The Talk (I)

Lianne had to acknowledge that it really was easier to talk without having to look at his face. More so since she's hugging her bolster. Even when she talked to her mother, it was mainly through texting.

This was because she didn't have to look at the expression on the faces of the person she was talking to. Even though she knew that her mother would not scold her, it was still hard.

Luckily, her mother never insisted on her talking face-to-face.

It was fine for her if the other one was the only one sharing but she, too, had to share with him and thus this was better.

Did he know that somehow?

Or was he just taking advantage of the whole situation?

If Lianne was to ask, Kai would have told her that yes, he had been reading up on Aspergers.The thing was, there were things about what he read that Lianne didn't seem to exhibit so he figured he'd just have to find out bit by bit about what makes Lianne tick.

One thing he found out is that Aspergers feel emotions more intensely but is unable to show it. Or, their facial expressions do not match what they feel inside.

However, with Lianne, he found that she was very expressive whenever he touched her, flirted with her, and kissed her. There was no 'misunderstanding' or 'coldness' that he thought would be exhibited.

When she didn't like something, she showed it on her face - so he knew when to stop teasing her. Or how far he could go.

When he was tired and worn out, she showed her concern and he could feel that concern clearly.

All these cues helped him in dealing with her.

The only problem was, this 'talk'.

How to start?

So, he did the one thing he knew. Just hold her and say whatever came to his mind.

He began by telling her about his plans on getting his grandmother on their side first. That she was the true power behind the Shengs but she was also the craftiest. As he went on about his grandmother, he also told her about what he had done to capture her heart.

Lianne was quiet throughout the entire talk, listening and thinking back on what she knew about the Matriach.

Sheng Aiyi.

Fierce, ruled the Shengs with an iron fist, backbone of Sheng Yanshi, the Patriach. There wasn't much about her personality other than that and no notable achievements. Now, however, Kai was telling her that all of Patriach's actions were mainly from her guidance.

Which means she had to re-evaluate the Matriach.

"What?!" Lianne gasped, nearly jerking out of his grasp, "This Saturday?! That's only two days away!!"

Just thining about meeting the old woman sent her hyperventilating.

She wasn't ready!

There were so many things to do!

She needed to know about her likes and dislikes, what would trigger her, what would soften her up.

Lianne turned suddenly to face Kai, nearly kissing him in return but she was too agitated to notice that as she said to him, slightly desperately, "You'll have to tell me everything you know about your grandmother, okay?!"

"Don't worry, you'll be fine," Kai assured her.

"No! I can't take this lightly," Lianne insisted, leaning on his arm as she looked at him, "She's the one to convince, and the hardest one to do so. I can't mess this up."

Lianne bit her lower lip, her eyes full of worry as she started thinking hard. Her heart was beating fast as she furrowed her eyebrows, her thoughts already elsewhere and her mind going through all the possible scenarios.

Seeing this, Kai just leaned close and kissed her lips gently.

"It's okay," Kai said softly against her lips, "I'll be here to help you in every way I can, okay?"

Lianne snapped out of it and when her eyes focused, it was to see his beautiful face right in front of her. Mesmerized, she nodded dumbly, "Okay."

Kai smiled brightly and kissed her again, while holding her tight.

"Good girl," Kai said when he broke the kiss.

Instead of feeling like he was being condescending, Lianne felt warm inside. She turned back to face the front and leaned against the crook of his neck.

That's right.

She had two days.

"It's a good thing you told me this now," Lianne said, "Point to note, never tell me anything last minute. Especially if it's to meet someone or go out. I need time to adjust."

"How long an advance notice do you need?" Kai asked.

"At least one day," Lianne replied, "The more, the better."

"Okay," Kai said softly as he started to sniff her neck, kissing it gently while hugging her tight, "Your turn."

Lianne took a deep breath.

It had taken a while, but Lianne finally decided on just how much to tell him. Definitely not the full story as they weren't confirmed yet. Revealing everything from the start may sound like an ideal thing as one is supposed to trust one's partner but really?

Trusting a loved one is one thing.

Trusting blindly when the loved one has yet to proved himself is another.

Lianne prayed that Kai would understand.

"It's a long story," Lianne said, "But ... I can't tell you everything yet. Are you fine with that?"

Kai smiled wryly, "It's not like I have a choice, do I? I mean, I would be lying to you if I said I didn't mind it and I promised myself that I would never lie to you."

He hugged her tighter, "But I can accept it. I will wait until the day you trust me fully to tell me everything."

It was so easy to forget that they were barely one week into the relationship. He buried his face in her neck, wishing he could hold her like this forever.

Lianne held onto his arms that were wrapped around her waist and she told him, "Initially, I got bodyguards because my brother and I were targets of someone."

"Huh? Why?!" Kai gasped, his head jerked up. Just what sort of situation had she been under to require bodyguards?!

"It's a long story, but to make it short, my mother discovered something she shouldn't have. So, she got killed for it but they never found what she took from them. In the end, they threatened my father by using us," Lianne explained, "Kyle came and helped us. He whisked us to here, protected us and helped catch the bad guys."

"O-kay," Kai said, "But if the bad guys are already caught, isn't the danger over already?"

"The Mastermind escaped," Lianne told him, "Personally, I don't think I'm in any danger anymore but Kyle is a worrywart."

"Are you saying that you're still …?" Kai began to ask, but Lianne cut him off.

"No, everything is fine," Lianne assured him.

She believed that, too.

Kyle had managed to kill the person responsible for his first death, but that person had a Master. Kyle felt that one day, that Master may come back for revenge. Lianne was of the opinion that even if that was true, Kyle and his family would be targeted.*

Not her.

But, when she took into account how worried Kyle was, she relented on the security detail. She pitied them, though they were probably bored to death. The only 'fun' time they had was when Kai had been relentlessly searching for her.

In order not to make them too bored and complacent, the security detail would be changed every three months.

Lianne had her own team as well. She wasn't just the ad-hoc leader of Zero and the Diamond Team but also has her own team that essentially took care of all the boring details like her investments and being the one who would keep her updated on the Diamond Team's activities.

Her team would also be monitoring the security detail that Kyle insisted on. If her team found that the security detail was negligent or lax, then they'd get extra training.

By Zero.

It was all so complicated.

While Lianne was thinking of all of this, Kai began feeling worried as well.

She had gone through so much before, and though he had known about her mother's death, he had not known that Kyle was the one that got revenge for her. That was not in their findings.

He held her tightly, realising that Lianne wasn't as simple as she seemed.

He smiled despite feeling sad about what she had gone through. He smiled because his Angel was, to his amazement, even more interesting than she already is.