19
"What kind of proposal?" I arched my brow.
"Not the kind you're thinking right now."
"And what kind am I thinking about? Enlighten me."
"The one proposal that every girl thinks about. A marriage proposal."
I began laughing at this man's idiocy. "I haven't even thought about a boyfriend yet, let alone marriage."
"Well another thing to add to my list," he smiled at me.
"Keep adding them to your list. You'll never be able to check them off," I scoffed.
"Oh, we'll see about that."
"We will," I retorted with a firm tone.
"Okay. Going back to the proposal," he said while taking a seat back on the edge of the bed next to me. "Considering the things you have been through and the things that almost happened, I think it's best if you knew how to fight. I could teach you."
"Teach me how to fight?"
"Yes, and then you won't always need me to save the damsel in distress every time," he smirked.
"Ha. Ha. Very funny," I narrowed my eyes at him.
"I'm not funny, I'm hilarious."
"Since you're going to take time out of your precious, busy mafia and business oriented days, what do I give you in return?" Since he was willing to teach me to fight, I wanted all cards on the table. I wanted to know what he desired in return for his generous offer.
"Well, all I want in return is for you to always be on time for the lessons. I hate tardiness. And I also want you to graduate in a week and go to med-school which I will be paying for in advance."
"Wait, what? You can't do that. You can't just pay for my education. I can't let you." Just the thought of using his money for my own needs without much in return put a bitter taste in my mouth. I hated people's generosity because that all Ashton and I got from others. They pitied us after mama and papa passed away and I didn't want that.
"Yes, I can do that and you know I can. I don't want you to get caught up in my deranged world so, I want you to pursue your dreams and live your life."
"I'd feel like I'm using you for your money. And I'm not that kind of girl and I don't want be that girl. I can't take your money out of pity," I tried to convince him.
"Love, I know you wouldn't be using me and it's not pity. Consider it a gift and an apology for my brother's hideous acts. Sounds good?"
"But I still can't. It doesn't feel right." This feeling in my heart wouldn't allow me to accept his money. My morals wouldn't.
"Don't feel bad. Paying for your med-school won't put a dent in my wallet and you know that," he chuckled. "So, you might as well take it. Consider it as a charity work for a good cause. Getting another world class doctor her required education. That's all."
"Okay," I finally agreed and huffed out a breath. "When do we start my training?"
"Tomorrow," he declared. "I'll text you the details later when I drop you home today."
"Sounds good," I said as I picked up a pillow and placed it under my aching foot.
"And that's two points for me," he yelled out.
"Excuse me?"
"I persuaded you for two things, so that makes it two points for me, love."
"Already. Oh my God. I hate you."
"This is too easy," he laughed and sauntered towards me slowly, placing his hands on the headboard around both sides of my head and locking me in. He was too close for comfort. "Like I said before, I never lose," he whispered into my ear and then kissed my cheek. Oh shit. Not again. A sudden warmth emerged between my thighs causing butterflies to erupt like a volcano. Oh lord. Help me out of this one.
He stood back up and started walking towards the door again. With a sexy wink my way, he closed the door behind him leaving me with all these thoughts again. How does he manage to do it again and again?
"Okay. It hurts," I whimpered and tapped his arm to let go. His strong, tight headlock was breathtaking in a bad sense.
"C'mon, love. That was nothing. You need to harden up. I can't have you chickening out every day now," he huffed as he let go and crossed his arms across his chest. "That's why I'm teaching you how to fight. If I go easy on you then you'll never be strong enough. I need you to be strong and smart enough to take me down."
"Take you down?" My brows rose as I panted for air that his moves knocked out of my lungs.
"I'm very strong if you haven't noticed," he motioned to himself rather smugly which made me scoff in return. "And I need you to be strong enough to take down a man like me when they come after you again. You never know what you'll encounter, so you have to be prepared for anything. Understood?"
I nodded in acknowledgement and let out a puff of air. "Fine! Teach me. Harden me up. Do whatever it takes to do so. I'm putty in your hands. Mold me anyway you like."
"That's like a good girl." A mischievous grin formed on his prefect, smooth lips. He lightly grabbed me by my wrist and dragged me out of the sweaty, steamy room and into a huge shooting range studio that was accessed through the double doors in the corner.
From what I comprehended, this place was a massive playground for people to fight and shoot to perfect themselves in those fields. But I never encountered anyone here except for Leo and Mike in the past three days of my training. Leo supposedly told all of his men that he was handling some 'business'. I guess he was embarrassed to tell them that he was teaching a girl how to fight.
"Let's see if your hand can still get prefect shots," he said as we stood in a large booth.
On my first day, I got perfect hits on the realistic looking dummies. Perfect damn headshots. I was extremely surprised at my supposed skill and so was Leo. I guess I can thank my papa for that maybe. When I was little, papa used to take me out to shoot soda cans in the backyard and I always hit them while Ashton struggled. He even cried out of failure once which made laugh every time I thought of it. Now they were all just precious memories. So, I guess that helped with these perfect headshots. To be honest, throwing paper balls in the trash cans in high school also helped to an extent.
Leo snaked his hands along my forearm to my hands that held the gun aiming at the dummy's head. His body was compressed against mine. I could feel the perfect ridges of his abs on my back through his black v-neck shirt. This sudden distraction wasn't good, but it felt good.
"How about we try the heart this time?" He whispered softly behind my ear forcing chills to run down my spine. Suddenly, my breath hitched in my throat unable to release itself from the constricting hold.
"O-Okay," I stuttered out.
"Does shooting the heart make you that nervous or is it because I'm too close?" I could sense the smug expression on his face that I've seen quite a few times in the previous training days.
"Shut up," I nudged him and aimed for the heart. Once I knew I had the right spot, I pulled the trigger.
"Perfect!" Leo declared as he pulled away from me with an expression of success on his chiseled features. "That's a perfect shot too. I didn't even have to teach you how to aim for the right spot. Guess you'll do good under pressure."
"Well, you did teach me how to hold a gun and how my body language should be. So, I have to give you a little credit."
"It's all you, love. All you. You do better than some of my lousy men. Are you sure you haven't had any training?" He smirked at me, staring into my eyes and then cleared his throat as he looked away from me pulling out his phone from his brown shorts.
"It's time for you to go. Derek is waiting outside to drop you off." He began to walk back into the 'wresting room'. I didn't know what to call it so wrestling room it was.
"Oh, okay." I placed the gun on the table that was aligned against the wall behind me. Striding towards the same room as Leo, I assembled my belongings and shoved them into my gym bag before walking towards the exit.
"Hey, wait!" Leo yelled from behind me. I stopped in my tracks and turned around to find him shirtless. My eyes wandered off to his body rather than his face. Slight old scars embellished his look with one on his right forearm that looked quite recent. His sharp v-line beautified him even more. I wondered where that happy trail of his led to. I scolded myself internally and tore my eyes away from his godly body.
"Yeah?"
"You don't have to come in tomorrow. I want you to rest before the big day. We'll pick up after that," he smiled at me and went back into the showers.