She walks toward it, each step filled with the kind of authority that makes me want to shrink back, but I don’t dare. Instead, I hold my head high and meet her right in the center of the mat. Then without even a breath of warning, her hands shoot out, one gripping onto my shoulder as the other slams a devastating blow right into my stomach. I double over in agony, but she’s not quite finished. Her leg waves out, connecting with the back of my feet and knocking me on my ass with a heavy thump.

Gia comes down over me, pressing a knee against my winded stomach and a hand flat against my sternum to keep me pinned. “This is my home, girl,” she seethes, her voice low and furious. “No matter how you feel about me, you will show respect. Is that understood?”

With a clenched jaw, my hand shoots up to her throat. Her eyes widen briefly, but before she gets a moment to react, I hook my legs around her waist and rip her off me. Gia’s back slams against the training mat, half of her body sprawled on top of mine, and like lightning, I scramble until I’m pinning her down.

“Let’s get one thing straight,” I spit back at her. “You brought me here. I didn’t ask to be here, nor do I want to be here. The only reason I haven’t stormed out the door is because you’re my only shot at getting revenge on Giovanni, but don’t get me wrong, with or without you, I’ll find a way,” I tell her, my heart racing faster by the second. “You are not entitled to my respect simply because this is your home, you need to earn that from me, and right now, you’re doing a really shitty job of it. I won’t fall in line simply because you tell me to. You were right yesterday, blood doesn’t always run thicker than water, and my loyalty to those three brothers will always come before everything else. No matter what.”

I push up off her, the rage and emotion pulsing through my veins as I take a step back and watch her get to her feet, all her men on standby, ready and willing to take me out if she were to ask. “You want to train me,” I continue, swallowing hard, “then train me, but do not use this as some kind of excuse to make a point. I will bite my tongue and reel in my attitude, but you’ve gotta drop the bullshit act as well.”

Gia studies me for a moment, her gaze narrowed. “I don’t think you’ve got a grasp on just how serious this is,” she tells me. “I’m not training you just so you can learn how to defend yourself, and I sure as hell don’t have you here as some idiotic way to claim you,” she says, stepping closer to me and lowering her voice. “I will fall. Whether it be in twelve months or twenty-four. I’m going to fall, and all of this is going to be thrust into your hands whether you want it or not. Looking at you now, I’m not exactly overcome with confidence. You’re weak and rely on your attitude to get by, and while it’s entertaining to watch you embarrass yourself, it’s going to get my men—our men—killed.”

Gia holds my stare as I step into her, my eyes narrowed and full of fire. The elevator dings in the distance, and I watch over her shoulder as Zeke steps out, his hands full of training clothes and a pair of Nikes. His eyes come to mine and immediately narrow, seeing the distinct tension between his boss and me.

I only have a moment to say what needs to be said before he gets close enough, and the moment fades, so I glance back at my mother, letting her hear the anger, grief, and torment that overwhelms me. “You want me to say what I have to say without the bullshit attitude, then I will,” I tell her, piling on the facts hard and thick. “Your first mistake, showing your true colors and standing by to allow Giovanni to murder the men that your daughter is in love with. Your second mistake was assuming that I’d willingly lead and protect the members of your family, knowing that you stood by and did nothing. You want me to stand at the head of your family with their best interests at heart, then you need to find a way to make things right because right now, there’s absolutely nothing stopping me from walking away the moment your heart stops beating.”

A pair of Nikes hits my chest so hard that I stumble away from Gia, my sharp gaze snapping up to Zeke. “Get dressed,” he spits, falling into Gia’s side, venom pooling in his eyes.

My hands close around the training clothes bunched with the shoes, and I tear them out of his grip. Stepping forward, I stop right at his side, my gaze lifting to his. “I’m really looking forward to the day she dies and you become my number one yes man,” I murmur. “If I were you, I’d be doing everything in my power to make sure that I’m not the asshole left scrubbing toilets day in and day out. Be careful, I’m not the bitch you want to fuck with.”

