"Lucian."
May stood surprised when she responded to her ringing doorbell. She never got visitors in the afternoons and wasn't expecting the one she was looking at.
"Can I come in?" Lucian asked.
"Yeah. Yeah, of course." She said, blinking her eyes uncontrollably, shutting the door behind her once he stepped in.
"How did you find me?" she asked once they were in the living room.
"Why are you hiding?" he asked her.
"I am not hiding. What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here. You said you would never come around me anymore." She said.
"I wonder what sort of mother would be pleased to hear her son say that," he said.
"A mother who wishes to protect her child." She sounded defensive.
"Nothing remains hidden." He said to her. His eyes were fixed on hers and she understood he was withholding something.
"What are you talking about?" she inquired in confusion.
"Your fear visited me." He told her.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," she told him.
"Oh, but you do. The name, El Dorado, does it ring a bell or sound an alarm?" He asked her.
Her eyes glowed in surprise. She was trying her hardest to suppress anxiety at that moment.
"Thinking about what lie to tell next? Where else to run? To hide?" he asked.
"It's not possible." She said, taking a step backwards unaware.
He could see how shaken she had become and it annoyed him.
"I heard the story. A story I should have heard from you." He told her.
"I was only trying to keep you safe, away from him and my mistakes," she said.
"Well, you failed at that. The same way you have always failed at being sincere with me! You lied about my father!" He said.
"How do you suppose I could ever have told the truth so easily?" She asked him in a sorrowful tone.
"You did eventually, didn't you? You felt that was the right time? "You tell me my uncle was my dad a day after he died!" he said rudely.
"It was his wish. He didn't want you to live your childhood knowing you were-" She said.
-"Conceived out of incest?" he asked.
"Lucian…" She voiced.
"I am not here to be patronized by you. There are no words you could use to change reality to suit what you have brought upon us.
I am done hearing the truth too late or from someone else. I want to hear from you. Here and now. How did it happen? "How did you get entangled with Dorado and your own brother?" He asked calmly.
She shut her eyes at his last word, sucking in all the pain she felt from the disgusting tone with which he said it.
She opened them swiftly and turned her back on him, folded her arms and looked away while narrating.
"Theo was a kind man and a good brother. Our parents didn't survive the war. Dad died in it and Mom couldn't take it and followed suit after that.
Just the two of us, we were all we had. After Britain won, the recovery phase was terrible. We smuggled ourselves out to Mexico in one of the containers.
There we would go on to start a new life as we hoped, but it was not an easy place. Finding a job was challenging, but he got one in a factory.
He provided food, clothes, and a wretched roof over our heads. He did this for me until I turned sixteen, and he turned twenty-six.
I was pretty and men couldn't look away. I was ripe and so I ultimately saw it as an advantage." She said, taking her seat.
"I became a whore. He didn't like that. I remember him being so angry and upset when he found the notes under my bed. It wasn't only because he didn't want me to do that but also because we knew how we felt about each other.
And so It broke him. He wouldn't talk to me for days. And that killed me. I had to stop. I never returned to the brothel." She added.
"Go on." Lucian took his seat on the couch opposite hers.
"It started as a kiss and then some smooching and one day it just- it just happened and no we didn't regret it. It felt right, normal, so we did it again and again. We practically became a couple in that house
Until one day I was walking down the street and met a girl. We became friends and she introduced me to Dorado. She worked for him and I hated being dependent on Theo.
I wanted to ease the burden. I passed Rad's test and got the job. I was the best at the dirty business. I became valuable to him. He put me in charge of his business. I made a lot of money.
Things got dangerous and I had to run away. Theo was nosey. I knew what could be the end and so I ran away to be with Rad. Not as his girl just a part of the family.
It was then that I realised I was pregnant. I was so scared. I couldn't tell anyone. I faked a sickness. Rad gave me some time off. I stayed away, until I had you.
I kept you secret for years. I communicated with Theo somehow but never told him where I was until I felt it was time. I sent you to be with him. You were safer with him." She ended.
"And then you stayed behind, still doing his dirty work. Gave me a - fake last name, didn't give yourself any," he said.
"I had to protect you. What part of that don't you understand? Theo should never have looked for me. He thought I needed rescue, I didn't." She said.
"Love makes us do stupid things I guess." He told her.
-"He is back now and wants the money the rescue cost him. He wants that money from me. If he wants the money, it's because you never got back.
You have been hiding from him but the money you keep asking of me, the secret movements you make in the nights. I need to know why." He told her.
"No, you don't. I know you, which is why I don't tell you everything. If Rad is back, just give him the money before he knows what he shouldn't." She told him.
"He will get the money. Not from me, but from you." He said, standing up.
-"I will forward the details once I get it. Thirty million dollars. Take him out of my way. " He said, turning to leave.
"And Tom?" She got up.
-"You never told me what you did to him. I can't find him, where is he?" She added in a concerned tone.