10. Cain
Cain
I glare at Nox, still sleeping in Viv’s bed.
She already got up and is in the shower.
Nox however, is still sound asleep in her bed even though the rest of us are awake and moving around the room.
I knew that he’d been sleeping with Viv, but I didn’t realize that he had actually been going virtually comatose.
Nox never sleeps well. He’s been an insomniac for as long as I’ve known him.
The fact that he’s sleeping through Zane chattering about how much fun it was to sleep in bunk beds like children again is strange.
Viv exits the bathroom in a cloud of steam, her wet hair falling over one shoulder in waves.
The thing that surprises me though is what she’s wearing.
Skintight pants and a cropped work out shirt.
Why does she always have to wear such enticing things to work out.
But at least this is a little better than the sports bra she was wearing the day I accidentally walked in on her and Zane.
I watch, mesmerized as she walks over to her bed to frown down at Nox.
Without even hesitating, and before I can warn her, she launches herself on top of him.
Nox wakes in an instant and wraps his hand around Viv’s neck, flipping her so she’s under him.
I’m not really sure what I expected Viv to do, maybe struggle or cry for help.
Something someone normal would do when being choked.
But she doesn’t do either of those things.
Instead, a soft moan leaves her parted lips.
Her face pinkens and slowly turns a deeper shade of red as Nox’s hand doesn’t lighten up.
The idiot is still half asleep. I notice Zane approaching them with a thunderous expression on his face just as Viv smirks.
I’m not sure what she does, but after some kind of maneuver with her hips, Nox is suddenly under her with his hands pinned above his head.
His eyes slowly clear and he becomes aware of what’s going on.
His eyes zero in on the red marks appearing on Viv’s neck and his entire face goes ashen as horror slowly starts to spread across his features.
Viv smiles down at him before leaning in and pressing her lips to his in a hard kiss.
When she pulls away, her eyes are heavy lidded as she gazes down at him.
“Let’s save the foreplay for another time. Okay?”
Nox swallows hard before giving her a quick nod. Viv gets off of him, leaving him on the bed breathing hard before looking over her shoulder at him. “Hurry up and get dressed. I want to watch Enzo kick all your asses.”
Sloane scoffs, “Not likely.”
The rest of us nod in agreement with him while Viv raises her brows with a twinkle in her eye. It’s the same look she gave me when I agreed to that race, the one she knew she would win. “I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”
Nox takes a moment before he gets to his feet.
He doesn’t even bother taking his stuff to the bathroom as he tugs on a T-shirt and a pair of shorts over his boxer briefs.
Viv grins at us as she waits by the door, and when we’ve all got our clothes on we follow her out of the room.
It’s still a little jarring to walk through the elaborate house.
I’ve seen similar homes belonging to criminals, but Viv never really gives off the impression that she grew up in a house like this.
Zane must be thinking similarly to me because he catches up with Viv. “When we get married, I don’t want to live in a huge house like this.”
Viv turns her head to look at him. “There’s a smaller house on the property we can stay at when we’re here. It just hasn’t been outfitted for the level of security we need yet through.”
Zane smiles brightly at her. “That’s good. This house is just way too big. How would we keep track of all the kids.”
I almost trip on my own foot. I take it back, he’s definitely not thinking similarly to me at all. I forgot that he is actually certifiably insane for a moment. Viv keeps walking, not even skipping a beat, like what he said was completely fine. She just gives him a shrug like that’s answer enough.
Viv takes us down a few flights of stairs before leading us to the back of the house.
When she pushes open a heavy door that opens to a narrower staircase, I follow a little more cautiously.
It’s not that I think she’s leading us to a trap, it just seems like a bad idea for an ex-FBI agent to walk willingly into the basement of a mafia family.
The stairs let us out into a wide underground room with tall ceilings.
Most everything is white, except the floor, which is made of perfectly level epoxy flooring.
There’s a corner filled with exercise equipment, and across the room from that is a wall covered completely with mirrors and thick matts covering the floor.
Enzo is already there. His treadmill comes to a stop as he holds both ends of a towel that’s draped across his shoulders. “Hey Vivy! Did you bring your boy toys to learn a thing or two?”
Zane bounces on the balls of his feet with a wide grin like this is the best thing that has ever happened to him.
But I don’t share the sentiment. There are a million other more pleasant things I would rather do than spar with the fucking Slayer.
The fact that he’s now picked Viv up and is spinning her in another dizzying hug has got a tick forming in my jaw.
I know I don’t need to protect her from him, but there’s knowing and then there’s seeing a man with that much blood on his hands touching her.
I don’t realize I’m glaring at them until Nox jabs his elbow into my ribs.
I shoot a glare at him but manage to smooth out my expression when I turn back to the others.
Viv is now talking to Enzo while waving her hands in the air, and she sends a dreamy look over her shoulder at Nox as we make our way closer to them.
