Everly trails behind me slightly. I feel all eyes watching as we weave our way through the corridors on the way to the gym. I hold the door for her with a beaming smile, and she eyes me suspiciously like she thinks I’m going to smack her ass on the way through—which I think about doing, but manage to hold myself back.

“We need to warm up first, so we’ll do ten laps,” I tell her, gauging her reaction as I strip off my sweatshirt. She shrugs and copies my actions, tossing off her sweater and throwing it to the side leaving her in a sports bra as she jogs on the spot.

I stare at her with wide eyes. The fact that she didn’t even flinch at ten laps of this Olympic sized gym surprises me.

“Ready when you are,” she grins with a sparkle in her eye.

Damn it.

Cardio’s not my thing, but fuck it.

She takes off, and I rush to catch up. We’re three laps in, and she’s barely even out of breath when she looks over to me and asks, “What does running have to do with my training?”

Nothing really, it was more of a challenge, but I don’t tell her that. “We spend a lot of time running away from the bad guys. And usually, they have guns. Lesson number one… do you zig or do you zag? Pew pew!” I use my fingers to jab her in the sides, and she lets out a sharp shriek and takes off at a sprint, leaving me far behind.

I don’t catch her for the rest of the run, and she’s already on the ground stretching casually by the time I’m done.

Damn! I need to work on my fitness. One day that shit’s gonna get me a bullet in my ass.

“What’s next, oh wise one?” She grins as she leaps to her feet, while I’m still bent over trying to catch my breath.

“I’m impressed,” I say in serious awe. I’ve never noticed before, but Everly’s body is more toned than that of a typical girl her age. She has an athlete’s body. It’s not muscular, but strong and fit, like a well-honed machine.

Seems like I’ve underestimated the nerdy girl.

“Are you checking me out?”

I blink twice. “Yes? No? What’s the right answer here?”

She laughs loudly but doesn’t supply me with one.

“I’m a flyer,” she says simply, and my eyes widen in surprise, looking around to make sure no one else heard her.

“You really need to stop that,” I whisper, moving in closer. “They drug test here.”

She screws up her face, her brow creasing between her eyes. “What the hell are you talking about?”

I scan her features, looking for any signs that I’ve missed. “Are you high right now? Is that why you have so much energy?”

Her hand swings out, her fist hitting me in the bicep with barely enough power to make me flinch. “No, you damn idiot. A flyer. I’m a cheerleader and a gymnast.”

I can tell she’s angry at my accusations, but I can’t help the broad smile that forms on my face—one of both relief and excitement.

“Well, that’s even better…” I wiggle my eyebrows. “Flexibility.”

She opens her mouth to let loose what I imagine is going to be a tirade of insults, but I cut her off by waving my hand in her face. “We’ll get to that later. For now, we need to work on that pathetic sissy punch.”

“Sissy punch?” She gasps in horror and agitation.

I notice the second she decides to try and prove me wrong. All the muscles in her body clench and tighten, and her fingers ball into a fist. She may be fit and fast, but this is what I’m trained for, it’s what I’m made for, and what makes the rest of my team and me the best of the best. As she pulls back, it’s like everything moves in slow motion as I wait for her fist to come forward, her technique and stance fucking awful.

As she drives forward, I grab her fist in my palm, the lack of power behind it making it far too easy to take hold and use her own momentum to twist her body around and wrench her arm up behind her back.

Everly screams and stumbles as I pull it tightly and turn her body, pressing her front against the wall and push my chest up against her back. She’s breathing heavily, her mouth opens in shock and awe. I dip my head, my mouth grazing her ear.

I push my hips forward holding her body against the wall, and she inhales sharply. “I may joke around a lot of the time, but when it comes to your safety, I take it very fucking seriously. You need to listen and learn before you throw a punch, because next time, it might be the difference between whether you get out of a situation alive or not.”

She pushes back against me, but even with her strength and agility, I hold her still, and my body is solid and unmoving.

“Why do you care so much about my so-called safety? Why did you offer to do this?”

I laugh softly, my breath brushing past her ear. I feel her shiver as it makes my cock tingle, but I force it to the back of my mind.

Head in the game—play time later.

“Because I’m good at what I do. I’m fucking good at it actually. And I care about everyone on my team. I’d give my heart, soul, and my life for any one of them. Any day. That’s why.”

There’s a few moments of silence where the only sound in the entire gym are the deep, intense breaths we’re taking, and they’re completely in sync. She’s surprised, most people are when they catch a glimpse of this side of me, a side where I wear my heart on my sleeve and let the passion take over. It’s something I keep buried deep, not many know it’s there because I keep my circle small.

