The Recruit

Chapter 27

After a couple of sleepless hours later, she opened her eyes. She watched as her Pietro breathed slowly and rhythmically as he slept.

She slipped off his hold and moved to his side, so he could sleep more comfortably. Livia took this time to closely observe her mate's sleeping form. She touched his brows. 

God... was the mating subject that he told her last night still weighing on his mind? In his dreams?

Always looking so serious even in your sleep, Pietro. She silently wished she could take some of his burden away.

Livia took off her mask. She wanted to be with her mate without a farce, without a mask, and be his Lucy once more. "Pietro, my rock... I am here." Livia whispered as not to wake him out. She put a hand on his beating chest.

She never thought much about his name, after all she used to call him by Jacob before knowing his true identity. As she continued using it, she found that the name he adopted in the 1600s fitted him so well.

"It's me, your wife my vampire Master Assassin. Your mate is here with you." Livia tried to contain her sadness.

"I just want to let you know that I have always loved you, I still do. I am sorry I doubted your feelings, Pietro. I am so, so terribly sorry. I regretted running away so much it is tearing me apart." She whispered and wiped her tears. She moved to kiss him softly on his lips, wondering what it felt like to reveal herself without her mask to him.

"I want to stay with you, with little Jacob. Do I even have the right to tell you who I am?" She closed her eyes with remorse.

"Can I stay?" She whispered under her breath. She bit her lower lip, to stop herself from talking and to stop her from sobbing harder. She stopped her wishful thinking before she woke him and started telling him everything.

At first she found it cool to wear a mask as part of her outfit, but now she started to hate it. It created not only a literal barrier between her and her vampire, but also figuratively as she became reminded that she couldn't tell him who she is nor she could confess her feelings for him.

She observed Pietro's sleeping form once more and with sheer of willpower rose up from bed reluctantly. She took out a picture from the nightstand off its frame and pocketed it. It was a picture Pietro and Jake when Jake won some sort of award from school. 

A reminder why I need to stay alive, she thought to herself.

She put on her garments and moved to the kitchen to make breakfast. She wondered if Pietro still liked the French toast with eggs and his special red sauce.

She moved around the kitchen to make breakfast for Pietro and Jake. It felt natural to move around this kitchen once more and make meals for what could have been her family if she never left.

"Livia? Is that really you?" Jacob rubbed his sleepy eyes. She turned to the owner of the boy's voice. Livia motioned Jake to move forward so she could give him a hug.

"Hi little man, I missed you." She whispered to his ears as they hugged.

"What are you doing here?" Jacob moved back from the hug to observe her. She stayed silent. She didn't know how to explain to her friend that she was on a date with his father.

Jake's brain tinkered trying to figure out what happened, "Were you with papà ? Did he saw you? Where is your mask?"

Livia put her index finger in front of her lips gesturing Jacob to lower his voice.

"We need to be quiet because your papà is still asleep. Want to make breakfast with me?" She wanted to spend time with Jacob.

The smart boy knew Livia was hiding something, but he missed her badly. So he took his place beside her and assisted her with cooking.

"Do you like French toast with eggs and the red sauce too like your papà ?" She asked while opening the fridge and trying to find the red sauce. She searched the fridge and smile as he still have his favourite red sauce.

Jacob was surprised she knew of this. "Yes, Livia but unlike papà, I don't want blood on mine."

Livia was shocked, so much so, she almost dropped the container filled with the red liquid "This whole time I thought..."

She composed herself. Of course, Pietro consumed blood. He was a vampire. Yet she found herself trying to confirm it once more, "This is blood?"

Pietro nodded.

After Livia let the fact sunk in, she put two tablespoon of blood on Pietro's toast anyway and moved to work on Jacob's breakfast. He instructed her on what to put on his toast. She smiled, trying to contain her laughter. Jacob looked at her. demanding Livia to share what she found funny.

"Nothing I promise. It's just that you like the same things as me with the sausage, bacon and eggs. The resemblance is uncanny."

"Papà said growing boys need to eat a lot. I guess a recruit needs a lot of food too." Jacob said proudly and Livia couldn't help but kissed the boy on his cheek.

After a while, they plated everything and Livia sauntered to the dining room to place the food on top of the table.

While Livia made the table, Jacob looked at the picture of his father's late wife and compared it with the woman in the dining room. His mind suspected that Livia was the same woman as the one in the picture. How else would she know his father's favourite breakfast down to the blood, when she didn't even know the red liquid was blood?

Livia looked back to find a photo on his hand, while he looked at her.

"Why are you not setting up your plate?" Jacob asked.

"I actually need to get ready for training, so I have to head back now. Can you let me use your father's tunnel?" He looked conflicted. To make sure she wouldn't make any trouble, especially when he has a weird feeling about Livia, he offered to walk her back all the way to the headquarter using his father's tunnel. Livia nodded gratefully, knowing it meant she got to spend a little bit more time with Jacob.

"We have to move fast. Father will be up in 20 minutes." He opened the secret door and they made their way to the Ordinatio. Jacob even went out of his way to walk her back to her room.

Livia felt sad and a great sense of loss knowing she wouldn't see Jacob again for a long time, if not at all. She put up a smile as if she was going to see him again tomorrow.

"Well, thank you my kind gentleman for walking me back. Have fun today at school." She moved in to hug him, but he stepped back. She masked her hurt and gave him a handshake instead, which the boy also ignored.

"Who are you, Livia? Are you my papà 's wife? My mamma?" Livia looked at the picture of herself and Pietro on their picnic in Dusseldorf that Jacob is holding.

"I know you are confused Jacob and that's okay. Just know that I love you. If I knew we would have such a sweet boy..." She couldn't finish the rest of her sentence, realizing she had said too much. 

She took a coward's way out, hid in the comfort of her room, and locked it. She cried off her sadness, but her sadness and pain fed her anger. If there were no rogues, nobody trying to get Pietro killed, she could Pietro and Jacob who she was. Sure, they probably would get mad, but at least she would have a chance to redeem herself. She looked at the picture she took from Pietro's nightstand. She needed to do something to free her beloved and his son. 

She refused to wait for Luca and the other Masters to work on their plan to save her family. She refused to sit here, training idly as they keep pushing back that plan to take care of their own companies or whatever shit they decided to be more important than her mate's life.

She looked at the file on Mario Garza. She made up her mind that it was not too late to salvage last night's mission. She took a quick shower and revised the content of the file one more time. 

Once she was confident that she knew everything she could remember about Mario, she put on a jogging outfit and packed her necessities in a small bag. lastly, she prepared the stuff she needed for the mission in secret compartments in her bag and jacket. She took her wallet with her fake information and put the picture she just acquired into the back of her fake ID. 

Satisfied with her preparation, she muttered a silent prayer to God and left.