15. Wynn
WYNN
The next morning, when the light peeked through the windows and shone over Ciel’s fluffy brown hair, I woke up to warmth and comfort.
It was contentment in the way I’d never believed I could ever feel before. Before I found them. Before they helped me see that I could let go of the pain of my past and move forward.
Ciel had shifted throughout the night, and he was now curled up in the bed facing me, while on his other side, Cas had cuddled even closer.
Leona was missing, but she had woken up with a start in the middle of the night.
When I tried to ask if everything was okay, she kissed me softly and then eased her way out of the bed—probably to find Obi.
Ciel’s breaths were shallow, but even. His eyelashes brushed against the skin of his cheek. Gently, I smoothed my finger over his cheekbone, but he didn’t move.
Everyone was exhausted from the last few days. They needed to rest, but my body was restless. It needed to move.
Reluctantly, I disentangled myself and left Cas and Ciel still sleeping. I threw on some clothes and then made my way out of the room Ciel and I had claimed. We were still getting used to this house, but the more I saw signs of our life, the more like home it felt.
It didn’t matter where we lived. The people inside it made it feel that way. Home. Everytime I thought about how lucky I was, my chest went tight and it became hard to breathe.
In the kitchen, I filled a glass with water. My eyes were drawn to the back patio. I’d worked out there a few mornings already. My body practically screamed with need.
The backyard was huge. Trees closed us in on all sides, acting like a fence or barrier from the outside world.
I couldn’t believe Obi found this house, let alone bought it.
It seemed perfect for us. There was plenty of space, it was private and closed-off, and it was still close to the city.
The air outside was crisp, but it wasn’t bad, especially not when I got moving.
I sank into my stretches first, letting the movement ground me. My gunshot wound was still tight, but it was almost entirely healed, and I doubted I’d notice it after a few more weeks.
After stretching, I moved into some mobility exercises and boxing warmups. The more I moved, the calmer I got.
Until I heard the patio door open again.
I expected to see Cas, Leona, or Obi, but I froze when I caught sight of Max. He closed the door behind him and then leaned against the side of the house. Watching.
Anger flared through me when I thought about Leona’s tears from last night.
I’d grown accustomed to him around the penthouse before everything went down.
Working with him while finding the Albanians and taking them out wasn’t as horrible as I had expected it to be.
He clearly hated trafficking as much as we did.
He was competent, and after hearing from Leona about what he’d done for her on the Albanian ship, my attitude toward him had softened.
But since we had to run from the penthouse, I was wary. Suspicious. The more lies he held, the less I trusted him—not with our safety, and not with Leona. The way he stood there, unmoving, like a statue, made me wish for a knife in my hand.
Ryu seemed to be rubbing off on all of us.
“What do you want?” I wiped the few droplets of sweat from my forehead with the edge of my shirt.
Shadows hung beneath his eyes. “Thought I might exercise.”
“You’re injured.”
“Yes, I’m aware.”
I wasn’t like Ryu or Cas, who were baited by his attitude. Instead, I folded my arms over his chest and stared at the dark circles under his eyes. “Couldn’t sleep?”
“I never sleep.”
Now that I believed. He perpetually seemed like he wore a twenty-pound weight hanging from his neck, and that had only gotten worse in the last few days. “I’m sure that had nothing to do with your fight last night. Nothing to do with how you pushed her away.”
“Of course she told you,” he huffed.
“She tells us everything. We tell her everything.”
His jaw clenched, and he looked down at his feet. He said nothing. Classic.
I turned my back and started moving through my exercises again. Warming up my muscles with bodyweight alone. I sincerely missed our gym back at the penthouse.
“Look, Wynn,” Max started. I paused and looked at him over my shoulder.
He braced his hand on his head and avoided my eyes.
“I just want to exercise. I usually go to the gym first thing in the morning. You seemed like you had the right idea out here. If I stay cooped up in there, someone is going to shank me, so at least I can watch my back out here and get out some of this restlessness. Two birds, one stone.”
