Fourteen
LIANA
“I know I agreed, but can we reschedule? I’m not feeling too great today.”
If I could leave my room, I would, but the embarrassment of Dario walking in on me last night still lingers; my cheeks will forever flush at the memory. His words reel through my mind like a broken record, haunting me: “If you ever need a helping hand, you know where to find me.” The mere thought of him helping me sends a rush of heat throughout me, settling in the pit of my stomach in the form of untamed, fluttering butterflies.
Kat stands in my doorway, her face displeased at my words. “You’ve been putting this off for days, Lia. Trust me, you’d rather get the introduction class over and done with before the wedding. It’ll be less stressful that way.”
I nod, not wanting to drag this out, and trudge to my closet.
I’d completely forgotten that I agreed to take Remi’s introduction training class. He mentioned it upon my arrival, saying he expected me to see him within the week, but I never did. Instead, I asked Kat to arrange it so I wouldn’t back out, and now that the day is here, I regret asking.
Snatching an all-black gym set from its hangers, I head into the bathroom, closing the door behind me.
I quickly put on the outfit, plait my hair into two French braids and walk back into my bedroom after discarding the clothes into the wash basket.
“Look,” Kat says, approaching me swiftly with a reprimanding expression on her face, but a sympathetic tone leaving her lips, “it’s not the worst thing in the world, I promise you that. Remi might seem like a hard-ass with no respect for anyone, but I assure you it’s the complete opposite. He’s a tough nut to crack, sure, but he’s a softie on the inside—you just have to respect him and he’ll respect you. Disrespect him, and he’ll hold the biggest grudge, and he’ll die with it. He loves his job with everything he has. In his eyes, if you were to decline his invitation to his training class, he’d view that as disrespect. Believe me, you don’t want that.”
I sigh. “I’m not trying to disrespect him; I just—I’m not good with new people. Remi and I haven’t had enough interactions for me to feel comfortable around him. Actually, I haven’t had interactions with anyone besides you, Maze, Dario and their parents. Everyone else here is a total stranger to me.”
“They’re strangers until you take the time to get to know them, Liana. If you keep yourself cooped up in your room, that’ll never happen.”
A small laugh falls from my lips. “I guess so.”
“Come on, I’ll take you down to the house.” She holds her hand out, waiting for me to take it. When I do, she eagerly pulls me out of the room, down the hall and stairs, and outside, only for us to be ambushed by Dario.
The second his eyes meet mine, another flush of heat spreads throughout my body. As his eyes trail down my body, the hunger within them returns.
“Today’s the day?” Maze asks, revealing himself from behind Dario.
“Yeah, I’m going to take her, make some quick introductions and come back. We can leave for our scan after that,” Kat says, guiding us down the front steps.
“I’ll take her,” Dario says, taking a step closer.
“That’s okay,” Kat replies, her tone void of any emotion.
“It’s mid-day, Katerina. Even if you were to leave now, I guarantee you’ll be a little bit late. The streets are jam-packed.”
She looks at me as if waiting for my approval, a sense of pleading in her eyes. Finally, I nod and she offers a smile.
“I’ll come to see you afterwards, okay?”
“With the gender, I hope,” I say, my tone filled with happiness.
She leans closer, embracing me. “Of course,” she whispers before releasing me and joining Maze.
“I hope it’s what you both want,” I add, as they walk to Maze’s car.
“Come on, let’s get to it, Liana,” Dario says, walking towards the opposite end of the compound where the soldiers’ house sits.
“I can walk there myself,” I admit quietly, hoping he’ll decide to turn back and not make us dwell in the lingering awkwardness.
“I’m sure you can.” He shrugs in my peripheral vision. “But I have the code. You can’t get in there without it.”
My jaw clenches and my tongue swirls around in my mouth in annoyance. I turn to face him, my eyes focusing on the corners of his lips as they turn upwards.
“Once you’ve passed Remi’s tests alongside the introduction, you’ll get your own. Nobody shares their code.”
I hum. “Why?”
“We trust everyone as much as they trust us,” he says, his face and tone taking on a businesslike air. “A few years ago we had an inside man—someone we trusted and loved like a brother—betray us and some good people died in the process. This was Remi’s way of assuring that it wouldn’t happen again. And if it did, the person’s code that was used would make it easier to find the rat.”
“Is that your way of calling me a rat?”
He exhales deeply. “I trust you as much as you trust me, Liana, which right now, I believe, isn’t much. Just handing you my code is like handing you my death on a silver platter. Until we know each other better, this is the way it stays. Besides, Kat and Maze both have separate codes, and they’ve been married for seven years.”
“But why?”