With that, I tighten my hold on my training clothes and walk across the room, my heart thundering in my chest.

4

“Again,” Gia snaps before my back has even hit the training mat.

I drop to the ground with a hard thud, a whoosh of breath racing from my lungs as I groan in pain. We’ve been going at this for three hours and my body is exhausted. A light sweat coats my skin as my lungs scream for oxygen.

She stands by, watching as Zeke kicks my ass over and over again, demanding me to be better, and damn it, he doesn’t hold back, though I didn’t expect anything different. To be honest, had he gone easy on me, I’d never have been able to respect him. The boys never went easy on me in training, they never held back, and I was grateful for it, but it’s clear from how brutal Zeke is, they trained me with care, with love. Not Zeke. He simply doesn’t give a shit if I were to get hurt.

Groaning, I roll onto my stomach, trying to get my hands and knees under me, only when I’m too slow, Zeke’s foot sweeps out under my midsection, kicking my knees back out and watching as my body drops to the mat with a loud oomph.

“Get up,” he spits, irritated to be kept waiting.

My cheeks blow out with a heavy breath as I clench my jaw, desperately trying to reel in my attitude, but the fucker is pushing my limits, and after watching the boys die last night, I can’t be blamed for the shit I do.

Zeke stands over me with his arms crossed like the asshole he is, and I quickly get back to my hands and knees, going faster to avoid the wrath of his temper. Only this time, when I pull myself just a little higher, I let my hand shoot out, connecting hard with his junk.

The fucker doesn’t even flinch as my knuckles slam against something hard, so fucking hard it feels like metal.

I scream out, agony tearing through my hand as Zeke simply watches me, a cocky smirk on his lips. His hand curls into a fist and he taps his knuckles against his junk, letting me hear the solid sound coming from beneath. “Really, Shayne? You’re a scrappy fighter, trained by DeAngelis scum. You didn’t think I’d come prepared for a cheap shot to my cock? I’m insulted.”

Shaking out my hand, I get back to my feet and throw myself right into his face. “Call them scum one more fucking time and I’ll gut you while you sleep.”

Zeke laughs and shoves his hand into my shoulder, forcing me back a step. “That’s a mighty roar for such a little cub.”

The insult stings, but I try to hide it, not wanting to give him more ammunition to use against me. If there were any way for me to get through to him and make him hurt, I would have done it long ago.

Zeke immediately gets back into my training, not taking it easy on me at all. I block his advances, each of my movements getting sloppier by the second, the exhaustion quickly creeping up on me. “So, tell me,” I spit, watching his every move. “Where were you while the brothers were being slaughtered? Watching the show with a fucking grin on your face?”

“A dead enemy of mine is another fucker who can’t hurt my woman and another night that I get to rest easy, so you bet your fucking ass that I was watching every moment of it, making sure they went down hard,” he says with a smirk, his fist shooting straight through my defenses and landing a devastating blow against my ribs, no doubt one that will turn them black and blue within minutes.

Tears sting my eyes, but I refuse to let them fall. How the hell am I supposed to stay here with people who would have happily killed the brothers had their father not already done it? Fucking hell. It won’t be long until one of these assholes pushes me a little too far and I accidentally slit their throat in return.

Anger pulses through my veins as fire burns in my eyes, making each of my movements harder to control. “Focus,” Gia growls, “you’re not going to improve as long as your mind is stuck on those boys. I have told you already, Giovanni’s sons were not my problem, nor will I make space for their memory in my training room.”

I scoff, my gaze quickly flicking her way as I duck under Zeke’s strong arm. “Oh, but it was your fucking problem the second Giovanni wanted to make me his bride,” I spit. “Tell me, if the boys were still alive, would you have bothered to step in or did you plan to let them handle your fucking dirty work?”

Zeke pulls back, his brows furrowing as he turns back toward Gia. “The fuck is she talking about?”

Tags: Sheridan Anne Depraved Sinners Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net