9. Tennant
Pain explodes across my face as I take a punch to the mouth. Stepping out of reach, I spit blood, running my tongue across my teeth to make sure none are loose or broken. Spitting out more blood, I smile, letting the wariness radiating off my opponent fill me with joy.
In a flurry of movement, I have my opponent on the ground, though I take more hits to my face and body in order to accomplish it.
“Are you going to yield to me?” I ask lowly.
“Fuck you.” He spits in my face, and I laugh.
“You’re in a feisty mood today.” Shifting onto my knees, I take a knee to my thigh, but I don't let the dull pain stop me, as I hold his hands above his head and spread his legs with mine. “It’s almost like you want me to fuck you, letting me spread you out this way.”
“I will shoot your dick off,” he warns.
“Such a party pooper.” Flipping him over, I grin at the way he curses, his arms twisting as I hold them down, while his body flips around.
Using both hands, I change my grip, bringing his arms down to the small of his back and holding him there.
“Give up, or do you want to put on a show for our guest?”
The body beneath mine tenses, before he lets out a sigh and relaxes, much to my monster’s disappointment. “I yield, you fucking asshole.”
“You’re no fun.” I hold him for a moment longer before hopping up.
Joel looks up at me, with blood streaming from his nose, and one of his eyes is already surrounded by a bruise. His hair is matted to his head with sweat, and the dark red strands shine under the harsh lighting of the training center.
“I think you fucking dislocated my shoulder!” he growls.
“You’ll live.” I shrug and he glares, but he knows better than to accept an apology or sympathy from me.
With a wince, he rolls over onto his back before slowly sitting up, gripping his left arm and glaring at me some more.
Walking over, I poke at his shoulder, wincing when I realize it is definitely dislocated. That appeases the monster, and some of the adrenaline fades as I get both hands on him.
“You ready?”
“No, get it over with,” he replies with a grimace.
“Don’t be such a baby.” Smoothly, and without much fanfare, I slide his shoulder back into place, watching as the pinched look on his face eases once it’s done.
“Your brother will give you shit for this,” I tell him as I grab him by his good arm and help him to his feet.
“I’m blaming you when Jayden comes for me,” he grumbles, rolling both arms back and wincing a little.
“I’ll throw the Princess at him.”
“Hey!” Ignacio protests from where he’s sitting off to the side with the other men, watching the spectacle.
I look over at the man and grin. “Don’t pretend you won’t like it, Chaos.”
Ignacio squirms, but doesn’t reply, proving my point for me.
I lose all levity when I look around at our men. “You’re all disappointments,” I tell them. “We have too much shit going on for you to be failures now.”
“Sir…”
I slash my hand through the air, cutting off whatever the dumbass is about to say. “I did not say you could speak. You have not earned the right to speak to me directly.”
The ones who’ve been with me a while shuffle on their feet. I can see from a few of their faces that they’re pissed about being reverted right back to the beginning, after surviving training the first time, but Atticus’s arrival showed we still have work to do.
The silence in the warehouse is thick, until Ignacio stands and moves to stand at my side.
“I’m very disappointed in all of you,” he says, speaking to the former Martelli soldiers, now turned Council men.
“You should be grateful I’m not allowed to kick your asses…
though I’m sure Tennant would have no problem doing it for me. ” He smirks.
I grin. “That I will, Amico Mio. We have work to do, and those who fail their tests? Well, it saves us from having to buy new targets.”
Ignacio laughs, as he and the men get my meaning. I see the fear in those who performed poorly today, while resignation enters the eyes of my more seasoned men. They all know it’s going to hurt. A lot. Especially now, with Ignacio at my side to help catch the things Joel and I miss.
The integration and retraining of all the men we have has gone fine—as well as to be expected when you blend two different Families together.
Now, though, they’re being retrained again.
And they’re all distinctly aware that this is their last chance.
Failure is not an option. Or I’ll make what Atticus did to the guards look like a love pat.
“You all have your orders, and know what to do. Your training leads will keep us updated on your progress. Dismissed, for now.”