I smirked. He wasn’t wrong. We were all watching. Waiting for him to slip up again.
As he stared, I looked around. There was more than enough room out here for both of us—and plenty of space in the grass right off the patio deck for sparring. Sparring didn’t sound like that bad of an idea.
Except if I sparred with him, I’d probably kill him. He was that weak, and I was that angry.
“Do what you want,” I said as I turned around and resumed my workout.
He went down to the grass and started working through his own series of stretches and bodyweight exercises.
I watched out of the corner of my eye, keeping track of his movements and the way his body favored his right side—where his stab wound was on his ribs.
It didn’t take long before his breaths became heavy and he had to sit in the grass for a pause.
I paused at the same time and snagged a drink from the glass of water I’d brought out here earlier. The back of his t-shirt was already marked with sweat.
“Do you want to spar?” he asked from his seat in the grass. “Cas and I used to spar all the time.”
I tilted my head to consider him. “You know you won’t last against me.”
His hand pressed against his side for a second while he grimaced. “Yeah. It’ll be no contest.”
“Then why do you want to spar?”
He shrugged.
“Sounds like you just want to get punched.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, that’s probably it.”
“Well, get up then,” I said. “I’ll punch you in the face if that’s what you really want.”
He stood, brushing the dirt off his borrowed athletic shorts. As I walked closer, he made space on the grass and raised his hands in front of his face. His form looked good. His body was tense where it needed to be and loose where it needed to be. His eyes observed me as I circled him.
I took my stance in front of him and raised my hands.
“Ready?”
He gave a tight nod.
I darted forward, jabbing. My fist whooshed toward his head. He dodged to the left, and I just barely missed. “I thought you wanted to get punched.”
He shot forward, feigning left before he swung his other arm at my face. I ducked and then swiped my fist directly into his stomach. It wasn’t hard enough to pop his stitches or seriously injure him, but it was enough to have him clutching at his torso to catch his breath.
It only took him a second to straighten himself. “Again.”
I raised my eyebrow. “You can’t be serious.”
He bounced from foot to foot. “Come on.”
I sank back down into my stance, and we started circling each other again.
This time, he seemed more focused. Every time I got close, he dodged and danced away.
Finally, I had enough of playing with him, and I lunged forward, catching him with a jab to the cheek.
It wasn’t hard enough to give him another black eye, but enough to feel smug that I did, in fact, punch him in the face.
It helped.
He spat some blood onto the grass.
“Get what you wanted out of that?” I crossed my arms over my chest.
“Yep. Thanks.”
I snorted at the same time the patio door opened behind us.
“Wynn,” Leona said brightly. “I thought I saw you—” Her words cut off when she saw Max. “Oh.”
“Hey, darling,” I said as I hopped back onto the deck and walked over to give her a soft kiss. “How are you? Sleep okay with Obi?”
“Yeah.” She cast a sideways glance at Max before she wrapped her arms around my waist. I smoothed her waves from her face. “I thought I saw you training, and I wanted to come train with you.”
“You train?” Max asked. He stepped back onto the patio deck and leaned against its wooden railing. His cheek was still pink where I jabbed him, but it looked like he’d otherwise recovered from our match.
She cut her eyes over to him, frowning. “Wynn and I have been training for months.”
She could take me down, Ciel down, and she’d even dropped Ryuji before.
I’d never seen her spar with Cas or Obi—besides when Cas “fought” her to get her to talk to us about the Albanians—but her skills were miles above where they were when she started.
She’d picked up all of our best tactics, and none of our bad habits.
He appraised her. “I was wondering how you got so good at fighting. You were pretty impressive on the ship, and when we were going after the Albanians.”
Leona rolled her eyes at the obvious compliment, but my chest puffed and I kissed her hairline. Of course, she was impressive. She was a total badass and had been for long before he’d ever noticed.
