Page 11

CHAPTER 10

Alana

I’m dying.

I must be dead. I died and went to hell.

It’s the only explanation for the amount of pain I’m in right now.

We trained at the gym in the building, just a few doors down from my unit.

For an hour . ‘Boxing fitness,’ he called it.

Jump rope. Stairmaster.

Jump rope. Burpees. Jump rope.

Ab crunches. Jump rope again.

I’m currently sitting on my couch, dry-heaving like a dying pig.

Everything aches. Not just my body, but my pride.

My illusion of strength.

He stripped it down, made me feel like a flailing mess.

And the worst part? He’s right.

I needed it.

Dignity?

Don’t know her. I’m so grateful the gym was empty this morning.

It was just me and Hunter.

Thank God no one else saw me suffering and utterly embarrass myself.

What kind of medieval torture even is this?

I work out five times a week!

But that? That was something else entirely.

And we didn’t even get to the self-defence part.

Apparently, I’m nowhere near ready to ‘spar’.

Does sparring require this much cardio?

Because honestly? I feel like I need a priest and a funeral playlist.

Hunter’s in the kitchen, in sweats, chugging a protein shake.

He didn’t even break a sweat.

I’m dripping. My hoodie lies discarded on the floor.

Salem is happily making biscuits on it.

“I’m gonna jump in the shower quick,” he says, all casual like he didn’t just put me through a military-grade workout.

“What time do you want to leave for your studio?”

It’s almost like he knows my daily routine.

Did he get this information as part of his brief?

I can’t speak yet, so I just hold up both hands.

Ten fingers. Ouch. My arms hurt.

I drop them immediately.

He smirks. And heads to his room.

My phone dings next to me.

Tessa:

I need a debrief on this morning’s training.

Immediately.

I read the message, thinking of a reply.

Tessa:

Bitch, I can see you are online.

SPILL.

Alana:

Tell you in person.

Busy crawling into the elevator like a wounded animal as we speak.

I need a piggyback from there to your place.

Tessa:

Hahahaha!

See you now.

I give Tessa my post-mortem debrief while she gets ready for work.

She’s enjoying my suffering a little too much.

“Okay, out with you,” she says, shooing me off her kitchen chair.

“I’ve got a 9 a.m. meeting. Let’s go.”

She ushers me out of her apartment before I even have time to protest.

We reach the elevators, but OUT OF ORDER flashes above both doors.

You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.

“Good luck, champ,” Tessa says with a wink, then makes a beeline for the stairs by the emergency exit.

I hobble along far behind her, calling out dramatically, “Go on without me!”

I pause after a few steps, leaning against the wall, debating whether sitting on the floor and waiting for death to take me is a better option than climbing three flights of stairs.

But I summon up some courage and power on.

By the time I reach the emergency exit, I can’t hear Tessa anymore.

The stairwell feels eerily empty.

I force myself to start climbing.

Three steps in, I hear a door close below me.

Footsteps echo up. I glance over the railing, hoping it’s one of my neighbours.

Preferably male. Preferably muscular.

Preferably willing to carry me.

But, I see no one… Weird.

I swear I heard the door shut and feet moving.

I make it up another four steps.

Footsteps again. I pause.

Look over the railing.

Still nothing.

“Hello?” I call.

“Anyone there? Maybe someone willing to carry a girl to the top floor?” I try to joke.

Silence. Okay… weird.

Then, footsteps again.

Fast ones. Running. I whip around, peer over the edge—

And I see them.

A figure. Black hoodie.

Knife in hand. Running.

Up the stairs. Toward me.

Adrenaline takes over.

I run. The pain from earlier?

Gone. I sprint faster than I ever have in my life.

Just two more flights before I’m on my floor.

Before I can scream for Hunter.

I thought the warehouse would be the last time.

That I’d never feel this helpless again.

But my hands are shaking.

My throat’s closing.

I’m not ready. I thought I was, but I’m not.

My arms. Bound to a chair.

My mouth gagged. The taste of blood.

A voice in the dark.

I know this isn’t the same.

But my body doesn’t.

My body still thinks I’m back there.

He’s gaining on me. I need to go faster.

I need to—

I’m yanked back by my ponytail.

And slammed against the wall.

Not hard, but the very motion knocks the wind out of me.

My cheek bites into the cold concrete wall.

I feel the sharp edge of a blade press into my throat.

Not hard enough to bleed.

But hard enough to freeze every nerve in my body.

Once again, I’m utterly powerless.

What do I do? What can I do?

“And you’re dead,” a voice says.

Hunter. Fucking Hunter.

He pulls the knife away.

I spin around and shove him in the chest. Hard.

He doesn’t even budge.

“What the fuck, Hunter?”

He doesn’t flinch.

Just pulls the hoodie back, smiling wide.

Not even trying to hide how amused he is.

“You chased me through the building with a knife?! Are you insane? No seriously, tell me you’re clinically unwell. Because that is the only explanation for this psychotic behaviour!”

“Consequences, Little Diamond,” he says, like it’s the most normal sentence in the world.

God, he’s insufferable.

And right now? I hate that I don’t hate him.

Because for a split second, I believed it.

I believed I was in danger.

And I ran. I fought.

That has to count for something.

“Consequences?” I repeat, eyes wide.

“Consequences for what exactly?”

“For breaking the rules.”

He hands me the knife.

It’s one of my kitchen knives.

A blunt one. The one that can’t even cut a tomato, let alone a person.

There was no real danger.

And now I’m raging.

“You are out of your damn mind!”

“I had to teach you a lesson,” he says coolly.

“If you don’t follow the rules, you get punished.”

“And having me fear for my life was the punishment?”

“No. That was just the warm-up.” He gestures toward the stairwell.

“The punishment is that we’re taking the stairs. Every day. For a week.”

I gape at him.

“Elevators being out of order?” He grins.

“One of my favourite tricks. The company I work for handles security in this building and guess who’s the only person who knows how to override the system?”

I don’t answer.

I just roll my eyes so hard it’s a miracle they stay in my skull.

“It’s me,” he says proudly.

“The sooner you learn to listen, the easier your life will get. The sooner you realise I’m not your enemy, the more you’ll actually learn from me. So…” He leans in just a little.

“Lesson learned?”

And shit, I hate to admit it, but he won this round.

Even worse? I was scared today.

But I didn’t panic. I didn’t freeze.

I fought. Okay, technically I ran, but for me?

That’s a win.

Maybe…

just maybe… his methods have some merit.

The sooner I learn them, the sooner I can be rid of him.