There’s a moment of hesitation before they scatter, some faster than others, and I make a note of who they are, as they’re the ones to watch carefully.
“We should get you home before your jailer has my ass,” I tell Ignacio.
He huffs a laugh but doesn’t argue, not wanting to get on Jayden’s bad side any more than I do.
“I need someone to drive us home,” Joel calls out, limping behind us as we start walking out of the training warehouse.
“Can’t handle the pain, Joel?” I tease.
“Fuck you,” he replies. “Just because you don’t feel pain like a normal person, doesn’t mean getting the shit beat out of you doesn’t hurt.”
I don’t disagree with him, my various bruises are already making their presence known. My face throbs as well, but I’d never let on that Joel, or the few others who took me up on my challenge, had any effect on me.
“I could give you some pointers, Joel,” Ignacio offers. “I took notes throughout all of his fights.”
I scoff. “Of course, you did.”
“I need to know how to one-up you when we finally go toe to toe,” Ignacio replies.
I shake my head. “So sure you’re going to win still, hmm?”
“After today? Absolutely.” Ignacio winks at me, and I snort.
We climb into the SUV, and Joel bitches as he gets into the front passenger seat. The sucker who volunteered to drive us freezes as he goes to shut Joel’s door and the man snaps at him.
Ignacio snickers. “Think he’ll survive the car ride?” he whispers.
“No chance.”
We share a grin, and Ignacio relaxes against his seat. “Have to say, considering they're not limos, these SUVs are pretty comfortable.”
I sneer. “I still can’t believe you used to allow all of you to travel in the same fucking car.” I shake my head. “And I’m supposed to trust Roman with you?”
He glares. “I will never let anything happen to Roman. He means everything to me.”
The sincerity in his voice eases some of the protectiveness, but I know it’ll never fully let up, not even for Ignacio, who is best equipped to keep the little shit safe.
Playing devil’s advocate, because there’s nothing better to do on the drive home, since the former O’Connel house is further away from the training warehouse, I say, “I have a hard time believing that when Benjamin once meant so much to you, too.”
The look I get is glacial.
Joel coughs in the front seat, and music suddenly fills the car, as if he can drown out our conversation—as if he hasn’t heard worse before.
“Don’t you fucking dare,” Ignacio says, the promise of violence in his dark eyes. “That…that was both of us. I am not going to be a scapegoat for you, not again.” His face goes blank for a moment before he smirks. “Roman promised to not let me get hurt again…I should leave you to him.”
I laugh. “I see why the Little Prince likes you, Chaos. You’re fun to play with.
No…you don’t have to worry about me. I understand what happened in the beginning was…
messy. I didn’t have the full scope of things, and while I won’t apologize for my less-than-stellar opinion of you at first, I know you’re not entirely to blame.
I’m not blind to Benjamin’s faults, as much as he tried to keep me that way for a while. ”
I wish I could be upset with Benjamin for that, but I don’t believe it was nefarious on his part. As much as he fucked up, he also realized his errors. I hope the breakdown he had the other day is actually a breakthrough.
“How’s he coping?” Ignacio asks quietly.
I stare at him until he squirms, before he sighs and elaborates.
“When I was in his room the other day, I noticed he doesn’t have a TV. I have no idea when he’ll be allowed to leave the medical area, but…when was the last time he played his games?”
“Games?”
“You know…video games? His friends are probably going nuts. I’m actually surprised our police contacts haven’t alerted us to a missing persons report or something for him by now, if he hasn’t been online in a while.”
“He has his phone. I’m assuming he’s been in touch with them that way. That’s a question for Hollis, though. He still has Benjamin’s phone tapped, as far as I’m aware. Back to what you were saying, he plays video games?”
Ignacio blinks at me, then blinks again. “He hasn’t played any around you, or even mentioned it?”
I shake my head.
“So how the fuck has he been destressing? Or spending his downtime? He was injured, I got that, but he’s better now, right? He was at dinner, and I’ve seen him leave his room a few times.”
