“Trial two is after the weekend,” he says. “I’ll get the information tonight. Be ready.”
“I always am.” Leo walks away to the other trainers, most likely to talk about the next trial. Trial of Silence. Although I have to admit, this one might be the easiest one for me, I don't talk much anyway.
After trainingI shower and change. The sun burns low, bleeding orange across the sky as I head to the roof. She’s there, perched on the edge, wind pulling at her hair.
“Evening, little lamb.” I run my hands through my hair, as she turns and smiles.
“Evening.”
I wish I could stand here and stare at her beauty, but I can’t. She needs to be trained, and she might not admit it if I asked her, but she looks tired.
“Knife?” She nods, pulling it from the waistband of her leggings, and that gives me a moment to look over how fucking sexy her body is.
Only one thought hits me, I need to get her naked on my bed, so I can admire and worship it better.
Taking the knife from her, I ask. “Better? Can you feel the balance?” She nods again. “Good. Now show me your grip.”
She holds it out. I walk behind her, adjusting her fingers. Her hair brushes my jaw when she shifts. Our breathing finds the same rhythm.
“Not too tight. If you hold it like you’re afraid of it, it’ll cut you.” I guide her through the motion, slice, pivot, deflect. Her breath is heavy but steady. “You’re getting it,” I say, watching her pivot smoothly on her back foot.
She repeats the move, more fluid this time. The blade dances with her. It’s not perfect, hell it's far from perfect but still better than what she was doing.
After another round of drills,she leans back against the stone, chest rising and falling.
“What are you smiling for?” I ask, wiping sweat from my brow.
“You,” she says. “You’re the first one to see me. Not the O’Brien girl. Just… me.”
“It’s easy to do,” I reply. “When your family is a family I should be killing, not fucking.”
She laughs, a low sound. But it’s real, and I like it.
“Still,” she says, eyes flickering with something too close to hope. “You’ve given me a few moments I never thought I’d get.”
I don’t know what to say to that. One thing I know. I’m already in too deep.
“Can I ask a question?” She looks at her knife in my hand, as I move it between my fingers.
I nod.
“You never smile.”
“I do smile,” I correct her.
“Okay, you smile, but it never reaches your eyes.” She takes a step closer, taking the knife from me. “Why?”
“Because there hasn’t been anything in my life that’s worth that type of smile.”
My phone vibrates in my pocket, and without looking at the name, I already know it’s one of my brothers or Leo. I put the phone to my ear.
“Trial two is here,” Milo says.
“On my way.”
I lean close, my lips brushing hers. “Good night little lamb.”
Two minutes from the roof,I walk into my room, Marco and Milo are half-dressed, in mid-argument over some breach Marco’s found in the Blackstone network.
