Chapter fifteen

Chapter fifteen

chapter fifteen

Astrid

I don't think I've ever been so bored, frustrated, and angry, at the same time in my life. And well, you can guess who was behind these emotions.

“Do it over!” Cornelius ordered, his eyes glistening with rage.

For the first time, I knew his rage wasn't because of me. He usually reserves his hatred and disgust for me, anger seems extreme. Something else was bothering him, he was taking it out on me by giving me an impossible task, slicing through a dangling ribbon with a small dagger.

How the hell does someone slice through a ribbon with a dagger?

I huffed out my annoyance but still went ahead to cut the ribbon. Today wasn't the day for snarky responses. I was used to see Cornelius looking murderous 99.9% of the time, but today was the first time I think he would actually murder me if I taunt him. So I kept my tongue in my mouth and cursed him with my eyes instead.

The man Cornelius was sparring with wasn't so lucky. They had both walked in earlier and began stripping off their shirts. Of course, I didn't drool – Okay, maybe a little – but they both looked so hot shirtless.

They've both been sparring intensely for about forty five minutes but it didn't seem like they were stopping soon. It's like they needed to blow off steam from whatever they've been up to. Not that I cared enough to ask what that was.

I stopped the impossible act of trying to cut the damn ribbon and decided to feast my eyes on the two fine specimen instead. The man was hot, not as hot as Cornelius, but he was hot.

Unlike my evil stepbrother, the man had a lean frame, his hair was the deepest brown, and they clung to his forehead with sweat. He had a gentle aura surrounding him, almost like Leon's. And despite Cornelius’ brutal punches, his smug expression never faltered. I had a feeling they've done this many times in the past.

“Quit drooling and get back to cutting that ribbon.” Cornelius snapped.

I blinked, surprise that he was could see me despite his intense concentration on his partner.

I swear, the man had eyes at the back of his head.

“Leave the girl alone, Carter. Let her enjoy the show.” Cornelius’ spar partner said as he dodged another punch from him.

Cornelius moved at an impossible speed and knocked his opponent off his feet in seconds. He pinned the man to the mat.

“You're getting rusty, Ray. Do better.” Cornelius said before pushing off the man. He turned to face me. It took everything inside me not to flinch at his gaze. Instead, I met his gaze and glared at him.

The exchange seem to amuse Ray as he pushed himself off the mat and chuckled.

“Lesson number four, when I ask you to train, you train. Do you fucking understand?” his voice was low and dangerous as he spoke.

If he thought I was going to cower at his tone, he was sadly mistaken. I've lived among dangerous criminals my whole life. And I've been told, I had a death wish.

“First, that's lesson number five. And I've been trying to cut the ribbon for the past forty five minutes. That's hardly training. So I decided to feed my eyes instead.” I shrugged.

Cornelius sucked in a sharp breath. He advanced towards me in a slow, deliberate move, meant to unnerve me. I wasn't going to let him know, but it was totally working.

“Do you know why I asked you to cut that ribbon?” He asked.

“To frustrate me and then rub in my face how much of a failure I was?” I arched an eyebrow.

“Cutting the ribbon requires precision, perfect timing, and stealth, all skills which you do not currently possess. But if you had focus on the task I gave you instead of ogling naked men, then maybe you would achieve something and be of some help to us.” He thundered.

Somehow, he had moved so close to me that I had to tilt my head slightly to stare at his face. The man was ridiculously tall and intimidating. I realized when I tried to move that I was backed against a wall.

Great, trapped between two immovable monsters.

“How about you get to work then, ‘Heir’?” he glared at me.

I wanted to tell him to stop calling me that. It was on the tip of my tongue, but I couldn't bring myself to say it.

Cornelius pushed off the wall and strode off. I tried not to stare at his bare back because, well, he just insulted me. But the man was too beautiful to ignore. He removed his shirt from where he hung it and gestured to Ray to do the same.

The two of them buttoned their shirt fast, making some kind of communication with their eyes. When they were done, Cornelius turned to me,

“Get to work.” He said and walked out with Ray.

“Fuck you!” I screamed after him, not sure if he heard me, and half wishing he didn't. I didn't want to die, not yet.

With all my strength, I threw the dagger at the wooden target in the training area. Bull's fucking eye. I wished Cornelius hadn't left. I would have relished seeing his disappointed face when he saw just how precise I can be.

Maybe I should cut his ridiculously perfect abs.

I groaned in frustration and strode out of the training area. I didn't want to go back into my room, I didn't want to see my mum either, I just needed to be somewhere Carter hasn't contaminated with his presence yet.

I couldn't believe I was searching for peace and quiet when I thrive in chaos. This was so not my life. But I guess training with a deranged stepbrother would do that to you.

“Is there a reason you look so mad or this is your default expression now?” Leon's voice filtered into my ears, bringing an instant smile on my lips.

“Why would this be my default expression? I'm way prettier than that.” I rolled my eyes.

Leon laughed and stepped into the space beside me. He leaned against the wall and studied me with a keen expression.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Your brother is an ass.” I scoffed. “No offense.”

“None taken. He's an asshole. Training didn't go well?” He asked.

“He made me try to cut a ribbon dangling in the air and basically insulted me when I couldn't.” I scoffed.

“Well, you need to demonstrate precision and timing before you can move on to the next course of your training.” Leon said.

“Seriously? You too?” I gasped. “Leonard Grey, I am very hurt by your betrayal.”

“Okay, I apologize.” Leon laughed.

We stayed in silence for a while, just staring out into space.

“I know I just moved here and it's supposed to be where I was born, but this place is just so…” I trailed off, unable to find the right word to qualify the odd feeling of this house.

“Cold.” Leon said, his voice strained. “This place feels so cold and lifeless.”

We fell into another lap of silence, the both of us absorbing those words.

“I want to get out of here, even for a few minutes, but I have no idea where to go. If I was back home, I'm pretty sure Hattie would have found me and broke me out of here.” I chuckled, memories of how Hattie and i snuck around her house after her parents stopped us from being friends.

“Do you miss it? Your old life?” Leon asked.

I drew a long exhale.
“Honestly, I don't know. I don't particularly enjoy stealing, but I love the adrenaline it gave me, and I missed the time I spent with my best friend. She's all I have in this world after my mum.”

“I think I know the right place to go get ourselves off this depressing mood. It's unhealthy.” Leon smirked.

“Now you're speaking my language. Where do you have in mind?” I asked.

“I'm not telling you. Just go change out of this depressing clothes and don't tell anyone we're going anywhere.” He warned and strode off.

I broke into a jog and quickly caught up with him.

“Where are you taking me?” I asked.

Just when I thought he wasn't going to answer, he paused his strides and smiled.

“I'm taking you on a tour of the island. Welcome to Florida, Astrid Wolfe.”