I run a hand down my face, gently poking at the sore spots and wiping the blood away.
“He’s off bed rest now, but still in the medical area because he’s under a lighter version of suicide watch.
Since he asked me to hurt him—not for fun, but as part of some fucked up type of self-harm—Doc and Javi are keeping him for a little longer. ”
Ignacio curses. “I’m going to assume it was a combination of a role he didn’t fit, Lio being missing, and not having the outlet for his video games.”
“How often would he play these games?”
Ignacio shrugs. “Few times a week with his friends, more if he needed to get out of his head. It was…nice, hanging out together, but doing our own thing. He’d get so lost in a game that I could just see him let go and…
watch as he didn’t think about anything or anyone for a while.
I’m honestly really surprised he never mentioned it.
I mean, he’s such an adorable little geek about them that I proposed at an arcade, for fuck’s sake. ”
I try not to sneer at the reminder of their previous engagement. Them being together doesn’t bother me, but the thought of how close Ignacio got to giving Benjamin that…it makes the dark parts of me beg for violence.
Ignacio must see it as he watches me warily, sitting straighter in his seat.
“Do you know what he plays on?” I ask.
Ignacio gives me a blank stare, and I snort.
Right, training and books, and probably Roman, are his specialties, not video games.
I’ll have to ask Benjamin myself, and figure out why he never fucking mentioned it.
Everyone needs a damn hobby, especially in this life.
Hell, even fucking Javi has a hobby. Does he know?
Has he gotten that far into his “research” of the topolino yet?
I frown, this probably means I need to talk to the damn psychiatrist and ask what his plans are for Benjamin. As much as he’s going to argue, he doesn’t get a choice—therapy is a must, for many reasons.
A knot forms in my stomach as the crushing realization falls over me at the thought that I…don’t know my Topolino as well as I should. I can blame him and say he’s the one who should have been more open, but I am just as responsible. Fuck. Is it any wonder I’ve almost killed him twice now?
Sighing, I swallow back the irritating feelings of…
inadequacy and say, “Thank you. For telling me. I’m pissed it took someone else to give me this information, but I’ll take anything I can get.
Benjamin and I…we’re so far apart right now, and I don’t want to lose him.
I’m not sure he’ll survive if things keep going the way they are.
It’ll devastate Lio if Benjamin doesn’t make it. ”
“And you,” he says softly. “I can see how much you care about him, Ten. I know the three of us have had our issues, and even though my feelings for him have changed many times, you’re both my family in some way.
I don’t want to see you suffer the same fate Benjamin and I did.
If you love him like I think you do, I know you’ll make this work.
He…blossoms under your care. In a way he never did for me.
” He gives me a small smile. “I now know it’s because Roman is who I was meant to be with, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt.
Still, I want you to be okay. I kept trying, kept encouraging him to talk to you, to not push you away. Don’t let him make the same mistakes.”
I shake my head. “I won’t.”
The ball in my stomach grows, and I label it as what shame must feel like, before once again shoving it aside. No, this isn’t anyone’s fault. Well, it’s mine and Benjamin’s, but given the circumstances of how we ended up together, I’m willing to take the chance to fix things. I need to fix things.
Never did I think help would come from the person who should hate me the most, but as we’ve all learned, since the very beginning, things aren’t always black and white.
Relationships are fluid, and life is messy.
Mistakes were made, but that doesn’t mean any of us are bad people.
Ignacio proves that by naming himself my friend.
Fucking hell, Emilio has me acting all sappy now with his fucking feelings whisperer title. Little shit is lucky he’s adorable. Though he’s going to be leashed if Hollis has anything to do with it, so he can’t run off to the next dangerous stranger he sees with a cute animal.
Meeting Ignacio’s gaze again, I say, “Thank you.”
“It’s what friends are for.”
I sneer and he laughs, not seeing me as the threat I am. It’s…refreshing, and maybe a little fun. Doesn’t make us friends though, no matter what he or Roman might think.