Suddenly, Everly lifts her foot and slams it down on top of mine. The pain is minimal, but I decide to give her this win and release her, taking a few steps back. She spins around, her back against the wall, her eyes watching me curiously.

My stomach stirs, a sarcastic comment bubbling at the surface. I keep it down because, for some unknown reason, I just want this moment with her.

The real me.

“Okay, so teach me.”

There it is.

I can see the trust in her eyes now. I let her in, and she’s ready to listen.

 

 

She lands each punch with precision, but she’s becoming slow and sloppy. She’s fit, but I’ve put her through her paces over the last couple of hours, and I can see it’s wearing thin now.

“Keep going,” I growl as she continues to come at me, sweat dripping down the side of her temple. The determination on her face is admirable and sexy as fucking hell. “Too slow. Keep going,” I yell, trying to get that little bit more out of her, trying to really push her to the edge.

I sweep my pad out, tapping her on the side of the head when she doesn’t move quickly enough. It stuns her for a second, and she bends over, bracing her hands on her knees, her body heavy and gasping for air. “Fuck… you,” she huffs out.

“I thought you were an athlete?” I taunt with a wide grin. “Thought you had it in you to make it one minute more when everyone else was giving up.”

I hear a deep growl, and suddenly she’s rushing at me, fists flying. It’s not the best technique, but her energy’s through the roof. Her hand slips from the pad and swings around, grazing my jaw.

She pulls back, her eyes wide as though she can’t believe she’s hit me. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry.”

I start to laugh and shake my head. “Good left hook. We’ll make a fighter out of you yet. Time’s up.” I begin to pull my pads off my hands and head to the side of the gym to grab a drink of water.

“I didn’t hurt you?” she asks, jogging up beside me.

I snort. “You barely grazed me, Everly. If you’re gonna be part of this team, you’ll need to get it in your head that in this world you may need to hurt some people in order to survive, or to get your mission completed.”

Her nose crinkles, and she purses her lips. I can tell that this is something she’s going to struggle with. Everly is a soft soul. She has a hard exterior, but inside she’s beautiful and untainted. This place has a unique way of pulling people under and destroying that part of you. I hope she’s strong enough to get through, but part of me also doesn’t want her to be changed in that way.

“Hey, Luca?” I turn to face Everly as I skull water from my bottle, my eyebrow raised. She smiles softly. “Thanks… I mean, I know we’re going to be doing this often. But thanks for taking time out to teach me. I guess I didn’t really realize before how important this will be, but you’ve put it into perspective, and I appreciate that. And you’ve been really patient.” She laughs softly, and it’s like music to my ears.

“Same time on Wednesday?” I ask, unable to keep the grin from climbing up my face as I grab my sweatshirt and walk toward her.

“For sure,” she answers, her head bobbing enthusiastically.

“Great. Now let’s hit the shower.” I tap her on the ass with my hand, my feet moving a little faster toward the door, expecting an object of some sort to be thrown at my head.

“Annnddd he’s back,” she chuckles sarcastically behind me, but I can hear the amusement in her voice. “See you on Wednesday, pretty boy.”

I laugh to myself as I head out and down the hallway, I’m meant to be meeting Kace in twenty minutes to head to the shooting range with the guys, and go over some new weapons with our weapons development team. I’m eager to go and blow up some major shit.

My phone starts buzzing in the pocket of my sweatshirt, so I pull it out and look down at the screen. It’s an unknown number, but I know exactly who it is. They’ve been trying to get a hold of me for days, I’m not even sure how they got my number to be quite honest. I’ve been avoiding them, though, not wanting to hear the words myself or deal with the situation at hand. I need to suck it up and grow some balls, and right now after spending hours with Everly I’m feeling pretty damn ballsy.

I hit answer on the phone and hold it to my ear. “Yeah?”

“Is this Luca Devereaux?” a gruff voice asks on the other end.

“What’s it to you?” I reply, and the man lets out a huff.

“I’m Harry Parsons, the estate lawyer for Lee Anna Bellmont.”

I shudder as my jaw wracks to the side just on hearing her name. I stop in the hall and lean against the wall taking a breath.

“And?” I reply harshly.

“Mrs. Bellmont has mentioned you in her will, and I will need to discuss the details with you. If you would like to—”

“Give it to her other family,” I say coldly. “I don’t want a single fucking thing from the bitch.”

“Her family has not contested that portion of the will, and her husband has agreed that her wishes for you to have what you’re owed should be honored,” Parsons explains. He sounds older, and it appears he doesn’t want to listen to me.

I freeze on the spot. This is news to me. I had no idea they knew about me. Does that mean she cared enough to tell them about me? My brows furrow at my confusion as I notice Kace up ahead, waiting for me at the exit. He raises his eyebrow watching me. “They know about me?” I ask softly, almost afraid of the answer.

