“Then where was he when I was growing up?” I asked and slammed my fist into the bag with more force than I’d intended.
“He was watching you from afar,” she said. “Had he known that his enemies had infiltrated your life so early on, he would have been there for you. Believe me when I tell you that.”
“Is the Organization part of his enemies list?” I asked and punched again.
“They are,” she replied. “They’re one of the main crime syndicates he’s been working against.”
“Then why is he part of them?” I asked, and continued to hit the bag.
“You can’t bring down a group that large without knowing what makes them tick,” she said calmly, as if she’d prepared herself for every question beforehand. “You have to become part of the machine to destroy it in the end.”
“Is that what he wants to do? Destroy them?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said. “Does that bother you?”
“Fuck no,” I said and slammed my fist into the bag again. “That’s my goal, too. I want to see them all burn. I hate every last member of that cursed group.”
“Excellent,” Amara replied with a satisfied smile. “You are your father’s daughter after all.”
After that we kept training. She had me running drills and then sparring with her until sweat rolled down my back and my face was prickled with droplets.
As we finished up, I headed outside to the back lawn where the Kings and Ryker were training with several men from my father’s private security. They’d decided to work as hard as me just so they could protect me. It made sense, though, a bodyguard wouldn’t be with me at all times but my guys would be. The odds were that one of them would be by my side pretty much at any moment of any day.
I wiped my forehead with the back of my towel and stopped near the training session. My guys were all shirtless and I let my eyes travel across each of them, all muscular and shining in the late afternoon light.
It was chilly outside, but they weren’t showing any evidence of being cold. Their exertions were enough to keep them hot, but they were even hotter.
My god, I had lucked out. I couldn’t believe that each of them belonged to me, and each of them wanted me and got along so well.
Kingston’s perfection was only marred by the bright pink scar on his chest and back from the bullet wound. Again, it only served to make him even more gorgeous. He wasn’t perfect, but he was close. The scars made him more interesting.
“Care to join in?” Ryker called to me when he caught me leering.
I played along, pretending I was like some horny old creep, watching them move. I slid my tongue along my lips and wiggled my eyebrows.
Valen and Archer turned around to spot me there, and I laughed as they mockingly tried to cover themselves.
“Oh my god, did you see my nipples?” Archer gasped, pretending to be offended.
“What a lecherous, loose woman!” Valen added, and the four men burst into laughter.
“Keep at it!” I laughed, joining in with them. “I’m good, I don’t need to watch, but you guys need to practice.”
They knew I just wanted to watch, so they turned towards each other and started to fight again.
I stuck around until they finished, and by the time we were all done, I wanted dinner. I wasn’t sure if my appetite was from my own exertions, or if it had grown while I was watching them fight. Either way, it made sense, hunger created by need or desire.
“Want to shower off before we eat?” Ryker asked. “We’re all pretty sweaty.”
“I think we’re just going to get dirty in there,” I laughed. But none of us were bothered by that, not in the least.
We climbed into Archer’s oversized shower and washed each other’s backs as the hot water soaked away the last few hours of effort. We kept up our banter and good humor all through dinner and afterwards. The time I got to spend with them was invigorating, it always left me feeling incredible.
I was forced to go home that evening, and had to get homework done once I got there. It was so strange, having my feet in both worlds like that. One in the future with my guys and my father’s people, and one in the past where I’d been trapped with the Organization owning everything about me.
At the moment, though, I was firmly in the world of having boring homework to distract me from everything else. While I was in the middle of writing an English essay on The Great Gatsby, Mom popped her head into my room and said, “I need to tell you something.”
She was pale and had dark circles under her eyes. She wasn’t taking this Reg thing too well, from what I could see. I wished I could fake a little more empathy for her, but in all honestly I was thrilled that he was gone. I really hoped the Organization had taken him and he was fighting for his life in some prison right now.