“Train with me,” Max said quickly. “Spar with me.”
She scoffed. “Ew, no.”
An idea formed in my head. Maybe this would do her some good, too.
“Come on, piccola,” Max teased. “I want to see how strong you’ve gotten.”
“I don’t want to spar with you, Max.”
I whispered in her ear. “You should fight him.”
Her eyes flicked up to mine. “He’s injured. It wouldn’t be a fair fight.”
“Exactly,” I said, smirking.
She paused for a moment before a smile spread across her face. “All right. I’ll spar with you. First one to the ground loses.”
“Agreed.” He hopped back down to the grass and got into his fighting stance.
Before she followed, I put my hands on her shoulders and leaned in close. “You know how Ryuji always feints left, and then goes for a jab on the other side?”
She nodded.
“He does that, too. Once his shoulder drops, don’t fall for it. It’ll be hard for your arms to reach his face because he’s tall, like us, without getting in really close, and then he’ll have the advantage. Sweep his legs, or rush him, and you’ll knock him off guard.”
She cracked her knuckles and narrowed her eyes. “Got it.”
In the open space of the grass, they lined up across from one another. Leona took the stance I taught her, and I had to hold the smile back from my face. She was going to destroy him.
“Ready?” she asked.
“Ready.”
“Begin,” I said.
She immediately began moving, circling him like she were searching for prey. She kept her head level, her shoulders loose. She wasn’t even warmed up, and she looked like a viper ready to strike.
He lunged first with a quick jab, and she smacked his hand away easily.
He frowned, but reset quickly, and then started mirroring her movements around the grass.
They got close enough to exchange a few punches, but she always dodged out of the way before he could land anything.
After a few minutes, it became crystal clear she was leagues faster than him, and he seemed surprised at her stamina.
Finally, he did exactly as expected. He dropped his shoulder like he was about to throw a cross, and she instantly reacted.
Her sidekick caught him in the stomach, and he flailed backwards, which gave her the perfect opportunity to catch a jab across his cheek.
It knocked him backward, and he fell flat on his ass.
His arms sprawled outward like he was a starfish, and he stared at the sky while trying to catch the breath she had just knocked out of him.
She laughed and looked at me. I gave her my widest smile back. She truly was remarkable. Quick on her feet. Fast-thinking. Max might have been injured and had the disadvantage from the start, but her skills were apparent—especially through her precise control of her body.
“That’s what you get for underestimating me,” she said, looking down at his supine figure. “Idiot.”
She turned on the ball of her foot and hopped up to the deck. After rising on her tiptoes to give me a kiss, she walked inside without looking back.
Max stared at the sky, trying to catch his breath, while I held back my laughs.
“You knew she’d wipe the floor with me,” he finally said with a groan as he sat up.
“Of course she would,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest. “You are beat to shit. She was trained by the Shadows. Even at your best, she would have knocked you on your ass.”
He braced his elbows on his knees while he looked out at the forest, but said nothing.
“I wonder how much stronger she’d be if someone had taken her seriously earlier in her life,” I mused.
He flinched. “I know.”
I crouched down in front of him. “You don’t know.
I’ll let you in on a little secret, Max.
You told her how you could have killed her many times, but chose not to.
If you wanted her dead, she would be.” His eyes slowly moved to lock on mine.
“The opposite is true. She could have killed you dozens of times over, but you’re only alive because she let you live. ”
He let out a heavy sigh through his nose. “Guess we’re two peas in a pod, then.”
My eyes narrowed. “Stop underestimating her. And let me make this clear: Ryuji may be the only one threatening you openly, but if you make her cry again, Ciel will strangle you with his garrote until blood spills from your eyes, I will pull your lungs through your back, and we’ll both string you from the ceiling. ”
“Got it.”
I stood, brushing some dirt off my athletic shorts. “See you here at the same time tomorrow. If you’re going to stay with us, you need to get as strong as us.”