Sorina sits up, wiping her eyes as we all glare at him. “Well?”
“When Maria claimed to be pregnant the other night, Sammi and I decided to do some digging. I’m rather good with a computer, so between us, we hacked every network with Maria’s virtual fingerprint.”
He runs his hand through his hair, sagging into the armchair by the door. “Turns out Maria had an old vendetta against Lily, one even the Viper didn’t know about. Maria Johanson’s father is Jax Unnami.”
“No fucking way,” Dresden hisses, clenching his fists, the muscles in his arms flexing.
“Where is Jax now,” Shannon asks, rubbing Dresden’s back gently.
“He disappeared about six months ago,” Hyde says strolling into the room. “We’ve been trying to find him ever since.”
“As much as I know you all need to discuss this, Lily needs to rest. Why don’t you all go in the other room and let her have some peace and quiet,” Elaine says, lightly touching Hyde’s arm.
Sorina stands and takes Samuel’s hand, silently pulling him from the room. Hyde leans over and squeezes my shoulder before he and Elaine move out the door.
“Come on, Blake. You need to rest,” Shannon whispers as my father moves past her.
“Go on, I’m not leaving her.”
She nods, taking Dresden’s hand in hers.
“Relax, Blake,” he says in a firm tone. “I told you once before, don’t ever count her out. She’s a strong bitch and stubborn as hell.”
I chuckle. If that isn’t the truth, nothing is. The door clicks shut, and I lay my head on the bed next to her hand, covering it with mine. My eyelids close, the soft beep of her heart monitor lulling me toward sleep.
†††
~Lily~
“Pain is nothing but a learned psychological reaction, Lily. If you can unlearn it, you can do things no one else can.”
Jax moves around me, his energy giving away his position. He stops behind me, tightening the blindfold that holds me in darkness. These exercises have become more frequent and intense. He’s determined for me to be the best, but I rely too much on sight.
Taking deep breaths, my body relaxes— the soft tap of his shoes moving left, pausing for a moment. A whistle sounds and I step forward, the belt missing me by inches and slapping the floor instead.
“Good. You’re getting better. You never know which of your senses you’ll have undercover, so you must learn to use them all.”
His shoes tap against the concrete again, to the left further. A pungent, sharp aroma hits my nostrils. My hands dart out, grabbing his wrists and twisting them back. A zap reverberates through the room as he curses under his breath, the homemade Taser clattering against the ground.
A smile plays on my lips, wiped off as his hand connects with my cheek. I grit my teeth together and absorb the sting.
“Don’t get cocky. Underestimating your target will get you killed.”
“Yes, sir.”
He yanks the blindfold off and my eyes ache as light floods them. I’ve worn that damned thing for the last two hours. It’s like being in a windowless basement and then walking out into the Louisiana sun in the middle of July.
“We’ve only been training for three months, but you’ve shown remarkable progress. Get dressed, there’s someone I want you to meet.”
Jax and I agreed that keeping my true past from the team he’s compiling is for the best. I shrug into my jeans and pull a long sleeve black shirt over my head, covering the skin the training outfit shows. The ponytail holder yanks at my hair as it slides out, but with my hair down, passing for twenty-one is easy.
Jax knows a lot of people and the official approval for my job with him at Interpol came in yesterday. How he managed to fool an agency like that, well, it’s beyond me to even guess. He opens the side door and moonlight filters in for a moment, blocked out again as a large figure moves in.
They speak in hushed tones for a moment, their eyes darting toward me. Their shoes sound overly loud, the man’s walk a little lighter than Jax’s though.
“Lily, meet the second member of our team. This is Dresden Scholl; he specializes in Operations Tactics and hand-to-hand combat techniques.”
“Agent Scholl,” I say quietly.