about sending his daughters off to university and Nate was relaxing with the new and improved security measures he'd taken out around the house.

Julian would have been proud with Nate's paranoia.

And she didn't have to hear from her father to know.

And not hearing from her father meant that Lucca could continue on with her own private investigation into Whitley's death. Into the people behind it. The Pazzi's had territory in the states now, her father had admitted as much, so now Lucca had to find the territory. She had to confront their leading member and remove yet another threat to her family.

A little further down on her list was finally getting a chance to talk with Amelia about what she had seen in that classroom. About what she had passed over to the police.

It was a looming cloud over Lucca's head as to whether Amelia knew her true identity.

And that looming cloud only partially dissipated as Lucca settled into her 're-channelling energy' routine of every Saturday morning, regaining her energy back after a draining week spent at the university with people that she considered of lesser intelligence than herself.

Once upon a time, she'd have jumped on her private jet and travelled to New York, or some place further, to spend time with people she considered her friends. Or to simply be immersed in culture and experiences she couldn't have here. Now, she hesitated to go on one of her gateway weekends. She knew that if she left, Nate would make it next to impossible for her to return and she wasn't willing to allow that to happen.

Though, there was an added bonus to staying behind - besides the chance it afforded her to look into Whitley's investigation, to find out where the Pazzi's were located and the opportunity to find Amelia - and it came in the form of Victor making his infamous three-day sauce.