“Run,” he says, voice sharp and uncompromising.
“Run? Run where?”
“You have ten seconds. If I catch you, I’ll tell Luciano to punish you.” His eyes gleam with a challenge, a predator ready for a hunt.
“Let me rest,” I plead. “You just made me spar with you for an hour. My body is so sore.”
“Our enemies don’t rest,” he counters. “You need to be faster, you need to learn how to endure the pain.” He begins the countdown, “Ten, nine, eight…” Oh, shit, he’s serious. Adrenaline surges through me, sharpening every sense.
I spring to my feet and bolt from the gym, the estate blurring as I race down the path.
“Five, four, three…” I can hear him yell. My heart hammers in my chest, breath ragged, legs burning with the effort. I don’t dare look back, but the snap of a twig behind me sends a jolt of fear through my spine.
For a man his size, Carlo moves with terrifying speed. Pain gnaws at all my muscles, but I push through, desperation driving me forwarduntil I see a shooting range up ahead. Thank God it’s empty. I dive behind a target, crouching low, fighting to steady my breath.
“I can smell your fear, Charlie,” Carlo’s voice cuts through the silence, mockingly close. “You need to learn to hide your fear from others, or they will eat you alive.”
He’s closing in. The temptation to give up, to let him find me and let Luciano decide my fate, claws at me. But the challenge hangs in the air. I need this win, this small victory.
I grab a handful of rocks, hurling them to the left to create a distraction. Then I leap from my hiding spot, crashing straight into Carlo’s sweaty chest.
“Ewww!” I say, scrunching my face up in disgust, while trying to wipe his sweat off me.
“No one fools me,” he laughs. He’s loving this. These brothers are crazy!
“Shit,” I mutter when I realize I’ve just lost.
“Run!” he orders, giving me a second chance, and I don’t hesitate to take off again. My little legs pump as fast as I can, while my lungs burn with every step. I’m used to running to stay fit, but this is some next level shit. I hope I don’t have to do this every lesson.
The house draws closer with every frantic step. I can feel Carlo’s presence haunting just behind me, but he never calls me out. Somehow, I reach the gym first, breathless and triumphant.
He tosses me a bottle of water from the fridge and steps out of the gym, leaving me utterly exhausted. Rocco enters within seconds of Carlo leaving.
“Oh great, you’re back,” I mumble. He just nods his head in my direction, acknowledging he heard me.
I drag myself into the dining room, every muscle screaming from the hell Carlo put me through. Mattia’s mocking laugh slices through the thick air like a knife. “Who fucked you hard, Red?”
I snap back, flipping him the bird with zero remorse. “Carlo.” Do I really look that bad?
Luciano’s piercing blue eyes lock onto me, danger lurking behind them, the kind that should make my skin crawl but instead it’s starting to have the opposite effect. “You mad you didn’t get to punish me?” I can’t help but tease him.
His growl rumbles low, thick with promise. “C’è ancora un sacco di tempo stasera.”There’s still plenty of time tonight.
Wetness pools as I clench my thighs, imagining every ruthless way Luciano could punish me. But I shove the feeling down, forcing myself to switch gears.
“So, what did everyone get up to today?” I ask casually. I dig into my food, quite hungry since the workout.
Mattia grins like a kid showing off. “I stalked some seedy old bastard.”
Gabriele shrugs, clearly uninterested. “Nothing you’d find interesting.”
Carlo and Stefano eat in silence tonight.
“Good chat, everyone,” I mock.
Stefano’s head snaps towards Luciano, once again trying to ignore my presence. “Con lei tutto deve essere divertente e difficile?”Does everything have to be amusingly hard with her?
Luciano glares at Stefano, but I’m not having it tonight. He needs to be put into his place. “Oh, assolutamente. Perché semplificarti la vita quando puoi avere un posto in prima fila nella mia vita incasinata, stronzo?”Oh, absolutely. Why make life easy when you can have front-row seats to my fucked-up life, asshole?
