As de Pique (Ace of Spades)

Chapitre Quatre: Gens du Passé

Louise followed Tobias back towards the house. "So, are you and Maxine...together?" Louise asked tentatively.

Tobias smiled. "No, you don't have to worry, I'm all yours."

Louise clenched her fists, a bad habit that she had developed when she was angry, frustrated, anxious or stressed. "That's not what I meant," she hissed through her teeth.

Tobias ignored her. "Are you and Wentz together?"

Louise glared at Tobias. "Are you kidding? He's twenty years older than me, and my superior agent! That's completely inappropriate!"

Tobias sighed and looked down at his hands. "This is why I hate the Monarchy, they set stupid rules for who you're allowed to love."

"I could love him all I want, but I could never act on those feelings. I'd be thrown out of the agency at the drop of a hat!" Louise said.

Tobias didn't answer and they walked in silence for a few steps before another freezing blast of wind whipped up around them. Louise shivered and wrapped her arms around herself. Without a word, Tobias removed his jacket and wrapped it around the woman standing beside him. She reluctantly wrapped it around herself tighter and continued walking with a muttered, "Thank you."

Tobias followed her into the house where they stood in the hallway, talking. "Louise, I have to tell you something," Tobias said, his voice softer than it ever had been before.

"What is it?" Louise asked.

"I need you to stay here and not go back to New Paris. Your life is here. You are Mar's daughter. We did the DNA test just this morning. Everything checks out. You're staying here," He said.

"Where the hell did you get a sample of my DNA?!" Louise exploded, this was it for her. She was tired of him running her life for her. "What the hell kind of person are you, Tobias Jericho? Because you don't seem like a good one! And who the hell are you to tell me where to live and how to live? You're not just not a good person, you're a vain, arrogant, controlling bastard!"

Tobias turned away from Louise. Her rage radiated off of her in waves. "You're right, I am all of those things, but I'm trying to be better, I swear to you."

"Are you? Really? Because you seem to me like you're a machine. You've got nothing but cold steel and wires!"

That was the last straw for Tobias. He whirled around, and in two strides, was right in front of Louise, his breath tickling her nose. Louise backed away until her back was pressed against the wall. He had his palm pressed to the paneling of the wall, keeping her there. Rage was evident in Tobias' eyes.

"Don't ever say that to me again, Louise de Noir. In fact, never speak to me again," Tobias growled and stalked away.

Louise slid down the wall until she was sitting on the floor. "Good riddance," she muttered under her breath, face twisted in a grimace. But, even so, her heart sank, if only a little, at the fact that Tobias was angry with her. She was still sitting against the wall, thinking, when Maxine came into the hall.

"Louise? Are you okay? What did Tobias want?" Maxine bombarded her with questions.

"I'm stuck here, Max," Louise said quietly, a single tear slipped from her eye and splashed onto the floor and stayed there, catching the light from the expensive chandeliers overhead.

"You're not stuck, Louise, this is your home, we're your family," Maxine said.

"No," Louise protested, looking down at her lap. "I don't have a family, I'm alone here."

Maxine sighed and sat down next to Louise. "You're not alone, I care about you, and Tobias cares about you too."

"Well, he has a funny way of showing it," Louise grumbled, clenching her fists and reopening the small cuts there from the previous night.