The Little Dove #2 ✔️

61. Don't Do This, Kenji.

CHAPTER 61: Don't Do This, Kenji.

Kenji gives me a stern look, "You could have told me that the file on Charlize Northern was in fact part of an entire investigation sequence you were in on and was almost killed during the process, on several occasions?" He says to me, giving me a scrutinising look as Hideyoshi and Dad keep Edmund busy with the Barbecue. Kenji takes me for a walk through the back gardens, viewing the forest below. I sit on the cliff bench, holding a mere glass of grape juice in my hand, while Kenji has sparkling water.

He joins me on the seat, turning towards me after I haven't said anything, "Melanie?" He asks again. Sounding concerned, confused but more so-he just wanted answers. I've wanted answers since the very beginning but all of them came after my world shattered and I was set at breaking point.

I place the glass down on the concrete below the bench and turn towards him fully, "I chose to go to that academy, that college to study for a job that was inevitable. Sure, I wouldn't have met Edmund if I'd chosen differently, but I didn't think, in my wildest endeavours that I'd have to deal with something quite like this and find it's deeper than I thought imaginable." I tell him, candour on my tongue and a numbing fatigue on my head.

He sighs, watching the sun set in front of us, "We cannot foresee the future. As for Edmund, that one you could have let go." He says, shrugging.

I slap his shoulder, "He and I have been through many obstacles, but I love him, with all my heart." I whisper aloud. The ruffling of the wind against my cheeks and the movement of leaves because of such a gust of wind was palpable in the atmosphere now. The waning moon was set above us.

"I thought you and I were hitting it off?" He says to me, chuckling.

I give him a raised eyebrow, "We weren't hitting it off. You and I treat each other the way I treat Marvin and Mathias." I say to him, as a matter of factly.

He smirks, "Good times. I loved being friend zoned all over the place. How does your father see Edmund? Probably like he wants a hidden hanger to shove his old socks in and add Edmund to the pile." He wonders, quite accurately.

I sigh, "Edmund is permanent in my life."

"He's also a possessive wanker, and you know it." He says to me, mused yet all the more truthful.

I close my eyes, inhaling the drift in the air, "I'm so tired, Kenji. It's already been such a long year." I whisper towards him, leaning my temple on the palm of my hand as he leans forward, elbows on his knees and staring down at his drink.

"You've been through more than your mother was. Honestly, it feels as though that was the tip of the iceberg and you got the literal bulk of it on your head since the second you left London central. I mean, Charlize is by blood, a relative of yours and of course-wants her piece in the Parker's enterprises. Now there's a whole squadron of pathetic, rich losers trying to form a conjugated cult of greed and power." He explains, as if only those words could sum up everything. Perhaps one picture could speak a thousand words. A wide family picture that he pulls out of his pocket and my heart still as I look into the dark, beady eyes of Oswald Creed, of my mother's parents' killer, Aaron Dark-wood, of Charlize, of Claude and his father. Of Elizabeth Zoysia, the abusive headmistress of hell. Mason Wyatt, Ace Johnson and William Myers too.

The list felt never-ending.

I look up to meet Kenji's pale brown eyes, "Where did you get this?" I ask him.

He stares into my eyes, "I found it in his files. He's been looking into William Myers after consulting with your Mom three months back, now. He stresses about it too, trying to tell your Mom that she needs more back-up in this, maybe the police getting involved. I know this isn't good, but it was your Mom who killed Aaron Dark-wood. The police have been looking into his murder for years, but no one has any evidence that it was her and not your personal guard's affiliated gang in Moscow." He whispers to me, glancing down behind him, he rubs a hand down his face.