𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐈

~Forest~

-"All we've known is sacrifice. Sacrifice is why we live"-

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Luca reluctantly let go of the diamond ring, seeing that they were landing. He looked over at Katrina whose leg was bouncing up and down as she used her thumb and pointer finger to grip her wrist in circle motions. Caressing her wrist with those two fingers like she was imagining it as a blade.

Though she didn't make it obvious, Luca could tell what she was doing. He had done it many times before.

He reached over and grabbed her hand, stopping her movements. She looked over at his sincere face, giving him a small smile through her welled up eyes. She couldn't even see his face clearly.

He was second-guessing coming to Sweden. He wanted to go home if this is how much anxiety it caused for his best friend by coming here.

Home...

He didn't know where that was anymore.

All he knew that it was gone and would never be back.

He didn't have a home anymore.

Katrina took a deep breath, breaking him away from his thoughts.

Once they were safely on the ground, they all exited. Katrina's hand started shaking as soon as she stepped off the plane and onto the solid pavement and breathed in the air.

She fisted her hands and dismissed her emotions.

There was no room for distractions now...

A matte black range rover pulled up...with a solid gold capital K on the hood.

The driver stepped out of the vehicle, wearing sunglasses, a suit, and an earpiece. He opened the backseat door wide, making way for a tall figure.

A middle-aged man stepped out of it, wearing an expensive suit and emitting power and wealth. He looked to stand at 6'4 with noticeably graying hair but still had the build of an MMA fighter.

He had dark brown eyes and deep crow's feet -showing that he either smiled or glared a lot. Luca thought the latter. This man didn't seem to be the kind of man to smile frequently. At all.

He walked up to Katrina with a small smile that could barely be seen. They both embraced each other in a tight hug.

Katrina pulled away from the embrace, preparing to introduce the man.

"This is Adrian," she spoke. No last name was said. No affiliation. Just Adrian.

Adrian shook hands with all of them with a firm grip, showing he wasn't one to be messed with that contradicted his grandfather-like scowl. When Luca held eye contact with the man, something flashed in Adrian's eyes.

Recognition?

No something more. Adrian's lips pulled back in the slightest bit, revealing a ghost of a smile that Luca had barely caught if he wasn't glowering right at the man. His brows raised slightly and he gripped Luca's hand hard when he shook it. After Adrian pulled his hand away, he nodded to himself.

Almost in...approval?

Luca bet he looked like shit at this moment. Sunken eyes and dark circles with bags, showing he hadn't had a good sleep in well over two weeks. Pale skin that had overtaken his Italian skin. He looked like death and not the good and lovely kind.

But with that appearance, why had Adrian smiled at him?

"A pleasure to meet you all. I am very sorry to hear about the right hand's death but it seems she is far from gone with the goose chase she left you," Adrian told them, looking at Luca for a second too long.