436: TWELVE YEARS OLD

TWELVE YEARS OLD

"Who are you texting?" Kace frowned when he saw Hope being busy with her phone even when he came, Kace wasn't even welcomed with a warm hug like before.2

Instead, he found Hope sitting in the living room, giggling over her phone, yet the moment she saw Kace, she put down her phone hastily as her expression turned tense. 

This kind of reaction made Kace frown. 

"When did you come?" Hope asked, trying to hide her nervousness by avoiding Kace's eyes, as if she was caught red handed doing something illegal. 

"Just now." Kace flopped his body beside Hope, but she was only getting tensed by their proximity. "What?" 

"What?" Hope was trying to create some space between the two of them smoothly, but it was too obvious for Kace as he grabbed her wrist. 

"Why are you reacting like that near me?" Kace stared at her conflicted black eyes, gripping her chin when Hope tried to avoid his eyes yet again. 

"No. I don't. Like what?" The pitch of Hope's voice was slightly higher than she intended and this made Kace squint his eyes dangerously.

"You are hiding something from me Hope." Kace stated, he nodded affirmatively at his own words. He knew she was hiding something from him. 

Hope swatted his hand and stood up. "No. I don't. Why are you asking me that way? As if I was stealing something from you."

"You know that is not what I meant." Kace crossed his arms in front of his chest. He was trying to figure out what exactly the situation with Hope. He felt like they grew apart. 

"I will do my homework." Hope mumbled after they spent a few minutes of staring contest which felt like forever. 

After saying that, Hope literally ran toward her bedroom and closed her door with a soft clicking sound, which indicated she just locked her door. 

Kace was flabbergasted, not knowing how he should react to that. 

He came here because he missed his little angel, but now she became a private person and… a little bit rebellious…? If Kace could say…

Kace was way too familiar with the look in those eyes. Because, for some time in the past, he also had that kind of look in his own. 

He sighed deeply when realization hit him hard. His baby girl had started to grow into a teenager. She would like to socialize herself with her surroundings more and follow her friends, maybe she would forget about him.

That thought made him feel sullen. Well, Kace should expect this. 

However, what else could he do? It was not appropriate to make a move on a twelve years old girl! That idea alone freaked him out!

Maybe, Kace just had to give her the time that she needed, so she could enjoy her youth, have a normal life like the other teenagers around her age, before everything got messed up. 

Yes, everything would get messed up eventually, with the devils out there and the war that Serefina was trying to discuss every now and then, but Kace would always turn down the conversation whenever she started one.

Kace didn't want to think about that. He wanted to enjoy every moment with Hope without the fear about what would happen in the future. 

Especially when this relationship started in an uncommon way.

Kace pinched the bridge of his nose as he leaned his back against the backrest of the sofa. Tiredness immediately flooded his system and as soon as he closed his eyes, he was like a light bulb that went out. 

He had been investigating some matters with Serefina, chasing after Gluttony, who was still roaming around this area and trying to avoid Maximus.

That guy was really annoying. It was pretty hard to make him believe that Kace was in a certain place for more than a week, because after that, he would start to realize that Kace deceived him… again. 

All of that mess finally took a toll on him…

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Kace didn't know how long he had slept, but when he felt someone near him, who then tried to get closer to him, he was on full alert.

Before that person could touch him, Kace's eyes snapped open at the intruder as his hand moved very fast to catch their hands and was about to break their bones.

Yet, he immediately pushed that person away when he recognized her, even under this dimly lit room. When his mind started to work, her scent reached him.

"Lana, what are you doing?" Kace rubbed his face harshly. 

He had been sleeping like this for as long as he could remember. Since he became a rogue and Maximus was determined to bite his head off. 

"Are you okay?" Kace watched as Lana rubbed her wrist, which was held by Kace just now. Maybe coincidentally, he had indeed broken her bones. Kace moved closer toward Lana to see how much damage he had caused. "I am sorry," he murmured apologetically. 

"No, it's alright." Lana resumed her cold expression as she put down her hand. "I saw you fell asleep, so I just wanted to give you a blanket." 

Kace followed Lana's eyes, which were staring at the blue blanket on the floor. 

"But, since you are already awake, why don't you go to the guest room?" Lana immediately stood up.

Fortunately, the lack of the light managed to hide the blush on her face or maybe Kace was too sleepy to notice that. 

"No, it's alright." Kace glanced at the clock on the wall beside and stood up, stretching his body while yawning. "I have to go."

"Go?" Lana frowned. It was three o'clock in the morning, where did he want to go?

"I have so many things to do." The corner of Kace's lips pulled up into a wolfish grin. "Can you help me pay close attention to Hope? She was acting strangely."

"She is a teenager now." Lana grumbled. 

"I know." Kace ran his fingers through his shoulder- length black hair in frustration. "I just don't want her to meet any jerks out there." His voice turned into a growl as he extended his hand and tousled Lana's hair. "Okay?"

"Okay."

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