Seven

Chapter 42

"Keep staring, I may do a trick." I remark in a bitchy tone. Seven is rubbing off on me.

The man chuckles lowly at my words.

"I thought I had been imagining things, I mean the physical likeness is uncanny and you would be around the right age but that attitude of yours confirms it even more." He chuckles again to himself and takes a sip of his drink. I have no idea what he's talking about.

"Excuse me?" I frown at him and he shakes his head at me, almost amazed by what he sees.

"You're just like her. I imagine you get that all the time." He says, I think he thinks I'm someone else. He must be drunk and has mistaken me for someone he knows, because I definitely do not know this man.

"I'm sorry, I think you have the wrong person." I turn back to my drink.

"Evangelina Costello, was she not your mother?" The man asks and I snap my head back to the stranger at the sound of my mother's name. He is half correct, my mother's name is Evangelina but her last name was not Costello, she was a Kapley, like me and my father.

The stranger smiles at my reaction.

"N-No my mother was Evangelina Kapley." I correct him and he quirks an eyebrow at me.

"Kapley? Well when she married your father she was a Costello. Though I can understand why you wouldn't use that name very often anymore." He nods like I understand anything he's saying. Costello? When she married my father? I'm so confused, this man clearly has his wires crossed.

"I had wondered about you, a lot of us had thought you were dead but here you are." He comments and takes a large gulp of his drink.

"You knew my parents?" I can't believe this, I've never met anyone who actually knew my parents before, other than my grandmother but she was never interested in talking too much about them.

"Yes. Yes I knew them." He nods looking at his empty glass. My mind is running with all kinds of questions I have for this stranger but instead of asking anything my throat is tight and I simply stare at the older gentleman in shock. Of all the places, of all the days, my hand rises to clutch at one of my mother's earrings in my ear.

"Lily, our table is ready." Seven comes to stand next to me and I'm caught in my mind, I have so much to say to this stranger but nothing at the same time. I robotically get off my chair and glance at the man once more, his head lifts up from his glass to look at both Seven and I and his eyes widen.

"Seven!" The man grits and swivels on his chair.

He knows Seven too?

I look up to Seven to see his eyes also widen at the man who is sitting next to me at the bar, before he composes himself. His warm hand warps around my elbow and pulls me gently behind him and away from the stranger.

"Sergey." Seven straightens his shoulders almost as if he's ready for a fight.

The man, Sergey as Seven had called him, looks down at the touch on my arm and takes me by surprise when he starts laughing hysterically. I look to Seven who glances down at me just as confused.

"Of course." The man splutters between laughs, smacking on the bar as if he can't contain himself before he composes and quiets to a low chuckle. His manic laugh has me on edge and I get the feeling this man isn't very stable, I fold my hand into Seven's and he squeezes it gently to reassure me.

The man, Sergey, gestures to our intertwined hands.

"Of course you two would find each other." He comments and both Seven and I frown at him confused.