“Yes, Mr. Devereaux.”

My stomach churns as I pull the phone away and hang up, clenching my fist around it tightly in anger. Breathing harshly, I try to wrap my head around the news that her new family knew about me, but haven’t made contact. Rage rushes through me, and I can’t hold it in as I bring my hand up and hurtle my phone at the wall. It hits with a loud thud as Kace barrels down the hall toward me.

“What the hell is your problem?” Kace asks, looking me up and down then glancing at the phone.

“They knew about me. They fucking knew, Kace.” My head is spinning.

Why did they never attempt to find me if I was important enough to leave shit to in a will? Important enough to leave part of her existence to. I lived most of my life without her, she’d moved on. Got another family, lived another life, and now I find out they knew about me and didn’t bother to contact me for all these years. Sure, I’ve made something of my life, and I became someone despite her. But fuck! They never once reached out to me, never checked in on me, never fucking cared.

My mother abandoned me and made a life for herself leaving me to rot. I shake my head trying not to think, but memories come on fast and heavy.

 

“Lee Anna! I don’t want to have to tell you again. Clean this shit up,” Mommy’s boyfriend Kenneth screamed at her as I hid behind the wall shivering from all the yelling.

“Sorry baby, you know Luca doesn’t mean it. He’s only eight, he doesn’t know how to clean up after himself.”

“I don’t care. He’s a little fucking shit, and you’re not much fucking better.”

A loud thump rang out through the room as I jumped at the noise. Mommy moaned, making me run around the archway of the wall to see Kenneth bending over Mommy as she huddled herself into a ball on the floor while he continued to scream at her. He raised his fist in the air threatening to punch Mommy. My body tensed in fear, so I ran, rushing in between Kenneth and my mommy, pushing Kenneth away.

“Luca, go back to your room,” Mommy screamed, but I turned to Kenneth and glared at him.

“Leave my mommy alone,” I yelled at him.

Kenneth laughed a loud belly laugh. It sent a shudder down my spine as his hard, dark eyes looked down at me. “You’re a stupid little shit,” he grumbled as his hand reached out and slapped me hard across the face. The sting causing a pain so fierce to rip through my head that I fell to the ground, putting my arms out to break my fall. My wrist caught on the floor, and it snapped as I catapulted to the ground.

I wailed out in pain at my obvious broken wrist as my mommy cried out moving toward me, but Kenneth lunged forward wrapping his hands around her neck. She fell against the wall and cried while clawing at his hands, as I cowered on the floor scrambling under the table.

Kenneth finally let go of Mommy once she’d turned blue then he punched her in the eye, dropping her to the floor and laying a kick into her stomach.

“You’re not even worth the jail time,” he spat in her face and walked off, storming out of the house as Mommy looked over at me seeming distant and cold.

I felt bad that Mommy was angry at me for leaving my toy on the ground as I looked over at the one teddy on the floor as Kenneth slammed the door shut. I couldn’t help but wonder if Mommy would ever forgive me for making Kenneth do this to us.

I knew Mommy was angry at me, she was avoiding me as she sat on the floor. My wrist really hurt. But I felt bad for leaving my teddy on the ground. It was the only one I had, but I didn’t mean to be messy. I moved out from under the table as I went to pick up the teddy and suddenly Mommy rushed to me, cuddling me tight. Her warmth embraced me, surrounded me with motherly love. I nuzzled into her as she wrapped her arms around me and she clasped at my wrist.

“I’m so sorry, baby. Mommy didn’t mean for this to happen. It will get better. I promise. Mommy will make it better.”

 

“Hey man, are you okay?” Kace asks, causing me to jump. I’m staring down where my hand is encasing my wrist, the one I broke. It’s aching, the pain surging through me as though the break is fresh. “Luca?” I look up into the eyes of my best friend, there’s concern there as he examines me.

I clear my throat and shake out both my hands as I move to pick up my cell phone from the floor. It seems to be in one piece. “Yeah,” I answer. “Just had a moment... you know how it goes.”

“Seemed like that was more than just a damn moment,” he huffs, unconvinced with my excuse.

“Just leave it… okay?” I tell him, bumping his shoulder as I pass by. “Can we go blow some shit up now? I’m in the fucking mood.”

Even as I walk away, I feel his worried gaze burning holes in my back. I want to tell him what’s going on, to share with him the depths of everything. We learned a long time ago that working as a team meant supporting each other, the weight always much easier to carry when it’s spread across all of our shoulders. But this isn’t their pain to bear, and I refuse to let any of them, even Kace, who knows a lot of what I’ve been through, shoulder my issues.

I’ll sort it out.

And I’ll do it my way.