Bianchi: Dark Knight

1:35

"Ciao." Fabian ends the phone call in a hushed whisper.

My eyes focus on the screen trying to take in the action of the show playing. I watch the scene change before me. The lead actress cries about something her counterpart has done. Still my mind isn't completely focused. Curiosity about Fabian's conversation is trying its damndest to win the battle of my attention.

Mind your business Lennox, you don't get to be in charge of who calls him.

That lasts all about five seconds until my gut is working with my brain to figure out the call. It is telling me it has to have something to do with Cara. The same faraway look he sported after running into her is back. Why does she rattle him so much?

It's semi-baffling the way in which she causes the flip in him. My usually playful, almost to the point of me murdering him, man goes away. Replaced by a somber one. Almost like a child who got himself caught in rope and can't get out.

A sigh leaves his mouth before he is signaling for me to sit up. "You forget that I know you well Lennox." His fingers entwine themselves in my scalp. The soothing sensation of him massaging my head lulls whatever retort I may have had. "The same way you can feel me, I can feel you." He could feel me whenever and however he wanted. Especially when he's releasing the pressure from my body like this. "What has got you thinking so hard?" Hard. Strong fingers caress my thigh while the others continue their descent in my head. How does he expect me to focus when he touches me like this? "Lennox?"

"Who were you on the phone with?" Not wanting to be as demanding as I have to be with my clients I tentatively respond. My tone is more gentle than when I am questioning Cameron.

"Cara." The lulling sensations stop just as his fingers stop caressing my scalp. "The three of us will have dinner tomorrow." His words are said with finality. Leaving me no option, not that I would resist going with them. I need to watch Cara and her family. Ascertaining my own sense of the situation will give me a better view of his problem. Maybe then I can help find a solution to all of this.

"Tell me why that bothers you so much? Why does she bother you so much?" Fabian had relinquished his family's position over to them. What could possibly be the problem? Clearly he has respect for her, one that's not only professional but empathetic too.

A long look settles on his perfectly crafted face."There are things I realize that I didn't know. Things that slipped by me."

"Seeing her reminds you of it." Less of a question but more of a statement. Whatever she reminds him of bothers me. Fabian is not a man who is easily rattled. Anything he wished to make disappear he could. The fact that this singular thing is still a threat to him upsets me. What does this thing she represents mean for him?

Tilting my head, I find his eyes already looking down at me. Warmth spread through my body from the serene look in his eyes. "When mom passed, she was the only person there for us."

"Is that what scares you? Remembering her?" Looking away from me gives me the exact answer I am looking for. If it were just that he would have looked that way the moment he saw her. It wasn't until we were introduced to Gia that... "It's not just that."

"No. There's more it's...Lennox I don't know." Contrite pain from his revelation clouds his face. Then unexpectedly he laughs. "To think a fifteen year old has me contemplating my entire life."

"That statement is a little more than concerning." Another laugh bubbles out of him. The sound sticking to my skin like syrup. "Why have you never met her before?"

Amusement leaves his face replacing it with a mix of dread and anger. "I never knew she existed. They hid her."

My eyebrows pinch in confusion. "Why would they do that?"