«You don't tell me anything about your family? I have to get everything out of you with my tongs. And if I say something wrong, you will react violently, without first defining acceptable boundaries!»

Lily lowered her eyes and ran her fingernails along the rim of the Cup.

«Can we start with you? Tell me about yourself and your family. I don't know anything either! The request sounded more like a challenge.»

Thomas searched his memory, lost all appetite, and dropped the spoon into the soup.

«Do you need an autobiography?»

Lily raised her hands expectantly.

«Okay, you're pushy. Hi, my name is Thomas Shulman. I'm thirty-six years old and Jewish, right? My mother was Polish

Jew, and my father was a London Jew. He is a former member of House of lords.»

«So you have English roots?»

Tom sighed wearily. He thought he was talking to a fucking kid.

«Are you even listening to me? I just said I was Jewish. My mother is a full-blooded Jew, my father is a full-blooded Jew! My mother came to England with my father. She was from a noble family, you know? This is where she met my father.»

She smacked her lips guiltily, trying to find the right keys for Tom. In fact, he threw away the keys a long time ago because he just hated talking about his past, childhood, and family.

«What about your father? How did he end up in the ward? Where is he from?»

Thomas let out an exasperated sigh.

Memory

More than ten years ago

The young and violent Thomas, in the Prime of life, was eager to find his father and show what his son had achieved. This man had been searching for it all over England for a long time, and finally came across it while visiting the United States on a business trip.

«Hello, father,» he murmured, extending his hand to the old man in the leather chair.

«What the hell is this? Shulman senior asked, looking at a tall, dark-haired man with a smooth face, grey-green eyes, and close-cropped hair. Black suit, hat, and gun in hand.

«This horseradish came from your already saggy and flabby horseradish, which you should have cut off immediately after birth.»

The old man shifted in his chair

«My name is Thomas. Thomas Shulman.»

«Bastard, do you think you can come here and call yourself my son?» he croaked back, swinging his cane at Tom. The old man was clearly not himself from old age, but continued to be rude and throw mud.

«What do you want from me? The money, the legacy? Why are you standing here like a Parisian virgin?»

Shulman licked his lower lip nervously.

«Do you want me to say «Hello» to your whore mom? If you only knew how angry she made me in our fucking marriage. If you only knew how much I disliked her. And how I didn't love the children she gave birth to me. Including you, you little boy. A weakling who was being chased down the street.»

Three accurate shots to the heart struck the feeble old man, who barely flinched from the bullets that entered his chest. With a light touch of her hand, she pulled Thomas away from the memory, sending a new wave of goosebumps over his skin.

«My father… My father left the family when I was 12 years old. He had a young wife and other children whom he loved more than me. »

«But why?»

«Because he didn't love my mother, and that woman's children will always be unloved, okay? That's enough, I don't want to tell you anything else! Leave me alone!»

Thomas blushed slightly as he rubbed his beard.

«He was an unscrupulous Lord, a liar, and a thief to the core, okay? Shulman continued to get angry.

Lily pursed her lips and nodded.

«Is it true that sons often follow in their father's footsteps? » The girl interrupted him without taking her eyes off the table.

Was this a test in her head, or an attempt to test Thomas's level of patience ? Thomas's head was boiling, his ears were ringing, his face was noticeably flushed, and his right hand automatically grabbed the woman's narrow chin, slightly squeezing her lower jaw.

«What the fuck did you say? Don't you dare! Don't say that again! Do you understand me?» His fingers turned white as he felt her teeth through the thin skin. She flinched, but couldn't pull away from him.

«You don't know me! You don't know him! I'm not like that, you know? I will never leave my children, you know?»

She recoiled, took the man's hand away with a light and gentle touch, took the napkin from her lap in a hurt and frightened way, crumpled it up, and threw it into the soup, which splashed on the table.

«Hey, young lady! I was going to eat it! It costs seven pounds! »

Lily got up from the table, pulled on a thin cardigan, and stared at nothing with tears in her eyes.

«Where are you going? We're not done yet!»

She swallowed hard and said in a shaky voice: «I want to go home.»

Lily took several small bills out of her pocket and put them on the table as she headed for the door.

«Lily, where the hell are you going?»

Shulman stood between the next table and theirs, blocking her path, holding her bag over his shoulder. His fingers slid inside, finding the small pocket where he'd put her damn money.

«Let me pass!» she hissed.

«Wow, I still get turned on when you growl like that, seriously! Especially since we finally switched to “you”?» Thomas's attempt at a joke was not successful, but only further offended an already vulnerable creature.

Lily slapped him hard across the face, grazing his ear. Tom immediately stepped back, rubbing his face and releasing her .She hadn't picked up the phone in two or three hours. Tom was worried and couldn't find a place to dial a familiar number. Only beeps and silence.

Finally she picked up the phone, letting him know that she wasn't going to talk to him at home.

Why was she offended? Thomas has been trying to screw it up for six weeks? Is it worth starting the search from the beginning? When he speaks to her, Shulman will say that he is in a minefield. One more move and everything could explode, including him.

The night shift at the bar was in full swing as Thomas sat in his office, mulling over options, wondering if he really needed it.

«Hey, Isaac! For tomorrow…» he scratched his temple thoughtfully, «For tomorrow, at six in the morning, gather eight strong men.»

The guy nodded and disappeared through the office door. The next morning, as he got into the car and hoped to get a couple of hours ' sleep on the way, Tom felt even more exhausted than he had the day before. Their motorcade moved to the right village so that Tom could steal the girl for at least a couple of hours and put all the dots on the i's. An ordinary old house, a small plot at first glance, and three children running around the yard, fighting with each other with wooden swords. This was his reward for the necessary information that the children leaked and served on a silver platter about their beloved sister. They probably would have told you when she got her period for a couple of sweets .Children are selfish and can be forgiven. Thomas shook hands with each of the boys, noting their resemblance to his sister, and put his hand, now black with dirt, back in his trousers pocket. The children nodded, looking expectantly at the generous Jew. He took some melted sweets from his pocket and gave them to the children, who probably only tasted them because of him. Hungry eyes and dirty faces. A shudder runs down Shulman's spine. He had never understood why a man should have a whole brood of children if he could not raise them properly, feed them, and clothe them. Thomas went on, slamming the rotten door a couple of times. Five minutes passed before Lily opened it, sleepy and sweet, rubbing her eyes. Short white nightgown, tousled hair, half naked thighs.