Jacob came back around sunset. He took a shower at his own mansion, then headed to the main one. He pressed the elevator button and got off on the third floor.
Sounds were coming from the kitchen. Little by little, he was getting used to her presence in that mansion.
He chuckled, memories of that night، Diana dancing، playing in his head.
He pushed up the sleeves of his hoodie and grabbed an apple from the wooden basket.
_I see you're cooking again.
She turned around quickly.
-Jacob… you're back.
She hurried toward him and hugged him.
_Woah… what's got madam so happy?
-Luca…
He looked at her, surprised, and repeated it.
_Luca?
-Yeah. He texted me today, said I can go see him.
_Really? That's great. So he's okay!
She let out a slow breath.
-Yeah… I was dying of worry.
_Okay… now I'm jealous, kid.
-Don't be jealous, Jake. Look، I made pizza. I know a special trick to make it better.
-Wow… italiano!!
Now I'm hungry.
She smiled warmly.
-It'll be ready in a bit. Can you go call Matthew?
-Sure thing.
He headed to Matthew's room and knocked.
+Come in.
He opened the door and stepped inside quietly.
Matthew was sitting at his desk, two laptops open in front of him.
_Hey…
+Hey… you just get back?
_Yeah. Took a shower and came here.
Diana wants to go see her friend?
Matthew sighed, took off his glasses, and rubbed his eyes slowly.
+Yeah. Can't really stop her.
That guy turned out useful، should've checked on him sooner, kept an eye on him. Didn't get the chance.
You'll go see him tomorrow. I'll come too. I need to thank him.
Jacob nodded.
-Alright. Get up, dinner's ready.
She cooked again.
He caught the spark in Matthew's eyes but instead…
Matthew muttered under his breath.
+She really likes cooking, huh.
Jacob looked at him with a teasing smirk.
_Like you don't enjoy eating good food.
Matthew didn't answer، just flipped him off.
When they went downstairs, they saw Diana enthusiastically setting the table.
She'd made two kinds of pizza.
They ate dinner with Jacob joking around. Diana seemed more upbeat, occasionally firing back at him.
They watched a bit of a movie, talked. It was a good night. Diana had no idea what was about to happen.
Two hours later, she said goodnight and split from Matthew and Jacob.
She did a bit of practice to clear her head, then crawled into bed once her eyes grew heavy.
She was tired of worrying about Luca—and it felt good to finally let that go.
She was satisfied that things were slowly falling into place.
Matthew and Jacob talked a bit more, then went back to their work.
.
.
It was close to four in the afternoon when Jacob entered the mansion.
To avoid being late, he didn't even stop by his own place.
When he reached the main hall, he saw her.
Diana was dressed and watching TV. He watched her for a moment.
Annoyed, he ran his fingers through his hair. What was with this damn headache?
It felt like his head was about to explode، his temple was pounding.
He took a few steps forward.
_Ready, kid?
Diana turned toward him.
-Oh… you're here.
She turned off the TV.
-Yeah, I'm ready. Shall we go?
Jacob nodded.
_Let me drink a glass of water, then we'll go.
Diana looked at him. He seemed irritated off, not like usual.
-Jacob? You okay?
Jacob filled a glass, popped a pill from the blister, and closed the fridge، not too gently.
_Yeah… why?
She bit her lip carefully.
-Are you sure? You look tense… irritated.
He gave a tired smile.
_I'm fine. Just a lot of work today. Gave me a headache.
I took a pill، I'll be fine. It's nothing.
Diana bit her lower lip and stayed quiet.
Jacob swallowed the pill and closed his eyes for a moment.
-Let's go.
They stepped out of the elevator.
Diana wrapped her coat tighter around herself. It felt like winter had lasted a hundred years.
Their car was ready. Another car was set to follow behind.
Diana got in quietly and thanked Eric.
Jacob leaned his head back against the seat and closed his eyes.
As they entered the forest road, Diana stared at the trees without looking at him.
-Just you and me going?
Jacob's low voice filled the car.
_Matthew's coming too. After us.
They'd been on the road about an hour. The headache had eased a bit، but not completely. He was still on edge.
/We're close, sir.
Jacob opened his eyes and sat up straight.
He glanced at the street، it was a quiet neighborhood. Then he looked at Diana, who was staring at him anxiously.
He smiled and tugged lightly at her nose.
_Why are you so worried? I told you I'm fine.
You've never had a headache before?
She shrank into her seat, embarrassed.
-I have… but no one ever forced me to go somewhere when I didn't feel up to it.
But you had to come with me.
He smiled to himself at her kindness.
_No one forced me. I wanted to come with you.
You been here before?
-Just once. A long time ago.
_Ah.
His phone rang, it was Matthew.
He answered and held the phone to his ear.
_Hello?
_We're close. You?
_Yeah, a bit of traffic on this side.
The car stopped at the end of a wide dead-end.
Diana, impatient, grabbed the handle and moved to get out!
But her hand was caught by Jacob's warm grip.
He looked at her seriously.
_Wait a moment Matthew.
Then he turned to Diana.
_Let the bodyguards go first, little one. Wait.
He went back to talking to Matthew.
She waited about two minutes not panicking, but tapping her feet nervously against the floor.
The guards took position in the dead end. One of them opened the door for her.
Jacob followed her with his eyes, leaning slightly toward the open door as he continued speaking.
_Yeah… it's pretty much done…
Diana had already stepped out of the car. She entered the alley and looked at the building where Luca lived.
Everything happened in a single second.
She was just a few meters away from the house.
She hadn't even taken a few steps when a deafening sound exploded in her ears and threw her backward violently.
Fire and thick black smoke erupted, turning the building's windows into shards of glass.
The blast wave and heat hurled her fragile body back hard.
Chunks of stone slammed into her hands and cheeks.