“The trust is there, but if they were to share a code and it was used to inflict harm, thievery or worse, they would both be liable. Maze and I may have shared a womb at one point, but not even he would be safe from what’s to come during the interrogation process.”
I stop in my tracks for a split second before continuing. “You’re twins?”
“There’s a lot you still have to learn, Liana.”
As we reach the top of the soldiers’ house, he covers the keypad with his left hand while he types in the code with his right. “Don’t take this personally,” he says, and the door pops open, sounding like it’s coming off its latch.
He pushes the door open further, allowing me to enter first before following behind, and slamming the door shut behind us. The atmosphere is instantly colder in here—I can almost see my breath.
Placing his hand on the small of my back, my body floods with goosebumps, and he leads us towards the end of the main hall.
This house, while having a symmetrical design on the outside, only has one common denominator inside—the lack of personality. The black colour is all-consuming, taking over my surroundings, the walls and floor are bare, leaving the big, open floor plan naked, allowing the cold air to bite more.
Stopping directly outside of the door in front of us, Dario knocks twice before letting himself in, leaving me standing alone, gawking at the interior. It’s the most luxurious room I’ve seen on the estate so far. While the walls are the darkest shade of black, the gold crests around the border bring it out in the nicest way. It almost contradicts everything I’ve thought of Remi thus far.
“I’m glad you didn’t back out, Liana,” he says, standing to greet us.
I take a step forward, and the door instantly closes, sending a recoil of nerves through me. Whipping my head around, I spot Cass and Silas standing militant-like in front of the door, almost as if they’re guarding it, preventing us from leaving until Remi lets us.
“I hope you don’t mind my brother’s joining us today; they’ll be giving you a brief demonstration of the moves to help you understand them, rather than only seeing them on a screen.”
I nod. “Fine by me.”
“When will she finish?” Dario asks.
“In a few hours. There’s a lot to go through.”
Dario nods, giving Remi a stern smile before slipping through the doors again, leaving me alone with them.
“Follow me,” Remi says as soon as Dario makes his exit. “We’re going to take a tour of the most important rooms first, things you’ll need to familiarise yourself with quickly.”
“How long do you think training will take? Not just today but overall?” My words come out uncertain, almost like a whisper.
“Perfecting skills takes time, Liana. When you’re ready, you’re ready. There is no set time limit because everyone is different. Cassian’s still striving to achieve his goals and he’s been training with me for years. Every chance he gets, he’s in the arena. Silas, too. They’re my best soldiers, but they will never be the best until they believe they are. You don’t become the best by some miracle. This shit takes time and copious amounts of effort, things that don’t just happen overnight.”
“Besides,” Cass chimes in, giving me a playful nudge, “he’s a pretty good teacher.” I turn to face him, watching as he flashes me a sweet smile with dead eyes—a lethal combination for these men. “You’re in good hands, Liana.”
Before I know it, Remi’s leading the way into an even bigger room, its furniture meticulously placed into comfortable seating arrangements in the corners.
“This is where we warm up,” Remi starts, indicating the first section on our left side. “This is our general gym; there’s another down on the end for those who wish to work in peace. This is where we store our weapons. Once you’re finished with them, I expect you to clean and disinfect them to prevent any infected wounds.”
“Wounds?” I ask, interrupting his roll.
“This is our training arena, Lia. We train to become better fighters, soldiers and warriors. You can’t be better if you don’t perfect your methods. In here, we fight like we would out there. You’re bound to end up with a couple of scrapes before you leave here.” Cassian interjects.
“Exactly,” Remi agrees, leading us to an enclosed space, pushing the door open. “Now this is our gun range. Every day you’ll get a maximum of two magazines to use how you please, either in here or in the soundproof room in the back which we’ll cover another time. But never, ever bring a loaded weapon into the arena. That’s how people get hurt. You’re to disarm it first and clean it weekly. And this,” he redirects us back to the main area, “is where the magic happens. Every month, Cass holds an underground fight here where the best fighters in each category compete against each other.”
“You’re not explaining it properly,” Cass scoffs, punching Remi’s shoulder. “Basically there’s three categories: bronze, silver and gold—I call them something else, but that’s a story for another day. For the fights, two of the strongest opponents from each sector will challenge each other; the winner then goes on to fight the other two champions until there’s only one left.” He takes a step closer to me. “I hold defensive training classes in Brooklyn three days a week and it’s my way of bringing my work home with me, like everyone else does. In a weird sense, it’s my way of contributing.”
“Thanks for that, Cass. Way to make it all about you again,” Remi says, sneering. Turning to face me, he adds, “Maybe in due time you’ll get to witness one. For the time being, though, we should get started.”