Chapter 372: The Way They Both Deserved
Everything seemed darker without Hattie by his side. He had experienced it once before when Alicia had tried to have her killed, but now that he had spent so much more time with her, it was so much worse. Her absence was like a thorn in his heel; every time he stepped forward, it drove deeper into his flesh, reminding him of exactly what he was walking away from.
The jungle seemed to disappear around him, only the path forward was the only thing that stood out. His footsteps were slow, but no matter how slow they were, they still took him away from Hattie.
He wanted to turn back; he needed to. The hunger to be close to her was compounded by the ache of separation. It almost made him sick to even think that he was willingly walking away. But it was like something drew him forward.
Closing his eyes, he remembered every time her hand brushed his, every time that she looked his way and smiled. To him, it had been everything... and yet not nearly enough.
"Poor baby," purred Greed, "If you think it’s hard being you, try being me. I was created by her; for her, my soul is hers, and hers is mine. But I fucking have to share her. I have to share her with my brothers, with the fucking dog, with the angel... with you."
"Cry me a river," sneered Luca. The demon got along with him just fine when he was falling in line, but nothing lasted forever. He was useful, otherwise Greed would never have chosen him as his meat sack. "Without me, you would simply be a dead seed, a parasite. I am the reason why you are so close to Hattie. I am the reason why you can see her every day, I am the reason why you know what she looks like when she sleeps."
The demon inside him was silent as Luca continued down the path. The house had given him a mission—become stronger. But strength wasn’t the same for everyone. Luca knew that he would never be as physically strong as Tank, or as good of a fighter as Dimitri.
His strength was quieter, found in the way he manipulated people from the shadows. Even when Réne was part of them, Luca was the one who made the plans. Réne would come up with great ideas, but it was up to Luca to make them into reality.
So how did he make the house understand his version of strength? How did he show it to Hattie?
They were so different; Hattie was a creature of chaos, while Luca thrived on order. Hattie went with the flow, not worrying about anything because, as the Devil, she was in complete control, even if it didn’t seem like it.
Luca, on the other hand, wasn’t comfortable unless he had a plan in place. He needed time to figure out everything, time to make a Plan A, B, C, D, and E. How different everything would be if he managed to have implemented a plan.