Chapter 6 Chapter six

Chapter 6: First Lesson.

The jet interior smelled of dry words and expensive gin. I sat by the window trying to avoid contact with Nilo. Three feet of leather seat between us and it still felt like nothing.

I looked over at the silver ring on his finger, the Cross family crest looking sharp and dangerous in the dim light. A serpent wrapped around a cross. Pretty fittings anymore.

"You're playing a game with my life." I said.

"No, I'm playing the only game that keeps you out of a box," He replied, pouring himself a drink.

He set the glass down as his phone screen lit up on the table between us. It was an anonymous alert from a local gossip site.

I leaned forward?6 pupils blowing wide. It was a photo. Grainy, taken from the roof of the bakery alley, showing me running toward Nilo's black dead. The caption beneath it was simple yet eerie: The Dead Heiress Has A New Keeper.

Six Days Later.

The villa in the southern hills was silent, smelling of floor polish and old paper.

Nilo stood in the center of the private gym, his shirt off, revealing the thick, jagged scars across his back. He held a wooden training knife in his hand, the tip pointed at my chest.

"You're too slow," he said as he moved around in a quiet circle. "When a man comes at you with a blade, you don't look at his hands. You look at his shoulders."

"I've been surviving on my own for five years," I said, my palms sweating as I gripped my own wooden dummy knife. My bare feet squeaking on the floor.

"You've been hiding," he corrected, his voice a low grunt as he lunged. "And because you aren't trained, that's why you failed."

I tried to dodge, but he was too fast. He stepped inside my guard, his massive chest slamming into my shoulder throwing me off balance. Before I could hit the floor, his arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me flush against his hot bare skin.

The physical contact was a shock. My stomach did that flip thing again, my heart being so annoying hammered against my ribs until I could barely draw a breath. He was so close I could smell his sweat, the clean soap and that sharp, nervous scent it aroused that made my skin tingle.

"Your face gives away fear," Nilo whispered, his mouth inches from my ear.

"Then stop standing so close," I choked out, my fingers digging into his shoulder, feeling the hard muscle bunch beneath my palm.

"No," he rasped, his eyes dropping to my lips then back to my eyes. "The Albanos will get closer than this. If you flinch when a man touches you, you're dead."

"I'm not flinching," I said, my teeth aching as I stared back into his eyes, refusing to let him see how much my heat was growing. "I'm waiting."

He let out a low, rough sound, his fingers tightening in my hair pulling my head back. For a second, I thought he was going to kiss me. The sick urge to let him do it was warm and heavy but I fought against it, shoving my elbow into his ribs until he let me go.

"Get dressed," I muttered, my voice shaking. " We are done."

I walked to the corner of the gym to grab my towel, my hand accidentally brushed against his leather gear bag on the bench. The zipper was open. Inside, sitting on top of his files was a small, plastic evidence bag.

My curiosity took over. I reached in, my fingers pulling out a worn, blue ribbon.

I immediately recognized it.

It was a hair ribbon I had lost some time ago. But the tag on the bag was dated two years ago.

My heart hammered against my ribs as a sick realization dawned on me.

He lied.

He hadn't been watching me for just six months. He had been tracking me since the day I ran away and 'died’

I heard footsteps behind me. "Put that down." His voice was flat, no anger, but that was worse.

I turned slowly, the ribbon between my fingers. He was already pulling his shirt on, but his eyes were locked on the bag in my hand.

"Did you even say the truth before?"

He didn't answer.

"How long!" I asked, my voice coming out lower than a whisper. "Nilo. How long have you been watching me?"

He still didn't the answer.

"Answer me!" I snapped. "Was everything just a coincidence or were you waiting for the perfect time to swoop in?"

He exhaled. He ran a hand through his hair and for the first time since I met him, he looked tired. "You're right. Longer than I told you."

"So....this was all a plan?"

"No," he frowned. "I told you the truth."

"You lied,"

"Because it wasn't important in how long I've watched you, Genevieve."

"What do you truly want from me, Nilo?"

He stepped closer and closer until the space between us was only few feets. "Stay alive until the end. And you'd see."