“… just twisted his neck like it was nothing. It was the hottest thing I’ve ever seen,” Viv tells Enzo adamantly.
Enzo’s face scrunches up in disgust. “Eww. Don’t tell me ‘bout your weird ass kinks. There’s some things I just don’t wanna know.”
Viv rolls her eyes at him. “Well it was. Anyway I want to learn how to do that.”
Enzo purses his lips as he looks her up and down.
“Uh, Vivy… I love ya, but there’s no way you’ll be able to do that.
” Viv’s face falls and she looks absolutely dejected.
I kind of want to punch Enzo in the face for putting that look on her face, and I’m not the only one either going by the thunderous looks on the other guys’ faces.
“It’s just not something you could physically do.
It takes a lot of force to do somethin’ like that and you just don’t have the upper body strength.
There’s another way that might work for you though. We can try it out later.”
Viv’s face regains some of it’s excitement. “Fine. I want to see what the guys are capable of anyway.”
Viv drops to the floor and starts stretching out her limbs like she’s about to start a marathon, while Enzo eyes each of us before returning his eyes to her. “How bad am I allowed to hurt them?”
My eyes narrow at the surety in his tone. He really believes we’ll be no match for him. Viv looks us over. “Minimal damage. We’ve got a lot going on today and they need to be able to protect themselves.”
Enzo pouts at her like she’s just told him he has to wait till after dinner to get a cookie. But he steps out into the center of the mats on the floor and gestures for one of us to step forward as he gets into a loose stance.
Then I stand there and watch him kick each of my best friend’s asses. It’s like he’s a fucking robot. Every hit that makes contact with him doesn’t even phase him. The only one that makes him even work for it is Zane, and that’s just because he’s a slippery opponent in a fight.
When it’s my turn, I find that I’m actually nervous after watching the beat down he just gave the others.
He comes at me over and over again and it’s all I can do to deflect.
I don’t even have time to think of any counter moves or form a strategy.
The way he moves is much faster and more fluid than it should be for a man his size.
Maybe we should have brought him some French toast to appease his beast before we got into the ring with him.
One moment I’m on my feet dodging a jab, and the next I’m flat on my back with Enzo’s forearm braced across my shoulders.
What the fuck just happened?
Enzo stands up and dusts off his unruffled sweatpants. “Not bad guys. You need a little work but that was pretty good.”
Sloane stares at him for a moment. “Pretty good? You just kicked all of our asses.”
Enzo smirks at him. “Yeah, but I actually had to work for it.”
“My turn!” Viv chirps happily as she starts nudging me with her foot to get me off the mat.
Rolling onto my stomach, I push myself up and take my spot with the others.
Viv and Enzo circle each other before he steps into her space and tries to grab her.
She’s not there anymore though. My eyes can barely track her as she ducks under his arm, jabbing her elbow into his ribs.
Enzo lets out a grunt and twists. His fist flies toward Viv’s face, making Nox and I reach out at the same time to grab hold of Zane.
But Viv shifts back on her heels, dodging his fist by just millimeters.
Her knee lifts and jabs into his ribs in the same place she got him earlier.
Enzo has more of a reaction this time though, holding his hand over the spot and taking a step back from her.
Enzo grins at Viv as he settles back into his fighting stance.
This time, he lets Viv come to him. She’s fast and brutal, but even then she’s not a match for Enzo either.
Her years of training with him mean she lasts the longest, but it’s only a matter of time before he flips her onto her back on the mats.
I expect her to give up. What I don’t expect is for her to rear her head back and smash her forehead into his.
Enzo curses as she squirms out of his hold and gets back to her feet and he scowls at her.
“We’ve talked about this Vivy. You can’t give yourself brain damage in training. Save it for actual fights.”
Viv shrugs innocently, like there isn’t a red spot blooming on the center of her forehead.
That’s when Zane breaks free from Nox and me.
He rushes over to Viv’s side, cradling her face in his hands to evaluate the damage.
He scowls at Enzo like he was the one that hit her, but Enzo’s too busy rubbing at his own tender spot to pay any attention to Zane.
Viv leans her body into his and he relaxes into her instantly.
“Five miles on the treadmill. Now,” Enzo says, glaring at Viv.
She pouts at him but then pulls away from Zane and heads over toward the high-tech looking treadmill.
Enzo shakes his head at her as he turns to us, and I’ve not seen the psychotic man look so serious in the few times I’ve met him.
I can tell that he really does love Viv, or else he wouldn’t care if she hurt herself.
“Now that I see where you guys are at, let’s get some training in,” he says with a wicked grin, and I start to wonder if ‘training’ is just a cover for him to be able to beat the shit out of us.
I don’t disagree though. He is The Slayer after all, and I’m willing to learn whatever he has to teach us if it will keep my family and Viv safe.