Yet another time I entered Bella’s apartments. The magnificent woman in question was still busy overthinking something while slowly playing with leftovers on her plate.

I guess the talk wasn’t that long in the end.

It looked like my special woman was completely lost in her thoughts, as there was no reaction to my arrival. I shook my head and decided to play a little prank on her.

Completely erasing the sound of my steps was much harder than I thought. I was starting to get tired of feeling so weak and clumsy all the time.

Just when am I going to regain even a semblance of control over my own body?

Either way, Bella was distracted enough to miss me all the way until I hugged her from behind.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” I whispered into her ear.

A heavy sigh was the only answer I'd gotten. Not even a yelp or a biting comment. Disappointing.

“Hey, Michael. Are you really from the future?” Bella asked, deciding not to beat around a bush.

“I told you as much three weeks ago already.” And I replied with the same straightforwardness.

Another heavy sigh followed, and I felt how she relaxed into my embrace.

“Were you expecting me to believe in such bullshit?” Bella said, tilting her head back to look at me.

“Of course not.” I responded and kissed her on the forehead. “But you seem to start now?”

I wasn’t sure if it was a question or a statement.

“Maybe?” And the answer I got was about as certain as the question itself. “You’ve changed too much. You know things you aren’t supposed to know.”

I could only shrug and give her another kiss.

“Argh, this drives me crazy.” With those words, my special woman left my embrace and stood up from her seat. A moment later, she turned around and gave me a stern glare. “Let’s say I believe it. What now?”

“Nothing much?” I smiled back.

Bella glared at me, and I smiled back. The stalemate continued.

“Let’s test it one more time.” My special woman broke the silence first.

“As greedy as ever, my dear.” My smile widened in response. “Except this will be quite problematic to do.”

An already traditional raised eyebrow.

“I told you already—I know jack shit about things in this time period that could be of any interest. And those I knew of in the future are obsolete thanks to the differences that already occurred.” I spread my arms to show how helpless I am in this situation.

“Fine.” Bella almost spat this word. I nodded and was about to change the topic when she continued, “What about people?”

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Huh.

“People?” I asked back, cupping my chin.

I guess that was a possibility. But…

“Yes, people.” My dear repeated herself.

"Well," I drawled. “To be honest, the same rule applies here all the same. Twenty-five years is an even longer time in the case of ‘people’.”

“Are you trying to weasel your way out, dear?” I actually was, but only partially.

“Look, the vast majority of guys and gals I’ve been working with just a month ago are too young to be of any interest. Some aren’t even born yet.” I explained. “Of those that are currently active and good enough for me to commit them into memory, pretty much all of them are already affiliated with various major powers.”

I spread my arms once more. I wasn’t even playing around.

Although, if it’s those two...

"What, no one at all?” I could feel this question dripping with skepticism.

This should work, and let me kill a few rabbits with one stone.

I closed my eyes, organizing the things I actually knew about the people in question. It wasn’t much. Not much at all.

Ah, screw it. I owe the two of those enough, and now I even have a means to repay.

“Kim Wo Yan. Half Korean, half Chinese. A bit shorter than me. He spent most of his youth in a biker gang. He has a habit of dyeing his hair.” I went deeper into the details of his appearance, noting that I am not sure if he got his tattoos done already or not. “My right-hand man and a fellow monster. In his early twenties, he is a year or two older than me. As far as I know, he should be already in the city around this time, but I have no idea about details, so it’s up to you to find him.”

Bella quickly wrote down all this with a serious expression on her face.

“As for the second, well, the only thing I know about him is that he is French, his name is Pierre, and he makes the best shoes in the world.” I nodded to myself, proud that I could remember that much. “He had at least one plastic surgery to completely remodel his appearance, so my information about his looks is irrelevant. Good luck in your search, I guess.”

“Are you fucking with me right now, dear? How in the hell am I supposed to find him?!” Bella threw the pen she held in her hand at me.

Which I caught and handed back to her. She glared at me but took it nonetheless.

“Just use the Long clan information network.” I said, giving her a thumbs up and an encouraging smile. Yes, I was fucking with her.

“Is it some sort of scheme on your part, dear?” Bella asked suspiciously.

My smile widened a bit. It was, of course.

“Yep.” I voiced the confirmation.

“What is it this time?” I could hear curiosity in her voice.

“It’s a layer of protection for your stubborn and prideful ass.” I told her in a chiding tone. “Knowing you, there is a snowball chance in hell you gave up on your revenge. And I am almost certain you will just keep inventing reasons why you cannot marry me until it is all over. So I decided to make sure that if anyone tried to trace it back to you, they would get to the Long clan instead. This should make them think twice before ever trying to harm you.”

A long moment of silence followed.

“Fine, I’ll take up on your offer,” my special woman said after thinking for a while.

“Please do, my dear.” I fought down a wince.

The Bella-less world wasn’t something I would ever want to experience again.

The ping of a new message on my phone brought this topic to a close.

“So, what are the plans for the rest of the night, dear?” It seemed like Bella had the same opinion.

“How about doing absolutely nothing?” I responded with a question of my own.

My special woman raised her eyes from the notebook she was scribbling something into and looked at me, waiting for me to continue.

“I think you can use more rest.” I obliged. “And I would love to spend some lazy time with you alone. The last time we did so was more than a decade ago for me, give or take.”

Bella slowly nodded, bestowing her blessing on this motion.