ARCANUM

CHAPTER 30

LUCA BRUSCHWEILER / LISANDRO MANOBAN POV

"You can sleep here. Jane and I are in the unit next door. Knock whenever you need. But for tonight, you should rest first. We'll talk again tomorrow," I told Rebecca before we left her. I told her to sleep in my room, in my unit. While I will sleep at Jennie's place.

I was a little relieved when she smiled earlier. And after she calmed down, she asked who we were. Of course, I'm not telling the truth. I just told her to get some rest after the night, or maybe, the long days for her. I don't know what to say to her. We are not prepared to answer the question. I was too fixated on how to track down where Valdo Bykov kept the document and didn't take into account the girl I bought.

"What should we do with her?" I asked as soon as I closed the door to Jennie's apartment.

"I also do not know. I overestimated this," she said flatly as her shoulders dropped. I could hear her take a deep breath. Of course, she was tired too. Especially after hearing Rebecca's story. What did those bastards do to her and to the poor girls that we can't imagine their fate is now.

"Hey..." I hugged her shoulders from behind.

I noticed her bad mood, but thankfully she didn't try to let go of my hug. Our current position is like a couple, even though our relationship is not that far. But there's nothing wrong with me calming down the partner I like. After all, we've done more. Without saying it, I knew our relationship wasn't just an ordinary partner. Hopefully, once this mission is over, and we're back in The Arc, I will confess to her. Yup. I like her, but now is not the right time to get involved in a relationship.

"I can't imagine what happened to the other girls," she voiced my thoughts weakly. After what we saw at the Pleasury Club and the story from Rebecca, of course, the things we imagined were very bad. I've worked as an agent for a long time and have seen a lot of bad things. But this time, I was directly involved with one of the girls. Jennie herself also faced many criminals during her career in the police. She must have heard and read a lot about this but must have never faced it face-to-face. Never seen in person and involved in it. Because that's not her department.

"I know. Me too," I whisper in her ear. I kissed her sweater-covered shoulders and the back of her head before turning her around. Her eyes as she looked at me were very sad and tired. We need to loosen up a bit.

"Come," I pulled her gently and sat her down on her couch. I sat beside her and pulled her shoulder to lean against my chest. Then turned on the TV. "Maybe we should get some rest, too," I whispered, stroking her hair. She didn't answer, just adjusted her position to make it more comfortable to rest her head on my chest. Not long after, her hands wrapped around my stomach, and it made me smile. This is what I want. Peaceful times like this.

"Are you still angry?" I whispered, as if not wanting to disturb this comfortable silence.

"Hmm... Angry why?" she asked in a whisper too.

"That event. The waitress," I give her a hint. And as if I push the button, she moves. But before she could retract her head, I held her to my chest. She took a deep breath and didn't fight back. "I know you're not in a good mood," I continued.