You remind me of my brother's death

Silvia stormed into her office, tossing her bag on the table as she settled down on the chair. One aspect she sure loathed was being impeded from executing something she had the aptitude for.

Gary stepped in shortly as if he followed her. His bad left legs prompted him to leap gradually to her table after shutting the door. "I didn't expect you to exhibit such drastic animosity after meeting up with the all-mighty Xavier"

"He is an asshole" Silvia spat angrily. "He didn't even want to hear what I had to say. Get out" she mimicked "Oh God it was so humiliating" she rested her head on her palm.

"Well, you can't blame him. He is languishing over his brother"

"Well he should see that I was only trying to help"

"you see the Collin family hates that word"

"Help?"

"Yes," he snapped his finger, motioning she was on point. He took a seat on the chair opposite hers and continued. "Last two years, Xavier's father, Louie Collin was shot dead. The impact landed his mother, Angela Collin in a coma. Still, they did nothing about it. They didn't ask for any investigation and just accepted their father's fate like that. The news was all over the internet"

"Didn't that call for suspicion"

"It did but Our hands were tied. They didn't press any charges. We can't just be the heroes for nothing"

"Wow"

"Yeah messed up" Gary shrugged."That family is fucked up so I suggest you stay clear from them, especially that scary-looking Xavier. He has always been a sadist, imagine what he will be like now. At this point, he is the only Collin alive and well"

"Shouldn't that give him more incentive to want justice for his brother"

Gary sighed in exasperation. "Silvia just leave this. Some cases are better unsolved. If we find the girl, good. If we don't, we move on with our lives. I would rather have a hot tub bath than worry my little brain over things like this with such endearing affection" he said and stood up as he walked towards the door. "Oh, and Mark said you should look more into that Britney girl's case. He wants a report before the end of today" he added before leaving.

Oh great. Mark knew he couldn't successfully keep her out of Collin's case so he put her on another case instead. How infuriating.

*. *. *.

The door opened and Rachael immediately opened her eyes. These days she couldn't sleep too deep out of fear of being smothered. Xavier stood on the threshold of the door with his hands filled with a tray of food. Rachael sat up immediately with hungry eyes as she followed the food from the door until it landed on her lap. The smell of the well-cooked bacon alongside scrambled eggs filled her nose and her mouth instantly salivated. She looked at him then back at the food. There was no way she could reach it with her bounded hands.

"Thank you" she muttered nevertheless. If it meant eating with just her mouth, she could gladly do that. Seeing food was another kind of joy after being starved yesterday. Luckily for her, today his eyes didn't hold rage, instead, it was normal, but a little bit red. She refused to believe it was the aftermath of tears. He was too fierce to shed tears, she thought inwardly.

Xavier didn't acknowledge her gratitude instead he held the fork in his hand. He punched the bacon into the fork and led it to her mouth. Rachael was stunned while she chewed. Why was he doing this? Had he finally realized she didn't kill his brother?

Rachael ate hungrily, looking at him and the tray concurrently when it suddenly hit her. What if he poisoned the food? She panicked. The hunger she felt was so strong that she didn't even think of that possibility before swallowing the food.

Xavier noticed her retaliation and stopped, diverting the fork from her mouth to his mouth as he munched on the food silently. Her doubt was cleared. She breathed a sigh of relief while he continued feeding her in silence. During the process of feeding her, the bacon sauce stained the corner of her lips and he raised his hands to wipe it. It was supposed to be quick and easy to wipe something off her lips, but he tarried, caressing her bottom lips with the sauce. Even though Rachael pretended not to be affected by his actions, she felt the heat course immensely through her body, making her shift uncomfortably on the seat. After taking forever to wipe the sauce, he did the most unimaginable thing. He brought his thumb to his lips and licked it with eyes not leaving hers.

When her curiosity couldn't be tamed any longer, she parted her lips to speak. "Why are you doing this?"

"Don't say anything" he ordered coldly with a heavy breath and immediately she nodded in submission. Probably she shouldn't push her luck too far. He gave her food, the least she could do was eat with gratitude rather than question his kindness.

He gave her water when she was done with every last bit of the food "thank you" mouthed Rachael

"The police have declared you wanted". He blurted out, dashing her hopes. "They are looking for you?"

"Why don't you just turn me in"

"Because... "He paused as he walked away from her. "I know you didn't kill my brother"

Rachael was surprised. He finally believed her. Her heart leaped for joy momentarily. "Really?" she beamed.

"I figured someone as dumb as you can't kill Hardy. Hardy had a lot of enemies and you don't look like one " he blurted.

She didn't care what he had to say about her as long as he didn't see her as a murderer anymore. The fact that she valued his opinion more than any investigation team surprised her.

"I won't press any charges" he blurted out, adding to her joy. "The police will be off your case when that is done and you will be free to go back to your normal life"

"Oh my" she couldn't even speak further. Her airway was choked with excitement. Just when she thought he would kill her and dispose of her body far in some river, he came with this news. "Thank you so much..... Thank you" tears welled up in her eyes.

"Once you leave" he signed. "I don't want to ever set my eyes on you" he warned coldly, turning her ecstasy into fear. "You remind me of my brother's death"